Schiit Yggdrasil Singular

[_Scotty_]

Warning! Long Post.

I haven't posted in quite awhile but I am back with a system update.
After 13 years listening to the same DAC I tried something new. 
On April 2nd I took possession of a brand new Schiit Yggdrasil DAC.
 
It has been playing files continuously 24/7 since I unpacked it.
About yesterday, 3/18/26, it started coming around, before then it definitely needed
more breakin. The sound prior to that date was pretty good but it was reminiscent of a partially
developed piece of film. You can see lot of the general outlines of what is there but
all of the picture's detail is not fully fleshed out.
 It always had a bigger stereo image than my Auralic Vega from day one and a much more
holographic presentation of the recording venue.
At this point when a studio creation is played back containing an artificial soundscape
the listener is immersed in a 3 dimensional sound field extending at times 360
degrees around listening position. Mind that this is only when the listener
is in the sweet spot.
 
In my system it sounds linear from top to bottom.
The top end is extended and does not over emphasize any part of the
high frequency spectrum. The bottom frequencies are more completely represented
than they are with the Vega. The Vega doesn't sound short in bass extension
this regard but instruments just don't seem quite as authoritative. In a system
where low frequency room problems are not remedied the bass could sound over cooked.
There is a greater harmonic development of the notes being played than the Vega
delivers. This is something I notice across the entire frequency spectrum,
things are just more convincingly real sounding. The transient attack is
exemplary and easily the equal of the Vega but its better resolution across
the board allows you to hear fine nuances in the performance that are not there with the Vega.
The Auralic Vega is still a very good sounding DAC to my ears but the Yggdrasil
serves the music better.
 
With the Yggdrasil is now well on it way to being broken in after roughly 400 hours
continuous playback into the 10K ohm input of my preamp an interesting
characteristic of the Vega has emerged. It slightly emphasizes the upper frequencies
highlighting instruments upper harmonics. This will tend to lead to the
conclusion that it has superior resolution of detail in the highest
registers. In fact the highs are just a tad bit overly represented. You are not
actually hearing more resolution up there. This was only evident when identical
material was played back to back yielding an Aha! moment. There really is
something funny going on here, I'm not loosing my mind.
 
This seems to be a characteristic, to greater or lesser degree of all Saber dacs.
In some, this tendency is very poorly dealt with resulting a hard to listen
to piece of gear. The Vega didn't offend in this regard and I took it's
presentation of the music as mostly what the recording actually sounded like.
I was wrong. At this point I would rather listen to the Yggdrasil.
The instruments sound much more realistic than they previously did and
vocalists don't have an overemphasis of head resonance. The Auralic favored
the upper body structures over the lower body chest resonance. Male and female
vocals are better served by Yggdrasil.
 
 In conclusion the Schiit Yggdrasil has a permanent place in my system.
 
Schiit has a 15 day money back guarantee. I was wondering if it was ever
going to breakin at 10 days. I stuck with it and by day 13 I figured it was a keeper.
I wish it had a 20 day money back guarantee, but I realize that they had to draw the line
somewhere. I admit to having faith in Mike Moffat's work based on previous experience
with his DAC designs prior to his founding of Theta Digital. They sounded damn good
then and his approach to digital reproduction hasn't changed. I felt that it was
worth taking chance on a new DAC designed by him.
 
So long for now.
As always your mileage may vary.
 Scotty

[P.I.]

Warning! Long Post.

I haven't posted in quite awhile but I am back with a system update.
After 13 years listening to the same DAC I tried something new. 
On April 2nd I took possession of a brand new Schiit Yggdrasil DAC.
 
It has been playing files continuously 24/7 since I unpacked it.
About yesterday, 3/18/26, it started coming around, before then it definitely needed
more breakin. The sound prior to that date was pretty good but it was reminiscent of a partially
developed piece of film. You can see lot of the general outlines of what is there but
all of the picture's detail is not fully fleshed out.
 It always had a bigger stereo image than my Auralic Vega from day one and a much more
holographic presentation of the recording venue.
At this point when a studio creation is played back containing an artificial soundscape
the listener is immersed in a 3 dimensional sound field extending at times 360
degrees around listening position. Mind that this is only when the listener
is in the sweet spot.
 
