[Stillhart]

Before I really was into audio, I use to just plug in headphones into the jacks of my desktop. Its weird because there was 2 headphone jacks (one on the front and one on the back). If I can remember I think the front jack sounded better and probably like same computers DAC's I've heard. But the back port how ever sounded really fat, a lot of mid bass, muffled and lacked clarity. I did notice a difference to when I got the FiiO E07K my first Amp/DAC. Things became a little more separated, treble became sparkly and clear and the mids sound neutral instead of that disgusting muddiness. But when I upgraded from the FiiO to the Schiit Asgard 2 and Modi I heard no difference.

To be fair, I think the modi is super overrated. I couldn't hear any difference between it and my sound blaster so I returned it. When I got the Audio-GD, I could clearly hear an improvement

I'm not sure why people seem to love it so much. A sound blaster omni costs less and sounds as good and can do more.

 

[Cobaltius]

To be fair, I think the modi is super overrated. I couldn't hear any difference between it and my sound blaster so I returned it. When I got the Audio-GD, I could clearly hear an improvement

I'm not sure why people seem to love it so much. A sound blaster omni costs less and sounds as good and can do more.

I can't hear a difference between the Modi my Phone DAC and my FiiO to an old computer from 02' running Windows XP

 

[Music Alchemist]

  One thing you always have to remember is, you'll only hear whatever the weakest link is in your chain. That's why some people can go up to $1,000 dollar DACs and still claim it sounds the same as the ODAC, because something in the chain is off. Crap in, crap out. That leaves you with about ten different variables that crucially can matter in my experience. Also if Jplay/Fidelizer make a big difference, then I'd personally consider getting a stronger computer and keeping it tidy, I never found much of a difference over Jriver, but I'm insanely OCD over my main computers optimization as is.

 
Personally, I perceived subtle to significant differences between JRiver Media Center, foobar2000, iTunes, JPLAYmini, Winamp, and probably a few others. On my system, JPLAYmini seems to sound pretty different. (I'm even hearing instruments I never heard before, though I don't deny that it could still be my imagination despite such a drastic difference in perception.) I'd say it's very dependent on the system and settings used. When I used JPLAY in the past with "lesser" settings, there wasn't much difference. Just about all the music players are bit-perfect, but supposedly, the differences lie elsewhere, such as the timing of the data, organization of computer resources, and so on. I don't really know, though.
 
The next thing I want to try is install Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard. It's an operating system with an $882 listed price, but a 180 day free trial that can be extended. I've seen comments all over the Internet about how it increases sound quality to a great degree. The downside is that it would be difficult to compare between it and other operating systems, etc. lol

 

[Zakin]

   
Personally, I perceived subtle to significant differences between JRiver Media Center, foobar2000, iTunes, JPLAYmini, Winamp, and probably a few others. On my system, JPLAYmini seems to sound pretty different. (I'm even hearing instruments I never heard before, though I don't deny that it could still be my imagination despite such a drastic difference in perception.) I'd say it's very dependent on the system and settings used. When I used JPLAY in the past with "lesser" settings, there wasn't much difference. Just about all the music players are bit-perfect, but supposedly, the differences lie elsewhere, such as the timing of the data, organization of computer resources, and so on. I don't really know, though.
 
The next thing I want to try is install Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard. It's an operating system with an $882 listed price, but a 180 day free trial that can be extended. I've seen comments all over the Internet about how it increases sound quality to a great degree. The downside is that it would be difficult to compare between it and other operating systems, etc. lol

Don't worry, I wasn't saying you were wrong by any means, in my own Windows 7 system I turn off a great deal of the unnecessary services anyhow. So I already do what Fidelizer does to an extent, I just think it goes far overboard and assumes that you are running a Pentium 4 or something that can't keep up properly. I've been curious of the Windows Server thing, but I'd never sacrifice the ease and compatibility I've achieved on my own machine.
 
I will say though, Jriver absolutely blew the lid off of Winamp/Foobar in my system, and I noticed on weaker computers it made an even greater difference where Winamp would sound especially murky/digital.

 

[Music Alchemist]

  Don't worry, I wasn't saying you were wrong by any means, in my own Windows 7 system I turn off a great deal of the unnecessary services anyhow. So I already do what Fidelizer does to an extent, I just think it goes far overboard and assumes that you are running a Pentium 4 or something that can't keep up properly. I've been curious of the Windows Server thing, but I'd never sacrifice the ease and compatibility I've achieved on my own machine.
 
I will say though, Jriver absolutely blew the lid off of Winamp/Foobar in my system, and I noticed on weaker computers it made an even greater difference where Winamp would sound especially murky/digital.

 
I can't speak from my own experience, but according to everything I've read, it even helps with the most advanced/optimized systems. I didn't pay a penny for it, so I don't mind the trouble. But I really want to figure out good ways to test it properly, to determine which perceptions are based on reality and which are just my imagination. As for the Server, it can just be installed on a partition, giving the option to choose between operating systems at startup. JPLAY can integrate with other players, but theoretically, the best way to use it is JPLAYmini with Kernel Streaming. I also want to try the Bug head Emperor software, which is much more complex.

 

[ciphercomplete]

I tried Fidelizer a couple of years ago.  I didn't hear a difference.  I think researching and shutting off services yourself, which is what I had done before trying Fidelizer, is superior to running yet another service to do it for you.  
 
