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

With HD650, the timbre is really good with Classical. The piano stuff I've heard is incredible with the Yggdrasil. And you just get so much detail so you ain't just hearing a piano, but the different types of piano being played, the pedaling, the bloom, etc. Strings I do like more on the Yggdrasil as well. For me the lack of this finer microdetailing from the Convert-2 is still worth the tradeoff. I can live without it, as what I prioritize in music playback, the Convert-2 just gets more right to my ears. Yggdrasil probably works out better for the music you listen to though.

 

On another note, the Gungnir and Yggdrasil give me nostalgia of an old '90s cassette player I used to own and love as a kid. These DACs sound like higher fidelity cassette tapes with HD650s.

 

You must've had much better equipment, tapes, recording techniques or all of the above than I ever heard 40 years ago, as the Gungnir MB I have sounds orders of magnitude better than any cassette-based playback I have ever heard, in all particulars, then or since. This includes "high-end" Naks, Teacs, Akais, etc. And if that discrepancy is due to my time-ravaged hearing, I am oh so thankful for that particular deficiency.

 

They have a warm cassette tape like sound to them. Some of that haze and veil from cassettes too. It's just reminiscent of a player I once had.

 

I guess we just hear differently. Or maybe the Yggdrasil sounds far more different from the Gungnir (B s/n) than I have been led to believe. I haven't heard the former since RMAF 2014, and that wasn't exactly recent, nor the conditions ideal. I wouldn't still have and enjoy greatly the Gungnir if it sounded anything like cassette playback.

 

Lol all I'm saying is I get a little nostalgic. Keep in mind those comments are in the context of the HD650 and Valhalla 2. The amp is a little more on the unfocused, slower side compared to Schiit's other hybrids and solid state. I am using single ended from the Yggdrasil to Valhalla 2. This is probably my favorite headphone setup thus far (I can't hook up Convert-2, don't have a transformer for single ended) Gungnir was good with it too, but I wanted more. It's more relaxing and fatigue free than the Mjolnir 2 that's for sure.

 

This is all strange. I am using the Yggdrasil A2 with speakers only and I get nothing of what you describe. I feel the Yggdrasil plays fairly neutral and natural. In my system it is not muddy or congested and at the same time not overly sharp. The soundstage is absolutely amazing.
The dynamics are pretty good. I listened to some remastered Michael Jackson tracks yesterday and if it sounded more edgy it would be over the top and simply too much. Bass is fast and natural.

If I were you I would investigate if something else is wrong in your audio chain or even audio settings. As I wrote in a previous post my system was sounding slow and boring a year ago but the fault was with speakers, amps, power and cables. A sharper sounding DAC would have helped to compensate problems with my other components but blaming the Yggrasil for bad sound would have been the wrong solution.

 

lol, your system sounds like shit and the problem is with speakers, amps, power and cables? And your conclusion is that you need to replace everything but the DAC? ...

I don't think I'll ever understand people who don't build around transducers.

 

I do not understand why people pair $3000 DACs with a-few-100-$ speakers. Is it very surprising that problems arise ? What is the solution ? A $10000 DAC and keep the speakers ?

 

I don't think you should build a system or have a favorable opinion on something based off of its price. Plenty of cheap gear that sounds good and expensive gear that sounds crappy. I also don't think there's a correlation between pairing an expensive DAC and cheap speakers. If it sounds like shit with one DAC and good with another, it's not the speakers' fault.

 

I do not agree about the speakers part. I have gone through many speakers in the last 25 years. Last ones being Stirling LS 3/6s BBC monitors . They sound kind of slow no matter what electronics you use. We even upgraded the crossover but their character does not change a 100%. Now I use high quality DIY broadband speakers without crossovers and I found out recently how dynamic the Yggdrasil really sounds.

 

Exactly, my point is that if your speakers suck they'll really mostly suck no matter what you have for a DAC. If you switch the DAC out and your speakers start singing, then the speakers aren't the problem.

 

The guy likes the Convert 2 more than Yggdrasil. Doesn't mean his system is broken haha.

 

JBL 305s scale man. You can say the same about why people spend thousands on DACs (and amps) for a few hundred dollar HD6X0s. I like those 305s more than all of my other speakers.

I wanted a DAC that I can use for both speakers and headphones. I've settled on Valhalla 2 and HD650, so only thing left was the source. I liked some of what I heard with the Gungnir A1 thru headphones and was curious what the new Yggdrasil sounded like. I was after a more resolving Convert-2 without the fatigue. I blame the Mjolnir 2 for wanting to sell the Convert-2 as the true source of the fatigue came from that amp. I tried rolling tubes but it's still too etched and bright in the treble. I got headaches quickly with it. Just not a fan of the multibit stuff with speakers.

 

Coming from the Vali 2 I also found the Mjolnir 2 a bit leaning towards the analytical side. Well basically it is a transistor amp with only a little tube influence in the sound. I settled on the RFT ECC88 tubes and highs became a little softer. I do not have that headphone setup anymore...

 

I've had the same speakers for about a year now with the same amps. I've had a few DACs come and go in that setup, but I loved the sound of the Convert-2 over all the DACs I had hooked up. Thought I could live downgrading to Gungnir A1 but nope. I missed how kick ass the Convert-2 was and regretted parting with it soon after. I don't like my floorstanders anymore (has nothing to do with other components) but like my powered monitors so I'm going in that direction.

 

@RobS get a different source. Yggdrasil A2 stock usb is pretty bad. Pi2Aes cleaned up all the things you said was wrong with it.

 

Your ears, you like what you like. I don't see the problem dude no need to defend what you like. This isn't head-fi...

 

Yeah I've tried various solid state and hybrid amps with HD650 but they all suck in their own ways. I agree it is on the more analytical side, colder, etc. It's f'ing powerful as hell sounding though.

Ok I'll give the Pi2AES a try. Already wanted it as the optical from my dying CD player sounded really f'ing good and better than the USB on Convert-2.

 

While I think it’s possible some of the issues RobS is hearing is related to other gear in his chain, no changes to the Yggdrasil setup are likely going to swing RobS from the Convert.

By all accounts, the Yggdrasil and Convert are very different beasts and many trusted ears have confirmed that slam and dynamics are its forte, that Yggdrasil can’t match. Now whether this can be tolerated long term, maybe, maybe not. But since Rob tried the Schiit stuff and went back to the C2 and immediately preferred it, this is probably a good sign and should not be ignored or discounted as wrong. He has his priorities, others have theirs.

That said, some of his characterizations overall of the Yggdrasil I believe are incorrect (Yggdrasil is not muddy in any way and is very open and dynamic and has an awesome soundstage with speakers), but comparing to the C2 in his system is all that matters. Rob can maybe try a few things like a better transport or different speakers, but I have my doubts this is going to change his mind on things.