Schiit - Yggdrasil

DESCRIPTION

SPECS

FAQs

So this is your bestest brightest DAC? For only $2449?

Yes. We don't believe in fancy casework, nor in blingy displays, nor in any kind of complication that just ups the price for the sake of upping the price. So yes, this is our top DAC. A DAC that can look any other DAC in the world in the face and not flinch. That is, if it was human. And if DACs had faces. Hell, you know what we mean.

How can this possibly be better than, say, the Arglebargle $15,000 DAC when this is so much less expensive?

Because the Arglebargle was most likely designed to the expectations of today, using commonly available parts in a super-fancy case, while we started with a clean sheet of paper.

But the Arglebargle has like twelve 32-bit DACs in it! Yours only has 21 bits! Hell, that’s not a full 24 bits even! What about my 24-bit recordings?

If your 24 bit recordings actually have 24 bits of resolution, we’ll eat a hat. And those "32-bit" DACs? Well, they have this measurement known as “equivalent number of bits.” This means, in English, how many bits of resolution they really have. And that number, for most of them, is about 19.5.

But it’s only 21 bits! I can’t get over that!

We can’t get over the fact that delta-sigma DACs are actually 2- to 5-bit designs. Different strokes for different folks.

What about DSD or MQA?

Yggdrasil plays DSD just fine, as long as it's converted to PCM by your software player. Same for MQA—Yggdrasil plays MQA just fine as long as your software or hardware does the "unfolding." (Unspindling and unmutilating are, we suppose, extra.)

What? But I hear DSD and/or MQA is the future!

Yeah, and reel-to-reel was the future in the 1970s, and it’s dead now, and DAT was the future in the 1980s, and it’s dead now, and HDCD was the future in the 1990s, and it’s dead now, and SACD was the future in the 2000s, and it’s dead now. But, let's say Sony suddenly opens their vaults and offers 30,000 DSD albums with guaranteed direct-from-DSD provenance at $5.99 each, or if Apple and Spotify and Amazon start streaming only MQA for free (yes, we know, stop laughing) then hey, Yggy is fully upgradable.

What’s this bullschiit about a unique time- and frequency-domain optimized digital filter, and why does it matter?

Most digital filters destroy the original samples in the process of upsampling. They’re just like sample rate converters or delta-sigma DACs. We’re all about the original samples, so we created a unique digital filter that performs a true interpolation, which means it retains all the original samples. This is a major difference between Schiit True Multibit DACs like Yggdrasil and every other DAC in the world.

I don't believe you!

Then ask Mike Moffat, the father of audiophile digital playback, about his 5-year quest to perfect this digital filter, involving 1917 Western Electric papers on pulse-code modulation, a professor emeritus of mathematics who devised a way to get around the divide-by-zero problem, a RAND corp mathematician to implement it, and a master programmer to get it to run on our SHARC processor engine. In his words:
"The below are the claims of the digital filter/interpolator/sample rate converter in Yggy:
1. The filter is absolutely proprietary.
2. The development tools and coefficient calculator to derive the above filters are also proprietary.
3. The math involved in developing the filter and calculating has a closed form solution. It is not an approximation, as all other filters I have studied (most, if not all of them). Therefore, all of the original samples are output. This could be referred to fairly as bit perfect; what comes in goes out.
4. Oversimplified, however essentially correct: The filter is also time domain optimized which means the phase info in the original samples are averaged in the time domain with the filter generated interpolated samples to for corrected minimum phase shift as a function of frequency from DC to the percentage of nyquist - in our case .968. Time domain is well defined at DC - the playback device behaves as a window fan at DC - it either blows (in phase) or sucks (out). It is our time domain optimization that gives the uncanny sonic hologram. (It also allows the filter to disappear. Has to be heard to understand.) Since lower frequency wavelengths are measured in tens of feet, placement in image gets increasingly wrong as a function of decreasing frequency in non time domain optimized recordings - these keep the listener's ability to hear the venue - not to mention the sum of all of the phase errors in the microphones, mixing boards, eq, etc on the record side. An absolute phase switch is of little to no value in a non time domain optimized, stochastic time domain replay system. It makes a huge difference with an Yggy.
5. This is combined with a frequency domain optimization which does not otherwise affect the phase optimization. The 0.968 of Nyquist also gives us a small advantage that none of the off-the shelf FIR filters (0.907) provide: frequency response out to 21.344KHz, 42.688KHz, 85.3776KHz, and 170.5772KHz bandwidth for native 1,2,4, and 8x 44.1KHz SR multiple recordings - the 48KHz table is 23.232, 46.464, 92.868, and 185.856KHz respectively for 1,2,4, and 8x. This was the portion of the filter that had the divide by zero problem which John Lediaev worked out, to combine with #4 above AND retain the original samples.
This is what other DACs typically offer: frequency domain optimization FIR filters with Parks-McClellan optimization. Any avoidance of the Parks-McClellan pablum requires a lot of original DSP work. Am I a prophet who received the tablets from God or some other high-end audio drivel. Hell, no. I was the producer and director of this project and worked with Dave Kerstetter (hardware-software), John Lediaev (Math), Tom Lippiat (DSP Code), Warren Goldman (Coefficient Generator and development tools) for a total of 15 or so man years. These folks either taught math at The University of Iowa, Computer Science at Carnegie-Mellon University, worked at think tanks like the Rand Corporation – you get the idea. We did this for no money - What we all had in common was that we loved audio. All other audio pros were interested in Parks-McClellan and pointed and laughed at us. That's the way it happened. It was worth it, every hour, day, and year."