In my system it sounds linear from top to bottom.
The top end is extended and does not over emphasize any part of the
high frequency spectrum. The bottom frequencies are more completely represented
than they are with the Vega. The Vega doesn't sound short in bass extension
this regard but instruments just don't seem quite as authoritative. In a system
where low frequency room problems are not remedied the bass could sound over cooked.
There is a greater harmonic development of the notes being played than the Vega
delivers. This is something I notice across the entire frequency spectrum,
things are just more convincingly real sounding. The transient attack is
exemplary and easily the equal of the Vega but its better resolution across
the board allows you to hear fine nuances in the performance that are not there with the Vega.
The Auralic Vega is still a very good sounding DAC to my ears but the Yggdrasil
serves the music better.
 
With the Yggdrasil is now well on it way to being broken in after roughly 400 hours
continuous playback into the 10K ohm input of my preamp an interesting
characteristic of the Vega has emerged. It slightly emphasizes the upper frequencies
highlighting instruments upper harmonics. This will tend to lead to the
conclusion that it has superior resolution of detail in the highest
registers. In fact the highs are just a tad bit overly represented. You are not
actually hearing more resolution up there. This was only evident when identical
material was played back to back yielding an Aha! moment. There really is
something funny going on here, I'm not loosing my mind.
 
This seems to be a characteristic, to greater or lesser degree of all Saber dacs.
In some, this tendency is very poorly dealt with resulting a hard to listen
to piece of gear. The Vega didn't offend in this regard and I took it's
presentation of the music as mostly what the recording actually sounded like.
I was wrong. At this point I would rather listen to the Yggdrasil.
The instruments sound much more realistic than they previously did and
vocalists don't have an overemphasis of head resonance. The Auralic favored
the upper body structures over the lower body chest resonance. Male and female
vocals are better served by Yggdrasil.
 
 In conclusion the Schiit Yggdrasil has a permanent place in my system.
 
Schiit has a 15 day money back guarantee. I was wondering if it was ever
going to breakin at 10 days. I stuck with it and by day 13 I figured it was a keeper.
I wish it had a 20 day money back guarantee, but I realize that they had to draw the line
somewhere. I admit to having faith in Mike Moffat's work based on previous experience
with his DAC designs prior to his founding of Theta Digital. They sounded damn good
then and his approach to digital reproduction hasn't changed. I felt that it was
worth taking chance on a new DAC designed by him.
 
So long for now.
As always your mileage may vary.
 Scotty

Great review, Scotty!    They do seem to have their Schitt together. 😎

[Nick B]

Warning! Long Post.

I haven't posted in quite awhile but I am back with a system update.
After 13 years listening to the same DAC I tried something new. 
On April 2nd I took possession of a brand new Schiit Yggdrasil DAC.
 
It has been playing files continuously 24/7 since I unpacked it.
About yesterday, 3/18/26, it started coming around, before then it definitely needed
more breakin. The sound prior to that date was pretty good but it was reminiscent of a partially
developed piece of film. You can see lot of the general outlines of what is there but
all of the picture's detail is not fully fleshed out.
 It always had a bigger stereo image than my Auralic Vega from day one and a much more
holographic presentation of the recording venue.
At this point when a studio creation is played back containing an artificial soundscape
the listener is immersed in a 3 dimensional sound field extending at times 360
degrees around listening position. Mind that this is only when the listener
is in the sweet spot.
 
In my system it sounds linear from top to bottom.
The top end is extended and does not over emphasize any part of the
high frequency spectrum. The bottom frequencies are more completely represented
than they are with the Vega. The Vega doesn't sound short in bass extension
this regard but instruments just don't seem quite as authoritative. In a system
where low frequency room problems are not remedied the bass could sound over cooked.
There is a greater harmonic development of the notes being played than the Vega
delivers. This is something I notice across the entire frequency spectrum,
things are just more convincingly real sounding. The transient attack is
exemplary and easily the equal of the Vega but its better resolution across
the board allows you to hear fine nuances in the performance that are not there with the Vega.
The Auralic Vega is still a very good sounding DAC to my ears but the Yggdrasil
serves the music better.
 
