Schiit Happened: To Me!

[bobfa]

I have spent most of this year playing with my system trying to simplify and get it "right" (for me).  I have been testing Amps, DACS, servers, power supplies, USB cleanup, cables, WHEW. Almost all of the changes I have made are at least different, sometimes good, sometimes yawn, and just a couple of ooooh NICE. ?. One of the larger improvements has been the Ayre AX-5 Twenty integrated amp. I have been fortunate to be able to test several DACS over the last year.  The two Brooklyns, the CODEX, the Mojo, and a Meridian NADAC.   

 

The overall system design has been simplified with the Small Green Computer Sonic Transporter i5 setup in the office/computer room as the Roon server.  Nothing fancy on the network right now it just goes to my 24 port switch.  In the music system I have simplified using the Sonore ultrarendu but I have it powered by an UpTone Audio JS-2.  The UR is connected to the DAC and the network with short Transparent HP USB/Ethernet cables.  (will see what UpTone does with Ethernet cleanup later.  Note I have an ISOregen but it is not in the system right now, again more later!

 

Yesterday my Yggdrasil DAC arrived and I pulled the loaner CODEX from the system and installed it.  (sorry Schiit I did use a Transparent HP power cord). Of  course I had to listen for a bit.  And YEP it was different from the CODEX, it was "interesting". 

 

When my son got home from work today he listened for about 2 hours.  (Yes it is not warmed up yet, let alone broken in).  After about an hour we both declared that this DAC is better in my system than any DAC we have tried this year.  One album just sounded wrong on on the Brooklyn DAC+, and not great on the CODEX is the new release from Joe Ford "Colours in Sound" (Tidal has it).   After listening to the album my son declared that the Yggdrasil made the album sound RIGHT!

 

Now this is just a short report and is not conclusive but :  Schiit Happened to me and I am happy about it.  

 

RJF

[left channel]

Thanks for sharing!

[beerandmusic]

i am more curious about the mojo?  Mojo wasn't mojo for you?  Seems most people I have read having the mojo were happy, and I have been contemplating the qutest...

 

personally for me, i have a good amount of dsd material, so i want a dac that supports it natively.

[Miska]

4 hours ago, beerandmusic said:

i am more curious about the mojo?  Mojo wasn't mojo for you?  Seems most people I have read having the mojo were happy, and I have been contemplating the qutest...

 

personally for me, i have a good amount of dsd material, so i want a dac that supports it natively.

 

I have a Mojo, and I'm so fed up with it and it's misbehaving USB interface that goes white noise sooner or later with any source I've tried... And also because it drains it's battery quickly even when not in use (probably keeps the MCU running so the "soft-buttons" work).

 

Also Mojo doesn't support DSD natively, but converts it to PCM in a not-so-great way (quite a bit of aliased noise, measured from the output). So don't send DSD to it, rather convert DSD to PCM in player before sending it to Mojo (same goes for Hugo, etc).

 

[mourip]

6 hours ago, bobfa said:

I have spent most of this year playing with my system trying to simplify and get it "right" (for me).  I have been testing Amps, DACS, servers, power supplies, USB cleanup, cables, WHEW. Almost all of the changes I have made are at least different, sometimes good, sometimes yawn, and just a couple of ooooh NICE. ?. One of the larger improvements has been the Ayre AX-5 Twenty integrated amp. I have been fortunate to be able to test several DACS over the last year.  The two Brooklyns, the CODEX, the Mojo, and a Meridian NADAC.   

 

The overall system design has been simplified with the Small Green Computer Sonic Transporter i5 setup in the office/computer room as the Roon server.  Nothing fancy on the network right now it just goes to my 24 port switch.  In the music system I have simplified using the Sonore ultrarendu but I have it powered by an UpTone Audio JS-2.  The UR is connected to the DAC and the network with short Transparent HP USB/Ethernet cables.  (will see what UpTone does with Ethernet cleanup later.  Note I have an ISOregen but it is not in the system right now, again more later!

