Schiit Yggdrasil

[Audiojunkie]

Really? I found the Yggy quite disappointing; especially considering how Mr. Plankton was saying it had oodles of plankton. I found it lacking with the said plankton. It was a very fine DAC for the $, but hardly the "beast slayer". There are better ones out there in my opinion.

[gepardcv]

1 hour ago, Audiojunkie said:

There are better ones out there in my opinion.

Such as? (Not being sarcastic, genuinely interested in opinions.)

[purk]

16 hours ago, johnwmclean said:

Congrats Purk.

The Yggy spotlighted the NADM51’s shortcomings very clearly in my system, like yourself even new out of the box. The upgrade has been a very worthy investment for me, it’s actually the first DAC I’ve experienced an undeniable big improvement. Whist the NADM51 had a subtle improvement over the (TPA) Sabre based DAC’s I was building at the time, I feel the Yggy to be in another league altogether.

 

Thanks John.  I realize that the M51 isn't perfect but I just love its "perfect" digital volume feature.  I still do enjoy it but also have to admit that the Yggy is in another league.  Only have 50 hours so far. 

@Audiojunkie

Yes, but at what price?

Edited December 1, 2015 by purk

[Audiojunkie]

18 hours ago, purk said:

Thanks John.  I realize that the M51 isn't perfect but I just love its "perfect" digital volume feature.  I still do enjoy it but also have to admit that the Yggy is in another league.  Only have 50 hours so far. 

@Audiojunkie

Yes, but at what price?

I preferred the PWD2, BDA-2 and NAD M12. Around the same range. The Yggy is a fine DAC for its price point, but the giant killer and plankton monster it wasn't to my ears.

[purk]

Thanks for sharing.  What's your system and did you actually own it for the length of time?  I only have the M51 and Eximus DP1 and IMO the YGGY is definitely better all around.  It matches very well with my Stax SR-009 system.

[Laowei]

I've had my Yggy since the first batch shipped last May. Agree with most if not all here about the SQ of this DAC. Since first powered up, I have been getting a lot of enjoyment out of it.

Added a Regen with DIY low noise 8V PS with R-Core transformer, Schottky rectifiers, Elna Silmic II caps. It makes for a most pleasant addition to the Yggy. 

 

[Audiojunkie]

9 hours ago, purk said:

Thanks for sharing.  What's your system and did you actually own it for the length of time?  I only have the M51 and Eximus DP1 and IMO the YGGY is definitely better all around.  It matches very well with my Stax SR-009 system.

Yep...have the SR-009 and SR-007s with one of Kevin's amps. 

[johnwmclean]

Thanks Audiojunkie for your impressions. 

Is the NAD M12 the same spec as the NAD M51? I have a vague recollection reading somewhere they’re the same DAC and implementation. 

[purk]

John I think the M12 is a successor of the M51 if I'm not mistaken but the M51 is still available through many website at full price here.

[Audiojunkie]

18 hours ago, purk said:

John I think the M12 is a successor of the M51 if I'm not mistaken but the M51 is still available through many website at full price here.

Correct...and its a fantastic DAC!

[wink]

On 3/12/2015, 3:39:06, Audiojunkie said:

I preferred the PWD2, BDA-2 and NAD M12. Around the same range. The Yggy is a fine DAC for its price point, but the giant killer and plankton monster it wasn't to my ears.

Perhaps, a visit to an audiologist is indicated.....    I kid, I kid....      

[Voltron]

It might be interesting if you did something other than "I kid, I kid" ...

[wink]

22 hours ago, purk said:

John I think the M12 is a successor of the M51 if I'm not mistaken but the M51 is still available through many website at full price here.

The M12 is a preamp and DAC. The C510 is the replacement for the M51 and it has the volume control on front instead of via the remote.

Edited December 4, 2015 by wink
shpellink

[skullguise]

The M (Master) series is not the same as the C series.  There is trickle-down tech used in the C series, though.

The M12 is indeed the M51 replacement (told to me by the NAD rep at a dealer demo night).  It's a very nice unit, with plug-in modules in the back for additional functionality.  At that demo, it was paired with the Master series amp, which uses an amp module variant licensed from Hypex.  Quite a nice sounding system, driving new PSB line of speakers (got to meet and chat with Paul Barton, too).

[johnwmclean]

Sorry I'm thick, so the M12 is the successor of the M51, but what's the difference between DACs in terms of implementation and SQ?

I have found NOTHING to state any difference between the 2 models.

[skullguise]

Different systems, and one person's opinion, so grain of salt warning....

