Yggdrasil Refined - New Schiit Yggdrasil Analog 2 (Yggdrasil A2) Sound Impressions

Or, one could play nothing but Slayer.

 

All that shit you have upstream could be eclipsed by probably 2 beers.

 

Only 2 mutecs¿? Real men use at least three. Mutecs all the way down..........

 

The man it’s radical, but he has a strong point. I did imagine a Mutec pyramid to block EMI. That would be dope!

 

I hear it works best if you wrap yourself and your gear in aluminum sheets to block out EMI.

 

Now THAT'S crazy!! We know it will never work!! He's not using a ground wire!

 

Intimidated by Tom Araya's screams the host's USB quality actually improves and galvanically isolates itself. No Mutec, EITR, SingXzher or MK Ultra needed.

 

A Cautionary Tale....

I've had my Yggdrasil Analog 2 in the system for just over 60 hours. Its back from the upgrade from Schiit and I waited to put it into my system cold when I had time to to critically listen to it fresh outta the box.

I first listened to the YA2 in my system approximately two hours after powering up the entire system, including the Ya from cold at 7pm in the evening, a less than ideal situation. (If I had it to do over again, I would have put the YA2 into a fully warmed up system after midnight, but as is often the case, schedules get in the way.)

I listened for two hours that evening.

Here are my conclusions based on only that initial listening session.

This fresh Schiit sounds like pooh, maybe even pooh squared..

Out of the box, the presentation was very warm sounding and very homogeneous. The bass was woolly, even boomy. In addition it was ill defined. I had to pull 2db out of the bottom octave from my Rels just to make it listenable and not sound like a SPL winner in an Auto Car meet.... Really

My system is carefully tuned to take advantage of spectacularly resolving and neutral components. The fresh YA2 is not that.

One thing that I was really quite pleased with right away was imaging improved significantly. Instruments in some recordings that clung stubbornly to the Cygnus' drivers with the YA1 have moved out and back, giving one the perspective of sitting back a couple of rows in the listening position. Layering had improved dramatically, no longer a two layer cake, but a multi layered tiramisu. This is one aspect where the DAVE was a clear winner over the YA1. This gap has been closed, if not completely eliminated.

So in closing after my first listening session, for me, and in the context of my system, the YA2 is not 'better' than the YA1 out of the box. Warmer sounding, yes, more forgiving, yes. More bass, yes. Better imaging, yes. But with all due respect to those who have found differently, IMHO it is not 'better'.....yet.

More to follow.

 

Your statement in your last paragraph about being “better” caught my attention. I may have misinterpreted what you meant, but I don’t recall people saying that a cold Yggdrasil Analog 2 out of the box sounds better than a fully warmed up Yggdrasil Analog 1. I have read opinions that a cold Yggdrasil Analog 2 out of the box sounded better than:

1. a cold Yggdrasil Analog 1 out of the box. (see: https://www.superbestaudiofriends.o...a2-sound-impressions.5665/page-23#post-210699); and
2. an Yggdrasil Analog 1 with one week of warmup (see: https://www.superbestaudiofriends.o...a2-sound-impressions.5665/page-22#post-209346).

I think most folks’ impressions largely track yours. Mine certainly did.

 

Yggdrasil of any kind sucks cold. Same with Gungnir Multibit. This is well known and well documented.

I would suggest waiting at least a week then report back. Some say it takes 3 weeks for Yggdrasil to fully get there, though I’m not convinced of that full length, more time just seems to be better with these DACs. No one thinks these DACs sound good cold compared to when they are fully warmed up.

Honestly if I had to power my system off every night I would never own Yggdrasil or Gungnir Multibit.

 

Other than putting my claas A amps in standby when not listening or frying eggs, my system is always on, unless I'm away for days.

 

Sorry, we can agree to disagree on the poo status of the Yggdrasil. Ill stick to my OP.

As for the Gungnir, I have the ability to tune my system to get the best out of most any source component. With the exception of power cords, I use completely different cabling for a listening night of my Nottingham, the DAVE, or the Yggdrasil.
So unless the YA2 is bettered by the current GMB in the majority of parameters, its not likely to be a destination piece for me.

My goal will be to see if the YA2 can knock harder on DAVE's door (as compared to the YA1), and make me finally sell that bitch..

Unfortunately, my experience with the YA1 was only after many many days plugged in and turned on (but w/o a signal), so I have no comparators to share with my new friends.

 

I received my Yggdrasil Analog 2 three days ago and have been listening daily. Interestingly even out of the box it sounded significantly better than my iFi iDAC2. Much clearer, less veiled and more forward. I had my iDAC2 for almost 4 years and believed this was as good as it gets. I thought this Burr Brown chip was state of the art because it is also used in a bunch of top CD-players. How wrong I was. I already sold it. I like what I am hearing now from my Yggdrasil Analog 2 and I am really looking forward to week 4

 

Glad you think it’s a vast improvement. I would certainly hope it is considering ~$400 vs. ~$2400!

 

Sure I have had quite a few DACs around $400 (Arcam, Musical Fidelity, Tascam, etc.) and strangely they all sounded similar to the iDAC2. I am a bit surprised the Yggdrasil Analog 2 sounded better than all of them right out of the box even though some people here claim it sounds as good as an average $400 DAC in the beginning.

 

Yes. The Terminator is quite a bit better in all areas.

 

Could you elaborate? What gear did you use to compare? How long did you listen to both DAC's?