New Yggdrasil - First (and second) Impressions

@dc_bruce

You’re post is rather informative, especially coming from a person whose only made two of them.

Yes, I have an acquaintance with a good system. There isn’t a need to go that route at the moment as I *can* discern a difference. Blind A/B testing though is inconclusive at the moment. I’ve enlisted the ears of  my (bass guitar musician) friend and we have listened together for about 4 hours. I need to digest his feedback, our overall preference, etc. But we can discern a difference with certainty *if not blind*. To your point of derived benefit of balance, I would agree. However, I’m not interested in exploring that aspect at the moment.

@whitestix
Yes, you and I are on the same page regarding speakers vs. dacs.  I agree that that is where you hear the biggest differences, that's where I've had my "wow" moments, both good and bad.    Get the speakers right for your room and listening tastes - and assuming you have an amp capable of driving them properly - and there's a pretty good chance you'll be happy with your system.

**** THE YGGY STAYS ****

So I’ve had the Yggy for 9 days, and my return trial ends in 6 as of this writing.

I’d first like to mention that my system objective is of course to sound great, but within the monetary confines of the best that $50K all in can achieve. Further, I wish to remain digital/solid state, yet "tweak" the sound as much as practical to introduce an analog “flavor”. At the same time it should be (sound) genre neutral, despite my primarily listening to rock. In a sense, I’d like it to sound the best that digital can sound, and I am of the opinion that digital can sound superior to analog. I am also not interested in multi-channel, however, my two channels should also sound good when and if called upon to reproduce home heater. I also believe that a system synergy can exist, and the combined effect of all components and accessories play a role. I attempt and desire to hear a more “technically correct” sound as opposed to merely a “sound preference”.

For Grateful Dead heads such as myself, the Yggy really *isn’t* necessary. In fact, for any casual listening, I think one can do without the Yggdrasil. If one desires every note to be as faithful as possible, the Yggy can add value relative to my other components.

I’ve run a plethora of music at it in order to sample, however, the overwhelming majority is 16/44 and not high rez. That said, I have discovered source material that accentuates all of my finding and unequivocally proves the Yggy, at a minimum, is “different” than my CD, Blue Ray Universal and Cable Box players.

Namely, Elegant Gypsy by American jazz fusion guitarist Al Di Meola.

Any 20 second passage on any track can be used to reveal differences between the Yggy and any other of my sources when played direct to amp. In fact, one of my conclusions is that the Yggy is “best” when used for Jazz recordings. Further, the Yggy’s usefulness increases as the “density” of the instruments increase and the overall quality of the recording is increased. In other words, it doesn’t add benefit unless the source itself is very good to begin with.

Yggy balanced XLR connection is noticeably better than SE/RCA, but all A/B testing was performed using SE/RCA. While imaging is best at my PLP, A/B sampling was performed at various points throughout the room, all in front (standing and seated) of the equipment/speakers.

Testing included blind where person A toggles input and then has person B choose a preference. Testing including blind where person B had advanced knowledge of the playback device and then person A toggles input and has person B try and recognize the playback device. Testing included hand holding remote and toggling input between two playback devices after listening to “loop” passages between 5 and 25 seconds. Blind testing has proven inconclusive to date, however, non-blind testing can be used to achieve results that can be reproduced.

Easily audible given the right track, the Yggy produces richer bass, a more "evolving" mid-range and tighter treble with respect to my other gear. The treble on the Oppo and all other devices beside the Yggy is more “tinny”, “bright” and not as “under control". I’m splitting hairs and by all accounts a $2300 Yggy really isn’t "necessary" unless the type of music you listen to plays into its strength. The recording itself plays a major factor and must be more "dense", "fuller", etc. to take advantage of what the Yggy can offer.

The Yggy has superior mid-bass and stays out of its own way. By this I mean, it *never sounded any worse* than another component. It’s as if the Yggy adds benefit on its own terms, when and if the source music can provide the Yggy what it needs to do its “thing”.

While I’ll keep the Yggy, I do understand there isn’t as much benefit to it with Grateful Dead type music as there is other types, like jazz. Also, I’ve considered other alternatives, and I think in the grand scheme of things I should keep it.

On tap for the next round of testing includes using the Yggy from a cold start-up. While the unit is designed to sound best when left on continually, I don’t like paying a recurring electrical cost. Granted, this is nickel and diming, but I’m going on principal here. Again, this is to test whatever difference leaving it on brings to the table.

My sincere thanks to all of you for disseminating your knowledge, opinions and wisdom.

Very good review gdhal. It has been fun to follow this progression and it seems clear, at least to me, that you have invested enough time and energy to grasp what the Yggy or other up-scale DAC offers vs the very good Oppos. Good job all around. Well done.

I certainly learned a few things about giving recommendations to folks moving up from the lower ranks of hi-end to next step or two and I really appreciate that enlightenment.

First, I considered recording quality a given. I listen to about anything on my hi-end rig AS LONG AS IT IS RECORDED WELL and maintain a second vinyl-based vintage system for listening to the rock of the 60s/70s/80s and most blues. And radio. I love listening to this stuff on that system. It’s a whole different experience than listening to well recorded music on my hi-end rig, but every bit as satisfying IMO. Two different worlds. It never occurred to me that someone would think that a better DAC would improve poor recordings. It won’t. Quite the opposite IME. This was an oversight in my thinking in prior posts not to be more specific about the sensitivity of better equipment to recording quality and even music genre.

Second, two or more peoples’ perception of "significant gains" in sound quality can be quite different. Your description of the differences/improvements you heard with the Yggy vs your other sources is well into what I consider to be "significant gains" territory. I learned that short blurbs on an audio forum about relative differences between equipment really need to be defined by describing more precise observations about the improvements, lest we set up someone we are trying to help for failure by misleading them on expectations.

Trying the Yggy cold is a complete waste of time to my thinking; again, it would never occur to me, but maybe I will learn more.

Again, great job gdhal.

Dave

@dlcockrum

I appreciate your kind remarks Dave. Thank you.

My desire to test the sound under cold start is born out the understanding that multibit R2R is optimized when its resistors temperature is constant. Even Schiit "highly recommends" leaving the unit on 24/7, and I may wind up doing this. I’d just like to hear (or attempt to hear) any difference with my own ears.

Benchmark engineering goes even further with regard to the criticality of resistor ladder DACs by stating (I have email correspondence from Rory Rall) "Even if the resistors are precision trimmed, they drift with temperature. This drift is not just a function of the ambient temperature. The change in resistance can even be induced by the instantaneous heating caused by the audio signal."

Imagine that. Temperature change caused by the signal itself effecting (negatively in this case?) the audio. 

I’d like to hear that to believe it :)