New Yggdrasil - First (and second) Impressions

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 :)

@gdhal   Good write up, a couple of posts ago.  Glad it is working out for you.

the Yggy’s usefulness increases as the “density” of the instruments increase and the overall quality of the recording is increased

Thank you, @david_ten

All -

I expect this post will be perceived as very interesting feedback. One that I am happy to report.

THERE IS NO AUDIBLE DIFFERENCE FROM A COLD START.

First, I compared my Oppo to ERC-3. Why, because in fairness to the Oppo, it has a digital filter setting that can be used to tweak the sound. So, giving it the benefit of the doubt, and despite the fact that I previously tested all filters and opted to stay with the default mini phase fast, I thought it worthwhile to ensure that it sounds very much like the ERC-3, and specifically with respect to the elements that are lacking in comparison to the Yggy. To reiterate, that would be a tinny top end, less "evolving" middle and not as "rich" bass. For purposes of my test, they can be considered identical.

I then compared the Yggy - at immediate start up (cold after being powered down 18+ hours) - against both ERC3 and UDP205 and the same "improvements" were evident in the Yggy as they had been when warmed up for days.

So, I take solace in *knowing* that as I listen via Yggy from a cold startup, theoretically the sound should improve *during the listening session*. Granted , that would not be audible nor will I set out to prove that, but I do know with certainty that even from a cold start up, the Yggy does sound better. And, if I had to state a one word reason why, "authenticity".