yggdrasil technical measurements

[jfoxvol]

  Yes, this is in my queue along with correcting the THD measurements. I've been busy with Gungnir MB and Bifrost MB and a new Cavalli Liquid Crimson. Personally I've become enchanted with the Bifrost MB performance and spend more time listening and less time measuring with my discretionary time.

Maybe we'll see a hardware balanced implementation of the MB Bifrost in a Gumby Junior MB down the road.  I'm not familiar with the parallel DAC architecture and not sure how complicated hardware balancing would be to implement with the I/V stages.  That would be neat.  I say make that and replace the standard D/S Gungnir.  17 bits would be great.  Using Nigel Tufnel logic, it's one louder.

 

[jfoxvol]

  Yes, this is in my queue along with correcting the THD measurements. I've been busy with Gungnir MB and Bifrost MB and a new Cavalli Liquid Crimson. Personally I've become enchanted with the Bifrost MB performance and spend more time listening and less time measuring with my discretionary time.

Also same here.  I find myself listening to my living room system with this DAC more and more.  It's just that good.  Yggy is beyond belief good and clear but wow this thing...thanks again for all the insight into technical performance of these products.  It's much appreciated and good to have a smattering of actual science and measurements amongst the fervor. 

 

[atomicbob]

 
Maybe we'll see a hardware balanced implementation of the MB Bifrost in a Gumby Junior MB down the road.  I'm not familiar with the parallel DAC architecture and not sure how complicated hardware balancing would be to implement with the I/V stages.  That would be neat.  I say make that and replace the standard D/S Gungnir.  17 bits would be great.  Using Nigel Tufnel logic, it's one louder.

I'll take 16 really good bits over 20 mediocre any day. The Bifrost MB delivers 16 really good bits. Like you, I am not familiar with all the DAC iimplementation topology differences, but I intend to learn more.

 

[atomicbob]

 
Also same here.  I find myself listening to my living room system with this DAC more and more.  It's just that good.  Yggy is beyond belief good and clear but wow this thing...thanks again for all the insight into technical performance of these products.  It's much appreciated and good to have a smattering of actual science and measurements amongst the fervor. 

I have never had a DAC inspire me to get up early in the morning to squeeze in a little more recreational listening before moving into work mode, which means going back to voice over edits, processing etc, for the near term.

 

[jfoxvol]

  I have never had a DAC inspire me to get up early in the morning to squeeze in a little more recreational listening before moving into work mode, which means going back to voice over edits, processing etc, for the near term.

Yup.  It's odd that there are some older redbook recordings I enjoy more with this versus the Yggy.  It's not a dig against the Yggy.  For example, the album Chet Atkins and Mark Knopler did several years ago just appears fuller and more musical with the Bimby system.  That comment will probably start a tirade.  I own both though and enjoy both.  I do find that there is a slight warmth to the character it brings that I enjoy.  I could go on and on about how a DAC should just disappear and I'm guilty of saying that. 
 
I'm reminded of an episode of Top Gear (short then I'll stop) where Mr. Clarkson agreed that his car in the competition wasn't the best but he liked it better.  Yes, the other one tested better and had more options and was faster...but he liked this one.  Depending on mood and what I want to listen to, I like the Bimby just as much as the Yggy for 16bit recordings.  It doesn't mean it's better or as good on paper...but I like it.

 

[madwolfa]

  I'll take 16 really good bits over 20 mediocre any day. The Bifrost MB delivers 16 really good bits. Like you, I am not familiar with all the DAC iimplementation topology differences, but I intend to learn more.

 
Should we expect some Bimbo measurements soon?
 
EDIT: nevermind, just found this: http://www.head-fi.org/t/785367/bifrost-mb-technical-measurements

 

[jfoxvol]

   
Should we expect some Bimbo measurements soon?
 
EDIT: nevermind, just found this: http://www.head-fi.org/t/785367/bifrost-mb-technical-measurements

Sweet!  I missed that one.  Those look like some dandy measurements.

 

[atomicbob]

 
Yup.  It's odd that there are some older redbook recordings I enjoy more with this versus the Yggy.  It's not a dig against the Yggy.  For example, the album Chet Atkins and Mark Knopler did several years ago just appears fuller and more musical with the Bimby system.  That comment will probably start a tirade.  I own both though and enjoy both.  I do find that there is a slight warmth to the character it brings that I enjoy.  I could go on and on about how a DAC should just disappear and I'm guilty of saying that. 
 
I'm reminded of an episode of Top Gear (short then I'll stop) where Mr. Clarkson agreed that his car in the competition wasn't the best but he liked it better.  Yes, the other one tested better and had more options and was faster...but he liked this one.  Depending on mood and what I want to listen to, I like the Bimby just as much as the Yggy for 16bit recordings.  It doesn't mean it's better or as good on paper...but I like it.

Yggy is the most neutral and resolving of the three MB DACs. This is a great thing to hear everything, warts and all, which is good for the mix / mastering engineers and those who wish to achieve similar for their own systems, provided the amps and headphones or speakers and room acoustics are up to the task. For recreational listeners, a slightly less resolving and a hint of euphony is a good thing. My personal preference is Bimby for many pop recordings from the 60s, 70s and 80s.

 

[7ryder]

I agree about Yggy -- it can be too much of a good thing on some recordings. That said, a good tube preamp and Regen solved the problem. 

 

[johnjen]

One aspect to this 'too much of a good thing' I've noticed is that poorly or mediocre recorded music becomes more 'fascinating' warts, poor recording techniques, overloads, and all, IF the entire system can 'keep pace' or as I refer to it as 'getting out of it's own way'.

Then these idiosyncrasies when not exacerbated further by the rest of the system, become a window into exactly what happened during the recording/mixing/mastering process.

It's like being able to see/hear INTO the entirety of the track and all of its 'parts', separately and as a whole.

Which for me brings a degree of fascination with HOW the music was recorded and assembled and 'adjusted'.

Especially some of the early rock & roll albums from the 50's and 60's where distortion, clipping, saturation and other 'undesirable' sonic aspects were very common.
Now these same sonic degradations just add more 'color' to the mix, another layer of 'tone' to the music.

Like I said, it becomes fascinating to be able to hear these sonic contributions AND be able to easily identify them for what they are.

JJ

 

[7ryder]

I was referring to current recordings that are recorded too hot, you know, victims of the loudness war.

 

[johnjen]

Ah, THAT schiit…

Well perhaps someone will come up with a complimentary un-schiitifier in a DSP plug in that can un-do what those who do such horrid things to music in the first place.

Well I can dream can't I? :atsmile:

JJ

 

[artur9]

I reviewed the thread for the 1kHz @ -90dBFS but didn't see them.  Are they available?

 

[atomicbob]

I was referring to current recordings that are recorded too hot, you know, victims of the loudness war.

Ah, there is a miserable war in which everyone lost. I once made a presentation where both a "loudness enhanced" version of the originally very dynamic recording were level matched for average perceived sound level. When A/B compared, the "enhanced" version was noticeably inferior, to everyone listening.

 

[atomicbob]

  I reviewed the thread for the 1kHz @ -90dBFS but didn't see them.  Are they available?

Yes, good question, where are they? Maybe in my usually rushed schedule I forgot to post them. Here is what I have from the 3 hr testing:
 
yggdrasil  1KHz -90dBFS