Schiit Yggdrasil -- 21 bit?

Awful lot of people obsessing here over measurements, one could almost mistake this for the Stereo Review website. Whatever happened to relying on A/B comparisons for what sounds better...

Awful lot of people obsessing here over measurements, one could almost mistake this for the Stereo Review website. Whatever happened to relying on A/B comparisons for what sounds better...

Plenty of folks myself included that certainly perform A/B comparisons. Nevertheless, obsessing or not, objective measurements certainly do matter.

I fear the problem is when something measures worse but sounds better. Besides the sound one hears in a particular room is due to the contributions of everything in the system - for better or worse - including the room itself.

@davide256 

Plenty of people here disregarding measurements. One could almost mistake this for Absolute Sound. Whatever happened to understanding science and engineering instead of relying on subjective assessments of "sound quality".

Dear Sheldon,

It's not physics class. It's music reproduction. All that matters is "sound quality" as perceived by the listener.

Dave

I've learned to put my hand firmly over my wallet when someone starts obsessing over measurements... usually what follows is a pitch for "mid-fi" gear where there are no A/B review defenders. I do hope that the original spirit of TAS remains with this site, seeking excellence of sound and ignoring the "midfi" spec game used to manipulate novices in their  audio purchases.

defiantboomerang

Whatever happened to understanding science and engineering instead of relying on subjective assessments of "sound quality".

The two are not mutually exclusive. In any event, this is a hobbyist’s group, not an engineering forum, so please don’t insist that contributors here refrain from sharing "subjective assessments" of sound quality.

@davide256 

What is this ‘mid-fi’ of yours? Care to give some examples?

@cleeds 

A hobbyist group is fine, nobody objects to that. But being a hobbyist does not mean that anything goes. In particular, sighted listening is useless to judge sound quality. Blind tests are a but better, but to seriously judge audio quality, one must measure.

defiantboomerang

A hobbyist group is fine, nobody objects to that.

Some here have objected - very loudly - and they have insisted on scientific data to accompany observations. That's just silly on a hobbyist site.

 But being a hobbyist does not mean that anything goes.

Of course. These forums have rules, as established by Audiogon. Those rules govern the site.

 In particular, sighted listening is useless to judge sound quality.

That's opinion stated as fact.

Blind tests are a but better, but to seriously judge audio quality, one must measure.

Surely measurements have their place. But most of the great audio designers insist that listening is also important. Listening and measuring are not mutually exclusive.

I suppose you’re overlooking that Atkinson NEVER played the Yggdrasil to hear what it actually sounded like.
Solid state used to have ’perfect measurements,’ but it sounded crappy. I just listen: and I hear (and play) instruments a LOT, so I don’t care what measurements say. My ear tells me what sounds closer to real. I’m surprised at the if-it-measures well- it’s-going-to-sound-like-real -ife. I’m hear to tell you it doesn’t. ( I now play piano, flute, harmonica). If you don’t here live music, you know less than you think you do. You’re unfamiliar with what it live (unamplified) music sounds like. People nowadays (and I suspect they’re younger) compare technology as a means of predicting how a component will sound, instead of realizing they really need to hear live music. When you hear it live and then hear it reproduced "perfect measurements" or not, you know what’s better. How many of you hear live, unamplified music often? I’d wager, not many. You can’t measure ambience or "air": you need to have sufficient experience with live music to know that. Sound like most people here haven’t ever been in a symphony hall. What nonsense to think measurements are dependable. Feh!

It’s interesting that so much of the time, people look at the specifications. A spec willl tell you absolutely nothing about how something might sound. (Moffatt was one of the designers on the old Theta, which, in its day, was lauded at "THE digital component to have), so I think he knows just a teensy bit more about digital sound than most people on this forum. But I do understand people not wanting to have something that they THINK will not give them superlative sound. I went ahead and purchased the Yggdrasil. It hasn’t even arrived yet, but If it doesn’t resemble live music - which I grew up with - then I will simply return it. So much easier than the constant "tsk, tsk-ing" that we resort to over the Internet - without ever having heard the component in question. And ever since the rise of the Internet, I've seen more comments by those who know nothing of the component in question, yet position themselves as experts of a sort. That way lies madness.

