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

I just asked Schiit if they are offering A2 upgrades for older variants of the Gungnir Multibit, and their response was:

Guess normal people will have to wait for them to make it "official" before being able to get older units refreshed.

 

You can always do the multi-bit upgrade again ($500) to get the newest boards.

 

And there lies the rub. For the cost of the upgrade, even if they did offer it, would it be worth it for $500 (40% of the total cost of a new one)? Are the differences that big? The answer is no.

You would probably be better off selling your current Gungnir Multibit on the used market, and buying a new one. Also you avoid the upgrade hassle of shipping back and forth with no DAC for an indefinite period etc, etc.

Having owned both versions of Gungnir Multibit, I suspect Schiit are waiting for something more substantial to announce a new version and to make an upgrade worthwhile. Perhaps the next USB implementation, who knows.

 

Schiit Pi sounds like the first next huge step, tho I might have things jumbled up based on the darko interview (would have to rewatch), but it sounded like the upgrades to USB are tied closely to the Pi development.

 

There’s a rough timeline from @baldr on his upcoming stuff here: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/wha...n-robert-hunter.784471/page-622#post-14547328

 

Schiit Pi, based on how I heard what Mike said in the vlog, is not a retail product. Instead, it is something they will put inside some products.

 

It sounded like it would be integrated into some of their gear and used in place of older tech (example they gave was sharc dsps iirc) as well as to do new things. They’re almost surely talking about something like a Pi compute module rather than krufting a regular Pi into their gear though (https://www.raspberrypi.org/products/compute-module-3/).

The usb interface seemed unrelated going by that interview.

 

Pulled the trigger on a new Yggdrasil today. Shows as "in stock" but takes a few days to ship, burn-in I suppose? Either way, will be pairing it up with a MicroRendu + Uptone PSU, fed by Roon.

I've been vinyl-only for a couple of years now in my dedicated room. And my vinyl rig isn't going anywhere, but I'm starting to get real tired of new releases that should sound great but are marred significantly by incredibly poor pressing and QC. It's so aggravating.

 

When I upgraded mine Schiit does indicate that they keep it on for a few days before shipping it back. Probably more of a QC thing than burn-in though. When you get it, even though it's tempting to want to listen right away, do let it warm up at least a full 24 hours before judging, and even then... give it the full 3 weeks of being left on before expecting it to sound great consistently. I can't explain why, but it sounds pretty nasty out of the box, much better after warmed up, and the only downside then is it gets turned off you got to wait for it to warm up again.

 

Got it. If they are pre-"burned in" at the factory, that must happen prior to an order being placed because it was shipped out the next day after ordering. I'll get it this Thursday, and am excited but understand what you're saying. At least it'll be "playable" before the weekend, which is shaping up to be a long, boring one (perfect for rolling some tunes!)

 

Mine sounded great after 30mn. Much better than the Gungnir Multibit A2 that it replaced.

 

My Yggdrasil A2 did not sound very good fresh out of the box. I was prepared for this after reading the reports of others, but was still a bit nervous as I was not expecting it to sound so bleh. Burned it in for a month (powered on, music playing with no volume), then.... pow! Love my Yggdrasil A2 now.

 

What a waste of a month...

 

Not wasted, I had another DAC to use during that time. No big deal.

 

Should have a factory fresh A2 delivered later today. Looking forward to having a listen after 30 minutes and then letting it simmer for the next three weeks.

Will be doing some casual A/B comparisons against my T+A Dac (DSD).

 

MicroRendu + Uptone + Roon + Yggdrasil 2A has landed.

She's fresh out the box and sounding ok. And I consider that a good thing, based on other accounts of fresh Yggdrasil's I've read about.

 

@purr1n , based on your comments above (and I’m sure you've said this previously as well) If I don’t need the balanced out from Freya to my power amp, would I be better off using the Jensen transformers and go from Yggdrasil balanced to Saga SE-ins? I generally prefer the sound of Saga over Freya, but Freya is required right now due to balanced-ins (I tried SE outs from Yggdrasil to Saga and you’re right, they’re not good).

I guess I’m wondering if I’m losing more using balanced to Freya, or in having to go through transformers to use Saga.

 

Based on the findings in this forum I have decided to go for an Yggdrasil Analog 2 as well. I am in the process of ordering one from the Italian distributor. It will replace an ifi idac2 which I consider a bit boring and lifeless sounding, I definately need something more forward sounding. I hope things will change for the better. I will try not to judge the new Yggdrasil before week 3. Even Grover from Schiit recommended to "leave it on all the time, unless you go out of town for example". I will post impressions here.

 

For me, it's on all the time, period. I'm gone for 2-4 weeks occasionally, and my iMac (sleeping), unDAES-O, and Yggdrasil will be plugged into a UPS. No "starting over". When I return, I need to listen to music NOW.

 

I currently have the Yggdrasil with Gen 5 USB, very tempted by the Analog V2 upgrade. Both the measurements and hearing impressions paint a rosy picture for this upgrade. However, having watched the RMAF 2018 interview it looks like Schiit's new USB board with their in-house USB implementation might be coming out in 2019. I don't think they've specified which DAC will be receiving the update but presumably the Yggdrasil will eventually be one of them.

While the Analog V2 upgrade shows clear improvements in measurement, I wonder how drastic of an improvement we can expect from their future USB upgrade seeing that USB Gen 5 already seems pretty good. Now the struggle is whether to send the Yggdrasil in for the Analog V2 update now, or wait for the USB update to do it together. Shipping this brick from Canada to the US is not cheap!

Decisions, decisions.