holzmann

Tons of fun and always super informative. If you ever find yourself in DC, to say hi to willsw at Urban HiFi.

The Holo had been plugged in for weeks. The Yiggy was brought over connected to a APS so it was never disconnected from power either. Only the Codex and the 2Qute were cold in this regard.

And several of the people there yesterday spent a different Sunday afternoon (3 weeks ago) just auditioning the Holo through different inputs and using the Singxer USB>I2S was the input they agreed upon. Different strokes but keep in mind these decisions are being made after 4+ ears have had a listen and some consensus has been made. Yesterday we had some 12 ears doing some very concentrated listening. None of us had an agenda and many brought their own DAC to the party. One person brought both the Codex and the 2Qute. One person brought the Yiggy. The Holo was already in-store.

Hardly shouty but I would say the Tekton and Evoke speakers could muster more bass. They were each sublime in their own right in this setup.

Yes, they were volume level matched to the best of our abilities.

You are entitled to your opinion. This thread is about my impressions after a 5-hour audition with four great DACs and an array of speakers and connectivity options. This is not and will not turn into a USB vs. X thread.

Tektons provided the widest sound stage of anything I've heard that size. The Omegas defy imagination by the use of their two mini drivers. Simply jaw dropping. Imaging monsters. In some ways they couldn't be more different. Another listener said he wanted to leave with the Yiggy+Omega combo and call it done.

USB was regarded as the weakest input of each. We either did USB to I2S/AES or USB to Optical. The desire was to remove USB entirely. We even used a CD-player as a transport using its optical output in some cases. In the end, I think they were all fed by the Bryston BDP-1. We wanted to test each DAC using their best input. USB is not it. USB is also not the future IMO. Point is, we tested each DAC with a variety of inputs and the two "levels" of DACs were apparent and similar conclusions with respect to the Holo and Yiggy were still made, regardless of input.

