[martinr]

Some audiophiles are raging about it on various websites.

Wondering if any AC'ers have compared it to other DACS?

[BobC]

No, but my Gungnir sings beautifully! 

[happyrabbit]

Almost finished breaking in my MultiBit Gungnir.  I have ~200hrs on it.     I will be comparing it to my Pagoda DAC ( slightly modded )...

I will keep you updated.

Dwight

[MttBsh]

I received my "Yggy" just over two weeks ago and have around 240 hours of burn in on it. It has transformed my system, which I already loved. It replaces an Eastern Electric DAC Plus, the Yggdrasil is far better in every way. To my ears, it has perfect timbre, beautiful instrument separation, holographic soundstage, so clean and coherent from top to bottom. Just a much fuller sound and what maybe impresses me the most is the incredible bass. Deep, deep bass with absolutely no bloom or bloat, for the first time in my system. For about $2,300 I can't imagine another DAC competing with it. Even my wife, who is happy to listen to music on our TV has noticed how much better the stereo sounds and wants to play her CDs all the time now.

[martinr]

Sounds Great MttBsh...what front end are you running into the SCHIIT?

[MttBsh]

Sounds Great MttBsh...what front end are you running into the SCHIIT?

I'm using a Sony Blu-Ray BDP S590, which is nothing to get excited about but it's worked flawlessly for a couple of years and allows me to play both CDs and DVDs through my system. I use the optical out to the Schiit. The Sony sounds indistinguishable from the Oppo it replaced (which broke down after two or three years). I'm of the mind that transports are little more than spinners, that the DAC is where the sound quality is determined. I'd be interested in knowing if others have a different opinion.

The Schitt feeds a Dodd preamp, which in turn feeds a pair of Sophia Electric 91-01 300B mono-block amplifiers. I use a pair of Cain & Cain Abbys with upgraded Fostex drivers and T900A Super Tweeters,  and a pair of SVS subs.

[Big Red Machine]

I'm of the mind that transports are little more than spinners, that the DAC is where the sound quality is determined.

It's always about the dac. That is why most of us buy a reliable transport (if we really need one these days) and a separate dac. It can get very expensive to find both functions at high quality in the same chassis. I never spin anything anymore, except to burn it to a hard drive. 

[Early B.]

I'm using a Sony Blu-Ray BDP S590, which is nothing to get excited about but it's worked flawlessly for a couple of years and allows me to play both CDs and DVDs through my system. I use the optical out to the Schiit. The Sony sounds indistinguishable from the Oppo it replaced (which broke down after two or three years). I'm of the mind that transports are little more than spinners, that the DAC is where the sound quality is determined. I'd be interested in knowing if others have a different opinion.

The transport needs to be of the highest quality you can afford. They make a huge difference in sound quality. If you have a high quality DAC, a cheap source will stifle its capabilities.   

[Tomy2Tone]

Somebody on CA just reported that right out of the box a Schiit Multibit Gungnir sounds just as good if not better than a Chord 2qute. Sounds promising so the Yggdrasil must really be something...

[roscoeiii]

The transport needs to be of the highest quality you can afford. They make a huge difference in sound quality. If you have a high quality DAC, a cheap source will stifle its capabilities.

I think that some of the importance of a good transport depends on the quality of the DAC as well.  In particular, how well the DAC handles incoming signals. Does it reclock?  How sensitive is it to jitter, etc. And there are also external  options such as the W4S Remedy, etc. 

[martinr]

I have only used two sources, an old Onkyo Integra multi-disc change and now I have a Marantz multi disc changer....THe Marantz is about 6 years old..it sounded quite a bit better than the Onkyo when I installed it.  I am currently using the Channel Islands Audio Dac plus power supply, probably got about 8 years on the CI.  I did notice an improvement when I installed a Monarchy audio Dip Upsampler in line before the DAC....with that said I want to eventually get into a sever..maybe a HAL, and am contemplating the SHIIT Yggdrasil.  I expect a significant improvement in sound if I go this route....my other option would be to get a Sony HAP1ZES and have it modded by Vinnie at RWA, from the initial reviews though it sounds like the Yggdrasil may sound better than a modded Sony....(which is more expensive if fully modded).   

[Bemopti123]

Not to add fuel to the fire, but most of the DACs I have owned and heard from a Bel Canto DAC-1, to a Bel Canto DAC-2, a 47 Labs Shigaraki NOS DAC and also a REGA DAC-1, it is very difficult for me to hear a DAC A in itself sounding better than lets say a DAC B.  What I do hear is that the DAC does had a little something more that can either add or detract to the resolution of the entire system.  Perhaps my hearing is damaged but I always wonder when people in reviews state that for example, the Chord HUGO sounds fantastic and the like. 

Can I be trained to isolate the resolving qualities of a DAC in itself from all the effects that come from other devices and cables that are part of the system in question? 

I wonder. 