I remember when the JVC XL-Z1010 CD player came out, back in 1991. At the time, it cost only $700. There were many other much more expensive machines around - and they ALL reminded me of digital sound, while the JVC sounded -eyes closed - like real music (even with its faults) . People seem to be stuck in reading specs. Use your ears, mates. That’s what they’re for. I don’t even understand (nor care to) read arguments about "it only has 20 bits instead of 24". Instead, I know what’s good and what just sounds good to less experiences ears, because I (fortunately) get to go to Carnegie Hall or The Met. My goal, before I die, is to hear a concert in the Musikverein, the (acknowledged) best hall in the world. I know what live music sounds like, and that’s my reference. Whatever comes closest to (any one of) those halls - plus other halls I’ve been to - tells me how much of "the absolute sound" a component achieves. Shouldn’t we all be thinking of that? Well, unless you aren’t able - or never go to the symphony or ballet or opera and are unfamiliar with the actual sound of live instruments. I can easily understand, then, why, instead, people endlessly debate about the technical merits of things. And, of course, if you have SACD discs or whatever else there is, then you might be apprehensive when reading reviews about the poor Yggy, which can only do "basic" digital. Doleurs, Doleurs...

But, having written for several magazines for a while (TAS and Fi among them), I finally learned specs mean nothing, just like hearing the ingredients in a recipe cannot tell you what it will taste like (but it CAN give you a vague idea, based on the ingredients used). But then, that was back before the Internet, where people and intellectually debate how "bad" something must sound because it doesn’t have the maximum - or the best - specs. I’d go crazy reading if all I did was read - and listen to the it-can’t-possibly-sound-any-good. I used to hear that about my WATTS, and my Quicksilvers, and even some of my (obsoleted) PS Audio components. Since I know what a french horn sounds like, or a cello, I can just listen. It’s easier! If you don’t know what live sound sounds like (even in different halls), you can really have a hard time of it. But a forum is no substitute for knowing what actual instruments sound like. And, of course, on pop recordings, most of which elicit a dismayed "oh, man!" reaction from me, it’s hard to know anything about which digital machine will deliver the goods. But on a simple Rega turntable, I can tell instantly. Funny how the digital equipment people have elicits disdain from others who point out its shortcomings (without ever even having heard it for an hour or two). And i owned tow well-respected DACs, which sounded great - but not much like live music, so I have to smile when I read people saying "everyone just likes what they like." No, maybe some people do, but I’d wager they don’t get to concerts halls of unamplified music much. I’d sooner be impaled by a Jedi light saber than debate digital. After all, eggs are eggs, but if you use them when they’re cold, your cake/pie/souffle is NOT going to be - as they say in the Army ads, "be all that it can be." Perspective, perspective.

I’ll just see how much the Yggdrasil resembles Carnegie, or even Davies Hall in San Francisco (where I used to live). That will tell me all I need to know. But for only $2300, if it surpasses the Audio Research digital equipment my local dealer has, it’ll be placed on the Townshend Isolation platform - and there it will stay. (I don’t think it will shine even in his $100k+ system for one reason - he can’t set up a good system to save his life, so I’m not using his system as a "reference." But I’ll still benefit from hearing his DAC and mine side by side, just to see where his shines (and my Yggy doesn’t).
As for the person who said, "who’s Harley", he’s the Editor in Chief of The Absolute Sound and has been reviewing for 25 years or so. And has reasonably good ears, but has DEFINITELY heard more components than this entire forum combined.

@gbmcleod   Looking forward to hearing about the Yggdrasil and where it falls for you. I have found it responds well to isolation, so your use of the Townshend platforms will help stretch it's performance. If you are using the USB input, make sure you get the Gen 5 board installed, should yours be an older unit. Holiday Cheer!

