Article: Schiit Audio Yggdrasil Analog 2 Released

[Laowei Steve]

Schiit fixed so many things that were listed wrong with the Yggy in the measurement section of the Stereophile Review, they should have called this the “John Atkinson Signature Edition” upgrade. 

[GeneZ]

On 1/17/2018 at 7:04 PM, twochaudio said:

My take on the whole

Shitty deal  is you buy

A new yeggy at $2,400. upgrades and all .  if you have a yeggy and i  just installed the Gen 5 USB at  $100.  +SHIP.Now the  $550. 

Up grade  shipping added also. Thats 

3 k close.    Shit screw all there deadacated  customers.  let's get

That right ...

    There i Said it. 

  It's B.S.   

   This way you do not need to sell your old model at a loss to buy the new one, like some other companies do. 

 

So?  You keep the box and end up spending a lot less than selling the old model as to get  the new. 

 

But,  then again... It sounds better. By how much?    That does not mean the original sounded bad... It did not.

[Ben-M]

14 hours ago, Vince.s said:

No doubt that Yggdrasil is a great DAC for the price but nobody noticed that they have been using the V2 it for the past 4 to 5 months since they started shipping V2 without announcement?

Someone must have heard the V1 before buying and not knowing that they received the V2.

Now that it is in the open, suddenly every owner will say that the V2 is fantastic.

Well worth the 500$ ungrade cost.

Could it be all in the mind?  Suddenly their Yggy V2 is so much better sounding.

Same old DAC, some old system but different frame of mind.

If i owned the V1, i will think twice upgrading.

 

Yup, that's pretty much what I'm wondering. If no one spoke up saying "damn, my Yggdrasil objectively sounds different and better than my friend's" or anything along those lines, then I've really got to wonder if the upgrade is worth it. That's like real blind testing and no one noticed...

 

Anyway, it's just a funny thing to think about and I'm sure there won't be any downside to upgrading. If nothing else, your resale value will be recouped

[firedog]

2 hours ago, Ben-M said:

 

Yup, that's pretty much what I'm wondering. If no one spoke up saying "damn, my Yggdrasil objectively sounds different and better than my friend's" or anything along those lines, then I've really got to wonder if the upgrade is worth it. That's like real blind testing and no one noticed...

 

Anyway, it's just a funny thing to think about and I'm sure there won't be any downside to upgrading. If nothing else, your resale value will be recouped

 

Not in real life. How many people with a Yggy 2 just happen to have a close by friend with a Yggy 1? Maybe 2 or 3 in the world?  And if they did notice a difference, how do you know they are among the tiny minority that also participates in net forums?

[mourip]

1 hour ago, firedog said:

 

Not in real life. How many people with a Yggy 2 just happen to have a close by friend with a Yggy 1? Maybe 2 or 3 in the world?  And if they did notice a difference, how do you know they are among the tiny minority that also participates in net forums?

 

...or the systems were close enough alike in sonic character to get a real apples to apples comparison.

 

I am 58 out of 99 in the analog boards upgrade queue so I should be able to find out in a couple of weeks. I guess that at least 98 other users are optimistic.

[twochaudio]

21 hours ago, mav52 said:

So I guess the complainers feel the same about any product they buy. IF a change comes out they deserve a freebie. Sad

 

Mike Moffat on the upgrade https://www.head-fi.org/threads/what-a-long-strange-trip-its-been-robert-hunter.784471/page-428#post-13982140

I  dont want anything free

  The Cost is to high.   Should of put out a mark 2. 

[Dr Tone]

1 minute ago, twochaudio said:

I  dont want anything free

  The Cost is to high.   Should of put out a mark 2. 

 

They did and marked it up $100.  Now you can go ahead and buy it for $2399 if you want or you can upgrade your existing unit for $550 plus shipping, your choice.

 

$550 for 2 complete replacement analog boards that each house 2 x $85 DAC chips, plus a little labor is a bargain.

 

https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Analog-Devices-Inc/AD5791BRUZ/?qs=%2fha2pyFaduiUxfLwjut%2bN0FcbHMnTs52OA7grOZzsp%2bB1kbl8Gx0HQ%3d%3d

[mourip]

 

1 minute ago, twochaudio said:

I  dont want anything free

  The Cost is to high.   Should of put out a mark 2. 

 

They did. Last October.

 

I just wish they could use the USB port with a small app to let end users update their own firmware. Many, many companies do this. That would have dropped the upgrade price a quite a bit and saved the large shipping costs.

[LarryMagoo]

The update required MORE than software....it actually required new boards....why is that so hard to understand??