With the Yggdrasil is now well on it way to being broken in after roughly 400 hours
continuous playback into the 10K ohm input of my preamp an interesting
characteristic of the Vega has emerged. It slightly emphasizes the upper frequencies
highlighting instruments upper harmonics. This will tend to lead to the
conclusion that it has superior resolution of detail in the highest
registers. In fact the highs are just a tad bit overly represented. You are not
actually hearing more resolution up there. This was only evident when identical
material was played back to back yielding an Aha! moment. There really is
something funny going on here, I'm not loosing my mind.
 
This seems to be a characteristic, to greater or lesser degree of all Saber dacs.
In some, this tendency is very poorly dealt with resulting a hard to listen
to piece of gear. The Vega didn't offend in this regard and I took it's
presentation of the music as mostly what the recording actually sounded like.
I was wrong. At this point I would rather listen to the Yggdrasil.
The instruments sound much more realistic than they previously did and
vocalists don't have an overemphasis of head resonance. The Auralic favored
the upper body structures over the lower body chest resonance. Male and female
vocals are better served by Yggdrasil.
 
 In conclusion the Schiit Yggdrasil has a permanent place in my system.
 
Schiit has a 15 day money back guarantee. I was wondering if it was ever
going to breakin at 10 days. I stuck with it and by day 13 I figured it was a keeper.
I wish it had a 20 day money back guarantee, but I realize that they had to draw the line
somewhere. I admit to having faith in Mike Moffat's work based on previous experience
with his DAC designs prior to his founding of Theta Digital. They sounded damn good
then and his approach to digital reproduction hasn't changed. I felt that it was
worth taking chance on a new DAC designed by him.
 
So long for now.
As always your mileage may vary.
 Scotty

Nice thorough review, Scotty and good to hear from you. Our member Steve has tried a couple of Schiit dacs, but not the Yggy. I have always respected Mike's products.
Do you play any vinyl or are you only digital nowadays?

[_Scotty_]

My preamp was lost and I haven't replaced it since my last move upon retirement to southern Utah.
It was custom unit tailored to a specific cartridge. Not really replaceable with an off the shelf unit. Fortunately I don't have a large vinyl collection.
 I'm all digital now and listening to file playback from a HAL™ Win 10 PC utilizing jRiver.
 An interesting claim by Schiit was that the new Unison 384™ USB interface doesn't care
what USB cable you use. The USB cable used with the Auralic Vega was critical to achieving
good sound out it.
 The'Byggy', just doesn't seem to care. I chose the crappiest USB cable I had
laying around to compare to a recently purchased Oyaide d+ USB (Class B) A to C cable and it didn't
seem to care. I will revisit this question after another 2 to 300 hundred hrs. of breakin have
happened.

Scotty

[Nick B]

I hope that it wasn't a Gary Dodd preamp. I was kind of close to your neck of the woods as I visited St George today to see my doctor about a sprained knee. I don't know if you are aware, but I left that beautiful area at the end of 2022 and live an hour from Vegas nowadays.I presume you are still in the C City area. Very beautiful up there and closer to go skiing, but I don't wanna deal with snow during my winters.

I wonder how they designed the Yggy so that it sounds great with any kind of Cable. With my system having evolved so much over the last couple of years, Cable differences have been significant for me.

Nick

[_Scotty_]

I don't think we're going to get answer to that from Schiit. My theory is that it a result of how the USB interface is designed. The Unison USB™ interface is entirely designed and built in house.
Almost everyone else is using some type of off the shelf solution as far as I am know. They may not brag about whose chip they are using but its in there. Going back to yesteryear I remember maybe 3 brands which were in vogue and lauded as a the latest hotness and a feature to be mentioned in promotional material.
Nothing else but that USB interface comes to mind as a way to render the exact cable construction irrelevant. One other thing has come to my attention.
 Apparently Microsoft says that kernel streaming audio via usb has lead to stability issues and they no longer support its use. This is specifically how my Vega DAC goes out the door with audio. It uses the native driver in Windows 10. ASIO drivers sound inferior to kernel streaming with the Vega.
 The Byggy uses WASAPI direct {exclusive} and accepts up to 384kHz input. No DSD material unless converted to PCM WAV.
WASAPI direct always sounded inferior to kernel streaming with the Vega.
Go figure. I'm happy with results even if I don't understand the why of it.

 Scotty