Schiit Yggdrasil Less is More, is it a quality dac ?

Yes the Yggy is a very good DAC for the money, and it all comes down to personal preference on it's sonic presentation. I found the Yggy to be a little forward though very detailed, kind of similar to Chord DACs. Great soundstge, very quick, yet a touch too detailed....but might be perfect for someone that likes that signature. I got fatigued listening after a few hours.

I love the Pontus II (now 12th), and as jjss49 suggests I found the Pontus II more engaging, mid bass had more "purpose", richer mids, and more of a warm sound. The addition of the Denafrips Iris DDC made everything more than a little bit better.

I have not listended to the Gustard so cannot offer an opinion.

Can't compare the Yggi since I never heard it. However, since others are mentioning Gustard, I can whole heartily recommend them. Whether it's the X26 PRO which I have, the R26 or the new A26, I seriously doubt you will ever come up close to similar sound quality for anything at that price range or even 1k more. And the connectivity available on these beat most if not all, at any price.

My answer to your question, ‘Is the Yggdrasil a quality DAC?’ I can respond with an unqualified ‘Yes.’ I purchased the ‘Garage Sale’ version with the former ‘quality parts’ from older versions I was was quite pleased, but noticed some oddities on the sound stage, with instruments appearing where they shouldn’t have been, like at my feet, (so I upgraded to the ‘Less-is-More’ with the new analog boards, chip, and Unison USB. I seldom use the USB, but the new analog cards and ‘Less-is-More’ chip brought a new ‘cohesiveness’ to the presentation. The sound is very clear, compared to my analog sources, and could be characterized as ‘forward’ as above, but I have never experienced more clarity than through this DAC. I’m waiting until after my taxes are paid, and then I plan to upgrade again in order to gain the ability to control source selection through remote control. Can’t recommend it highly enough. Some people, including Jason Stoddard (one of the owners) is reported to prefer the Gugnir, but I can’t say why. Being that the Yggrasil is top-of-the-Line for Schiit, I think it is a good bet.

Thanks for all the replies, much appreciated.

oldrooney. Can I ask if you have used both the balanced and the rca outputs and if you hear any difference in quality between the two?

I like that it has 2 rca outputs (not something you see normally) makes it easy to connect a headphone amp.

My Primare Dac30 is a clean sounding dac with okey resolution and a firm bass, but I think it could be improved upon, I don’t want a too warm sounding dac as I run tube pre and a class A amp that was designed to sound more like a tube amp, so it could get to muddy I think very fast, my LS 5/9 are monitor speakers with the famous bbc bump, but otherwise a very neutral speaker.

Also that the Schiit can be upgraded later on is appealing.

Would be nice if I could demo the r26, Pontus and Less Is More side by side, but unfortunately that is not possible.

If anyone else has heard some of these dac’s, feel free to comment.

I never heard Schiit Yggdrasil but I owned Pontus-2 and construction vise Pontus looks much more serious DAC too me. Huge toroidal PSs placed in separate compartment is big advantage.