 

Everyone should be completely excited that the Yggy can be updated at all....Do I want to spend $700 (Analog 2 + GEN 5) plus shipping plus be without be beloved Yggy for a spell....

 

If it takes another jump in SQ it will be worth it.....

[mav52]

12 hours ago, mourip said:

 

 

They did. Last October.

 

I just wish they could use the USB port with a small app to let end users update their own firmware. Many, many companies do this. That would have dropped the upgrade price a quite a bit and saved the large shipping costs.

It's more of a hardware change than firmware. 

[Cormorant]

17 hours ago, mav52 said:

It's more of a hardware change than firmware. 

 

Yup.  Rather hard to get all those regulators, resistors, capacitors, Analog Devices ICs, solder, FETs, etc through a USB interface!

 

My Yggdrasil made it safely to Valencia yesterday, to the Secure Hardened Upgrade Facility for Ladder Enthusiasts.  In other words, my Yggy is doing the Schiit Shuffle.

[Ralf11]

the SHUFFLE ??

 

the Schiit moved it to the left, yeah

the Schiit  go for itself

the Schiit moved it to the right Yeah

if it takes all night

[Ben-M]

On 19/01/2018 at 9:14 PM, firedog said:

 

Not in real life. How many people with a Yggy 2 just happen to have a close by friend with a Yggy 1? Maybe 2 or 3 in the world?  And if they did notice a difference, how do you know they are among the tiny minority that also participates in net forums?

Firstly, I'm not trying to stir up shit here, and I mostly think you're a nice guy/poster and Schiit's a fine company, but you're talking out your ass.

 

"Maybe 2 or 3 in the world?"

 

How could you, the fellow forumite, have any clue how many gen 1 DACs are it there or where they are? Nor how many gen 2 DACs they shipped over a 3 month timespan, including Christmas? Then, how many of those buyers had a gen 1 Yggdrasil for reference? And lastly, how many of those people have joined the digital age and enjoy posting online? 

 

My feeling, and since you don't have MoT in your signature, is zero clue. You have no basis for stating those numbers or whether they may be low or high. 

 

I'm not into conspiracy theories, I raised an honest question since it was confirmed the gen 2s were in the wild, unannounced, for 3 months. And now, we have Schiit saying it took them 4 years to finally make a noticeably improved DAC. 

 

I find it odd and interesting that none of the unaware owners mentioned it online, at least as far as I've seen. 

 

I'm happy Schiit upgraded their shit. And it's interesting they did a cold release and there's no user feedback on it. 

[firedog]

1 hour ago, Ben-M said:

How could you, the fellow forumite, have any clue how many gen 1 DACs are it there or where they are? Nor how many gen 2 DACs they shipped over a 3 month timespan, including Christmas? Then, how many of those buyers had a gen 1 Yggdrasil for reference? And lastly, how many of those people have joined the digital age and enjoy posting online? 

Because your whole question is based on unrealistic assumptions.  How many new Yggys do you think Schiit sold in 2-3 months?  They are a small company assembling by hand in lots.  The Yggy is an expensive item - it doesn't sell to the masses. If you look at production numbers they have publicized they aren't selling products like this in massive numbers. Look it up if you don't believe me. 

 

So it isn't selling in the thousands per month. Therefore it's simple odds: a  relatively small number of people Worldwide have gotten a Yggy2. And 'till the other day they didn't even know they had a Yggy2.

How many of the small numbers of  Yggy2 owners happen to live by a Yggy1 owner and compared, thinking there's something to compare? Clearly quite a small number.  

 

How many of them post at forums? An even smaller number. If you don't think so,  ask Chris - the percentage of individual visitors to the site who also post is very small, as he has acknowledged - and that's true at other forum sites also, from what they report. 

 

So in short, my scenario is way more likely than yours and based on numbers that have been reported, not blind assumptions. 

[Ben-M]

10 hours ago, firedog said:

A lot of words, all missing the point.

 

So in short, my scenario is way more likely than yours and based on numbers that have been reported, not blind assumptions. 

What's my scenario? I said your numbers were fabricated because you don't work for Schiit and couldn't know them. I didn't say estimate, and neither did you when you said 2 or 3 around the world. 

 

I purported no shipping numbers, I claimed no units in hands, nor posters on forums. I said "it's interesting", and clearly and directly stated I'm happy with their work. 

 

Go fight your fanboy battle with paper tigers elsewhere.

[firedog]

20 minutes ago, Ben-M said:

What's my scenario?

