New Yggdrasil - First (and second) Impressions

If the source file is the same and the Yggy is converting jitter free then it should sound the same no matter what your digital source. This AB test may exclude your cable box (as you have no control what is coming over the cable) but it is easy to check the same file from your CD and Blu ray and PC by burning the same source file to disc.

In fact if you do find a difference after ensuring the source file is identical then I would be concerned about the jitter immunity of the Yggy or the integrity of the source.

Thanks guys.

@blindjim -Yes, I too read of the long time for the Yggy to blossom. I suppose I was just hopeful that I’d readily detect at least a slight difference immediately (right of the box) and then gradual but noticable improvement over time. As for my cable box, honestly I just connected it without changing any settings. I’ve been in the settings menu a number of times and the audio options are very limited. Of course, I realize that the Yggy only does PCM. In my case that is fine and actually preferred, because I didn’t want to spend anything extra on DSD or MQA which is of no interest to me (because my collection of music is all PCM).

@ghosthouse - I shall focus my listening (to "hear" the Yggy) on the items you mention. Yes, I can run a constant source through it. The manual just indicates to leave it on and doesn’t specify to run music through it, but your advice here seems reasonable. I take it the input wouldn’t/shouldn’t matter (i.e. coax, optical, etc. should produce the same "burn in").

@shadorne - The A/B comparison test I’m speaking of would be the same source material and through the same player. For example, I have my Emotiva ERC-3 connected to the Yggy via AES/EBU, and the ERC-3 is also connected directly to my amp via RCA. So if I play a CD on it, I’ve toggled the amp input from balanced (where Yggy is the source) to CD (where ERC-3 is the source) during playback of the CD to try and discern a difference. The balanced connection is louder of course at the same volume level, so I’m disregarding that aspect and trying (just by ear and casually) to perhaps hear something "different". It could be that my hearing just isn’t "precise" enough, but I suspect whatever difference the Yggy brings to the table is subtle at best (not that it would be a bad thing if nothing more than subtle).

Not entirely clear why you'd expect a performance gain over your superb UDP-205...? Can we assume you have directly compared the OPPO to the YGGY, keeping all other factors constant, and found little difference? If so, that's quite the endorsement for the OPPO😊

Agreed the UDP-205 is superb. And yes, I have directly compared the OPPO to the YGGY, keeping all other factors constant, and (so far) found little difference. Frankly, I wasn't expecting tremendous difference. If there were tremendous difference, something would be amiss. 

At this early stage, if I were to blind test the two (Oppo/Yggy) in an attempt to pick one apart from the other, I *think* (haven't actually tried "blind" as I am aware of my choosing the input source) I would be able to tell the Yggy as it does appear to sound ever so slightly less "digital" than the Oppo. Very subtle though. But I do  consider a slightly less digital sound a welcome and worthwhile change/upgrade. I thought of a modwright tube modification to the Oppo instead of buying the Yggy, but for various reasons opted not to go that route.

I'm still trying to "figure this out", especially while I'm in the return policy window. Perhaps I'm trying a bit too hard. 

I have found very small differences when switching dacs also.