New Yggdrasil - First (and second) Impressions

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.

I think they both sound digital but in different ways and I like them both.

@ anzaanimalclinic

And which DAC have you personally heard or have you no familiarity with what-so-ever that you beleive sounds analog?

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.

@davide256

And what is your point? If you read the thread in its entirety you can discover that *initially* I couldn’t hear a difference, but subsequently was able to easily discern the quality improvement. And, this is "normal" given that (a) what I had/have prior to Yggy is very good to begin with and digital differences are not necessarily easily discerned, (b) wasn’t exactly sure precisely what to listen for in order to detect a difference and (c) the Yggy was brand new, not broken in, and at the same time I was under ill advised and self-imposed "pressure to audition" the unit within a narrow 15 day time frame.

In my particular case, I had terrific advise which included my own do diligence, irrespective of any third-party advice. Of the brands you mention, only SOTM I haven’t heard or read about. The others, Lumin, Aurender, Sonore, *were* on my radar at the time I was in the market for a DAC. In my opinion, Lumin is WAY too expensive for what it is. And, even their flagship S1 uses Sabre ESS DACs which I’m more than well aware of, as I already have the latest, most advanced chip in my Oppo UDP-205. Please spare me the implementation rigmarole. Sonore I’m just not interested in and frankly don’t even care to mention why. The Aurender A10 may have been fine, but the Yggdrasil at half its price I imagine is a *MUCH BETTER VALUE* (yes I know the Aurender is also a server, but I have no need for that).