I could be remembering wrong but I think Fidelizer changed the homepage on Internet Explorer without permission back when I tried it out.  Even though my music server is used for nothing but music, that left a bad taste in my mouth.  If I am remembering wrong then apologies.  But hopefully they changed this so it asks the user beforehand.   

 

[ciphercomplete]

 
I will say though, Jriver absolutely blew the lid off of Winamp/Foobar in my system, and I noticed on weaker computers it made an even greater difference where Winamp would sound especially murky/digital.

 
Indeed, J-River really surprised me.  I was a hardcore Winamp junkie and tried for months to figure out a way to use it remotely from my tablet but the I downloaded a trial for J-River 17 and I haven't looked back.  J River is leagues better in stability and I usually only have to see the desktop on my server if I am loading new music or doing Windows 8.1 or JRiver software updates.  
 
I didn't notice a difference in sound quality between Foobar and JRiver though.  JRiver's superior interface and ease of use/setup won the day in that comparison.

 

[Stillhart]

I can't hear a difference between the Modi my Phone DAC and my FiiO to an old computer from 02' running Windows XP

Well I did hear a difference when I upgraded from onboard sound to the sound blaster. Just not from SB to modi.

 

[Yoga]

Audirvana Plus 2 (Mac) is amazing, sound wise. It also disables certain system processes automatically when you're using it.

 

[Cobaltius]

  One thing you always have to remember is, you'll only hear whatever the weakest link is in your chain. That's why some people can go up to $1,000 dollar DACs and still claim it sounds the same as the ODAC, because something in the chain is off. Crap in, crap out. That leaves you with about ten different variables that crucially can matter in my experience. Also if Jplay/Fidelizer make a big difference, then I'd personally consider getting a stronger computer and keeping it tidy, I never found much of a difference over Jriver, but I'm insanely OCD over my main computers optimization as is.

Only thing I have that would be considered crap on my system currently is the power cord.. 

 

[Cobaltius]

Well I did hear a difference when I upgraded from onboard sound to the sound blaster. Just not from SB to modi.

Going crazy over DAC's since this thread. I went and tested my dads GMC Yukan amp and DAC thing in the back seats (The thing inbetween both of the front seats where you store CD's). It allows you to plug headphones into it of course. Cool thing is I noticed a difference. It sound lifeless, though I heard more background details and micro details in the background. It also sounded pretty grainy and harsh and lacked bass. Went back to my Asgard 2 and Modi and boom, sounded way fuller, less harsh, smoother and had punchy bass. I'm not sure but I felt like the car amp/dac thingy had more slightly more detail, or I'm just going insane.

 

[zerodeefex]

Well I did hear a difference when I upgraded from onboard sound to the sound blaster. Just not from SB to modi.

Going crazy over DAC's since this thread. I went and tested my dads GMC Yukan amp and DAC thing in the back seats (The thing inbetween both of the front seats where you store CD's). It allows you to plug headphones into it of course. Cool thing is I noticed a difference. It sound lifeless, though I heard more background details and micro details in the background. It also sounded pretty grainy and harsh and lacked bass. Went back to my Asgard 2 and Modi and boom, sounded way fuller, less harsh, smoother and had punchy bass. I'm not sure but I felt like the car amp/dac thingy had more slightly more detail, or I'm just going insane.

Have you picked a flagship yet? I really enjoyed the Yggy even with the more modest Klone and the Slants, HD800s, HP1ks, and Code-x.

 

[Cobaltius]

Have you picked a flagship yet? I really enjoyed the Yggy even with the more modest Klone and the Slants, HD800s, HP1ks, and Code-x.

I want the Mjolnir and Gungnir combo
 
Oh and actually I don't know if you want to do this, but is it possible if you can look up a song or two on spotify or something and describe to me how it sounds? 
Jawbox - Chicago Piano
Jawbox - Reel
 
Two tracks from Jawbox's "For Your Own Special Sweetheart" album and for me this album has a dip in the mid range so all it is is sub bass and really aggressive treble and upper mid range. Thats coming from the HD 600's and Asgard 2 and Modi. So I'm just wondering how it would sound if with your setup with the Yggy.
Oh abd if you are willing to try those songs make sure it isn't the 2009 remaster because they remastered it adding more bass and fullness to it.

 

[reddog]

Great review, I can not wait to save up for the Yggdrasil, perhaps then I will be happy and need not look for anymore audio components ( dac and amps).

 

[zerodeefex]

 
Oh and actually I don't know if you want to do this, but is it possible if you can look up a song or two on spotify or something and describe to me how it sounds? 
Jawbox - Chicago Piano
Jawbox - Reel
 
Two tracks from Jawbox's "For Your Own Special Sweetheart" album and for me this album has a dip in the mid range so all it is is sub bass and really aggressive treble and upper mid range. Thats coming from the HD 600's and Asgard 2 and Modi. So I'm just wondering how it would sound if with your setup with the Yggy.
Oh abd if you are willing to try those songs make sure it isn't the 2009 remaster because they remastered it adding more bass and fullness to it.

 
Don't buy the Yggy. You have the HD600. Buy a Gungnir or Geek Pulse and a modest amp and call it a day. 
 

Great review, I can not wait to save up for the Yggdrasil, perhaps then I will be happy and need not look for anymore audio components ( dac and amps).

 
Thank you! Maybe consider selling some of the less used gear to help fund your purchase? $2300 is a hefty chunk of change but it is a bargain as far as high end DACs go.