Schiit Yggdrasil DAC, why did they change it ?

I have a WANTED ad to buy a second Yggi+ OG., not the older one but the latest. I have not heard the older ones, but the last iteration of that DAC sounds so good that I wanted to replace the Less Is More with a second OG. The LIM is very good and a fun listen, but it is rolled off on top. I was also thinking of converting the LIM to the OG's replacement, the More Is Better.

Last night I wrote a long post about how much better the LIM sounded with the $8 USB cable from Benchmark that I accidently ordered. I am now going to buy the same cable for the OG too. I am throwing away my $200 or $400 name brand USB cable for this basic $8 USB cable.

I bought the cable because my 3rd DAC is the Benchmark DAC3B, and I had gotten tired of switching USB connections. I recently traded for a 3rd Sonore opticaRendu streamer, now connected to the DAC3B The DAC3B was also much improved with the cheap USB. Some harshness went away, and the mystical 'musical' term came into my thoughts.

My office headphone system is all Schitt based gear:

• Less Is More DAC
• Mjolnir v3 (which I like more than the Freya+ and the CODA 07x preamps)
• Aegir v1 mono amps
• RAAL CA-1a amp interface and CA-1a headphones.

This is the second-best way to listen to the CA-1a I have, the best being my RAAL VM-1a tube headphone amp. The change to the $8 USB cable closed the gap but I have not heard the USB cable yet with the VM-1a (later tonight).

Here is what Benchmark says about USB cables. I am going with this logic for the Yggi+'s too, I am a convert.

"Due to the jitter attenuation provided by the Benchmark UltraLock™ systems, special "premium" USB cables are not recommended."

BTW - some of the best audio advice I got was when I called Schitt up at the SchittR and the guy working that day, who was a musician, gave me advice on their DACs. He hated the Less Is More that I owned (so did another musician friend of mine with great ears). Though I do love the LIM for some brighter setups.

The guy at the SchittR said the very best DAC they have ever made is the last iteration of the Yggi+ OG. He said they are no longer making it due to a part shortage and that if he had the cash, he would pick up the last unit from the Clearance page of the web site. He suggested that I do the same if I had the cash. I bought it immediately at full price, $2899. It took a month of break-in, but I love this DAC and no longer looking for anything else, other than getting close to the OG sound with maybe the MIB.

BTW2 - let me further my cable conspiracy theories. I recently bought a used Magnepan Mini system to replace my sold LRS+ system. I have a smaller office now. The LIM DAC is also hooked up to this pathway.

I was reading where the Maggies may not need fancy speaker cable and that a 10 AWG Blue Jean cable (2 sets for around $200) could be as good as fancy cables.

Well, I did have a fancy Audience FrontRow speaker cable (around $5k) on the old LRS+ system and still have this cable. I got the Blue Jean cable and set it up on my Sanders Magtech amp (connected to the Benchmark HPA4 preamp). This was the same setup as the LRS+. The sound was a bit better than the LRS+ system. Now I attribute this to the fact that the Mini is likely better than the LRS+ (in the appropriate space). Main point was that the cheap Blue Jean cable seemed to be as good as the FrontRow on the LRS+. I was not able to try the FrontRow on the Mini due to length and termination on the cable.

I put the Audience FrontRow up for sale. I have a second Audience FrontRow on my Yamaha NS5000 speakers, the Blue Jean was a real fun listen on that too, but the FrontRow is the keeper on that speaker.

As I recall -

Prior, during Covid, and coming out of the pandemic I recall the same as others about parts availability issues, boards, along with some price hiking going on with processors - they were not too happy about. That’s how I ended up with a different Schiit DAC to try, wanted to try another unit with the new TI processors just to check it out. Resold it in six months. Was clean, detailed, yet lacked some of the lushness for me. During all of this, Jason made a video of what he used on his desk at the time, and he had also commented about them making the new DACs a little smaller for better fitment for the mass market. Seems like they were hyped up at the time about the new stuff [because maybe that’s what they could offer at the time] but as I recall some diehard customers kept bringing up Yggy and older versions too. As i’ve learned with my current DAC, keep it if you really like it.

I still have one of the brand new [still in wrapper] remote controls from one of those Schiit DACs that I should probably go list for someone who needs it or wants a backup.