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

As someone that adores the MB BF1, I would vote to just go with the LIM flavor. Unless you wanted to have an additional DAC in another room or setup (compared to one DAC with swappable flavors in a single spot). I feel like if I bought the 2/64, I'd be too tempted to upgrade and upgrade-itis would always be lingering. It took me awhile to "learn" why the A1 was superior to the MB BF1, but I really have trouble going back to it.

 

Still have a pair to sell from the EU if you’re interested: https://www.superbestaudiofriends.o...drasil-a2-lim-analog-cards-gen5-usb-eu.14557/

 

Sorry all - I don't mean to muck up the threads, but I saw an alert and this older post of mine caught my eye. For the sake of consistency, I'll repeat my update elsewhere that I went a few more weeks and switched back to LiM boards and have decided to keep those over the MiB. In my system, I still think MiB is better but there are subjective attributes I prefer about LiM in my system/room. I admit: very hard to choose "less" as more, lol. (I just repeat to myself that Schiit says LiM is Moffat's favorite on their website!) YMWV

Also, will sell my MiB boards if you're interested - PM please.

 

I find my conversion to MiB from LiM to be slightly less dark, same great blackground and musicality, a bit more detail but really not a huge difference. Both flavors are exemplary, I am extremely happy with the MiB.

 

I will be selling my A2 BRUZ boards pulled when I updated Yiggy+ with LIM boards.
I will post in FS when permitting.

 

These sold pretty fast.

 

Where? and how much?

 

I just put my pair or OG boards up for sale if anyone here wants them.

 

Sold on Audiomart $450

 

I just swapped out my A2 boards (which were in use for over a year)and installed A1 boards, but with the same updated firmware. Here are my initial impressions:

I checked all was working immediately after installation, and while bright, I picked up on something missing from the A2 boards which always bugged me: cohesion. There was this cohesiveness throughout the spectrum, as if the bass-mids-treble were previously disconnected. Macrodynamics were also restored to life-like levels.

However, I thought I might be understanding the term "greyness" for the first time. Also, it was indeed bright.

After a few days, it is less bright, and I now am really not willing to part with the cohesiveness I am hearing. However, I am on the fence whether I am missing some plankton and microdynamics. I am hoping these might appear with more warm-up.

 

I am also comparing NOS mode, and while OS improves all technicalities, I suspect OS sounds drier and subtracts some sweetness from voices. I am trying to discern engagement levels from placebo. This was another nitpick I had with A2, which now I might attribute to OS mode.

 

Update:
1) OS mode is just better. Nothing to complain about at all.

2) A1 cards are far preferable to me. The A2 cards sound compressed as many other have reported. Their bass is also looser and more bloated. The A1 sounds tighter and renders individual bass tones more distinctly, resulting in better bass texture.
There is this weird thing uniformly across the frequency spectrum which I can only describe as "blur" that the A2 had. The A1 has less of this motion blur feeling, which perhaps explains the bass clarity. Perhaps this is what some are talking about when they say A1 has better speshul detail when fully burned in. Because A2 has the edge in plankton and microdynamics by a half-step, exactly as depicted in @purr1n 's dac comparison plots.

It seems that for me, the overall presentation being balanced, cohesive, dynamic, clear, immediate and resolving, are worth more than the improvements in plankton, microdynamics, harmonic richness, decay and depth. My experience is that the A1 cards result in a more engaging experience with the MJ3.

 

Quick question about the USB gen

I'm looking to buy a Yggdrasil (A2), and I've got one lined up, but it has a Gen 5 USB input
Is the sound quality of Unison that much better than GEN 5 / Optical to warrant an upgrade?

Can get a second hand Yggdrasil (A2) Gen 5 USB for $850, $1,100 if I upgrade to Unison (import costs)
Alternatively, I can buy a display model Yggdrasil+ (A2) Unison USB with a 5 year warranty for $1950 (I envy you Americans and your cheaper gear)

I'm stuck between wanting a good deal and wanting the best of something
I seek wisdom from you lot to aid in my purchase decision

 

Unison being amazing does not make Gen 5 suck.
Personally I would suffer from FOMO but it's your wallet.

