Yggdrasil Refined - New Schiit Yggdrasil Analog 2 (Yggdrasil A2) Sound Impressions

There’s a reason you haven’t seen this here - most people here don’t buy into this kind of tweaky nervosa crap, or they keep it to themselves. We don’t cable-lift around here either, or put beaks on top of our speakers.

Whether there is validity to vibration dampening of things that use high precision clocks etc is not something worth discussing/debating. Also, this type of nervosa is a target for the snakeoil peddlers out there, so we’re not going to endorse or discuss the merits of this type of thing. In the (modified) great words of Obi-wan “This is not the site you’re looking for. Move along.”

 

Bacobits what advice do you have for proper room acoustics and reflection points using KSC75 tweeters on flip flops? Asking for a friend.

 

Magnetic levitation system will give even more depth and air. The higher the device levitating the more air and depth are.

 

In all seriousness, I know many of us do put most of our (edit: mechanical / tube) audio gear on laminate/particle board, plastics or hockey pucks, heavy wood furniture, and other non-conductive and non-vibrating material to reduce vibrations, etc. Wood as suggested by Bacobits just seems to be another version of this. Had he come in saying magical energy crystals on top - different story.

IMO the ultimate version of this without leaving cost-effective land would actually be a feet made of something like salt, sand, a thick gel of some sort or similar energy absorbing material, etc. as the grains of sand are going to (mechanically) disperse noise and vibration. This presents the very obvious and much bigger problem of getting sand in all of your gear / home if not properly executed.

 

I just use these and call it a day. https://www.ebay.com/itm/8-pack-Ant...532909?hash=item2ec47589ad:g:QwkAAOSwB9xXPF8y

 

as one of the unwashed blithering idiots that "keep it to themselves" about this sort of nervousa, if you think vibration absorption is something you need to try, just buy the pads @neogeosnk posted.

 

Hey, what the hell do I know, I’m a cable believer (up to a point, and yes even the digital ones), so nobody’s perfect. Everyone is free to like what they like (heck I’d even try some things just for a lark if it’s cheap enough), but the industry for these absorption/isolation devices, and the prices being charged in some cases just makes “audiophiles” look like audiofools when you’re talking about using them for solid state gear (I’m not talking about turntables or speakers or other gear with moving parts). Not to mention the debate over which materials imparts this vs. that type of improvement etc on that solid state gear. But if you try it, and find a positive difference, placebo or not, go for it. Your proclivities are your own. Doesn’t mean we’re going to have an in-depth discussion about whether a 1 inch block of Mesquite gives you a better soundstage than Teak wood.

 

I use those, well blue/black ones. Have like a dozen of them. They work great for lifting cabinets just off the ground too, like my Kallax shelves and such. Also work to level Christmas decorations in a pinch (ask me how I know).

And I use them as cable lifters. No, seriously. They cost like $3 each, and like I said I have a bunch. We have pets - two cats and two dogs - you wouldn't believe the hair I track down to the room they don't go in. Lifting cables, for me, keeps them a bit neater looking, and provides some strain relief. If there are other benefits, that's fine.

I do use some IsoAcoustics pucks also, because they just flat out look nicer. Don't think they do any better a job at isolation, though. This stuff is variable removal, for me. It's done and I don't question what is, or is not, about the implementation or the materials therein. And did I mention it was cheap and required no effort or risk?

And if you REALLY want to roll your eyes - allow me to show you the $1 furniture cups I have with $1 3/4" solid ball bearings in them, for multi-axis resonance control. Adding those actually lets me feel a slight rush of air every time a classical recording has a big ass timpani in the background. I use those when my back stock of blue and black anti-vibration pads are upstairs holding up christmas decorations.

 

Isolation gadgets have their place, especially with mechanical devices like TT's, CD spinners,analog tuners, and tape decks. Depends on your equipment,placement, and environment. I have heard definate changes to the sound of the above equipment,not always to the positive, too many times to ignore isolation possibilities.
As for non-mechanical gear, amps,pres,dacs,digital tuners, cables I've yet to hear a major difference in sound. But that's my ears,my experiences.
If you've got the coin to chase these gadgets, go fer it!
If a knuckle tap on your components outer case sounds like Quasimodo ringing the bells, you need to dampen the case with dynamat or similar
Bluetack putty on your monitor stands can't be argued
Sorbothane record mats will suck the life out of your LPs on a suspended turntable, but they work best with with direct drives.
Cork + rubber mats work great on any turntable, here's to you GemDandy.