@gbmcleod 

Best of luck with your new Yggy. I am a relatively recent owner of one myself, and I'm very pleased with it. I'll be interested to read your impressions of it.

To David's point, if you recently placed an order, it will ship with Gen 5. They all do. You will know this by a sticker on the back panel above the USB input and from your computer when it is connected via the USB (the device name will indicate Gen 5).

As to your statements (paraphrasing) about listening with ones ears instead of relying on specifications, I believe both are very important and useful. All available information should (IMO) be considered when evaluating a component, and that certainly includes your own ears, but should not be limited to your own ears. 

I remember reading Martin Colloms’ testing of the Jadis JA-200. Tested TERRIBLE on the bench, but magical in my system. I DO agree that maybe it helps those with technical knowledge, although I've seen people sneer about things they've never heard. Psychologists used to sneer about EMDR as an effective treatment for trauma: now it's a completely valid treatment. But the fact that they behaved that way without first-hand knowledge was something that disgusted me, as I KNEW what it did, and they did not.
In the same vein,  I hear live music weekly, so, a spec is not going to influence my buying choices. My ears have rarely led me wrong - although my expectations of life experiences, have.  Specs benefit those who can understand them (and I go cross-eyed reading test bench results such as Atkinson’s - and I should have made that clear - so I can understand how it would matter to others, but as I said, the Jadis JA-200 tested terribly, but sounded magnificent.
I confess to being astounded Atkinson didn’t mention even listening to the unit to hear what it sounded like, particularly given his being unimpressed with the technical results. That’s when I would have sat down and listened.  To MY mind, that’s like having possession of a Ferrari, looking under the hood, testing it - but never driving it. Blows my mind.

David and dhal:
I think it will be at least a week before I can discern how closely the Yggdrasil approaches the sound of live music. Mine arrived earlier than I expected: when I checked the tracking, it had already been routed to the local Fed Ex office, so I picked it up early this AM, and, of course, plugged it in immediately, and played it. I did this even though I KNOW I won’t hear anything new, because I just bought the Transparent SPDIF cable yesterday afternoon, and it, too, will have to break in (no other choice: haven’t had a DAC since the Bryston BDA-2 and sold the last coaxial cable long ago). No matter. I will still enjoy hearing the sound blossom. The only thing that was surprising to me is receiving an email from someone at Schiit, saying that they did not believe in "burn-in" time. This, especially given that Robert Harley, in his TAS review, wrote "Although Moffatt warned me that the Yggy wouldn’t sound good right out of the box, I gave it a quick listen anyway after an hour of warm-up. He was right; the Yggy was hard, bright, forward, and flat. I checked in with it a couple of times over the next week and heard it improving somewhat, but it was still disappointing." So I’m unclear if there was more to the conversation, but that Moffatt only meant that until the unit’s thermal whatever-it-is reached optimum temperature, that it wouldn’t sound good. Harley clearly didn’t like it even after a week.
And this is why I only use my own ears and why I don’t compare components (or use measurements): for me, only the sound of a live instrument has a reality that is indisputable. And, as I said, I’ll look at the specs, but I’m always going to go with "how close does this sound to a live cello/guitar/harmonica" or whatever, despite the fact that these instrument are recorded, and very little that is recorded sounds like ’the real thing.’ either. But heck, anyone who listens to a stereo knows it isn’t going to sound like the real thing. The only thing for me is, again: ’How Close’?

The Boston Pops RCA CD under Fiedler sounded the same as it did without the Yggy, as did Yma Sumac, the Rolling Stones, and Chesky Records System Setup and Surround Sound CD, and so far, it’s been 5 hours. I got to listen for 10 minutes this morning before I had to leave the house, and while It didn’t sound "bright," I had just plugged it into my NAD integrated, which I like quite a bit. I was going to involve the CJ setup, but decided against it, since I’d been using the NAD the past few weeks for checking room acoustics and the Townshend Seismic platform and pods, and don’t want to introduce other variables into the listening the first week. The ONLY thing I could tell is, that, despite the newness of the Transparent cable and the Yggy, the organ on the Chesky CD was distinctly more powerful than before the Yggy. I guess I AM going to do ONE thing additionally, in a few days: plug in the Nola Thunderbolt subwoofers to the second preamp-out of the NAD, just so I can get an idea of what the deep bass is like. I expect that THAT should be quite the thing to play at midnight tomorrow night! Either that or the 1812 Overture on Mercury Living Presence just to hear the (actual) cannon they used!

