Schiit Yiggy measurements from Stereophile

[wkhanna]

from this month's issue of Stereophoile:

Link

[JonMarsh]

Yes, I've read it, enjoyed Herb's comments about it in his system. Herb definitely seems to have his head screwed on straight. I would still like to hear one, but now don't have a burning desire to measure one...

OTOH, I can't for the life of me understand why JA thought there was something odd about having issues with the 24 bit LSB behavior in this DAC, or that it could be fixed with firmware. The AD5791BRUZ is (depending on how you read the data sheet) a 20 bit or 21 bit R2R ladder DAC. It ACCEPTS data in 24 bit format, but it aint' gonna do a blessed thing with the LSB (24th bit).

Expecting other wise would be like trying to shift a six gear Honda Civic into 8th. Ain't gonna happen...

[Steve Manning]

Here is another good review of it. http://www.computeraudiophile.com/co...it-dac-review/

[Supernova]

Updated ROM

I do not know for sure if this addresses the issue you're referring to, but found it interesting.

Quoted from Mike Moffat on Head-Fi.

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/what...#post-13778331

I admit it, yeah, the rumors of modification are true. Over a year ago, we implemented a software modification for the notch which used to be visible at -90db waveforms on all multibit DACs. This modification had a user at another forum in a state of high dudgeon that we could claim our units were high end with such a glaring anomaly. Of course he championed a much more expensive competing unit over and over again which was free of such pox. @atomicbob did not seem to be unduly concerned, measurements champ that he is. I didn't either, completely unconcerned about an inaudible flaw. I corrected it with software tweaks and we have a newly clean -90db measurement.

You may wonder, why didn't we announce it? Well, it goes like this: on our upgradable DACs, we from time to time make running changes, such as the software change above. A few are are compelled, due to parts end of life. The majority, however, are minor tweaks we make for the purpose of improvement. It makes little sense to call an Yggy back for a minor upgrade where $10-$15 worth of upgrades are involved, either for the client or ourselves. So we remain muzzled and do the upgrades when the units come back for more major upgrades.

On major upgrades, such as one which would involve new analog, digi, or input boards, we would implement the changes and let them sit several months to a year before announcing anything. This is so they have time to settle. This is the biggest reason to avoid purchasing a used Yggy. Not that I am attempting anything punative – it is just a system that works reliably, and is fairest on an hourly basis in client cost.

Exceptions are when we offer an accross the line upgrade such as the Gen V USB which pretty much fixes USB, at least until we come out with our own chipset implementation, which will take a year or two. Oops – never mind. These upgrades are inexpensive and effect huge change. So we offer them.

Are we going to offer analog upgrades? Is Apple going to upgrade their phones? Of course. The difference is that we will conceal our upgrades for some period of time before we offer them.

[Supernova]

Jon,

The Yggdrasil has had an analog update: YGGDRASIL ANALOG 2. It also has a new USB update.

It would be great to see some measurements.


Cheers

Peter

[JonMarsh]

That would be interesting to do some time, but I don't own one of these myself. I did just spring for another R2R ladder DAC, one with 26 bit PCM resolution and 6bit DSD, the DENAFRIPS Terminator, but I think with a name like that I'll have to talk ET into doing the measurements... I'm not sure I dare put it on the bench myself...






With two AES/EBU inputs, and three different hardware configurations of I2S input (which has been bedeviling me lately- our company bought a Danish company that makes a one chip Class D amplifier product and of course they sent me the I2S input only version to test)

But I have a Singxer SU-1 that should make testing the Terminator fairly interesting... it converts USB sources to SPDIF, AES/EBU, and I2S in HDMI using LVDS.

[Supernova]

That DENAFRIPS Terminator is a beast. Given the price difference between that and the Yggy, I'd like to see testing between the two, but with analog 2 for the yggy.

Not sure I could pony up for the Terminator, but I'd bet tempted. Then again, I could go with the Benchmark DAC or just use the one in my oppo 203.

I am very curious if there's an audible difference between an R2R and the latest Delta Sigma dacs. I've never owned a dedicated dac.

Nice to see you around again Jon.

[Supernova]

That would be interesting to do some time, but I don't own one of these myself. I did just spring for another R2R ladder DAC, one with 26 bit PCM resolution and 6bit DSD, the DENAFRIPS Terminator, but I think with a name like that I'll have to talk ET into doing the measurements... I'm not sure I dare put it on the bench myself...


[ATTACH=CONFIG]28354[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]28355[/ATTACH]

With two AES/EBU inputs, and three different hardware configurations of I2S input (which has been bedeviling me lately- our company bought a Danish company that makes a one chip Class D amplifier product and of course they sent me the I2S input only version to test)

But I have a Singxer SU-1 that should make testing the Terminator fairly interesting... it converts USB sources to SPDIF, AES/EBU, and I2S in HDMI using LVDS.


[ATTACH=CONFIG]28356[/ATTACH]

Jon-

Have you received your DENAFRIPS Terminator? If so, when are you going to measure and review it?

Since this post, I've seen a lot of talk about this unit, all positive.