Schiit Yggdrasil or Bryston BDA-2 opinions to help me choose!

Hmm what preamp and amp was he using cables could make a slight difference also? Also source could very I am primarily using the Bryston Pi maybe the match set matters???

digital dac differences are very small in quality products
Bryston makes great products
Thanks for the comments JP

Yes. The BDA-2 is great, but slightly "clinical-sounding).


The Yggdrasil is akin to sitting 6th row center in Carnegie Hall (close up, so the imaging is quite good, and the stage is quite wide (I saw a review that said the Yggdrasil had a 'narrow stage.' Like hell, it does). You will hear the sustain on piano, as well as when the pianist lifts his foot off the pedal (and you will NOT be straining. I’m breaking the Yggdrasil in with an NAD CBEE 356, and using Nola Contenders and Nola Thunderbolt subs for full range sound. Although I didn’t compare both at the same time, the rest of the system was the same. The Bryston is a terrific unit, but it’s pretty far outclassed by the Yggdrasil in sheer "realism." Again, "realism" is LIVE MUSIC (and NOT other components, comparisons between which are just a waste of time, unless you are looking for a ’coloration’ you prefer. There’s no two ways about it). Also, the music must be unamplified, and the halls at which i have the most experience are Carnegie Hall (NYC), Avery Fisher (or David B. Geffen, as it has been renamed (he bought himself a hall!) (NYC, Lincoln Center), The Metropolitan Opera (NYC, Lincoln Center), and Davies Hall in San Francisco, Boston Symphony Hall, Boston, and finally, a concert hall in in Raleigh, N.C. (forget the name).

But do NOT assess the Yggdrasil before 10-13 days (you get a 15 day trial. and Moffatt does charge a 10% restocking fee, but it's worth it).

Sorry, Bill, I have to disagree. I had a Genesis Digital Lens back in 1995, before that, a DAC whose name i forget, then Bryston, ARC of recent vintage, Oppo 105, and now Yggdrasil. I think the room acoustics can swamp the differences, but my room was designed by ASC, is on a resilient channel and completed with their Wall Damp construction. In addition, I have 42 tube traps and the differences are stark. Besides which, I have Townshend platforms, which remove structural and airborne vibrations, A Finite Elemente Rack, PS Audio Power Plant, Audience Adept-T, (Teflon version), and Synergistic, PS audio, Maestro, Oyaide and Furutech wall receptacles. Electricity, Isolation form vibration, and room acoustics are the Big Three. Leaving any one out can lessen our ability to hear the differences.

I own the McIntosh D100 and love its 'honest' sound signature  very neutral and natural you are hearing excatly what was recorded without any kind of  coloration or exaggeration .
How did you find the McIntosh compare to the Bryston and the Yggdrasil ?