@gbmcleod I’m in the camp that finds the Yggy needs time to break in. A week will be a good start. I suggest 3 weeks. (This is for a brand new Yggdrasil).

David, I agree.

Anecdotally, last night, I had friend over who ONLY LISTENS to the Chicago Orchestra’s Scheherazade. ONLY. He replied, upon prompting, "I think it sounds pretty good." I said, "We’ll listen tomorrow morning and we went to sleep.
We heard it again this morning and it had lost some of the dynamic compression, which Dave heard immediately. 3 days down, 5 to go. Nordost takes a month.I’d be ungenerous - not to mention foolish - to not allow the Yggdrasil its full time to blossom. I hear small vaporizations of dynamic compression, especially on lower midrange instruments. Fear not, it’ll have as much time as it needs.

IMO, whenever you plan to listen - even after break-in - it's nice to have run the Yggy with a source for 30 minutes to an hour prior to your listening session.

IMO, whenever you plan to listen - even after break-in - it's nice to have run the Yggy with a source for 30 minutes to an hour prior to your listening session.

+1!

Most bands have an "opening act". Prior to my listening to a live recording of a two to three hour show, I throw something on. This flies in the face of those who intentionally leave the Yggy on 24/7. I do not. I power off/on each listening session. I suppose if the Yggy were left on 24/7 it could forgo the need/desire to "warm it up". :)

I ’think’ it even sounds better if run with a source prior to a listening session, even if is left on all the time (as mine is).

Not sure if I could reliably tell either way - maybe it’s my own little placebo... :)

A question for Yggdrasil owners: do you still use the stock power cord provided with the unit or have you substituted another cord? 

I substituted the power cord immediately. I also removed the very 'basic' footers. 

Robert Harley is the one who reviewed the yagdrassil dac, he is a very good and accurate reviewer, for Absolute Sound....

A question for Yggdrasil owners: do you still use the stock power cord provided with the unit or have you substituted another cord?

I'm using the stock power cord. 

I substituted the power cord immediately. I also removed the very 'basic' footers.

Hi David. Were you able to detect an audible difference with either the (ones you use in place of stock) cable or footer?

I'm sure you read the manual. The Yggdrasil has "zero stick-on feet (because Yggy already has screw-in feet—you’ve reached the big leagues now, guys)" 

Just a little humor :)

Yes on both counts. I was expecting the differential with the power cord, but I was more surprised at the improvement made when I swapped in footers which was after the power cord swap.

I've posted this elsewhere...the Yggy is designed to a price point and is exceptional at that price point...but the good/bad news is that it will respond to changes such as power cabling and isolation, etc.

