DENAFRIPS Terminator and Schiit Yggdrasil Evaluation and Comparison

@audiofun Did you ever write up that review on the iFi Pro iDSD?  How does it compare to your AMR DP-777SE?  I've been out of the hifi game for several years but have been bitten by the bug again after deciding to try the First Watt SIT-3 amp and being enamored by it.  I was looking at used/new DACs up to around $3k and considered the AMR, Luxman DA-06, McIntosh MDA-1000, MHDT Orchid (+ upgrades), Berkeley Alpha DAC 2, Schiit Yggdrasil A2. 

I have an iFi on the way and settled on it for its very high value and flexibility, especially considering that I won't need a transport and the cables to go with it, but of course I still wonder about those other DACs.

I like a sweet, organic, dense sound but detailed and transparent with realistic imaging, transparency, and 3D soundstage.  Not so much into big bass slam, in your face dynamics, or crystalline highs (though I do enjoy what a good super tweeter brings to the table).  My bedroom system, which I still have, runs an MHDT Havana that's modified with all top shelf capacitors (Duelund, Jupiter, Black Gate, etc) and other components.  I really enjoy it and settled on that over the BADA 2, PS Audio PWD2, etc. 5+ years ago.

eugene81:

Hi, hope all is going well. I am just about to write that one. It is the most difficult review I’ve ever attempted because it does SOOOO much and I wanted to be fair. It won’t be long but what I write is what I actually hear during my listening sessions and comparisons. The Berkeley, I can only speak about the Reference MK 1 which I had on hand, just forget about it. The Berkeley Ref was, well, sorry but it was just bad sounding. Hard, anti-musical just plain bad sounding digital. The Berkeley is beautiful to behold and feels like a solid piece of aluminum sculpture but you couldn’t give it to me free and expect that I would ever hook it up. 

I’ll give you a real quick and dirty run down before I write the full review. AMR DP 777 SE > iDSD Pro > iDSD BL >>> Berkeley Reference Mk 1.

The iDSD Pro playing DSD files ( I have about 800 of them) gets way way close to the AMR 777 SE. It plays DSD files better than I’ve ever heard that format played before.

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/driving-gallo-reference-5ls

" Well... I bought the Yggdrasil... because all of the reviews said it one of the top 3 dacs at any price, ranking with the best available. And... though skeptical... I was pleasantly surprised... it is, as they say... "on a whole other level".... cont'd..."

Looking for end game level dac, the obvious choice for price point is the yggdrasil.
I owned it and then went with a "Holo Spring" dac after.

R2R is the dac topology of choice for maximum end game sound,
But I have to agree with the review of this thread.

The Terminator IS ABOVE the yggy .
It seems like an impossibility for those that have not heard better, simply because there are none better that I and most have heard.
The Chord and others are simply a different choice.

The Terminator is the only dac I have heard that was noticeably better.
If I were to give a simple idea, I would describe it as being probably  about 15% better, so you must consider if that type of gain is worthy of the expense of upgrading ...

Anyone have the dsp board upgrade for terminator?  I got it and it enhanced the sound significantly.