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Schiit Yggdrasil DAC, why did they change it ?

Back in 2017 Schiit Audio introduced a DAC they called a Yggdrasil. It was well received to say the least and The Absolute Sound said after a break in period it sounded as good as any DAC. Some time ago they changed it and right now there are 3 versions available on their website. They are Less is More, More is Better, and GS2 (Garage Sale 2). The prices are $2299, $2699, $1699 respectively after the recent price increase. The difference is the first 2 use gen 2 cards and GS2 uses gen1 cards. Each DAC has 4 of these cards and the gen 1 cards cost a lot more ( Schiit says Uber expensive ). The GS2 uses cards they got when people upgraded to the new DACs and they kept the gen 1 cards. Mike Moffat said in an interview he did not want to have a product that cost more than $2500. I think the original just became too expensive to build and that’s why they went with much cheaper TI cards. They claim the new DACs sound better after they did complicated math and engineering. I think the original sounded better and the GS2 is at least as good as the new ones. I’ve seen "want to buy" ads for the original. Having said all of the above I want to say I’m a big fan of Schiit Audio and use their Freya+ preamp and the GS2 DAC. The rest of my system is a PSAudio S300 Amp and Herbeth 30.2 XD speakers.

carl292
fpomposo
86 posts
 

I have a OG with the V.2 analog cards and Unison USB I upgraded myself, when I found out about the upgrade program I thought cool, I'll get the latest and greatest chips in my unit. 

When I took it into the Schittr they guys there said that mine is the best sounding, better than the new versions, and no need to upgrade the DAC chip, so I just paid for the chassis upgrade which was well worth it since it's smaller, I changed from silver to black, and I have the remote control now which really helps.

jayctoy's avatar
jayctoy
4,040 posts
 

Robert Harley and Herb Reichert reviews almost made me want to upgrade from my gungnir to yagdrassil.

lanx0003
821 posts
 

@yyzsantabarbara  Hi, is Yggi+ OG equivalent to Yggi+ / A1 analog board / Unison USB or Yggi+ / A2 analog board / Unison or none above.  If none above, what is it?  Thx.

yyzsantabarbara
4,808 posts
 

@lanx0003 I cannot answer this, but I recently got this email from Schitt when I asked them a question about an older OG that someone offered to sell me.

info@schiit.com

I’m glad you are enjoying the Yggdrasil. The Yggy that is in the picture you sent appears to be an OG Yggy in the original Chassis. It looks to have a Gen 5 USB card and has the original 1.0 OG analog cards. The only upgrade I can see from that picture would be the Gen 5 USB as it might have had a GEN 3 USB originally. From pictures I’m unable to tell exactly what cards are installed in it, but no other upgrades are indicated from the picture you sent.

If you bought your previous Yggy+ OG from us directly in the past year it is probably the 2.01 OG analog card version. Unless it is a GS YGGY+ (which would have the GS at the beginning of the serial number). In that case, it would have the 1.0 Analog cards.

I hope I answered your questions. If you need any other clarification or have other questions, please feel free to ask.

Sean Entrikin

Schiit Audio

I did not buy the older OG based on the conversation I had with the musician guy at the SchittR,

oldrooney's avatar
oldrooney
201 posts
 

I bought the original GS with analog 1 cards and Gen 5 USB. I later upgraded to analog 2 cards, the Less-is-More chip, and the Unison USB card, which I upgraded myself; Schiit sent a new label to replace the GS. Then the new Yggdrasil+ came out with a remote control and the smaller chassis. I sent the old case is and got the new one back. Turns out I could have reinstalled all the old cards, but I sent back the fully upgraded piece. I miss the old, larger case. I worked it out, it cost me the same amount to get all the upgrades as to buy a new unit entire. I think the Gen 2 analog made the biggest difference in the sound, brought the sound stage to a more coherent whole, where I had been getting some odd imaging, like cymbals at my feet, bass notes beyond the walls of the room, which was most disconcerting to me. 
My only hope is that the promised user upgrades will bring further joys and any degradation the new parts might contribute. 

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