Thanks, David.
I just saw your response, but answered my own question earlier, right after I posed the question on here, by putting in an old ESP cord, circa 1995. I only wanted to change one thing at a time, or I’d have put the Shunyata Zitron Python on the DAC and another cord on the Arcam player. My rule, though is, One change at a time! Came back two hours later (as you probably know, cords should have time to "settle", although people scoff at that [ and I ignore that, since I KNOW that I can hear the difference between 5 minutes and two hours ]). Sure enough, it made a difference, even with a 20 year-old vintage - but quite good - cord. I’ll eventually put a Shunyata Python Zitron on it, but not now. As for the footers, I’ll do that again in a week, when I have listened to more music. Still points for now or maybe Nordost Sort Futs, althought the Townshend is - in my experience - the one that kills off the most vibration. I have used the two in combination, but not with a converter as resolving as the Yggdrasil. Since I don’t have balanced outputs on the CJ preamp (which I’m not using yet anyway), I want to give the converter every other advantage I can. Even as it is, being only 5 days old, I played Marianne Faithful’s CD of Kurt Weill’s The Seven Deadly Sins and could hear the piano pedal release waaaay back in the soundstage, something I hadn’t even been able to hear when I had a First Sound preamp or any other components I reviewed along with my own Hurricane amps (still love the realism they are capable of) years ago. Given I’m just using an NAD BEE integrated, I expect to be cross-eyed with admiration when I make that changeover.
I’ve had much more expensive digital in my home than the Yggy back when I reviewed components for TAS, Ultra Audio.com and Fi Magazine, but nothing that rivaled the Yggy in both resolution AND the musicality - and even though it’s FAR from broken in - I suspect a rather spectacular end result with the all-tubed system. I will probably buy another Townshend Seismic Platform, as I have found that to eliminate ALL airborne and structure-generated vibration. The nicest thing so far is knowing that the tonality of instruments will mature further (the upper midrange-lower treble "bite" is still apparent, but doesn’t bother me at all). Nordost’s cables take what SEEMS forever to get rid of the upper midrange glare (at least, as I’ve said in previous thread, 4 weeks 24/7).

Thanks for the response. I appreciate that.

And Gdhal, as you can tell by my response, yes, there is a rather noticeable difference when removing the stock cord. I’d suspected as much, but wasn’t sure of any conclusion until I actually did the experiment and decided that , as old as the ESP cord is, it is FAR better than what comes with the unit. I’ve loaned a friend a Nordost Heimdall cord, and I’m afraid he’s going to have to give it back it for a week or two (he won’t be happy with that, as he’s become used to the sound of his system, and he’ll notice it immediately, but hey, it’s on long-term loan to him, and he’ll just have to suck it up)! I’m pretty generous with my friends, foisting off equipment I have too much of. The only problem is that by the time I ask for it back (if ever), they’ve heard the improvement. By then, they’ve become involuntary audiophiles without meaning to! I let them hear everything I buy. This friend has heard the Townshends, both the Iso-Pods as well as the Seismic Platform and lusts after them. He’ll get one of the two eventually. But he’ll never spring for the Yggdrasil even if I take it over (and I have no intention of unplugging it, although I have an ac converter in my car, and it would take literally 30 seconds to get it out to the car. But he’ll hear the improvement, nonetheless). In fact, on Head-Fi. org, a guy decided to see how long it would take for the sound to "return." He left it off for 5 minutes and then an hour (and then two hours) and said the sound returned within two hours. Here’s his post:

"So tonight is the night. According to my very vague calculation, I was at over 1030 hours of 24/7 music play on my Yggdrasil. As promised a while ago time to turn the damn thing off. So, after this dramatic event, did music, the way I knew it, die?

5 minutes off - no sound changes really. Ok forget it, let’s do this properly.

1 hour off. Dead cold. Back to life. Right off cold the treble was a bit harsh and the rest of FR a bit disjointed. Got back to it less than an hour later (still cold to touch) and the bass, impact, speed and details were all there. The mids were butter smooth, detailed and deep reaching like before (HE-6s/Eddie Current as we know it) and the treble already great. First minutes aside, I don’t think Yggy went back to the first days’ more dubious sound. Two hours later, it’s lukewarm again and it sounds pretty damn impressive already.

I had an warmed up Theta Gen V on the side for comparison and ready to switch over to for a few days, if the sound was crap. But it’s not.

YMMV. FWIW. WTF. etc" [End of his post]



So, this might help those who are afraid to unplug it ( Me? I was FRANTIC trying to get the very stiff ESP hooked up before I "lost" the already stellar performance it delivered after 5 days!) So his post gave me hope. Mine was only unplugged for 2 minutes.

@david_ten  and @gbmcleod 

Thanks for the candid feedback regarding Yggdrasil "stock" power cords and footers. It's nice (for me at least) to understand there is yet another upgrade path and/or means to improvement. I'm more than content for the immediate future though.

