Life after Yggdrasil: Watering the Ash

I have this streamer's manual on my desktop and find only one reference to its preamp mode. It's on pg-28, and says nothing: So there is a "Pre-amp mode," and if you can figure out how to set it, you should be able to use your remote (or the volume pot itself) to set & forget a lower voltage output to your headphone amp. If you succeed in doing this, you in effect, be able to choose where on the hp amp's volume pot, you wish the useful volume range to be (which is what I do in my side system, as described in the post above):

"Pre-amp
With Pre-Amp mode enabled the volume of the device's analogue output can be controlled using the app, the remote or the rotary dial.
For more information see our FAQ."
​

I know almost nothing about the Rockna...it's way out of my price range, also larger than I could use in either desktop system. It's very difficult to tell, but I don't believe this DAC has volume adjustment. Thus, given its even higher balanced output (7.7 volts is crazy/high), you would only compound your problems in using a downstream headphone amp ... unless you put a preamp or volume controller of some kind between the DAC and hp amp (a lot of trouble to go to).

I'm a HUGE fan of NOS digital (my favorite); also of multibit/R2R digital. Different DAC designers get somewhat different sound out of their NOS or multibit designs, but in general, I find these designs more musical, less artificial-sounding, less "hyped," with less emphasize of transients and more rendition of the body of each note (ie, 3D instead of 2D).

RE: "Is NOS like using your Streamer with Network Cable and Play in Roon losless?" Not at all if your DAC is a delta-sigma design, not NOS (non-oversampling) or multibit design.

But I have to confess to extreme ignorance about streaming and streamers in general. Many streamers (incl. yours) have built-in DACs, but there's always a way to bypass that internal DAC in favor of an external DAC you like the sound of better. But many NOS and multibit DACs have limited at best capabiliities for things like MQA and DSD, if those things matter to you.

 

[/QUOTE]

bc ur losing bits.

can someone who is good at the bittage, please tell me if you reduce volume in the digital domain, does it throw away bits from a 20b DAC starting at 20b--so it goes down to 18b or something at 87% volume--or does it start discarding at the source material level, say redbook 16b? So it reduces immediately at 99% to less than 16b?

I feel as though it's the latter, bc digital volume attenuation sounds like shit.

 

https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/how-does-digital-attenuation-work.5687/

 

I keep my Yggdrasil powered 24/7 even after upgrade to LIM. It was important for my A2 version. Based on your experience does it matter for LIM to be powered all the time or I can give it some rest at night?

 

I think this is important for all R2R etc style of DACs. Based on science...

 

I play at a lower tier of gear but from what I can tell power consumption is pretty negligible (well okay 45W isn't nothing, but it's far from being an eco hazard); as long as you have it in a relatively well-aerated space so it doesn't risk baking itself over time there oughtn't be any massive problems.

 

I have a total of 3 NOS DACs in house, plus one loaner NOS DAC. 2 of the 4 are designed to never shut off: they have standby functions that are triggered in different ways when the listening is done, but no way is given (short of unplugging the uinit) to completely power them down. I guess that makes those 2 mfrs' intentions (Musician & Metrium) pretty clear on this subject.

 

The old Theta DACs never had a power switch. One you plug in the power cable, the DAC is on.

 

thank you for your input. I'm not concerned about power consumption, rother about capacitors life span. But I understand, no other way than keep it on 24/7.

 

If it helps you with the decision, I've had mine for about six years now and the only time it was powered off during that time was when I was moving. Still works fine

 

Me too, only down time was last year for an upgrade.

 

I'm comparing this weekend my Yggdrasil (currently LIM/A2) paried with Schiit Kara preamp to Mola Mola pre/DAC combo (in one box). I have compared before Yggdrasil to Dave/Mscaler but I wasn't sure if the results weren't throttled by suboptimal room treatment and preamp (Freya + at that time). This time room is well taken care off (exept for resonance at 32Hz, which handled by EQ only). And the main guest is Mola Mola preamp, which at first glance sounds clearly superior to Kara (it is 15x the price so it should). Yet Yggdrasil again proved to be the absolute killer. It is a legitimate contender to 3-4x more expensive Mola Mola (Mola fed directly from roon, Yggdrasil from a PC installed Tidal via Minidsp SHD gentle parametric eq).

Dear Jason, why don't you do a preamp at ~2000 USD that would be a nice match to Yggdrasil level?

 

Good morning,
I have tested some old Wadia X64.4 and WT3200 transport connected via AT&T
They have a wonderful sound, especially the "weight" and "body" in the mid range. They are transparent, too, to the CDS.
It seems that the music is alive.

What do you think would sound the Yggdrasil MIB compared to the Wadia?
thank you