New Yggdrasil - First (and second) Impressions

Gdhal in less than 24hrs, I will listen to four denafrips, and yaggy , border patrol, and Metrum onyx....can’t better than this...they will all be in Axpona....2018

@jayctoy 

I know :) I've read your post(s) in David's Denafrips owners thread. I look forward to reading your (and other) impressions, take away, etc.  I've had a look at the exhibitors, http://www.axpona.com/exhibitors.asp and this is obviously a rather worthwhile and comprehensive event. And the price for the three day pass ($50 if bought online) is also very reasonable. I can only extend the proverbial "have a nice time" :)

I hve been thinking about buying a Ygg..
Some comments about this thread.
I had, years back bought a $2,400 DAC, highly praised by both Stereophile and TAS.
I returned it as it sounded no better than my old (bought for $250) Adcom DA700.
Up to now, I still use the Adcom.
But I had a chance to try a Marantz SA10 ($7000) for a few day at home.
The Marantz converrts CD data to DSD and decodes it as DSD.
I used another CD player via Toslink and found with this Marantz I could readily hear a difference, mainly in the treble. which with the Marantz is clean and lacking any digital haze. Grungy Rock music vocals are more distinct
I wish I had a chance to compare the Ygg with the Marantz!
(One could buy two or three Ygg with the cash the Marantz costs.

@elizabeth I own both the Marantz NA-11S1 and the original Yggy.  Marantz's digital reference series equipment is very underrated from my experience.  Too further that thought, I find it interesting that the NA-11S1 still sells new for exactly the same price it did when I bought it 5 years ago, and I don't believe they've updated it hardware-wise, and mine has the same software updates which it receives fairly regularly.  The used prices have remained constant at $2200 for years (just below a new Yggy).  I've had 2 to 3 quality issues with my Marantz, and it currently doesn't seem to have an effective USB input, which I'm not going to bother sending in for a 3rd time at this point (I'm out of warranty I think).  Ironically, my Iggy had issues on all inputs as well (all inputs aside from USB didn't work when it arrived day-1), and also made a round trip for repairs--twice.  I want to be sure to point that out, as I don't consider myself a "fanboy" of either brand at this point, even though I love the sound of both of their "top" DACs.

I replaced the Marantz with the Yggy, and moved the Marantz to my second system, where right now I don't feed it directly via USB (since it's again not working), but rather wireless as a Roon endpoint (which all still works).  It still sounds fantastic.  The Yggy, however, is a little stronger...most notably in the soundstage and "air" and general "big sound."  I always found the Marantz gear to be a little more reserved (I had their now-discontinued reference pre-amp for a while which I felt was very musical as you would want, but a tad "reserved").  I would rate almost all other qualities as equal, aside from soundstage, which I found a tad bigger on the Yggy regularly.

The Yggy definitely takes 300-400 hours to sound it's best, per previous posts on this thread.  Rather than wait in line for an upgrade and then be without it for awhile, I've ordered a new V2 with the new analog output...not looking forward to those weeks of new burn in, but they will certainly be required.  They were required with my last 2 USB board changes alone.

In short, if you like the Marantz sound (which i think anyone who heard it would), you will like the Yggy sound at least as well...but because of the required burn-in you won't hear the best of it in the 2 week review period unfortunately.  Sonically it is a slightly more capable DAC by my 1-person assessment, if you don't care as much about DSD and Airplay/Roon endpoint features that the Marantz can do, which the Yggy obviously cannot.

BTW, I've demo'd a well-reviewed $15K DAC recently (wanting VERY much to love it), and while there were things about it that were better than the Yggy, all else equal, there were some things I liked less (not withstanding the 5x cost).  Since then, I've instead made about $5K of improvements in front of the Yggy, and the Yggy continues to rise to the level of the equipment before and after it.  Most of my equipment is $15-20K pieces, and yet the Yggy is still holding its own amongst gear that good and that expensive (which is not the same thing).  I know others on this forum have similarly researched and expensed systems which also still have the Yggy as one of the least expensive pieces in the chain.  It will take a lot of $ to handily beat it, so far anyway.  How much will be system- and preference-dependent.

I should add, I have not heard the SA-10...I'm only presuming it has a similar DAC/analog stage to the NA-11S1 with the added transport in the same box, and added cost.  I neither assume it to sound better as a stand-alone DAC, nor worse.  That's 100% speculation.

Hi @parsons

I appreciate your candid feedback and comparison information. Thanks.

To your point about the Yggy definitely taking 300-400 hours to sound it’s best, of course, I’ve read this elsewhere and numerous folks share your sentiments in that regard.

Personally, I’ve never been much of a believer in equipment break in. When I first got my Yggy (analog A) and was in the trial 15-day period, I left it on 24/7 thinking - but not really expecting - some magical difference would present itself on day 7, 8 and so on with respect to day 1. In my opinion, there was *some* improvement, however, I would not be able to say/write that I could hear the improvement in a blind test. By contrast, I am able to tell the Yggy from my Oppo in a blind test. I then *intentionally* powered off the Yggy for 24 hours, turned it back on and again attempted the blind test. Same result. I was/am able to hear a difference (with the proviso that appropriate music is playing). But to my ears, the sound was no different after being off for 24 hours.

Further, I’ve performed external temperature readings with a probe. Granted, the external temperature is not the same thing as the internal temperature. But what I’m getting at here is that the external temperature was/is at it highest point after about one and a half hours (now an hour or so longer with analog B) of being powered on, which would lend some credence to the fact that the unit doesn’t need all that much break in.

I take solace in knowing that while I’m listening and the unit continues to warm, the sound only gets better. :)

EDIT:

If there is a difference after 300 hours or so, in my opinion it would be so subtle that elizabeth may not recognize it.... especially when listening to grunge bands :)