What is Unison USB?

Unison USB is our own proprietary USB input, not based on C-Media or XMOS or any other off-the-shelf USB receiver out there. Instead, we spent a couple of person-years developing our own code for a standard Microchip PIC32 microprocessor, which allowed us to create a higher-performing USB input than anything else on the market.

But, USB inputs, like, kinda suck.

Not Unison USB. Even Mike Moffat, the famous “friends don’t let friends use USB” guy, prefers Unison to SPDIF.

So why is Unison USB so special?

Unison USB is special because it was developed for a single purpose: to provide the highest performance input for PCM digital, period. It doesn’t have ten thousand un-used functions, nor is it trying to optimize for five different unicorn formats that will probably be gone tomorrow. It also uses very high-quality local clocks and offers complete electrostatic and electromagnetic isolation from the source. It also provides lower power draw and complete UAC2 compatibility.

So what platforms does your Unison USB input support?

Actually, the question should be “What platforms support your Unison USB input?” since our Unison USB input is 100% UAC2 compliant (that is, USB Audio Class 2, the accepted standard for USB audio transmission.) So, here you go:

Linux. As in, most popular streamers, from the Sonore MicroRendu to the Salk Streamer. Note “most.” Also most Linux distros that support UAC2 natively will be plug and play. Please note that we cannot provide detailed technical support for Linux.

Windows 10. Yes, Windows 10 only. We don’t provide UAC2 drivers for earlier versions of Windows, sorry. Yes, it is time to step into the present (not the future, Windows 10 has been out for a couple of years now.) Yes, it is time to upgrade. Yes, it’s worth it. Windows 10 is actually a very nice platform.

Mac OSX. From 10.10 on up, Macs are good to go. Sometimes you’ll run into power management problems that will require you to turn off App Nap. Got an older version of MacOS? See the comments on Windows above. Time to upgrade. The software is free.

iOS. From iOS7 on up, iOS devices work with USB Camera Connection Kit, Lightning to USB Camera Adapter, a Lightning to USB3 Camera Adapter, or directly with the new USB-C models.

Android. Most Android devices that shipped with Android M or above will work using a USB OTG cable. Some may require separate player software, like USB Audio Player Pro.

How about the DACs and analog stage?

The DACs we're using—AD5791—were billed as "the industry's first true 20-bit DAC" by Analog Devices when they were introduced in 2010. Note the words "first" and "true." This is not 20-bit as defined for audio applications, this is not 24-bit delta-sigma, this is not (nudge, snicker) "32 bit" complete fantasy stuff. These DACs have never been used in an audio product until Yggdrasil. Normally, they are used for medical device imaging and weapons targeting—applications in which accuracy is absolutely paramount. Now, we're using 4 of the highest-spec AD5791BRUZ in this product—2 each per channel, for true differential hardware balanced design. Beyond that, a fully discrete, DC-coupled, Class A FET buffer stage and fully discrete FET summers (for the single-ended output) complete the picture.

So how come everyone isn't using the AD5791, if it's so great?

Because they require very, very special care and feeding. AD5791s aren't "bolt in and go" DACs, with pleasant little paint-by-numbers application notes for use with audio. They don't even accept normal digital audio formats. Managing their use with multiple input bit depths and sample rates is, well, challenging. And special care has to be taken with their output. Plus, people are more focused on silly claims like "32-bit" DACs and "Giga-Rate" DSD. "21 real bits," doesn't sound real sexy in that context.

Wait, what is this about 32-bit music?

How much 32 bit music do you have? (Not that it will ever exist—we can't get the noise floor that low. Period. Unless Dr. Who pays us a visit and drops some alien tech on us...)

You guys are crazy!

Yes. We know that. And so are you. You're considering a $2,300, 25-lb product that does the same basic thing as a $0.32 chip in your iPhone.

Okay, fine, I get the picture. Change of subject: is this thing upgradable?

Yggdrasil is built for the future. The main board is nothing more than a motherboard and power supply. From there, separate, plug-in modules are used for the input board, the USB board, the processor/DSP board, and the separate analog boards. This means that any part of Yggdrasil can be updated as standards change.

How do I know I have the Unison USB input?

Unison USB is indicated with a separate sticker near the USB input.

How do I know I have the new "Analog 2" output?

Your serial number will start with a "B."

WARRANTY & MEDIA REVIEWS

5 Year Warranty

Don't sweat it, this Schiit Yggdrasil comes with a 5 year warranty from Schiit that covers manufacturing defects. All products featured on Headphone Zone are backed by an original manufacturer's warranty.

Read more about Schiit's warranty in India.

"In the end the Yggdrasil's sound pulled me in more. It wins by doing less, it is a slightly softer sound, but one that keeps me coming back."

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"It’s built amazingly well, there’s inputs and outputs for whatever you’d likely need, it sexy to look at, and my goodness does it make your audio sound true to real life."

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