New Yggdrasil - First (and second) Impressions

@randyhat - I understand your point and its well taken. I'm beginning to become a believer in the Yggy though, relative to the sound from my Oppo. While I'm still in the honeymoon/experimental stage, I can share that as I write this, I do NOT believe I will be returning it. That said, yes, comparison is difficult. However, I'm also starting to realize that comparison isn't quite as difficult if you know or are told exactly what to listen for, and in this regard I'm getting a rapid education.

@stereo5 - nice of you to chime in here. Yes, I am enjoying the T Refs very much. They truly are incredible, especially when *value* enters into the equation. You'll recall I contacted you to inquire about the Sony HAP-Z1ES. That was on my radar (to purchase instead of the Yggy) during my early decision making process. I believe this is the Sony music server you are speaking of. I checked into the Sony thoroughly, but didn't like the fact that it uses "a Direct Stream Digital (DSD) Re-mastering Engine" and that it "converts analog to digital at 24 bit / 96 Hz". Also didn't like that it *seemingly* isn't plug and play (when connecting a USB it copies to its hard drive). I have no clue how it sounds, however, I understand from the few posts I've read from owners that it does sound good. It's also at the same price point as the Yggy. Nevertheless, I wanted multibit R2R. I only listen to redbook CD and higher rez PCM, so in my particular case I'm confident in the Yggy. Nice to read from you that you feel the Esoteric, which is R2R, sounds noticeably better. Many other people also claim R2R sounds better, which was a major reason I chose to buy one.

I believe the gdhal is interested in hearing better sound. I didn’t see a list of his components. IMHO a worthwhile improvement should be immediately recognizable. I suggest returning the Yggy immediately and use the funds to buy a used Equitech 2Q. Unless you are already using balanced power I think you will “immediately” notice a “significant” improvement to your 205.

@ptss

The first post in this thread lists my gear. I already have great sound, even without the Yggy. I could be content without the Yggy, any external DAC, or any other component change. Generally speaking, all of my gear has exceptional *value* (price, quality, performance ratio). I’m simply looking (but may have found it courtesy of the Yggy) for an incremental upgrade. I’m not using balanced power, but I’m pretty sure that wouldn’t provide an “immediate” and “significant” improvement to the sound I already have.

Gdhal:

My Gungnir Multibit has improved substantially with break in time since I last posted.
Hopefully, yours should do the same.
Although the Oppo 105D is not at all bad on my system, the Gungy continues to distance itself from it.

@rvpiano

Appreciate the update. I'm hopeful to have a known (much) better set of ears than mine musician friend stop over later, specifically to "lend me his ears". Go John Lennon :)

Some changes are hard to hear. I had that experience with speaker cables, years ago. While many components need to have been powered up for awhile to sound there best, I’m personally skeptical of a break-in phenomenon with a piece of electronics. Having recently changed speakers, my experience may be of some value. The new speakers KEF LS-50s, have a slightly more extended top end than the Joseph Audio RM-7si Signatures they replaced. But the difference goes beyond that. I’ve decided that one of the qualities one pays for in better equipment is that the good stuff faithfully reproduces the really small stuff that lesser equipment simply swallows up, kind of the way a “noise gate” operates in a recording setup.  Some people call this “resolution,” others call it “micro dynamics” (which actually is a different quality that depends, in part, on the transmission of those really smal signals. Anyway, the LS-50s seem to do better at the little stuff than their predecessors.
so, the question is whether the rest of the elements in your reproduction chain are good enough at reproducing the little stuff to show the difference made by your new DAC (assuming there is one).
Regarding ptss’s suggestion of balanced power: don’t be so quick to dismiss it. I bought an Equitec 1.5kva balanced power system some time ago. It made an immediate and dramatic difference in the SQ of the Stereophile Class B CD player that I was using at the time. Much to my surprise it made an equally large difference in the quality of my now old, but “Class A” Sony SACD player, which was a far more expensive unit. Run straight out of the wall, the sound was somewhat two dimensional and suffered a problem typical of digital, “dirty” high frequency transients evident in the reproduction of such things as crash cymbals. There are technical explanations for this, which I won’t go into. I would think, at some price point, a digital product would not benefit from balanced power, but I don’t know where that point is. I’m generally skeptical of power tweaks, especially devices that feature all sorts of clever scientific-sounding names for their “features,” but balanced power is the real deal. The “derived ground” that balanced power provides seems especially important to digital systems, and the magnetic energy stored in the massive BPS transformer (80 lbs.) seems to be particularly helpful to the power supplies of subwoofers, that don’t use big, expensive electrolytics in their power supplies, giving them better transient performance and subjectively greater extension.
Final question: do you have a friend with a good system that you could use to do your comparison?