While you may already know this, I figure it's worth mentioning as it's in the "same vein" where stock Yggy parts are concerned.

I've read much recently on the head-fi forum where at least some folks claim *big* improvement is to be had by replacing the stock glass fuse with other "boutique" brands (varying but all supposedly better). The downside here from what I understand is that it would void the warranty. But I suppose one could always wait a few years until the Yggy is out of warranty :)

Really?!? Schiit said it would void the warranty if someone used a different fuse???
By the way, I’m one of those people who’s used "boutique brands" since 2011 (I know you meant no harm by your statement). And they do change the sound for the better, mostly noticeable as a lower noise floor. I’ve tried Hi Fi Supremes, AMR, Horizon, Furutech, but have ended up sticking with Synergistic (I have each generation of their fuses). I wouldn’t bother changing the Yggdrasil anyway, as 1), it isn’t fully burned in and 2), I like it as it is.
As for the power cords, I eyed my Shunyata Zi-Tron sideways and wondered if it wouldn’t be put to better use in the Yggdrasil rather than the Arcam FMJ 23, which is now merely a disc-spinner. But I think not. Not for the time being, anyway.

I’m of the observation that isolation from vibration is more important that fuses, simply because, when your equipment is doing the cha-cha (and you can’t see it), the tiniest cues are missing. Even though I’ve have Finite Elemente equipment stands for years, putting the Townshend platform under my turntable, then getting the iso-pods and putting them under the amp, convinced me that vibration really does more than we realize, to the point that some of our older equipment was likely better then we knew at the time, but that was back in the ’80s, and the new hot thing then was Tip Toes! It’s odd to think that nobody considered the effect of speakers sitting on the carpet or floor (or maybe they did!). I followed TAS’ Enid Lumley, who proposed things that people - at the time - found outrageous - such as capacitors having a "memory." She was found, over time, to be right on the money about that. Then she said remove the speaker cables off the floor (did that one, too) and I even demonstrated that (it’s in another thread) for some Illustrious High End Luminaries that, indeed, Enid was right again (despite those who say they can hear no difference. That’s something I cannot fathom, having hearing loss in one ear, and I can hear it easily. Just not that very second. It takes around 2 hours for cables to settle after being moved AT ALL before you can hear the sonic changes). that’s what happened last night when I put in the old ESP cord and was chagrined to hear that the sound was "muddy." I had to remind myself to leave the room and come back an hour or two later (I usually give it two hours) and THEN, it was most decidedly NOT muddy, but a clear improvement. It makes one wonder why equipment manufacturers provide these generic cords, but then, who’s going to give away a $300 power cord that the customer might just re-sell for a profit, so, in hindsight, not so strange.

But even without all this folderol, the Yggy is quite the beast! I was happy just reading that it could be turned off for an hour or two and then it regained its magic after another hour or two. Maybe I’ll take it to the local dealer and let him listen to it. Of course, it will be plugged into an ac outlet I have in my car, so it won’t be without power for more than the 30 seconds it takes me to move it from its perch to the car (if I decide to do that).
How long did you find it took for the upper midrange glare to subside? I can hear it mostly on Mercury Living Presence recordings, since their microphones had a peak in the upper midrange and highs, but it’s clearly a bit "hashy" sounding at 156 hours. I hear - from the head-fi.org site - that it’s somewhere around 200 hours that that sound goes away. Did you experience that with your unit?

Really?!? Schiit said it would void the warranty if someone used a different fuse???

Yes, according to folks posting here https://www.head-fi.org/threads/schiit-yggdrasil-impressions-thread.766347/page-426
See the most recent posts dating back from 1/18 to a few weeks prior.

...How long did you find it took for the upper midrange glare to subside?...I hear - from the head-fi.org site - that it’s somewhere around 200 hours that that sound goes away. Did you experience that with your unit?

