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

Discussion in 'Digital: DACs, USB converters, decrapifiers' started by drgumbybrain, Jan 16, 2018.

  1. saint.panda

    saint.panda Friend

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    Is there an ETA on unison for the Yggdrasil for the public?
     
  2. Taverius

    Taverius Smells like sausages

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    Win10's resampler is still bad, and whenever it sees an active audio stream at max volume - or multiple active streams - it's limiter kicks in, and that's also bad.

    Well, they're doing exactly what they're supposed to, ie minimum functionality as fast as possible for minimum cpu impact, but for our purposes they're bad.

    Avoid those, and it's not actively offensive, which is, indeed, a marked improvement over winxp.
     
  3. rlow

    rlow A happy woofer

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    I believe Jason’s update yesterday on HF was “Sooooon.” (don’t quote me on the number of o’s).
     
  4. Buddha1979

    Buddha1979 New

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    I know JRiver accepts VST plugins but I stopped collecting music and instead use Spotify Premium now.
    The VST support is pretty cool but it is not the most stable - some VST make the whole thing crash.

    At the moment I use Iin my system "Infected Mushrooms - Wider" and "Leapwing - CenterOne" to get a really huge soundstage and perfect center image with the Yggdrasil. These plugins were made for mixing and mastering but they work wonders with the Yggdrasil. When I turn them off everything sounds rather closed in and compact in comparision.
     
  5. Riotvan

    Riotvan Snoofer in the Woofer

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    Ah right. Never heard of those but sounds interesting. Don't see the need for them in my system but if it increases your enjoyment i have no argument :)
     
  6. drgumbybrain

    drgumbybrain Science Nut

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    @Psalmanazar , Are you serious when you said Yggdrasil2 its muddy? :eek:
     
  7. Taverius

    Taverius Smells like sausages

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    It's psalm, what he wants is slayer straight from the record shot intravenously, anything else is boring.

    Personally I find the convert artificially aggressive, but then I grew up on classical concerts, so I guess that's why I run tubes and wood cans.

    I'm pretty sure it's less the music you like and more how you were listening to it growing up.
     
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  8. RobS

    RobS RobS? More like RobDiarrhea.

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    It is muddy. Mids are veiled, congested to the point of compression, it's v-shaped. It all sounds saturated which makes it like an old cassette. Staging is completely fucked. If you want all your recordings to be homogenized, the Yggdrasil is your DAC. The more I listen, the more I think this DAC is straight up garbage.

    Edit: I have a RedNet interface coming so I can ditch USB altogether. We'll see what changes.
     
    Last edited: Jan 23, 2020
  9. Mindbender

    Mindbender Acquaintance

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    I disagree completely. I don't hear that in my setup. The more you go on about the Yggdrasil.A2, the less I have in common with your findings.

    But you have every right to describe what you hear. Convincing me that I'm hearing something similar isn't happening though.
     
  10. RobS

    RobS RobS? More like RobDiarrhea.

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    Are you using USB? Dude I dunno either the USB is broken or my used unit is borked or something else. Will report back what the RedNet does. These sources do have an impact in my experience, like getting more gains from a CD transport for example or removing an Eitr. I want it to work out as I spent decent amount of coin on it.

    rlow did say the A2 was leaner in the mids which to me is what gives it that v-shaped response. Electric bass guitar detail for me is non-existent, its difficult to discern what notes are being played. It's bloated and fatter, but it's also this thick hardness that just further contributes to the muddied up bass. I'm not hearing what ya'll are raving about.
     
    Last edited: Jan 23, 2020
  11. Mindbender

    Mindbender Acquaintance

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    I think you should be bumped up to the top of the Unison upgrade list.

    Also, I don't think you mentioned that this was a second-hand unit. I believe that new units leaving the factory are usually tested for a while before release. If you live near one of the other SBAF contributors, perhaps someone who is familiar with the Yggdrasil.A2 could verify your findings?

    Admittedly, I went back and listened to my unit out of concern that I was missing any deficiencies. There's a full sound with great detail to a lot of the music I'm familiar with. There is a forward, in-your-face presentation but I'm listening over HD700's. If anything, the high-frequencies on my Yggdrasil.A2 are rolled off. But the sound is fine to me, whether I compare it to my darker Modi Multibit or a DS THX Monoprice DAC/Amp.

    I'll still listen for similar symptoms that you've described, but I'm hearing something different.

    Edit: Wouldn't it be hilarious if I had the opposite presentation as your Yggdrasil.A2 and ended up with an upside-down V curve? I actually don't, but still...
     
