Yggdrasil LIM Impressions Only Thread

Although, funny enough, he joined 2016.

It has been interesting reading all these impressions about the LIM. I wasn't expecting the "feet" improvement thoughts though.

I am a little on defense regarding the imaging and soundstage. @ColtMrFire said it was better than the Gungnir, is this something most people feel? I had the Gungnir for a long time and always felt that the imaging, because of it's forward presentation, was not my favorite and the depthness was great but not the wideness and, as such, not the "holographic" feeling that i prefer. Is the consensus that it's better with the LIM?

 

Like Marv said, it's better. I felt it was more present/solid/tactile (and as a result slightly thicker), but also more upfront. The difference isn't that big though. But Gungnir Multibit's stage possibly feels more natural in the sense that it's slightly messier, like you might hear in a live venue? Gungnir Multibit's stage feels more like "okay here's the stage, enjoy!", and LIM feels more like "okay here's the stage, and here's every last instrument on that stage, analyze!". No, LIM isn't an analytical DAC (I am exaggerating for effect), it is just easier to analyze a symphony for instance because the stage is more precise, but you can also let go and just enjoy the musicality if you wish. I don't personally think these stage differences matter for anything but classical music where there is so much going on at once, but that's just me. But some might want the opposite... less analysis and just want to enjoy the whole, hence Gungnir Multibit. I do think LIM allows you to do both by the way, I just think Gungnir Multibit is less concerned with hyper focusing on stuff. I am more technical minded, so I prefer LIM.

 

Just got my LiM after spending many hours reading mostly SBAF but also many reviews and HF etc.
Connected up the GSX Mini and started listening. Right out of the box this dac is superlative. Absolutely blown away. If it gets better than this it will go from awesome to just beyond belief. Maybe I just got lucky and got one sprinkled with golden fairy dust or something. Listening on my Audeze LCD-4z that have many thousands of hours on them. Previous dacs have been Hugo2 and DENAFRIPS Ares II. So limited capacity for super in-depth reviews like on here. All I know is this setup has synergy and my ears are really happy. It's all good.

 

Way back in the day (years ago) I did also have pre-multibit Gungnir and Mjolnir. Obviously no comparing them with current setup. I do remember that setup being a lot brighter and harsher. Got a lot of hours on them though, with LCD2, LCD 3, and old LCD-X. So they offset the amp and dac some. Interesting reading the reviews on LiM now that I have one. This current setup is just tits. I am so happy...

 

Wow! No matter what I listen to, Ruth Moody, Santana, Queens Ryche, Tool, Alan Jackson, house, Daft Punk, Snowy White, Bonomassa, blues, electronica, been throwing everything I can think of at it to test dynamic range, punchy detailed bass, mids to die for, vocals, sweet soaring treble registers, details. I just can't stop listening. over 24 hours on it now and beyond thrilled with this dac. The synergy with the GSX Mini is a beautiful thing to behold. Anyone on the fence mulling over this dac I say "just do it". Performance punches way above price point IMHO.

 

Have had this warming up for a little over 30 hours and took a first "actual listen". Mostly with MJO3, also warming up for a little over 30 hours. Also with SW51. May try with Piety and Vali2+ later.

Is it just me or does this DAC somehow sound disjointed with most modern music? Like it sounds good, but I don't feel like I'm actually "there listening to music" but almost like "I'm looking at a picture / painting of music". I really don't have a better way of describing this for now.

Otherwise, it's in some ways more clear and I guess sort of a [less dense??] sound compared to the A1, GS, A2, and a lot of other DACs. Again, like the detail is just laid out in the painting and you get to peruse it at your leisure vs most other DACs feel like someone is spraying it at you with trickle, a shower head, garden hose, or occasionally, a firehose. The LIM is also slightly "easier" to listen to somehow - at first I thought it was just because of the above not getting hit with info, but after only a few minutes, it seems to be something else I haven't figured out yet.

So far other impressions agree more or less with what I've seen in other threads / posts talking about LIM.

 

My longer term impression is that the dac is much more detail oriented than even the hugo2 was. It really shines on acoustic guitar / instrumental type genres, but works great with everything. It has taken some adjustment to get accustomed to the presentation being much more analytically correct with absolutely zero coloration whatsoever. Compared to the Ares II the previous dac, it was somewhat warmer and more musical sounding to my ears, but LiM presents much more detail with absolutely no coloration at all. I love the LiM and what it does / how it does it, but it would be awesome if it it actually had a little warmer presentation although that was likely not what it was designed for I think. The GSX Mini also has zero warmth so what I am hearing is super honest and analytical sounding. Since I am not an audiophile but just a schmuck who likes to listen to music, it has taken some getting used to. The above thoughts are interesting in that I don't personally think the presentation sounds "disjointed" but rather it is just brutally honest with zero coloration AT ALL. I did order a copper cable to try instead of the silver cable currently using (I have no idea if this will make any difference, I never really bought into the whole cable thing so much) but maybe it will sound different? I don't know...

I really like the LiM, gonna keep her, but listening to everything I have on Tidal, it has been an education from a detail perspective. Compared to the Ares II in particular, sound quality is super much more detailed, quite a bit less warmth, less "musical" for casual listening, much more accurate and true to the actual recordings. I would not want a dac that was any more analytical and detailed presentation than this one is. Wish I had more experience with other dacs for comparison but I have this one and cannot afford to get other dacs so it is what it is...