Just to update with my impressions. I am not speaking for everything in attendance but I would like to think that we did reach a level consensus as far as the DACs were concerned. We were all there for about five hours. While the test was not blind, not all us of always knew which DAC was doing the work and invariably, one or several of us would ask, "Which DAC did we just hear?" We basically would play one track, or a 90-120 second segment of one, and repeat on all DACs. We would each share our thoughts at the end of each round or track. The first round was done listening to Dave Brubeck's Take Five, for example. After round one, the DACs were more or less separated into two groups: Spring Holo Level 3 and Schitt Yiggy in the upper group and the Ayre Codex and the Chord 2Qute in the lower group. Incidentally, they also fall into these price groups. Both the Holo and Yiggy are about $2300 USD and the Codex and the 2Qute are around $1700 USD, give or take. Again, not speaking for everyone and just trying to convey my impressions: The Holo Spring Level 3 (PCM): was the detail, resolution champion. For example, the plucking of the upright bass behind the piano or the reverberation of the snare in Take Five was rendered most distinctly here. Same could be said for pulling the details out of Lighthouse by Patrick Watson. I would argue that the DAC presented a slightly tipped-up treble that could, in some instances, be considered dry or harsh. Schiit Yiggy: was the "musical" champion. The warmth and smoothness of the sax in Take Five, even the breathing of the player on the reed was clearly evident. Same could be said for rendering Patrick Watson's vocals in Lighthouse and Melissa Menago's voice in Traveler. The DAC offers such a coherent blend of detail and musicality. I found myself foot tapping and dancing a little more with the Yiggy. The attack of the kick drum in Take Five was also rendered with most authority with Yiggy. I would say it trades some of the treble clarity of the Holo for a tiny bit more bass weight and control. I found myself stomping my foot in frustration after comparing the Holo and the Yiggy using Lighthouse by Patrick Watson. I just felt the Yiggy nailed his vocals more than Holo but Holo brought more background content forward for me to enjoy. ------------------------------------------------------- The DACs above were considered to image with that delicious 3D "wall of sound" that put us at center stage, able to identify the placement of each musician and how far away they were from each other. ------------------------------------------------------- Ayre Codex: Very musical like the Yiggy, just dialed back a notch in all respects: a little less detail, a little less bass authority. Some felt it had like a right-channel emphasis in its imagining. It was perhaps the most relaxed and polite of them all. I just wanted to sink back in my chair and relax. The sound was less 3D and "wall" like and seemed to have right-channel/right-speaker emphasis. This didn't go over well with a few listeners who got warmed up to the more encompassing sound of the previous two DACs. Though one listener feels it is an excellent DAC in a 2.0 stereo home theater setup for movies, TV, dialogue, etc. Chord 2Qute: Still dialed back compared to the Yiggy and closer in presentation to the Ayre Codex. It trades perhaps some of the smoothness of the Codex for slightly more treble clarity but otherwise similar mids and bass as the Codex. (Bass weight and control of both the Codex and 2Qute still slightly behind that of the Yiggy. Both of course lack slightly behind Yiggy and even more behind the Holo with regards to resolution and detail retrieval.) The 2Qute does perhaps image slightly more accurately than the Codex but still has the right-left channel emphasis and less of the 3D "wall of sound" we enjoyed so much the upper level DACs. The 2Qute did do a lovely job rendering the piano in Take Five, slightly better than the Codex. The 2Qute also wins with regards to build quality, compactness, etc. compared to the Codex. The biggest minus of the 2Qute is perhaps its lack of balanced XLR outputs. ------------------------------------------------------- DACs above were felt to image differently in a strictly more right and left channel sense. More narrow and less encompassing and less "3D" like. ------------------------------------------------------- As the afternoon went one, the lower group of DACs disappeared as we concentrated more on the upper group. The consensus, in my opinion, was that the Yiggy was the more musical of the two and the Holo was better at detail and nuance. In this sense, we wanted to combine the best of each one and slap them into one DAC. I can almost understand those who opt to own one of each if they have the funds. In the end, if I had to pick just one, I would probably leave the slightly dryer Holo and take home the more musical Yiggy. One in black please! Many thanks to @willsw and Urban HiFi for hosting and to everyone for being so generous with their time and equipment. We all had a blast and could have stayed for a few more hours. Of course the DACs could not do it alone. The audiogasms we all experienced were also brought to us in large part to the ZOTL pre- and power-amps. We also loved the Evoke Eddie, the Tekton Mini Lore, the Omega Outlaw Super 3U, and the Spatial Hologram M4 speakers. Each amazing in their own right. The Bryston BDP-1 also did an amazing job as a music server. [video=youtube;-P2Z0yJe8a0]

Would anyone like impressions?

Happening now at Urban HiFi in Tacoma Park, MD. Comparison of the Holo Spring Level 3, Schiit Yiggy, Ayre Codex, and Chord 2Qute in a 2.0 speaker setup. Right now being fed by a Bryston BDP1 source. We've also used a laptop / TIDAL source. The Holo is using I2S in, balanced out. The Yiggy is using AES in, balanced out. The Codex is USB in, balanced out. The 2Qute is USB in, single ended out. More comments to follow. Will try to post pics. Am here with 5 more audiophiles.

I am hoping Schiit adds a black option to all their products. I'm holding out for a black Yiggy!

I've auditioned the Schiit Gumby and Yiggy extensively at home. Really enjoy both DACs. The Gumby is a tad warmer but the Yiggy offers an addictive combination of musical PRAT and even more depth. After comparing the two I wondered how much of the Yiggy's advantage lies in its improved USB Gen3 input? It clearly seems to benefit from a blacker background. The Gumby of course has its form factor / footprint and price advantages. It's a good bit smaller and costs a good $1K less; money that could be spent on all sorts of things. My question: has anyone compared the two with the Gumby using a Intona/RUR/Regen? How far does one of these go to get it closer to the Yiggy?

I was actually referring to this post.