 

Yesterday my Yggdrasil DAC arrived and I pulled the loaner CODEX from the system and installed it.  (sorry Schiit I did use a Transparent HP power cord). Of  course I had to listen for a bit.  And YEP it was different from the CODEX, it was "interesting". 

 

When my son got home from work today he listened for about 2 hours.  (Yes it is not warmed up yet, let alone broken in).  After about an hour we both declared that this DAC is better in my system than any DAC we have tried this year.  One album just sounded wrong on on the Brooklyn DAC+, and not great on the CODEX is the new release from Joe Ford "Colours in Sound" (Tidal has it).   After listening to the album my son declared that the Yggdrasil made the album sound RIGHT!

 

Now this is just a short report and is not conclusive but :  Schiit Happened to me and I am happy about it.  

 

RJF

 

l have an original Yggy which recently had the new analog boards installed. It is very transparent with wonderful tonality and dynamics. If you think it sounds good or "right" now just wait until you have 300+ hours on it. It is remarkable. Just put some music on repeat and check in on it each day.

 

I am not saying that you can't find a better DAC but you will pay multiples of Yggy's price to accomplish that. It makes Redbook sound so good that you will forget about DSD and it's limited library.

[Nordkapp]

This is a great read. I may go yggy soon. I'm sort falling out of love with DSD. Too expensive, limited material. I just wish the yggy had volume control.

[bobfa]

7 hours ago, beerandmusic said:

i am more curious about the mojo?  Mojo wasn't mojo for you?  Seems most people I have read having the mojo were happy, and I have been contemplating the qutest...

 

personally for me, i have a good amount of dsd material, so i want a dac that supports it natively.

My Mojo is hooked up to my iMac and is in use today!  For me it is a really good sounding DAC/AMP.  I really like the Mojo and for my headphone listening it is darn good.  I have thought about upgrading my headphone system to a Hugo 2

 

I was trying to “force fit” headphone listening into the main system in the Living Room and that just does not feel right now as I want to share music with the family.  That is a big part of why I have the system in the first place.

[mordante]

Congrats on the new DAC. I have the Gungir Multibit with the latest USB input.

 

I know it is not going to happen, but I would love it if Schiit would build a streamer with DAC. A Auralic aries and a Gungnir Multibut in one chassis. It would clean up my audio rack.

[Nordkapp]

10 minutes ago, mordante said:

Congrats on the new DAC. I have the Gungir Multibit with the latest USB input.

 

I know it is not going to happen, but I would love it if Schiit would build a streamer with DAC. A Auralic aries and a Gungnir Multibut in one chassis. It would clean up my audio rack.

I'd buy that product from them in a heart beat. ?

[bobfa]

A couple of folks talked about DSD and I just looked at my library I have 15 DSD albums and 48 hirez albums.  I have 1265 and growing that are 16x44.  I have had some fun playing with DSD but I do not have an investment in DSD at this point.  The money that went into 48 hirez albums may not have been as well spent as possible.  I have found some nice bargains in the used CD market.  I use Roon and the Tidal integration is pretty great.  

 

 I have been looking into Murfi Music as another source of music that I could own.  I still want the physical media where possible as a backup but the question of physical media storage is an interesting one.  Some of my music is used by my wife who is a teacher that she plays in the classroom as background.

[Dr Tone]

I have 100s of DSD albums but also have PCM versions.  I haven’t missed my DSD versions one bit since getting the Yggdrasil A2.

[Ron Scubadiver]

The Mojo has a rather high premature battery failure rate and a new battery is over $250.  On the topic of Schiit go over to this place and look around:  https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/measurements-and-review-of-schiit-yggdrasil-dac.2358/

 

They have issues with sloppy soldering and poor measured performance on various products.  Topping DAC's are considered by their admin to be superior in the lower price ranges.

 

Never having even seen a Yaggi, I can't give an opinion on its SQ.