Can't really say/write. I never heard anything "glaring" from the Yggy per se. It sounded good right out of the box. When I first got it I went through all kinds of listening tests from a comparison perspective to my existing gear. I documented my findings in this thread. https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/new-yggdrasil-first-and-second-impressions

As documented in that thread, I eventually found source music material that *clearly and consistently* could be used to demonstrate how well the Yggy can "best" my Oppo and Emotiva, which now act as transport. However, I honestly cannot be sure if that discovery was a result of "break-in" or my increased understanding as to what specific qualities to listen for. I'm inclined to believe it is the later. 

Really?!? Schiit said it would void the warranty if someone used a different fuse???

And rightly so, because many of these snake oil fuses are blowing, so "fusers" are going up in amperage from the original fuse rating, so if anything untoward happens and the fuse doesn't blow quick enough, the equipment could be severely damage or worse catch fire.

Cheers George    

Ok, thanks dhal.

George, I have yet to have a fuse blow ANY of my components, and I have every good one on the market. I use the exact fuse rating specified, so I’m unclear what others are doing wrong.
As far as the Yggy, I have no desire, given that every review of it in the major magazines is using it in stock form, to feel the need to "improve" it. I’m usually surprised people feel the need to modify, but then, I’m no technician. It it sounds like a cello playing - and I know what a cello sounds like from 3 feet away - I don’t need for it to be any better than that.
But to say that the fuses are "snake oil," unless you’ve tried them, is unfair and unknowledgeable. I’ve used 5 generations of Synergistics, 3 of Hi Fi Tuning, Furutechs, Audio Horizon and AMR. Additionally, my late buddy, HP, the founder of The Absolute Sound, used the HiFi Tuning fuses (which I’d used as well) in his Silver Circle conditioner and one or two other components, and we both agreed - independently of each other - that they DID improve the sound. I just don’t use them in every single piece of equipment, because after a while, you stop enjoying the music when you’re so busy modifying the equipment. (Not to mention, EVERY generation of modification generates that tiresome word "AMAZING.") I get tired of everything being ’amazing,’ given how neurotic we audiophiles can be. Not to mention, it’s as though our vocabulary is that of a 10 year old, where everything is "awesome."

That’s how I burned out from enjoying music the first time (’81 - ’98), when I had several state-of-the-art components and just kept spiraling upwards with the latest and greatest (and ended up economically poorer - and less enchanted by music, which is my First Love). And I’m not anxious to be treating equipment as a test bench experiments. I leave that to John Atkinson. I find good room acoustics, electricity and isolation allow most equipment to perform as it was made to. And we didn't even have power cords, fuses, isolation devices back in 1988, and yet music was beautiful. And pure.
But fuses DO work, if used correctly.

But fuses DO work, if used correctly.

Is there a way of using a correctly rated AC mains fuse the wrong way??
Or are you saying that they are directional??

Cheers George

What I’m saying is that, if turned in one direction, the dimensionality (and general sonics) sound "off," or, as others put it, "flattened," as though you folded an accordion in to its smallest size. If you turn the fuse the other way (whichever is the "right" way), it will be as though you have the accordion fully extended (with your arms fully out to either side of you). I don’t know the mechanics, but I can hear the effect easily, and so can anyone who has their system set up optimally. (Not as easy to do as it sounds, given that a local dealer here has a $100,000+ setup and it sounds very mediocre). No dynamic range, individual instruments don’t jump out at you as they do in an orchestra in real life, and very little inflections [ dotted 1/8 notes, etc.] apparent in the presentation. And I’ve owned many of the components he has, (Wilson speakers, ARC, Transparent and Nordost cabling) in earlier incarnations, and so I know what the earlier incarnations sounded like, and his should sound FAR better than what I had 20 years ago. They don’t.)
Anyway, it’s not that the fuses can cause damage: they just don’t sound "great" in the same way that if you put a component on a kitchen table, it doesn’t sound as good as if you have an audio rack, built specifically to inhibit vibration. It’ll sound "okay," but "okay" is not "optimal."

