Schiit Yggdrasil Less is More (and MIL and OG) Impressions + Measurements

I have been comparing the gungnir to LIM for the last week. Gungnir has gen 5 usb. Amp is a EC studio B with jenson caps and TKD pot upgrades. The LIM is cleaner, clearer with better bass, the Gungnir is more emotional engaging to me, its like the LIM goes to my head and the Gungnir has me bobbing and taping my foot, more fun. So with the LIm I listen to the instruments individually more (more brain work) and with the Gungir I listen to the music as a whole(more emotion). I love the LIM and to my surprise at this time I like the Gungnir better. Will have it as a loaner for a while longer and will keep listening.

 

Which has better treble? Bass?

 

the gungnir is darker overall, treble very good on both, the LIM has more bass not better but more of it.

 

@Josh Schor Gungnir A1 or A2? Is Schiit even selling the A1 version anymore?

 

A2 with unison 5

 

Interesting. I'm surprised to see someone describing the Gungnir A2 as darker than LIM. Going off of the tonal charts that Purr1n posted, I would've thought the opposite.

Now I'm looking forward to comparing the two myself.

 

I may be describing this inaccurately. the LIm is brighter (I think), with a cleaner window around each instrument. I am using the gen 5 usb, will be getting the unison and will have a transformer so I can use the balanced outs.

 

So the LIM has Gen 5 and the Gungnir A2 with Unison. Interested in your update once you get the Yggdrasil the Unison upgrade. Also, IIRC with LIM the single ended outputs are not a "downgrade" like they were on the A2/OG boards. So you may not need that transformer to get peak performance from LIM.

 

It's actually the opposite, his LIM has Unison and the Gungnir A2 has the older Gen 5 USB (I know because it's mine ).

 

thanks Christopher I did not communicate that very well

 

This is the first time I’ve ever put ears on a Yggdrasil, so I was really looking forward to my spot in the tour (thanks @rhythmdevils for coordinating, and Schiit for providing).

Spoiler: Playlist

Anner Bylsma Prélude to Bach’s Suite for solo cello No. 1 in G major
The 5 Browns Malagueña from Andalucia Suite
Pamela Frank/Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra Mozart’s Serenade No. 7 for orchestra in D major
John Williams/John Etheridge Extra Time for 2 Guitars
Duplessy & The Violins of the World Kung Fu
Kaki King Ingots
The Beatles Norwegian Wood
Eagles Hotel California (from Hell Freezes Over)
Carl Anderson Heaven on their Minds
James Brown It’s a New Day, Pts. 1-2
Earth Wind & Fire Shining Star
Los Lonely Boys I Don’t Wanna Lose Your Love (Live at Blue Cat Blues)
Tool Chocolate Chip Trip
Daft Punk Giorgio by Moroder
Ben Harper & The Blind Boys of Alabama Take My Hand
Horace Silver Quintet Finger Poppin’
Maynard Ferguson Birdland
Phil Woods Rain Dance (Live from the Showboat)
Bill Evans Trio Detour Ahead [Take 2]
Ray Charles/Count Basie Orchestra Oh, What a Beautiful Morning
Macy Gray Redemption Song
Joni Mitchell California

Pi2AES -> BNC -> Bifrost 2 -> A&S Mogwai SEv2 -> Audeze LCD-X (Roon LCD-X 2021 preset)
USBridge Sig -> USB -> LIM -> A&S Mogwai SEv2 -> Audeze LCD-X (Roon LCD-X 2021 preset)
My Walnut is temporarily with @atomicbob, so I’ve been using my Bifrost2 as a short-term stand-in. I have always enjoyed the BF2 and think it is a standout mid-tier DAC that is a little dark with the A&S, but otherwise an acceptable pairing.

I plugged the LIM in and… wow. This sounds light years betterer than the BF2. The LIM is wider, has a more focused image/placement of instruments (best examples Chocolate Chip Trip and Hotel California), moar detail (every dang track), and really highlights the BF2 darkness and the comparatively rolled off BF2 treble (examples include cymbals in Finger Poppin’ and the ambient room sounds in Detour Ahead). The bass quantity of the DACs was similar, but the LIM was tighter with more texture (Hotel California). I expected the LIM to be an improvement, but I didn’t expect such a stark difference.


Pi2AES -> AES -> Spring2 KTE / LIM -> EC Studio B / ECP 3F -> Auteur (Cocobolo w/ Eikon Lamb)
The Spring2 was picked up from @Ksorota about a month ago and has been temporarily at my office until I can get a LR remodel done – at which point it and the Studio B will become a 2-channel rig at home. I really haven’t had much chance to compare the Spring to anything else yet, and wasn’t sure what to expect side-by-side with the LIM.

My office setup runs HQPlayer embedded on the Pi, upsampling Qobuz to 176/192 to the Spring. To keep things apples to apples, I gave the LIM the same feed (I'm not sure how this impacts the LIM’s sound).

• Studio B - Before the Spring2, I was pretty disappointed with the Studio B... I had tried pairing it with multiple DACS (BF2, Amethyst, SFD-1) and thought it was a pretty boring listen, but it comes absolutely alive with the Spring2. To my ears it was an ideal pairing that would be pretty hard to live up to.

To be brief... I would never be able to tell the two DACs apart when listening on the Studio. To my ears, the LIM and Spring2 sounded identical in every way. I actually checked the Studio inputs multiple times just to make sure which input held which DAC.​

• 3F - The 3F is normally paired with my SFD-1, but I had wanted to try the Spring with it and this proved to be the ideal opportunity. Both were an outstanding pairing with the 3F and really highlighted how much detail the SFD-1 leaves on the table. The LIM sounded as if it might have an ever so slightly wider stage and the Spring might have sounded ever so slightly brighter on certain tracks… but this could just have easily been placebo. I’d need much more time with each to be sure.

Conclusion
I really, really, really like the LIM. Had I not picked up the Spring2 last month, then the LIM would definitely be on my shopping list (and still might end up on my shopping list after I sell off some things I'm just not using anymore).

 

Appreciate the comparison to the BF2. I’m currently using a similar setup (BF2 -> Studio B -> Auteur and Verite C).

I’ve been looking for something to bring a bit more liveliness to my chain and replace my BF2, but have been reluctant to jump in with the LIM with so few impressions with the Studio B.

 

Did you write up somewhere your setup for this? Can't find it with SBAF's search, would like to experiment with it.

 

I have the Studio B with the Jupiter and TKD pot upgraded. I bought a new LIM which I had for 5 months and just sold. I previously had the Bifrost 2. Going from the Bifrost to the Lim was a loss of slam and a great gain of Blackground, air around the instruments. The Bifrost sounded grainy and grayish compared to the LIM. I decided to sell the LIM as It was to much a mind experience for me compared to emotional. I have the Gungnir MB and find that to be fantastic with the Studio B as it has greater punch and slam is darker while still having detail, does not have as black a background as the LIM. Im not good at reviews all I can really say is the Gungnir has me doing head bobs and foot taping which the LIM did not. Worth giving it a listen if you can.

 

Was that A1 or A2 Gungnir?

 

The one I have now i am not sure I think A2 as im borrowing it. It has gen 5 usb. , i have ordered a new one which has not arrived yet

 

I believe the serial numbers for A2's start with a B.

 

the one I am using starts with B so its an A2

 

We need an ECP x Schiit collaboration for a Yggdrasil with a DSHA-like output stage.