 

The statement that it means something that no one had yet publicized a direct comparison of the new and old Yggy-and that makes you wonder if the upgrade is worth it. The fact that "no one spoke up" means nothing and isn't the basis for any conclusion, as it's unlikely to have (a) happened; and b) been posted about. 

And where does "fanboy" come from? I've owned a couple of Schiit products that are good values. There's clearly better stuff, and none of the Schiit stuff I've bought is presently what I listen to. 

[mourip]

1 hour ago, Ben-M said:

Go fight your fanboy battle with paper tigers elsewhere.

 

1 hour ago, firedog said:

And where does "fanboy" come from? I've owned a couple of Schiit products that are good values. There's clearly better stuff, and none of the Schiit stuff I've bought is presently what I listen to. 

 

I agree with firedog.

 

He is just recommending something he has owned and listened to. Have you owned or listened to an Yggy?

 

No need for name calling here. Making your point will suffice...

 

[astromo]

On 20/01/2018 at 1:15 AM, mourip said:

 

 

They did. Last October.

 

I just wish they could use the USB port with a small app to let end users update their own firmware. Many, many companies do this. That would have dropped the upgrade price a quite a bit and saved the large shipping costs.

There's an argument for working the way they do when it comes to firmware upgrades.

 

If the upgrade borks, then they're in the best position to sort out a recovery. If a user bricks their Yggdrasil, then you'd see a thunderous uproar that even Thor would turn his head for.

 

I'm speculating on this but Schiit may also have a proprietary protocol or some form of security invoked to prevent users up to mischief, hacking in and attempting to reverse engineer their IP. So a return to base policy is understandable from a number of view points.

[mourip]

27 minutes ago, astromo said:

There's an argument for working the way they do when it comes to firmware upgrades.

 

If the upgrade borks, then they're in the best position to sort out a recovery. If a user bricks their Yggdrasil, then you'd see a thunderous uproar that even Thor would turn his head for.

 

I'm speculating on this but Schiit may also have a proprietary protocol or some form of security invoked to prevent users up to mischief, hacking in and attempting to reverse engineer their IP. So a return to base policy is understandable from a number of view points.

 

Good point. It is certainly safer for them from a business perspective but many companies do allow firmware updates in the field. At least they are extending the warranty as an incentive.

[jiminlogansquare]

I just purchased an Yggy with all the current bells and whistles included. I plugged it in two hours ago. I am now listening to it and finally understanding what all the rave reviews really were about. This is a fantastic piece of equipment that is worth every penny. I have never listened to an earlier version of the DAC, and I therefore withdraw and unilaterally disqualify myself from the upgrade hand-wringing. The Yggdrasil DAC as currently provided by Schiit is a remarkably great addition to my humble system. 

[mourip]

2 hours ago, jiminlogansquare said:

I just purchased an Yggy with all the current bells and whistles included. I plugged it in two hours ago. I am now listening to it and finally understanding what all the rave reviews really were about. This is a fantastic piece of equipment that is worth every penny. I have never listened to an earlier version of the DAC, and I therefore withdraw and unilaterally disqualify myself from the upgrade hand-wringing. The Yggdrasil DAC as currently provided by Schiit is a remarkably great addition to my humble system. 

 

I feel that way now and I have not yet sent mine in for the boards!

[gebeege1]

5 hours ago, mourip said:

 

 

[gebeege1]

3 hours ago, jiminlogansquare said:

I just purchased an Yggy with all the current bells and whistles included. I plugged it in two hours ago. I am now listening to it and finally understanding what all the rave reviews really were about. This is a fantastic piece of equipment that is worth every penny. I have never listened to an earlier version of the DAC, and I therefore withdraw and unilaterally disqualify myself from the upgrade hand-wringing. The Yggdrasil DAC as currently provided by Schiit is a remarkably great addition to my humble system. 

 

Just wait for it to "burn in" - play music through it (no need to amplify/listen to it) for 200 hours or so - wow!

[justen]

I usually don't have to think about the audience, because products like the dCS Rossini or the Aurender W20 aren't items with which one dips his toes into HiFi. I can write for the audiophile who aspires to purchase such a product and who needs information that will help him make a purchasing decision.  

[mourip]

1 hour ago, justen said:

I usually don't have to think about the audience, because products like the dCS Rossini or the Aurender W20 aren't items with which one dips his toes into HiFi. I can write for the audiophile who aspires to purchase such a product and who needs information that will help him make a purchasing decision.  

 

"Audience"? Help us out here. What are you referring to? Responding to?

 

And where are you writing "for the audiophile"?

 

Clarification will help us understand the intent of your post...