Power Cable for Yggdrasil DAC

I found the PC to the Yggdrasil to have a large effect on my overall system sound. I've tried four different PCs . I started with a Kaplan HE that I had. It’s unshielded with red copper connectors. Very open sound, great dynamics, but gray background and a bit “course”.

Thought I’d try a shielded cable and picked up an Oyaide Black Mamba. Less, open (probably the light shield) than the Kaplan, but still acceptable. Very smooth and transparent. A little light in the bass for me, so decided to try something else.

Picked up some Furutech FP-S022N cable and terminated it with FI-28 (G) IEC and FI-50(G) ends. Really excellent cable. A bit more warmth than the Black Mamba. Good details, smooth, nice soundstaging. Not slow sounding. The only downside is it seemed to be a bit closed in, and had less micro-dynamics compared to the Kaplan. That is probably a consequence of the extra shielding the Furutech cable uses. The background is certainly blacker with the shielded cables.

Decided to try a shielded cable with a different shield method. Picked up a Lessloss C-Marc. It appears this has all the attributes I seek. Very open, good soundstaging, black background, transparent – good details, good dynamics, organic tone, and a pinch warm. Perhaps not as smooth as the Black Mamba in the mids, but still quite smooth. The C-Marc appears to be a keeper for me.

Hope you find the TWL to your liking. If not, you might want to consider a C-Marc. I believe Lessloss has a 30 day return period.

@mooglie

Thanks for your in-depth response, very helpful information.

I'm using all WyWires Silver series in my whole system so I use the Juice 2 power cable. Very nice!

I would give KLE Innovations power cables a try

https://kleinnovations.com/kle-innovations-klei-products/klei-gzseries-cables/klei-ac-power-cable/

Regards

I updated my Yggy (A2) to the TWL Digital American & am very happy with it. The best way I can describe it is the Digital American provides more detail across the board in all frequencies. Excellent cable. I will say though that the bigger improvement in sound was when I replaced the PC on my Innuos ZENith MK II with the Digital American as well. That change out was much more profound than the improvement from the Yggy. I think you will be very happy with it. The Yggy already sounds incredible and the Digital American will polish up any congested / crowded audio sections. Enjoy!

I’ve not heard the Yggy but agree above WyWires are wonderful power cables and I have a couple Silver Juice II standards and HC models, plus a Platinum HC I just received today. Currently I use/prefer Nordost Vishnu for my digital equipment but that being said I have not tried the Digital version of the Silver Juice II so I might try one to see how they hold up to the Vishnu’s. Alex of WyWires does take trades of other manufacturer cables towards his so can’t hurt to inquire. Alex has given me several great deals - very fair and easy to work with.

Thanks for the responses everyone. The TWL DAPC is performing really well with the Yggy. It’s a keeper. Now looking at getting the TWL HPDA PC for my Simaudio 700i Integrated amp. Planning on it delivering like the DA did with the Yggy. 

Jason Stoddard  and Mike Moffat who founded Schiit Audio as well as Frank Van Alstine all say all this cable stuff is all hype. 

A very happy audio accident happened today. I needed to buy the following cable for my Yggi+ Less Is More which is in my office system. I also have a Yggi+ OG in my Livingroom system.

Benchmark RCA to XLRM Adapter Cable for Analog Audio - pin 3 to RCA sh - Benchmark Media Systems

I wanted to have 3 things connected at the same time to my LIM DAC, a RAAL VM-1a headphone amp (using the same cable), a Benchmark HPA4 preamp, and a Schitt Mjolnir v3 preamp (used for RAAL headphones).

While on the Benchmark web site I was thinking I should get a new USB cable for my Benchmark DAC3B which recently got hooked up with a new fibre optic streamer. The same model as used with the LIM DAC. I saw this review on the site.

This is actually a "shadow review" of the DAC3 HGC, because I guess I missed following language in the manual for that product -- "Due to the jitter attenuation provided by the Benchmark UltraLock™ systems, special "premium" USB cables are not recommended." Having missed that language, I continued to use the $400 "audiophile" USB cable that had improved the sound of my previous DAC. I then stumbled upon the language above while shopping for additional Benchmark cables, and figured I'd substitute the cable that came with my DAC3 for the "audiophile" piece. You can guess the rest, and now I'm selling that $400 USB piece. If you own a DAC3, be sure to use the USB cable -- and power cord -- that comes in the box. These people know what they're doing.

So, I bought the XLR-to-RCA cable and I thought I bought 1 USB cable for the DAC3B. Today, I got the package and in it was 2 USB cables. I tried the USB on the DAC3B first, and it sounded really good. A bit of the harshness on top was eliminated. After a few hours I was thinking this is sounding the best I have heard this DAC. I have had this DAC for about a decade. The chain here was DAC3B | Benchmark HPA4 preamp | Sanders Magtech amp | Magnepan Mini speaker system. 

I now also have a second USB cable from Benchmark and a $200 or $400 name brand USB cable hooked up to the Yggi+ LIM. I replaced the existing USB cable with the $8 Benchmark cable and same thing happened. The LIM sounded the best I have ever heard it. With the Mjolnir v3, via the following pathway, Schitt Aegir v1 mono amps to my RAAL CA-1a headphone's. I had a bit of fatigue. However, with the $8 cable that fatigue was gone, and I did a comparison with the old cable and the $8 cable. They sounded a bit different, with the old cable having a bit of harshness on top that led to fatigue via the headphones. The $8 cable did not suffer from a lack of detail. It just sounded incredible. The Magnepan Mini's also sounded amazing with this $8 USB. In this case there was no fatigue with either cable.

I think this statement from Benchmark also applies to Schitt. It is also why I have not spent more than $20 - $70 on PC's for my 2 Yggi+'s.

"Due to the jitter attenuation provided by the Benchmark UltraLock™ systems, special "premium" USB cables are not recommended."

My $200 or $400 cable is going to the trash (recycler) and I am ordering a 3rd $8 Benchmark USB cable. It is likely the same as any cheap USB cable that comes with digital devices, but I am not taking a chance. 

I have only tried a Pangea PC and the Benchmark PC on the 2 Yggi+'s and they sounded the same. However, both are low-cost PC's or maybe expensive PS's do not matter for Schitt, like Benchmark.