 

If your source is USB, Unison is absolutely worth it IMO, even considering the import/shipping. The best of both worlds here is to get the cheaper used A2 and then just buy the Unison upgrade card. That’s what I would do.

 

I would say Gen 5 surpassed my low expectations and I'm comfortable using it as a source when needed, especially when I need PC audio out. My PC is a noisy gaming PC with a lot of fans and I'm always multitasking on it. I use Neutron player as a main music player. I'm impressed it handles the output as well as it does. It loses to my other main source (an old Soundaware D100 Pro) in terms of separation and a hint of listening fatigue, but unless it's an A/B, I don't mind too much. This is also in an Yggdrasil A1, so if there were a lot of source problems, it would be heard in the most transparent way possible.

I would pounce on an A2 with Unison for $1,100 personally.

 

If you're saying you can get the A2 Yggdrasil with Gen 5 without paying import costs, but you'd need to pay them to get the Unison card to upgrade that same unit, personally I would try the A2 with Gen 5 first and be sure to compare between Gen 5 and AES. AES is the preferred input for a lot of folks on Yggdrasil, even over Unison. You can then decide if you want the Unison card later. I don't see the point of getting a Yggdrasil+ Unison for that much more net money, even if it has a warranty. No guarantees or anything, but Yggdrasils generally are on the more reliable side of Schiit's lineup at this point, having been around so long.

 

IMO the AES is the best input on the A2.

 

A few months ago I compared with NOS mode on Yggdrasil.

My experience was in line with others':
Yggdrasil Refined - New Schiit Yggdrasil Analog 2 (Yggdrasil A2) Sound Impressions

However, since greatly improving the sound of my source (PC motherboard with heavily configured BIOS settings etc) I discovered that removing the Matrix element H pcie card and linear PSU *improved the sound*! This shocked me, but now I have come to believe that eliminating the noise at the source made the pcie card ddc unecessary, and even slightly detrimental.
USB Nervosa Thread Decrapifiers, pro interfaces, and bears oh my

So, I recently repeated the OS vs NOS comparison, in case the improvements to the source might have affected this too. Here is a stream-of-consciousness record of my initial impressions when switching over to NOS mode on the GS/A1 with MJ3 and my own heavily modified "QHD800" headphones:


effects of NOS on A1/GS

- pocket of breathy, raspy "air" around instruments, particularly voices
- sweeter
- less sibilance: less sharp and prickly highs. Less digititus/glare
- less exaggerated detail: information not pushed forward. more natural and cohesive sound. feels less matter-of-fact, more sensory
- slight improvements in plankton, microdetail and microdynamics result in a better timbre, holography, cohesion, engagement, liquidity, layering.
- transients seem more cohesive between micro- and macrodynamics. Maybe this also improves timbre?
- Instruments have better sense of presence, more saturated colours
- Bass has more appropriate weight and depth, treble more liquidity, mids more inner warmth.
- impression of less microdetail because individual sounds have less of a space carved out for them. instead they can be heard more distinctly, even when occupying the same space. Less emptiness between instruments.
- OS sounds forcibly square in contrast
- OS sounds precise, clinical and lively, but does so by clearing space between sounds - both micro and macro - and leaving musical information out.
- OS could relieve the sense of congestion in a congested system
- Lyrics-forward
- melodies are more readily apparent
- don't consciously "notice" as many sounds (attention moves less often), but occasionally perceive new sounds which were unnoticeable/masked with OS.
- greater purity in mids, less sterile sound. Guitar strings have a tuning-fork tone rooting them. OS sounds digital in comparison.
- sounds move across the stereo field more fluidly (less disjointed movements from left to right or right to left)

 

I commented on the above observations in the USB Nervosa and decrapification thread, since it seemed less relevant here. But to anyone owning an Yggdrasil, it might be worth trying NOS mode if you have a clean source.
USB Nervosa Thread Decrapifiers, pro interfaces, and bears oh my