New Yggdrasil - First (and second) Impressions

Hi...
Nice outfit.

Gdhal > I’ll be patient, but if there are any suggestions to "try" in order to hear *some* audible difference, that would be great. Appreciate any feedback you have.

Blindjim > I’d recommend a few things but primarily, just wait. Leave it on. Possibly passing signals, maybe not. Better if you did IMHO.

Check it out in a few weeks or once it hits 350 to 400 hours. Why? Each review I read on this unit says exactly that this one needs a lengthy run in period.

Sorry. But I’m just a messenger. Been there and done that myself, though not on the exact same gear.

After the burn in or up is done, I’d say begin looking at your wires for upgrades. Power cords can really make things far better.

Then, those ICs connecting to the INT from the DAC. Next, those ICs connecting to the DAC itself from your other digital inputs/sources.

There are a bunch of areas wherein a system can be improved. Tons in fact. Isolation footers for ex. Are very reasonable, some even DIY. Some almost free which really will affect the presentation noticeably.

In time, addressing the incoming power lines noise will substantially improve the presentation. A lot. No question. This can be done fairly inexpensively too.

Loads of ancillary things alone or together will definitely elevate the performance and by that I mean your rig’s ability to become more articulate and resolving so it will be easier to hear ANY changes you make to it. Where ever!

I did not believe any of that stuff. Until, I tried it in my home using my own ears. I began with power cords. Then a passive power conditioner. Then Ics and spkr cables.

One more thing…. As I’jm just curious here, this DAC as I understand it, only does PCM, is it passing audio from your CATV box without you making changes to it so only PCM is output? Or did you reconfigure the CATV box to output only PCM?

I have Verizon/Frontier and its impossible to hook that CATV to my PCM only DAC and get any sounds. Regardless.

I’m interested in this DAC, and your decision to pick the Tritons too as they are an outside option on my own list… that is, the Refs or their top model. Can’t recall exactly its name.
Very good luck to you here. I think your new DAC will blossom soon.

Glad you finally got it! My experience with several pieces of Schiit gear is they take a long time to open up...dozens of hours at the least. I’d be listening for improved treble extension and a general opening of the presentation...more air and space. Greater "dimensionality" (is that a word?) to instruments and vocals. Can you put constant signal through it with amp off or in mute? I play on repeat Track 9 of the XLO Test & Burn In CD.  Good luck.  I hope you find it to bring improvement to your music listening.

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😊