 

@penguins - you are not alone. I had a similar feeling and I have been thinking to write something about it but I haven't because it was so hard for me to describe it thus what I'd written could be easily be misinterpreted as that the LIM sucks which isn't. I compared the LIM with OG/A2 cards several times back to back many months ago, I returned the LIM cards (long story, for sure Schitt's custom service is professional and superb). Back to the comparison. I felt the the LIM pull out more details (maybe due to the blacker background?) than the OG, even I noticed most people here would say that the OG has more microdetails/plankton. I also liked the LIM's slight wider soundstage. But I was more drawn to the music with OG than with LIM especially after I switched and compared them immediately. With the LIM cards, I found my brain would frequently enter into an analytical mode. With the OG cards, I was into the music. I couldn't care less about all those audiophile stuff, rather just emerged myself into the music. Now I think that I'd not to say that the LIM is less emotional, but rather, to say that the OG is very, very unique, and superbly good at rendering and conveying emotions from the music recordings.
Note that I would give the LIM a big thumbs up for orchestra recordings. The instrument separation and positioning is outstanding.

Edit: by the way, a new pair of LIM cards at around 20-30 hours sounded the worst to me. the LIM open up after at least 3 days and keep improving until at least 1-2 weeks. Shorter time required if the cards/unit are merely "cold". New unit direct from the Schitt's factory needs even longer time to reach their peak performance.

 

This aligns with my comparing it to A2 and BF2 OG as well. I’m a detail whore but A2 in particular was like squeezing detail out of a vice. Chain matters a lot here, though, and in my case I think the HD800 is playing a large role in my preferring LIM. (Also keeping it mind I’m using an EC amp, per Marv’s above comment re: MJ3)

 

The LIM has the "uncanny valley" effect on music from my time with it where it's got most of what the other Yggdrasil models have but shaves off the edges of "character" to create a computer's version of "perfection"... HAL from 2001 would love listening to it. That's not a diss as much as trying to nail down what separates it from the others... still a very fun, resolving, enjoyable DAC but careful amp and headphone matching is needed to bring the best out of these peculiarities.

 

That’s a good way of putting it re: peculiarities. A2 is also a sort of character (no pun intended re: not shaving off edges of sonic character) of a DAC but it’s less idiosyncratic maybe and therefore might pair better with a wider variety of gear.

 

Thinking more about it, all of my 10 months or so with A2 was with a BHA-1, whose gain-y, relentless quality has been described by one member as “furious.” That plus A2’s kind of detail firehose (on top of the 800’s “ear tweeters” presentation) just didn’t gel as well for me as LIM in the same chain. Then I moved to Studio B, which also gels well with both 800 and LIM seemingly, and there you have it re: component matching. Being a good chef, etc.

 

I kind of expected as much based on initial impressions of the LIM and some listening to MJO3 with YggA2 and Holo Spring. However, I haven't listened to enough different gear lately to be as confident in my current "triangulation abilities". After listening with MJO3, I also arrived at the same conclusion - use with SW51 - it gives almost a clearer and "bigger BF2" sound - BF2 being a combo I know many here appreciated. Personally, the modded MMB1 I got from you the most of any DAC with SW51. MMB2 + Wavedream are tied for 2nd so far, regardless of WD absolutely outperforming either MMB.

I guess that's another way of describing it when I don't quite have the words.

 

I'm a detail whore too although I guess the A2 for me doesn't feel like I'm trying to squeeze detail out. More like it's dense and I need to chill and let my subconscious unpack it when I listen or work hard and actively unpack it. GS was a nice balance in that I didn't need to do anything to get what was there.

Actually now that I think about it, I think the only reason I didn't swap my A2 for a GS was because there are lots of other DACs that can get a sound closer "in feel" and sound to the GS but nothing out there can really sound like the A2.

Glad I'm not the only one who had this experience - for a moment I was kind of confused. Slightly more so by the fact that 90% of this only occurred with music recorded after the 90's or so but I don't know enough about pro-audio to know what may or may not have changed during that time on the production, recording, etc. side.

 

Found new tunes Be Svendsen, sounds sublime on LiM-Mini! Digs deep into bass and mids, incredible listen. Between a Smile and a Tear. OMG this is something else. Tight clean and with the blackground, sounds anything but disjointed. Beautiful detailed trippy rendering. Yall should check it out!

 

Not trying to add any noise, but further LIM/A2 synergy triangulation thoughts in my system: I preferred LIM through speakers (AN UK) to A2, but prefer A2 using the same amp (Elekit 8600) using headphones (stock BSHD600 and HD800S). Through speakers, the LIM presents more of a music event than a music recording. (I know I've mentioned this distinction in the past and it's kind of nebulous, but without leaning on overused shitty audio terminology it's a distinction I have a hard time succinctly describing). BF2/OG is also a better fit with said headphones and amp than 2/64.

 

I don't know what happened. All of a sudden it seems like I have a new dac. This thing is freaking ridiculous good sounding. Prolly got around 350 to 400 hours on it now and OMG. Tight clean detailed musical deep deep bass thru to beautiful cleanly rendered treble. Everything sounds awesome, can't quit listening. I now have my private concert venue at hand all the time. This system is everything I ever dreamed of for my desktop rig. Cannot recommend enough. If there is ever really "endgame" I must be there or close to it.