Anyone have an Yggdrasil A1 that they have owned and then upgraded to the A2 version? I currently have an A1 that I have owned for a couple of months. I bought it from the original owner so I know all its history. Its fully broken and been constantly kept on. Initially I found that leaving the Yggy off between listening sessions simply make it sound horrible. It needs to be at working temperature all the time. Upon extensive listening to digital sources and comparison to vinyl and RTR the Yggy simply doesnt come close. Lacks dynamics, bass!!!. 3D space, lacks punch and power. It sounds like a compressor is attached to it. It has lots of detail and a rather balanced sound to it but thats about it, I dont see what is so great about it. Its lifeless, has no sparkle, it doesnt come out and grab your senses. its boring. I sort of feel I am at a point of selling or upgrading. Heard so many good things but now that i have it Im not sure an upgrade will fix all the Schiit that Schiit screwed up on in the first design. Its also annoying paying for upgrades that essentially are design flaws. I was hoping some of you members had done the upgrade to A2 and had some A1 to A2 experience you would like to share.
I have been using coaxial from a CD player for the first little while to listen to as thats what was broken in being its a used DAC . So I wanted to get a good listen before I made the switch to USB and computer as my source. The USB has never been used from the original owner who I had bought it from. I'm not sure how long the USB card should take to burn in but I'm guessing I have 20 hours on it. It is better and has more bass but still could be better. My biggest complaint is the lack of bass and power behind the music. It sounds weak, compressed.
Apparently rumours have it that the A1 is lacking bass, I agree. I am trying to get others to confirm its character from A1 to A2 to see if it is worth the upgrade. Right now Its not exactly what I like. There are other traits Yggy has that some have mentioned that arent that favorable in the A1. So upon the A2 upgrade what does it improve from A1. Some say it gets really good after upgrade and you said marginally better?
I already have the A1 version. And I dont feel like spending another $2600 USD plus duties to Canada. The A2 upgrade would make more sense if members actually stuck to the point of the thread. Thats what I am trying to do, determine the differences from members who have owned both in an analytical and musical description.
Thanks, I was hearing different things like the bass improved notably in A2, and other aspects. This is a real trickster. I have read so many similar and different opinions about the A1 and A2 but not many from both A1 to A2 owners.
My Yggdrasil sounds nothing like you describe. It’s a very fine sounding DAC. Very lively and dynamic, with good bass.
I
had an original A1, and then upgraded to A2.
Both sounding similar, but the A2 is more refined. The bass is not significantly different between
the two.
Perhaps the DAC might
not match up well with your amplifier? I
see you’re going straight from the DAC into your amp. Have you tried an active preamp?
The amp mates up very well with everything I have put to it directly. And yes it has the volume control option. It is also heavily modded with the best parts. In fact I had an Ayre K-1XE preamp before, it was more transparent and better sounding without the Ayre. I have tried lots of combos. Had lots of gear, and lots of experience building and repairing electronics. I have Martin Logan Monolith 3 speakers, they have no problem with electrostatics, 8 watts is pretty loud. My TTW Gem 2 turntable, ZYX Fuji Gold cartridge, Manley Chinook phono pre combo direct to amp sound really good and have much more bass and mids even at low volumes where the Yggy I find is very weak. You have to really play the Yggy loud to feel like the bass is going to low powerful levels.
Yeah thats what they say but it works it just fine. What about when you feed almost no signal to your speakers, or no volume? isnt that no wattage? They are just stating what they believe would be a good all around minimum to work a variety of gear to get to a certain db of listening volume.
The Yggdrasil might have a problem driving your amp directly without a preamp. The stereophile measurements showed the Yggdrasil had a much harder time driving a 600 ohm load vs 100k ohm load.
@ hsw Very interesting, that might explain the rather lack of power behind musical images that you are used being bone shaking and very authoritative. I recall when modding the amp I actually increased the input resistance to 1k. I’ll have to speak with Chris Johnson at Parts Connexion about this. Thx! so far you have made the most sensible comment. 600 ohms is low and allows for a lot to current to ground. now that I’ve using the unused USB for about 40 hours the bass is getting better but the impact is still to be desired. Much appreciated!
@tvad Really, thats what you are gonna do, ride some elses coat tales and make pokes at me for some reason? If you were so smart why didnt you say so. Its not the first thing that comes to mind of all the potential things that can cause any type of issue. There way more things that can cause this before impendence matching will. Considering the amp has never had a problem mating up with anything it wasn’t high on the radar. You seem to act like a know it all and comment for the sake of commenting whether it helps or not. Please refrain from commenting in this thread, Im tired of your comments.
@tvad I stayed off forums for years just because of members like you, the moment someone had a comment thats bettered yours you swoop in and make a comment towards me in an insultive manner and then pat "hsw" on the back. What kind of childish behavior is this? You certainly arent sticking to the forum topic.
Your ignoring the point I am making, thanks for insulting me. Instead you try to blame my approach to the issue at hand. I never stated the DAC was faulty, nor did I assume it was. I heard many different things from many different sources so I am trying to get a simple A1-A2 comparison but thats impossible obviously. Youre a real piece of work. Why would you comment on a comment with a negative at me , and then comment on another comment with a positive that has nothing to do with you or the thread. I Suggest unless you have anything to offer about the Yggy, A1-A2, then stop harassing me. You don't know the process Ive gone through, combinations Ive tried,Cables, etc, etc. Nor did I ever want to offer that. I only asked for A1`-A2 COMPARISON!!!! But you want this thread the way you do. I wrote these words: I was hoping some of you members had done the upgrade to A2 and had some A1 to A2 experience you would like to share.
Your words: "@dcrec, I’m surprised that with your experience building and repairing electronics you hadn’t factored Yggdrasil/Assemblage ST300B impedance match considering the Yggy is going direct to the amplifier.
@hsw, good thought. Hopefully it provides a clearer understanding of the underlying cause of the OP's concerns about the Yggdrasil, and offers a path to the solution.""
Well after trying the Yggy to different amps and now even preamps it reacts slightly differently to all favourably but it seems to dislike going my 300B direct the most, adding a preamp improved some things but ultimately transparency was again sacrificed. So it may be component rearranging time??
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