Yggdrasil MIB was: Jason+Marv Pyrate Edition 11001B

Going to lay this out straight:

Nope. I owned the SFD-1 (sorry I sold it) and I know what you are talking about. The answer is nope. MIL-B don't do that. In fact, kind of the opposite. Will discuss more in a bit. I had a not so short chat with Tyler (who is taking break from site) about this yesterday.

Nope. I know I've said "gross" to the Sonnet stuff lately, mainly because I think their DACs are too genre limited. But I know what you are getting at. There's a bit a dreaminess, syrup, sweetness to the overall presentation of the MIL-B, but given its neutralish tonality, nope. Few other DACs have that special lush quality are you looking for. Even when the MIL-B is put into NOS mode, nope. You'd have to go Abbas or MHDT or DIY. Bifrost 2/64 in NOS mode kinda does that, but it's just not quite the same.

Someone should try this out, although I think this defeats the point of the pi2AES.

 

For entertainment purposes only: View attachment 36807


Usual caveats apply. Mjolnir 3 and variety of headphones used for amplification and transducer. Shanling ET-3 and CDs used as source via AES output to DAC.

 

Basically compared to A2/OG, with the MIL-B, we gain some, we lose some, and there are some things which are just different. I forgot to include in the above chart that the MIL-B is the most liquid / least grainy sounding followed by the LIM.

The AD57xx based A1 and A2 are more lively in dynamics than the others two. The LIM and MIL-B which are flatter sounding. The difference isn't huge, but it's noticeable. Blame opamps (or something else, discussed further below). The modern latest and greatest opamps have gotten much better, but they still will sound flat compared to the simple discrete FET parts used in the A1/A2. On the other hand, the MIL-B is a more focused and precise weapon. Layering and separation and clarity on the MIL-B is a good step up from the A2. It's easier to make things out, hear into the mix. If I had to mix for a living, the MIL-B wins hands down.

The tonality qualities and high-frequency transient behavior of the A1 and A2 are well known as are their spatial qualities. Yes, these DACs place the headstage close up, but their overall sense of space is pretty expansive. Inversely related to this would be "density". In a discuss I had with Tyler, he noted that the LIM sounded like a 2X/4X OS DAC even though it isn't.

The context of my conversation, and I will paraphrase Tyler: I do think there is a difference between 8X and 4X DACs. 8X DACs tends to expand the stage and spread things out, sound brighter or less dense in terms of warmth / tonal density. Hence this is what is meant by density.

So the MIL-B, being a 4X DAC has this denser quality. Note that the MMBv1 is also another 4X DAC that exhibits this denser quality (the LIM, well, let's just consider that a freak). What we get in return are images that are less "cardboard cutout" like because they are closer to us. Images are more "3D". The density also gels well with the neutral tonal signature of the MIL-B. At the end of the day, it's still an oversampling DAC and not an NOS DAC.

Another reason for the liquid presentation of the MIL-B could be that it's a sample-and-hold DAC that pretty much eliminates glitch. Multibit DACs will exhibit spikes and dips with when bits are flipped, much like what happens when we start up a high-current appliance in the house like vacuum cleaners or hairdryers. The more bits that are flipped from the current state, the greater the glitch. Texas Instruments implemented a solution in their DAC11001 parts that eliminated practically all glitch with whatever remaining being independent of the number bits being flipped. Some people dislike sample-and-hold because they feel it takes away a bit from liveliness and dynamics. This could be another reason why the MIL-B sounds a bit more restrained than the OG. On the other hand, this sense of dreaminess, sweetness, that tiny dose of syrup that I hear with the MIL-B is reminiscent those 90s Ultra Analog DACs that may have employed sample-and-hold.

I hope this helps folks with OG/A2s what they would be getting into. The MIL-B is just different. Unlike the LIM where I do feel we are losing some technicalities and going into a totally different direction, the MIL-B does feel more like more of a different flavor DAC with equivalent performance (trade here or there).

 

I think it's fair to say that the MIL-B sits between the Chord DAVE and Yggdrasil OG/A2 with regards to overall presentation. The original MIL, the DAC11001A based one, was probably more Chord Hugo TT like, and that wasn't meant as a compliment. The DAVE is a nice DAC and does some amazing things, but I don't think Schiit would ever make a DAC that sounds like the DAVE. That sound isn't their DNA. The Schiit digital guys prefer a richer rounder sound. If Schiit did make a DAC that sounded like the DAVE, Jason would probably add a Nexus based output stage to it so it sounded richer and bassier.

 

Nope with MMB2. The MMB1 had it a bit.

 

Opposite of veiled or muffled. Those who where at the Texas Show DAC shootout with OG/A2 and DAVE and Rockna could maybe help explain.

MIL-B is about on the Rockna level, but no quite DAVE.

Read below for further explanation.

 

Yeah, it’s on par with the Rockna. Clarity imaybe between the Wavedream and Wavelight. The latter being a tiny bit more grey. MIL-B does have qualities that remind me of the Wavelight, a bit more toward oriented toward a studio setup (less mellow) vs audiophile pleasure listening (a bit lusher) setup (stereotypes here). I do feel the overall package of the MIL-B is better. There were a lot of things I liked about the Wavelight, but I didn’t feel the overall “togetherness” of everything was quite there.