And I won't even go into the effects of urban subsonic vibrations, immeasurable on hif I test gear but well understood by construction engineers and social planners.
Just because you don't have the equipment to measure the effects at 2Hz when a metro bus or commuter trains goes buy doesn't mean that it doesn't have an effect on your body or your hi-rez rig.

 

I'm not into tweaky nervosa crap. I don't know why it works on a non mechanical device.
I don't have to defend anything. What shit responses, terrible. This place is one big f'ing clique.
Sorry I posted.

 

Lame. I was hoping you'd come back with rolling isolation feet. Fruit woods adding their own sweetness to the midrange. Maple woods for a warm syrupy sound.

 

Didn't you ask the original question? I think there was a good sampling of pro and anti-responses that were returned.

Everything in nature resonates at some frequency. It's a subjective opinion whether these cones and isolation materials make an audible difference.

For the Yggdrasil or any device with large internal power supplies near the rear of the unit, place two cones in back and one cone in front. But I'm not sure where the internals are precisely for the Schiit equipment. I would say to experiment with placements until you find the sweet spot.

Also, Happy New Years everyone! Here's to a safe and happy 2020.

 

I understand you point, but we cannot forget the placebo effect. It is real and can be measured. In my experience, I’m happier avoiding this kind of worries. Happy 2020!!

 

Wheres the crystal rocks guy when you need him? I think we have one of those here on SBAF, he can give you tips for best placement for chi alignment.

 

One year has passed with the Yggdrasil A2 it it is time for a first conclusion. It simply is the best piece of audio gear I ever had and there are even almost 4 years of warranty left. I have gone through different amps, speakers and even audio cables in the last year. My sound has improved significantly but I have learned wherever there was a need to improve things it was not the Yggdrasil. My system was a little bit slow and not very lifelike sounding a year ago but the problem was never the Yggdrasil. It is very dynamic, fast and smooth at the same time. The problem was with other components of my system. The better my system got, the more the true potential of the A2 came shining through. The soundstage is incredible too. One of my friends is using a Linn LP12 with a 3000 Eur Lyra system - I am playing with Spotify through the A2 and my sound is clearly better !
I have had various DACs in the past, the last one before the Yggdrasil being an iFi iDAC2. German Hifi Forum members always told me all DACs sound the same but for me the difference was night and day compared to my previous DACs.
I have come to a point where any true improvements in my system would cost a lot of money so I will leave it like it is for now. Last thing I am going to try is AES. I am using SPDIF coax from my PC and I will try a Digigram soundcard with AES OUT next week. Looking forward to this "last" improvement option.
Summed up I am a very happy Schiit customer and I would definately buy the Yggdrasil A2 again.
And thanks SBAF for leading me in the right direction when it came to choosing a DAC!

 

I've had the Yggdrasil A2 warmed up for about a week now. I got a pretty good deal on it used and I was looking for improvements over the Gungnir A1. Did a ton of listening last night between both the Yggdrasil and Convert-2. Fed both DACs with USB (Yggdrasil had a Wyrd in front of it).

Let me cut to the chase: with JBL 305s, these multibit DACs are muddy, bloated, bloomy, soft and boring.

By muddy, it just sounds like a thick soupy greyish dull mixture. All the music I feed it sounds so similar and uniform, which is awkward. It's harder to tell how bad/good productions are on certain albums because everything gets leveled out by the Yggdrasil.

Soundstage is nothing to write home about. There's very little spacing in the depth layering. I don't mind the upfront staging, but I get the impression it's more closed in within the speakers, so it sounds like you are hearing music down a shallow hallway. Whereas with the Convert-2, it is so open and expansive that goes beyond just between the two tweeters. I'm not sure if I had a bad Convert-2 unit originally, but I'm not noticing the wobbly, depressed unstable center image as I did before. It has more natural staging to me without any clear boundaries. Although it does still have the extreme left and right volumes tipped up just slightly more than the center. I find the Yggdrasil much flatter in comparison. I also do not hear any kind of holographic three dimensional staging.

Layering is also better on the Convert-2, as it's easier to pick out different instruments and vocals in a track. Yggdrasil blends all these layers together where it sounds unfocused.

As far as bass, Yggdrasil is slower, mushier in the upper mid bass. Convert-2 is faster, more nimble, agile, tighter and cleaner. It is just superb at bass. It's not boomy or bloated, but it's just right.

Dynamics on the Yggdrasil are congested to hell. Transients lag far behind the Convert-2. Jesus it is crazy how effortless and fast the transients are with the Convert-2. There is crystal clarity throughout the entire audio band. Guitars correctly ring, honk, shimmer, crunch, pop as they should. You don't get this with the Yggdrasil, it's dulled over, smeared with some Vaseline. Timbre I like the strings and piano with Yggdrasil but everything else it sounds more natural, lifelike with Convert-2.

