New Yggdrasil - First (and second) Impressions

or maybe the Oppo is really, really good

- could you list a couple of the best recorded/mastered source recordings you used in the test?

Hi @randy-11

Not sure/clear if your post/question is directed at me specifically, but in any case, I’m reasonably certain you already know - via first hand experience or second hand reading of scores of threads/posts - that the Oppo, and specifically the UDP-205, is *definitely* - not maybe - really, really good. :)

I did not make it clear that I upgraded my DAC-2 DSD SE to the V2V with the newer ESS 9038.   It was  worth every penny.  Part of the reason I got the Yggy was I knew the W4S was a little off and glary at times.  The 9038 is soooo much better.  I think the filters are a weakness for the V2V but they are a lot lot better than what they replaced and it has been educational to be able to read about each filter and then hear them and how everything changes for good and bad.
The V2V does Hi Rez better in my system.  And Redbook or Hi Rez there are instrumentals where it is clear that parts of the notes are missing with the Yggy, I think it is an effect of the Yggy's filter and done to keep the harmonics more  natural and why it sounds overall more relaxed.  The digital filters in both DAC's are a compromise between two un-natural sound effects, pre-ringing and phasing effects. To me the pre-ringing is way more fatiguing but the notes are richer, the notes with a minimum phase filter are much clearer but sometimes sound like part of the note is missing.
I like both DACs because they do what they do really well and because they are so very different in how they do it and how they sound.  Of the two I think the W4S is better but is also twice the price.  I really love the way it does DSD.  If I didn't  play DSD or a lot of Hi Res the Yggy is a no brainer.
Also fwiw I play digital files from a music server with a SSD.  I have A/B compared listening to a CD thru the DAC right after ripping it to a music server and the CD player's 

@gdhal,
Agreed, that the Oppo UDP-205 is really really good. For me, I can hear it extend the low end and upper end of the sound spectrum, compared to my older players. The bass is also fleshed out and not muddled. I only have about 100 hours on it, but I like it. I had the option to go with a Esoteric and a cheaper loudspeaker OR with the Oppo and a more expensive loudspeaker. Guess, I made the right decision :-)

I meant to delete the music serve stuff, I was going to make an observation that in my system the music server is better than the CD Player but it does not help you.  
I think every one hears music differently just like music tastes are different.  I will say that before the W4S V2V upgrade it was a no brainer I preferred the Yggy.  It wasn't until after investing a lot in interconnects and power regeneration and conditioning that I could appreciate what I was hearing.  But I could hear they were very different before all the ancillary stuff and I preferred the Yggy to the older W4S DAC.  Now it is really close.  I think they both sound digital but in different ways and I like them both.

Makes me wonder how many who said they couldn't hear a difference didn't get good advice on investing in a good quality digital front end. One of the reasons I seldom frequent Agon is because its so far behind the digital frontier. Names like Lumin, Aurender, Sonore and SoTM should be familiar to you if you are in the US and are current on high quality digital sources.