Schiit Yggdrasil -- 21 bit?


Schiit says that Yggdrasil is a 21 bit DAC. But the DAC chips that they put in the device ( Analog Devices AD5791BRUZ, 2 per channel) are 20 bit with the error of plus-minus 0.5 LSB.

How can the DAC be 21 bit if the chips are 20 bit? Using two chips per channel does reduce the RMS voltage of the noise by  a square root of 2. But how can you get to 21 bit from there?

Can someone please explain.
defiantboomerang
Really?!? Schiit said it would void the warranty if someone used a different fuse???
By the way, I’m one of those people who’s used "boutique brands" since 2011 (I know you meant no harm by your statement). And they do change the sound for the better, mostly noticeable as a lower noise floor. I’ve tried Hi Fi Supremes, AMR, Horizon, Furutech, but have ended up sticking with Synergistic (I have each generation of their fuses). I wouldn’t bother changing the Yggdrasil anyway, as 1), it isn’t fully burned in and 2), I like it as it is.
As for the power cords, I eyed my Shunyata Zi-Tron sideways and wondered if it wouldn’t be put to better use in the Yggdrasil rather than the Arcam FMJ 23, which is now merely a disc-spinner. But I think not. Not for the time being, anyway.

I’m of the observation that isolation from vibration is more important that fuses, simply because, when your equipment is doing the cha-cha (and you can’t see it), the tiniest cues are missing. Even though I’ve have Finite Elemente equipment stands for years, putting the Townshend platform under my turntable, then getting the iso-pods and putting them under the amp, convinced me that vibration really does more than we realize, to the point that some of our older equipment was likely better then we knew at the time, but that was back in the ’80s, and the new hot thing then was Tip Toes! It’s odd to think that nobody considered the effect of speakers sitting on the carpet or floor (or maybe they did!). I followed TAS’ Enid Lumley, who proposed things that people - at the time - found outrageous - such as capacitors having a "memory." She was found, over time, to be right on the money about that. Then she said remove the speaker cables off the floor (did that one, too) and I even demonstrated that (it’s in another thread) for some Illustrious High End Luminaries that, indeed, Enid was right again (despite those who say they can hear no difference. That’s something I cannot fathom, having hearing loss in one ear, and I can hear it easily. Just not that very second. It takes around 2 hours for cables to settle after being moved AT ALL before you can hear the sonic changes). that’s what happened last night when I put in the old ESP cord and was chagrined to hear that the sound was "muddy." I had to remind myself to leave the room and come back an hour or two later (I usually give it two hours) and THEN, it was most decidedly NOT muddy, but a clear improvement. It makes one wonder why equipment manufacturers provide these generic cords, but then, who’s going to give away a $300 power cord that the customer might just re-sell for a profit, so, in hindsight, not so strange.

But even without all this folderol, the Yggy is quite the beast! I was happy just reading that it could be turned off for an hour or two and then it regained its magic after another hour or two. Maybe I’ll take it to the local dealer and let him listen to it. Of course, it will be plugged into an ac outlet I have in my car, so it won’t be without power for more than the 30 seconds it takes me to move it from its perch to the car (if I decide to do that).
How long did you find it took for the upper midrange glare to subside? I can hear it mostly on Mercury Living Presence recordings, since their microphones had a peak in the upper midrange and highs, but it’s clearly a bit "hashy" sounding at 156 hours. I hear - from the head-fi.org site - that it’s somewhere around 200 hours that that sound goes away. Did you experience that with your unit?

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Really?!? Schiit said it would void the warranty if someone used a different fuse???

Yes, according to folks posting here https://www.head-fi.org/threads/schiit-yggdrasil-impressions-thread.766347/page-426
See the most recent posts dating back from 1/18 to a few weeks prior.

...How long did you find it took for the upper midrange glare to subside?...I hear - from the head-fi.org site - that it’s somewhere around 200 hours that that sound goes away. Did you experience that with your unit?

Can't really say/write. I never heard anything "glaring" from the Yggy per se. It sounded good right out of the box. When I first got it I went through all kinds of listening tests from a comparison perspective to my existing gear. I documented my findings in this thread. https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/new-yggdrasil-first-and-second-impressions

As documented in that thread, I eventually found source music material that *clearly and consistently* could be used to demonstrate how well the Yggy can "best" my Oppo and Emotiva, which now act as transport. However, I honestly cannot be sure if that discovery was a result of "break-in" or my increased understanding as to what specific qualities to listen for. I'm inclined to believe it is the later. 
Really?!? Schiit said it would void the warranty if someone used a different fuse???
And rightly so, because many of these snake oil fuses are blowing, so "fusers" are going up in amperage from the original fuse rating, so if anything untoward happens and the fuse doesn't blow quick enough, the equipment could be severely damage or worse catch fire.

Cheers George    
Ok, thanks dhal.

George, I have yet to have a fuse blow ANY of my components, and I have every good one on the market. I use the exact fuse rating specified, so I’m unclear what others are doing wrong.
As far as the Yggy, I have no desire, given that every review of it in the major magazines is using it in stock form, to feel the need to "improve" it. I’m usually surprised people feel the need to modify, but then, I’m no technician. It it sounds like a cello playing - and I know what a cello sounds like from 3 feet away - I don’t need for it to be any better than that.
But to say that the fuses are "snake oil," unless you’ve tried them, is unfair and unknowledgeable. I’ve used 5 generations of Synergistics, 3 of Hi Fi Tuning, Furutechs, Audio Horizon and AMR. Additionally, my late buddy, HP, the founder of The Absolute Sound, used the HiFi Tuning fuses (which I’d used as well) in his Silver Circle conditioner and one or two other components, and we both agreed - independently of each other - that they DID improve the sound. I just don’t use them in every single piece of equipment, because after a while, you stop enjoying the music when you’re so busy modifying the equipment. (Not to mention, EVERY generation of modification generates that tiresome word "AMAZING.") I get tired of everything being ’amazing,’ given how neurotic we audiophiles can be. Not to mention, it’s as though our vocabulary is that of a 10 year old, where everything is "awesome."

That’s how I burned out from enjoying music the first time (’81 - ’98), when I had several state-of-the-art components and just kept spiraling upwards with the latest and greatest (and ended up economically poorer - and less enchanted by music, which is my First Love). And I’m not anxious to be treating equipment as a test bench experiments. I leave that to John Atkinson. I find good room acoustics, electricity and isolation allow most equipment to perform as it was made to. And we didn't even have power cords, fuses, isolation devices back in 1988, and yet music was beautiful. And pure.
But fuses DO work, if used correctly.