Headphones with HD650 and Valhalla 2, I really like the nuances, microdynamics and detail of the Yggdrasil, however I wish it would have the punch of the Convert-2. Not just to cut through the "veil" of the HD650, but I would like more energy.

Overall I do not like the Yggdrasil A2 with speakers. The Gungnir A1 was worse in that it was much softer, blurrier, very grey. Yggdrasil A2 is definitely an improvement in every way over the Gungnir A1, but these DACs just ain't my cup of tea with speakers. I need clarity and openness and lack of congestion. Everything just sounds muddy in comparison to the Convert-2.

 

When I had my Y. A2 with a Hegel H360 and KEF Reference 1s, it could not be further from your description: great staging, separation, depth, micro and macro detail, fast transients. On a brief experiment I did back when, Y. A2 did not pair well with class D amps (which is what the 305s have).

 

Part of the problem could be Gen 5 USB sucks that bad. I'm becoming surer overtime there is still some amount of jitter present. The USB implementation in the Convert-2 smokes it. Or maybe its the master clock.

I did hook up the Yggdrasil A2 to my monoblock Vidars with the following speakers: trashy Chinese home theater floorstanders from Emotiva T2. I also have Best Buy special Zeos-approved JBL 530s and veiled to shit Andrew Jones' Pionee...err Elac B6 Debuts. In short, my speakers are Crap with a capital C. I'm under no illusion what I have is even remotely high fidelity. Hell I've even said I prefer my HD650s now, that's just how much my speakers suck. However the JBL 305s and the Emotivas are for me the easiest to notice differences in converters. I also am aware of their flaws. The T2s are faced directly towards me and where I sit makes it so I have an equilateral triangle. The AMTs have a very small sweet spot.

I never did an exhaustive listening with the T2s to make a fair assessment. I've had these speakers for about a year and I've grown to despise them. The characteristics of the Yggdrasil A2 with T2s carried over to the JBL 305s, but I have more clarity from that soft-dome tweeter. The Vidars are gone now as I have a pair of modded HS8s coming in which will primarily be my speaker of choice. No need for external amps.

The Convert-2 sounds just as great from those cheap class D amps as they do from the AB class Vidars. T2s only go down to 35hz and 305s 43hz. So hardly the speakers to evaluate thumpin' rumbling. My impressions are still keeping in mind the limitations and weaknesses of these speakers. Perhaps I have a terrible room for speakers, I don't know. Someone told me recently room matters more than speakers. All I know is the consistency in how these DACs sound with various components.

The problem with having the Convert-2 is just how weak and slow the dynamics and transients are with every other DAC, including the Yggdrasil. It's simply no contest. It doesn't stand a chance. I find the layering coupled with separation also superior to that of the Yggdrasil. There's just more clarity instead of it having a tendency to blend things together to make this sonic soup. Staging I'll give you that, as I only have a few recordings that give a true sense of space and ambient cues. I am also not a Classical nor Jazz listener (although I do dabble from time to time with Miles Davis, Ornette Coleman, my fav Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, etc). However I listen to just about everything else. Maybe the strength of having an eclectic taste in music makes one easier to pick out differences in converters? I dunno. So not being a listener of what traditional audiophiles are into you might as well take everything I say with a pinch of salt.

But if the Convert-2 can sound so good from shitty class D amps on $200 powered monitors as well as other speakers, then why does the Yggdrasil need specific components to sound good? I think that's bullshit. And I ain't dropping no $50k to get the proper amps, transducers and all that jazz to really hear what it's capable of.

Just remember my impressions are in the context of one speaker (although I've hooked it up to another set I'm familiar with). However even that said they do seem to concur with a few others who later on grew to dislike it.

Convert-2 has ruined DACs for me. Everything else sounds soft, muddy, hazy and boring. I've tried downgrading to a Gungnir and I simply could not live with the compromises after awhile. I didn't know what I had til it was gone. Only regret I've had.

So Bifrost Multibit A2, Gungnir A1, Yggdrasil A2 have all disappointed me in their own way. I'm still glad I got to have them and wish they would have worked out, but it is what it is. The R2R stuff just might not be my bag.

 

I listen to a lot of live jazz and classical. The Y2 with the amp and speakers I mentioned earlier was a good approximation to what I hear live, only bested by the several times more expensive Linn speaker system I have now. Not with Gen 5 USB, either with AES or with Unison (beta). But I could imagine that a different DAC could deliver a more dynamic presentation of other genres I rarely listen to.