[bobfa]

I have heard of some issues folks had with the Mojo.  Mine has been fine so far.  Everything with a battery is a problem in the longer run.  Look at the Samsung and Apple phone issues over time.  On the iPhone 8 and 10 you had better get the warranty as if you break the rear of the phone you basically buy a new one!

 

I am a couple of days into my listening to the Yggdrasil and I will give it more time.  Listening tests are really hard to do to be considered “blind”.  I have to return the two loaner DACs so I will not be able to really keep that testing going.  I have never read the site you linked to.  I skimmed part of the thread and while there is some very interesting data in the measurements I am not sure that it is valuable to me.

 

 I have two weeks to test before I have to “buy” the DAC.  I will take advantage of that to it’s fullest.

 

Just like most other forums on the interent things tend to fall apart as the threads get longer.  There never is really a conclusion or a “canon” of data archived to help us figure out what all the data means.  I have read a couple of the SQ threads here that have lasted for almost a year and  it is almost impossible to get any conclusions out them.  The Schiit master thread on Head-fi is less illuminating; but it is very interesting to read what Jason has written about his company. He writes pretty well and as a small business owner I feel some of is pain.

 

OH well back to work, listening later.

 

[diecaster]

3 hours ago, Ron Scubadiver said:

The Mojo has a rather high premature battery failure rate and a new battery is over $250.  On the topic of Schiit go over to this place and look around:  https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/measurements-and-review-of-schiit-yggdrasil-dac.2358/

 

They have issues with sloppy soldering and poor measured performance on various products.  Topping DAC's are considered by their admin to be superior in the lower price ranges.

 

Never having even seen a Yaggi, I can't give an opinion on its SQ.

 

Ignore the audiosciencereview web site. The owner is a hack that has it out for Schiit Audio.......

[mansr]

10 minutes ago, diecaster said:

Ignore the audiosciencereview web site. The owner is a hack that has it out for Schiit Audio.......

That's a bit harsh. Amir is of course not infallible, but he's pretty good at documenting his measurement setups. If you think they are somehow unfair, feel free to suggest alternatives or publish your own results if they differ from his.

 

One thing to bear in mind when discussing DAC measurements is that most of the differences seen are far below what is audible. Only expensive boutique DACs tend to be poor enough to sound obviously different.

[bobfa]

Well it has been a couple more days.  Yesterday I put my UpTone ISORegen into the system and powered it with the second rail of the JS-2.  (go all the way, I say).  The system has now been playing since Thursday afternoon so around 72 hours.  

 

I listened for about 2 hours this afternoon,, too hot to do much of anything else!  The system again sounds better than I have heard it.  The old ELP album "Tarkus". is much more dynamic and detailed.  Allison Krauss and Robert Plant are even more amazing from Raising Sand, Killing the Blues really stands out.   I listened to part of the Dvorak 7th Symphony from the Pillips CD by Neville Marriner and the Minnesota Orchestra "New World" (has 7th, 8th and 9th on Two CDs).  The depth of the symphony is really great and the separation of the orchestra or the layers I would say are much better.  

 

I also sampled a few tracks from Ed Sheeran Divide and a couple from Hello by Adele and both of them are very different today that they have been before!  That is BETTER different.  The voices have better clarity everything is more distinct.

 

Lastly I listen to parts of Traveler by Chris Stapleton from Tidal.  The tracks are MQA and the first unfold is done by Roon.   I did not go back and try non-MQA.....  I have listened to this album on CD in an all Arye system with Aerial 7T's and I am pretty darn happy with what I heard today on my system. 

 

After today I want to make one change in Roon's settings and turn on the volume leveling if I can.  I do not know what effect that will have but I might try it.  Switching around today like I was required a lot of volume adjustments.

 

I am Stil Happy!

 

RJF

[firedog]

4 hours ago, bobfa said:

After today I want to make one change in Roon's settings and turn on the volume leveling if I can.  I do not know what effect that will have but I might try it.  Switching around today like I was required a lot of volume adjustments.