Incidentally, my Yggy has hit its 8th day. Last night, I walked OUT of the room, dissatisfied with Marianne Faithfull’s voice on Kurt Weill’s "Seven Deadly Sins." It sounded "fractionalized," as though some of the notes in her singing (particularly when she was singing "throaty" notes) had disappeared. Now, I HAD just moved around power cords on the Yggy (put a Shunyata Python ZiTron on it and moved the Yggy’s stock power cord to my Arcam FMJ) - and disliked the results. So I unplugged them, put the ZiTron back on the Arcam and an ESP power cord (20 years old, but hey, it’s better than the Yggy’s stock cord) back on the Yggy (I’d removed the stock cord around 5 days, just to see if it made a difference. It did.) BACK onto the Yggy. It sounded okay, but frankly, if you move a power cord - or speaker cable, for that matter - and expect it to sound great 5 minutes later, you’re in for a disappointment. Again, it’ll "sound" okay, but if you check it two hours later (yes, I know there are doubting Thomases here: I don’t care. I did setup when I was the Equipment Manager for Fi Magazine, and some of that equipment was pretty exalted stuff and anyone who was a careful listener could hear it), it will sound much superior.
Anyway, didn’t hear it again until this afternoon - an hour ago. And was impressed. REALLY impressed. And the general consensus is that it needs longer than the two week burn-in to reach optimal sonics, although Thomas (whoever he is), at Schiit, wrote me an email saying they didn’t subscribe to "burn-in." Amusing that his name is Thomas (the doubting one), because whether its burn-in or something else, that bass drum on the JVC XRCD version of Holsts’ "The Planets" on cut 6, "Uranus," was downright gut-punching (and I have Nola Thunderbolt subs, so if there’s no improvement, it just ain’t there). I don’t know what they’re doing that others aren’t, but the sound is akin to a Mercury Living Presence sound: close up and personal. And the instruments are (finally) taking on a very "physical" presentation (which means the midbass is filling in.) Anytime you have a really, REALLY 3-D presentation, it’s the midbass. (Ask any musician who plays in an orchestra.) That’s why earlier version of the Wilson WATT/Puppies (I had versions 1,2,3,4) sounded so "holographic": Wilson’s sound - back then - was weighted towards the midbass, which made instruments sound extremely "there" as though there was an invisible Thelma Houston singing in front of you. The Yggy has - so far - a VERY good midbass, although I THINK the drum in Uranus is more upper midbass than lower (anyone who knows more about this, [plenty of people] please correct me if I’m wrong here). In any case, I can hardly wait for day 10. Some people are saying a month (notably, Robert Harley, TAS’ Executive director), whose review of the Yggdrasil is there for anyone to read on the TAS website.
This is clearly a reference-quality DAC. I haven’t discovered the shortcomings, because I’m agog at the music that comes out of the Nola speakers, and I don’t agree with Thomas at Schitt that there is no "burn-in." (Neither does anyone at Head-Fi.org, for that matter.)

if turned in one direction, the dimensionality (and general sonics) sound "off," or, as others put it, "flattened," I don’t know the mechanics

There are no mechanics just AC mains theory, which needs brushing up on.
Mains in US changes it’s flow direction 60 x a second, 50 here in Au.

To be able to hear if a mains fuse "is" directional, you would have to pull it out and change it's direction  60 x's in one second and! to stay in sync with the mains doing it!!!   

Cheers George

and I don’t agree with Thomas at Schitt that there is no "burn-in." (Neither does anyone at Head-Fi.org, for that matter.)

That is not true as written. *Most* on head-fi (Yggy impression thread) agree burn-in is required (to optimize sound quality). Some do not.

I have read that most properly designed dacs  sound alike. What about a dac which uses a beefy analog power supply vs a dac which uses switchmode power supply? Will the dac can using better power supply have better sonics?

Will the dac can using better power supply have better sonics?

I'd have to write "yes", given what I was informed by Schiit tech support and that can be inferred from certain Yggdrasil literature.

Btw the fair way to break in components is let it break in at a friend's place. When ready then listen to it. I have bought digital stuff before and almost no need to break in.