That being said, there must be something about pricey DACs that must make them pricey.  SCHITT being know to be into pure engineering and selling expensive components engineered and built at reasonable prices but make a rocking DAC, but hey, I will stop my rant here. 

PS:  2 of the DACs that I still have in my system are the 47 Labs Shigaraki DAC and the Rega DAC-1

[MttBsh]

I can tell you that right out of the box the Yggdrasil transformed the sound of my system, it wasn't something I needed to listen for. That was more than 2 weeks ago and it has improved significantly since then.
There's a huge number of middle of the road DACs out there that may have different sonic signatures but probably won't make a big difference to the overall sound of a system. If you spend $5K, 10K or more there are DACs that absolutely will make the difference, so long as the rest of your system is resolving enough for the DAC to deliver to it's full potential. I believe the Yggdrasil competes with (and in some ways beats) those top of the line DACs at a fraction of the cost.

[maxima95]

The transport needs to be of the highest quality you can afford. They make a huge difference in sound quality. If you have a high quality DAC, a cheap source will stifle its capabilities. 

My experiences bear this out.  I tried CD and DVD players as transports.  Some sounded better to me than others.  None sounded as good as the dedicated CD transports I tried.  I have only used SPDIF RCA cabling.

[AKLegal]

 I got in on the first shipment run earlier this year. It's an amazing dac.  While Schiit started as a headphone centered company, this is a serious dac.  The only comparisons I have found where a reviewer preferred another dac was one comparison with a $10k+ Total Dac and a couple of others where reviewers preferred expensive MSB stacks.

[gregfisk]

Almost finished breaking in my MultiBit Gungnir.  I have ~200hrs on it.     I will be comparing it to my Pagoda DAC ( slightly modded )...

I will keep you updated.

Dwight

Owning a Havana which I have at a beach house get away now as a third system I am interested in both of these dacs. Please give your impression when you get a chance to compare.

[gregfisk]

Not to add fuel to the fire, but most of the DACs I have owned and heard from a Bel Canto DAC-1, to a Bel Canto DAC-2, a 47 Labs Shigaraki NOS DAC and also a REGA DAC-1, it is very difficult for me to hear a DAC A in itself sounding better than lets say a DAC B.  What I do hear is that the DAC does had a little something more that can either add or detract to the resolution of the entire system.  Perhaps my hearing is damaged but I always wonder when people in reviews state that for example, the Chord HUGO sounds fantastic and the like. 

Can I be trained to isolate the resolving qualities of a DAC in itself from all the effects that come from other devices and cables that are part of the system in question? 

I wonder. 

That being said, there must be something about pricey DACs that must make them pricey.  SCHITT being know to be into pure engineering and selling expensive components engineered and built at reasonable prices but make a rocking DAC, but hey, I will stop my rant here. 

PS:  2 of the DACs that I still have in my system are the 47 Labs Shigaraki DAC and the Rega DAC-1

I have only listened to a handful of dacs and I agree that with some of them there is not a lot of difference. The ones I don't notice much difference with are in a CD or DVD player of average quality. I can say with confidence that I have heard a significant difference between a Havana dac, Metrum Octave dac "both nos but one is tube based" and PS Audio Digital Link 3 with upgrades which up samples and is SS. None of these are pricey dacs but they are very different sounding to me so I don't think it is price alone that makes the difference. 

[martinr]

Leaning towards the Yggdrasil in a few more months.......

[RDavidson]

I think that some of the importance of a good transport depends on the quality of the DAC as well.  In particular, how well the DAC handles incoming signals. Does it reclock?  How sensitive is it to jitter, etc. And there are also external  options such as the W4S Remedy, etc.

That's certainly true. But to E.B.'s point, if the transport isn't doing a great job, no DAC can replace lost bits of digital data. The best the DAC can do is interpolate the data (bridge gaps in the data) it receives from the transport. How much of this is audible or perceptible really boils down to system resolution and the listener's ability to pick up on what the transport is doing. I think one has to spend a pretty big chunk of change to get a high-end transport these days vs a good transport. However, I think some of the big, overbuilt, dedicated CD players from the 90's and early 2000's are probably superior (for CD's) vs today's multi-format players. I have a trusty Denon 1650AR I use from time to time. The thing weighs a rock solid 26 lbs! 

[Bemopti123]

I have only listened to a handful of dacs and I agree that with some of them there is not a lot of difference. The ones I don't notice much difference with are in a CD or DVD player of average quality. I can say with confidence that I have heard a significant difference between a Havana dac, Metrum Octave dac "both nos but one is tube based" and PS Audio Digital Link 3 with upgrades which up samples and is SS. None of these are pricey dacs but they are very different sounding to me so I don't think it is price alone that makes the difference.

I started my journey with a Panasonic DVD transport and upgraded to my trusty 47 Labs Shigaraki transport circa 2003?  Still going strong.  It is a shame that most transports today are just that, some sort of universal DVD something that is shoved into a piece of kit.  One must spend an arm and a leg to get something that is decent sounding audio wise in terms of transports.