I think it may be more the surrounding pieces, not the DAC itself, that are different.  (EDIT for clarity: I mean the DAC CHIP itself, and the inside the box changes: output stage, I/V stage, etc.  Didn't mean the other equipment)

To my ears, the new M12 had a slightly more balanced tonal quality.  I never seemed to lose details with the M51, but the mids seemed recessed sometimes (that may have contributed to the huge soundstage they seemed to throw), and the highs also seemed slightly rolled.  Again, no seeming loss of detail, but that proverbial "air" wasn't fully there.

The M12 seemed to flesh out vocals a bit better, and did seem to have more air up top without any harshness.  At the dealer, I was able to plug in my USB stick and play some of my music.  I was able to discern a large soundstage still, but a more even/prominent midrange especially for female vocals, piano, etc.  And cymbals on good recordings had a nice decay to them that could be a bit muted on the M51.

Just a couple examples.  As Purk said, the M51 still is available, so as a less expensive option than the M12 is still a good option.  I am just one of those who agrees that it betters the M51 in sound quality.

Edited December 4, 2015 by skullguise

[purk]

Thanks Todd.  I was hoping that NAD will just released a successor to the M51 @ $2500 and not at $3500 price tag.

[Audiojunkie]

On 12/4/2015, 7:51:45, skullguise said:

Different systems, and one person's opinion, so grain of salt warning....

I think it may be more the surrounding pieces, not the DAC itself, that are different.  (EDIT for clarity: I mean the DAC CHIP itself, and the inside the box changes: output stage, I/V stage, etc.  Didn't mean the other equipment)

To my ears, the new M12 had a slightly more balanced tonal quality.  I never seemed to lose details with the M51, but the mids seemed recessed sometimes (that may have contributed to the huge soundstage they seemed to throw), and the highs also seemed slightly rolled.  Again, no seeming loss of detail, but that proverbial "air" wasn't fully there.

The M12 seemed to flesh out vocals a bit better, and did seem to have more air up top without any harshness.  At the dealer, I was able to plug in my USB stick and play some of my music.  I was able to discern a large soundstage still, but a more even/prominent midrange especially for female vocals, piano, etc.  And cymbals on good recordings had a nice decay to them that could be a bit muted on the M51.

Just a couple examples.  As Purk said, the M51 still is available, so as a less expensive option than the M12 is still a good option.  I am just one of those who agrees that it betters the M51 in sound quality.

Great comments...I really think the M12 is very under-rated..I was thoroughly impressed with it!

[johnwmclean]

Thanks skullguise for you comments, that helped clarify.

[mtoc]

Anyone please have a look at your Yggys, which factory produce its power supplies? (They seems are not-Chinese products.) Thx..

[Laowei]

2 hours ago, mtoc said:

Anyone please have a look at your Yggys, which factory produce its power supplies? (They seems are not-Chinese products.) Thx..

From the Schiit FAQ page: 

Schiit LTD and this site are not about cheap fake Chinese crap. Not one bit. 

Edited December 25, 2015 by Laowei

[NotoriousBIG_PJ]

I bought a used yggy locally and used it in my system with he1000's and grado hf-1's.  My main goal was to find a dac I could hookup to my computer. I found it to accentuate sibilance in recordings, and sound overly analytical vs. my cd player. The imaging and detail were decent, but I didn't feel it did anything better than my current player and I felt it ruined some recordings. I ended up selling it.

I'm now borrowing a auqa hifi la scala II dac, which contains burr brown 1704 chips with a tube mosfet filterless analogue stage. The sound is organic, detailed, balanced in the high/low/mids and sounds great with all the music I've thrown at it. It sounds similar to my cd player, which uses bb 1702 chips and a transformer output stage, but the la scala seems to have a little more low level detail. I had my friend over and he couldn't tell the difference between the two. My only complaint is the price.

Biggie.

[purk]

The USB Gen 3 input is notorious for being bright.  Couple of my friends used to have that problem until they switch to coaxial input.

[nopants]

The USB Gen 3 input is notorious for being bright.  Couple of my friends used to have that problem until they switch to coaxial input.

yeah I've always thought the USB input sounded bad so I put a wavelink hs in front. it scales really well but the quality of the USB makes me wonder if the bnc input requires some fine-tuning

[Laowei]

You might try checking the Yggy's BNC. Some early ones like mine had a 50 ohm one installed from Schiit, vs a 75 ohm one. That could be causing some minor impedance matching issues.

For the visual differences, see the Schiit product pages. The Gungnir rear photo shows a 75 ohm connector with a bare center pin. The Yggy shows a 50 ohm with the pin within a Teflon tube. 

There is a thread on another forum where Schiit acknowledges the problem, and offered exchange out if anyone thinks this is an issue. You might try contacting them directly if optimizing the BNC SPDIF input is on your agenda.