 

Don't want to ruin it for you, but volume leveling always seem to take some of the "liveliness" out of the sound for me. I try it periodically and then switch it off. 

[diecaster]

Roon's volume leveling feature has been totally transparent in my setup.

[bobfa]

So a bit further down the line.  I have changed nothing in the system.  I have kept the Yggy and I am pretty darn happy.  I have been playing with getting alternative music sources into the system.  Roon/Tidal are great but I would like to test some other services, etc..   I have a Sonos connect that I have hooked up to the DAC using coax.  So now I can use Apple Music and other services.  I can have the Amazon Echo play music on the main system with a voice command.  The setup is manual and the volume control is manual but it works.  Listening to the compressed audio streaming from some of the other services is more than fine using the Yggy as the DAC.  

 

I am working on a retrospective and a bunch of stuff for sale!!!  I am sitting on the sidelines waiting for UpTone Audio to build a their ethernet switch.   I want to see if the Sonos Connect wireless is making noise that I can hear in the system.

 

And there is the matter of music in my office.  The Mojo and the HD800 headphones are great but I bet I can make them sound better by cleaning the USB signal from the iMac.  

[buonassi]

On 5/25/2018 at 1:54 PM, Ron Scubadiver said:

On the topic of Schiit go over to this place and look around:  https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/measurements-and-review-of-schiit-yggdrasil-dac.2358/

 

They have issues with sloppy soldering and poor measured performance on various products.  Topping DAC's are considered by their admin to be superior in the lower price ranges.

 

No objection on the soldering problems he's found.  But then you get the 5 year warrant, so what's it matter?

 

You can read this while you're at it to get another point of view:

 

https://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/yaggy-measurements-deconstructing-asr-amirs-hack-job.6442/

 

 

 

 

[intensemojo]

Hmmm - Listening to "Colours in Sound" now on my DAC+. Sounds pretty good to me. I like the 140+BPM

 

Could you elaborate on what was not right?

[bobfa]

I think that the Mytek DACs are very nice but there is an edge to them and they are a bit more forward.  I think that they are a great value for the functionality.  OF course I may be crazy,...  The Yggy does not have that edge. It is deeper, darker, broader. My Chord Mojo has some of the same flavors??? I am a bit crazy with sounds that are edgy.  Screen door slamming.  A sneeze close by, sirens, some of the noises my cat makes.  I have a little tinnitus and that stuff aggravates it..

 

I have made a lot of changes to my system over the last year or so.  I will elaborate on that a bit more in some further posts.  (I will create a new thread). I have been knocking edges off of the system for a long time.....

[firedog]

4 hours ago, bobfa said:

I think that the Mytek DACs are very nice but there is an edge to them and they are a bit more forward.  I think that they are a great value for the functionality.  OF course I may be crazy,...  The Yggy does not have that edge. It is deeper, darker, broader. My Chord Mojo has some of the same flavors??? I am a bit crazy with sounds that are edgy.  Screen door slamming.  A sneeze close by, sirens, some of the noises my cat makes.  I have a little tinnitus and that stuff aggravates it..

 

I have made a lot of changes to my system over the last year or so.  I will elaborate on that a bit more in some further posts.  (I will create a new thread). I have been knocking edges off of the system for a long time.....

 I have a Mytek 192 DSD (not presently in use) and listened to it for years. Personally, I wouldn't call it an "edge", but I get why others would. I did find I liked it better upsampling everything to DSD before sending it to the DAC. It seemed to sound better that way and have less of what you are calling an "edge", I think.  That seems to be true for many (not all) ESS based DACs. 

[bobfa]

That is why I have a problem using words to describe what I hear.  Edge is not a good word for what I hear, but it describes a “feeling” if that makes sense.

[intensemojo]

Okay I can see that. I’ve always liked the “clear” picture into sound. Some call it edge or etch. I guess that why I like my ATC speakers too.