  12. RobS

    RobS RobS? More like RobDiarrhea.

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    Yeah I'm getting the forward, in your face presentation also with headphones but with speakers the stage is very narrow, more than the Gungnir A1 was. It's still upfront, but I'm not hearing much depth. My biggest beef is how it stages my music the same on every single album while imparting some kind of filter overlay which makes music sound very similar to each other. It makes it harder to determine bad productions from good ones. It's the overall presentation I don't like, it's too uniform. Maybe an R2R thing? There's no point sending it in for the USB upgrade if I'm doing AOIP. Like I said, will try this new source out and see if anything improves or worsens. From what I remember, tonally I do prefer the Modi Mulitibit over Yggdrasil, it was more cohesive.
     
  13. Firegon

    Firegon New

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    I've never found Yggdrasil to be v-shaped. In fact, it has slightly less bass presence than any other DAC I've had in a while, although the treble might be accentuated. As for muddy ... well, it's the R2R type of analogue sound, but far from muddy. That being said, even the gen 5 usb is not that great - if anyone uses USB I certainly recommend buying something like Singxer SU-1/SU-6 or perhaps gustard U16 once they fix the bloody thing.

    I absolutely agree with the soundstage assessment though. I think it's the most underwhelming part about this DAC followed by the (imho) overall leanness of the sound. There isn't enough body/weight to it.

    By the way, I'm no Yggdrasil lover myself. I used to own Audio-GD R2R 7HE ( a brand that isn't particularly well like here on sbaf ) and I consider the chinese DAC better in every way.
     
  14. joeexp

    joeexp Don't ship this man FD-X1 ever

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    "I consider the chinese DAC better in every way." ...
    Thanks god, a rando is weighing in....

    Dislike it all you want - zonto.:p
     
    Last edited: Jan 23, 2020
  15. RobS

    RobS RobS? More like RobDiarrhea.

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    How would you describe the soundstage? It's like hearing a performance inside a shoebox right?

    I agree on weight but I don't think it's totally thin sounding either.

    The thing about the muddiness on the lower end there's not enough separation between kick drums and bass. And the upper bass and lower mids don't sit well with each other, it makes for an unnatural presentation. I just wish the mids and upper mids were cleaner, more vivid and more transperant. It doesn't open up.

    So yeah Yggdrasil owners say Gen 5 USB sucks. How much it sucks, I have no idea. Sure at this price point you might as well have a competent source feeding this thing. But I don't agree USB audio is totally shit after hearing another DAC having a great XMOS implementation. I might have to eat my words though if the RedNet destroys it...
     
  16. elmoe

    elmoe Friend

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    Considering what you dislike about the DAC I highly doubt the USB can be blamed for everything. At the end of the day the difference in inputs isn't going to change the sound signature in a major way.
     
  17. Firegon

    Firegon New

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    Sorry if I've crossed You @joeexp , but I stand by my statement. R2R 7HE is chinese DAC as far as I know. I'm an owner of Yggdrasil Analog 2 and used to own the Audio-GD. It is my honest ( although personal ) opinion that the soundstage, depth, imaging, dynamics, bass, midrange and treble were at the very least slightly better on the chinese made R2R 7HE.
    Well, I suppose the Yggdrasil is prettier, lighter and quite a bit cheaper, but that doesn't really describe the sonic performance.

    To me, there are two main issues with the soundstage. One of them is the width in general - while the sounds aren't coming directly from my skull, they certainly aren't far enough. The other is the lack of air and separation between instruments in general. Especially if we're talking about the background sounds. It makes the sound feel restricted, so I suppose a shoe box is a relevant analogy. I'd say that instead of a concert hall, You'll get a decently sized bedroom. Neither insulting nor terrible, but disappointing at this price point.

    Don't get me wrong, I actually quite like the DAC and consider it a good option at this price point.
    I guess I simply expected a bit more.
     
  18. crazychile

    crazychile Eastern Iowa's Spiciest Pepper

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    I think judging soundstage of DACs when using headphones, Is like trying to judge automobile top speed performance by accelerating from your garage to the end of the driveway.

    It's just not gonna do it justice.
     
  19. RobS

    RobS RobS? More like RobDiarrhea.

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    Soundstage is nonexistent with headphones. Sorry to the headphone fans but its the truth.
     
  20. joeexp

    joeexp Don't ship this man FD-X1 ever

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    Soundstage does exist with headphones;
    Check out:
    RAAL Requisite SR1a
    AKG K1000
    Mysphere
     
    Last edited: Jan 23, 2020

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