Schiit Yggdrasil Less is More, is it a quality dac ?

The Yggy can’t be matched at twice the price, IMO.

based on my own experience with the yggy and numerous others (roughly 40 dacs since early 2021), i don’t agree with this statement

three dacs come to mind readily that to my ear, in my system, outperform the yggy in overall musicality, prat, imaging, and top to bottom cohesiveness

mhdt orchid (esp, w grannyring mods), but also in stock form ($1600 modded)

denafrips pontus ($1700)

cambridge cxn v2, with dan wright’s brilliant tube output stage mods ($2400 modded)

to be sure, different systems benefit from dacs with different sonic presentations, but based on my own listening and owning various dacs, i wanted to offer this contrasting point of view to the bold statement set forth above

I a Yggy several years ago,  I also had a W4S DAC. I initially I preferred the Yggy but after having both upgraded the W4S was better and I sold the Yggy.  I sold the W4S for a Terminator and then sold that for a Terminator plus.  I would go Denafrips over Schitt.

I also had a Freya and the Schitt phono pre.  Schitt makes good low to mid quality gear but it's not outstanding. 

I have the Schiit OG, LIM and Gustard R26. 

The Gustard R26 is new and I am still putting in some hours on it before I start A-Bing with a balance switcher.

Preamp Modwright 36.5 LS

Amp  Electrompaniet AW250 R Stereo Amplifier 

Speakers Triangle Signature Alphas

 

It all depends on your system. System matching is very important.

IMO the Triangle with its horns speakers although every detailed can get bright so type of music and quality of the recording in very important. 

Initial Impressions:

The OG sounds glorious with good recordings. It has more air than the other 2 DACs. The sound stage is by far the biggest on the OG. The vocals are more forward on the OG than on the R26. If you want a more balance presentation the R26 might be a better option as the vocals are definitely pulled back between the two.

  The LIM loses the top end energy in comparison to the OG. The LIM sounds great but I always feel like their is a veil when switching from the OG. 

On poor recording I would take the LIM hands down as the OG can get fatiguing on the Triangles. But I do not want to lose that Air and detail on well recorded music I get with the OG

I am trying to get to a balanced sound on this system that will work better with everyday recording. 

Quick recap on this system

For me OG is stunning and best with great recordings,  not so more for poor ones. More air, Biggest soundstage than the other 2, Vocals take centre stage. 

LIM is great and if I was not bouncing back from the OG would say if also is great. But when going back to back in this systems there appears to me to be a veil on the best recordings.

The R26 is very detailed and no veil. The sound stage today is not as big and the air is less than the OG. TheR26 pulls the back the vocals  I think I hear more of the music on the stage. Personal preference comes into play on if you prefer a more balanced presentation (R26) or more air and again vocals taking centre stage with the (OG)

 

Foot note on a different system:

Aesthetix Mimas Integraded

Speaker PMC Twenty Five 26I

 

On this system the OG is perfect to me. That top end energy  is that can be too bright on the Triangles is wonderful on the PMC's. I love this system. Can pretty much play anything and it sounds wonderful. Huge sound stage and not bright..

 

Both the Schitt OG and LIM are wonderful DACS. I am hoping with time the R26 improves where it might displace the OG. I am looking for more air from it and a bigger soundstage.  Really I need both LOL. When playing vocals OG all the way. When playing jazz R26 may be the ticket with a more balanced approach. 

 

I am contemplating trying a Denafrips Pontus ll 12th to see if if this might be the missing ticket on the Triangles. 

 

Any suggestions are welcome:)

 

 

 

I own an Yggdrasil A2 (before the latest Less is More variant). Also owned a Terminator which I sold for a Terminator Plus. I think the Yggy is a decent DAC for the money, but I've had a friend's Gumby MB over to compare and thought that DAC offered better value (not much different than my Yggy). 

Compared to my the Terminator (circa early 2000), the Yggy was a bit more forward sounding with a shallower soundstage. It was also a bit fatiguing after a few hours. I've had the Terminator Plus for a couple years now, so it's been a while since I compared the original Terminator to the Yggy. 

The Terminator Plus with Gaia has more detail while at the same time being smoother sounding and easy to listen to for hours on end. 

I haven't heard the lower-end Denafrips DACs, but I'm very happy with my Terminator Plus. But of course, its a much more expensive DAC. 

i would concur with what is covered in the last couple posts, given my own experience with schiit and denafrips dacs

in the schitt line, i also felt the gumby was the sweet spot, just as i felt the pontus was that in the denafrips line

yggy and terminator brought the treble forward significantly, sounded more hifi, more robotic, less natural to my ears -- of course, overall the terminator is better than the yggy (og i tried) all around, just as the pontus is somwhat better sounding overall than the gumby

for the schiit dacs, the clicking of the internal relay when the streaming sample rate was changed between songs drove me crazy, compelled me to sell them off

similarly, for the denafrips, i was using a bluesound node 2i at the time as the streamer, and with its rca digital output, there was a major compatibility issue with the pontus/pontus 2 input receiver card, that was a total pain the butt

in the end, i moved through these makers, and then sonnet/metrum, ayre, musical paradise, ps audio ... towards chord, mhdt, audio mirror, audio note, bricasti ... then eventually to the msb and weiss units which i currently have (along with the chord m scaler/hugo tt2 stack, among a few others)