Schiit Yggdrasil

[Laowei]

That is a good price. Already have a variac: 

Yesterday, the room outlet voltage stayed right at 120.8VAC +1/-2 all day. More stable than I thought. 

After tech support emails back and forth with Schiit, the Eitr is on its way back for a refund. Will try the self install Gen 5 when available. 

[Pars]

I guess you need to mind what you're doing around that thing, eh?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Laowei]

Requires a little more concentration than the simple One Hand Rule. 

[ironbut]

Yikes!

Mine can't compete with yours but I do like a knob you can operate with one hand!

[Craig Sawyers]

The thing to remember about variacs is that the current rating is the key parameter, not the kVA power rating. So at half voltage, you can still only draw 5A, same at 10% (so 11.5V) it is still 5A. The kVA rating is only of relevance when set to 100% of output. For that unit, the absolute maximum current is 6A and it was originally specced at 120V - so the absolute maximum is 720VA at an ambient of less than 50C (122F)

The zero output current power dissipation of the W5MT is 9W at 60Hz. So it will run a bit warm even with nothing connected to the output terminals.

A mate who has a beast of a variac, 3 phase 28A per phase. He has breakers, switchable primary current limiting lamps, and primary and secondary overcurrent breakers on the  set to 32A. It is all boxed up to prevent any major fault condition causing a hazard. He is a bit foggy about what he uses such an animal for.

[ironbut]

Bought mine to bring old gear's power supplies up slowly but I also use it as a dimmer for stuff like work lights and fans.

It's great for turning a fan down so the noise is not noticeable. 

Now, about that refrigerator?

[swt61]

6 hours ago, ironbut said:

Yikes!

Mine can't compete with yours but I do like a knob you can operate with one hand!

 

 

We would never be compatible Steve. Still love ya man!

[Laowei]

Bought mine for next to nothing at the end of a Ham swap meet. The original owner did not want to lug it back home. Use it for first slow start up of tube amps. 

Edited August 1, 2017 by Laowei

[Craig Sawyers]

On 8/1/2017 at 10:02 PM, Craig Sawyers said:

A mate who has a beast of a variac, 3 phase 28A per phase. He has breakers, switchable primary current limiting lamps, and primary and secondary overcurrent breakers on the  set to 32A. It is all boxed up to prevent any major fault condition causing a hazard. He is a bit foggy about what he uses such an animal for.

Spoke to him about this. "Testing multi-kW audio amps" he said. Well he is quite involved in pro audio sound reinforcement.

Eek.

[Laowei]

Sent back the non-locking Eitr to Schiit a week and a half ago. Received a full refund including shipping both ways, with no restocking charge.

The Gen 5 self installed USB PCB upgrade became available today on the Schiit site. So I ordered up one for my Yggy. For a not outrageous price of $100 plus shipping. Hope it works better long term that the Eitr. 

 

[nopants]

what does the gen 5 offer over whatever they included at launch? i've barely used the usb input myself

[Laowei]

The older Gen 3 USB input originally shipped with the Yggy is not the best sounding unit out there. The Gen 5 upgrade is supposed to bring the USB input up to the AES/EBU input quality, which most who write on the internet seem to prefer. I don't have a lot of experience with AES/EBU input to the Yggy. Except with using a Mutec to convert from USB,  which I really did not like at all. As with Theta Digital products, there is no Gen 4. 

I had a Schiit Eitr, the stand alone unit that inputs USB to a similar circuit to the Gen 5, and outputs SPDIF coax. In my brief audition, the Eitr sounded really good. Switching USB cables made no difference that I could hear. Switching coax cable still made a difference, so there was that variable. Unfortunately after a week, it quit holding lock and was dropping out about every 20 seconds. Tech help could not help, so back it went.

Hoping the Gen 5 delivers this time on the Schiit marketing promises. 

 

 

Edited August 7, 2017 by Laowei

[Laowei]

Recieved and installed the Gen 5 USB upgrade yesterday. On first listen, it sounds more refined  than the Eitr. A high value  upgrade to the Yggdrasil. End of story for me (unless it breaks). 

[johnwmclean]

^Agree. 

I recieved my Yggy back with the Gen 5 upgrade and was pleasantly surprised to hear a not too shabby level of improvement.

[jp11801]

well worth the $100 to self install and I got the board in 3 days after waiting 2 plus weeks on the upgrade list. If you order the board check out the how to over at SABF it saved me a lot of time and frustration. 

[johnwmclean]

23 hours ago, johnwmclean said:

I recieved my Yggy back with the Gen 5 upgrade and was pleasantly surprised to hear a not too shabby level of improvement.

To put this into some context, I have been using a cheap USB cable (from before and after the installation of the Gen 5 board), it's been consistant in my setup, there are no other devices between the iMac and the Yggdrasil. With further listening I'm quite surprised how well the DAC is sounding, a layer of grime seems to have been removed. I wasn't expecting such a significant improvement from the original Gen 3 board, frankly I thought all this USB interface talk was a load of hype but this has me re thinking the whole front end thing.

 

 

[Laowei]

John, are you using any playback software like Audirvana, Amarra, HQPlayer, ....etc? Those work a lot better than iTunes.

Edited August 14, 2017 by Laowei

[johnwmclean]

I’ve had Pure Music and Amarra in the past and kind of struggled to hear any differences from iTunes, so I kind of stuck with iTunes for quite a while. Whilst the Yggy was being upgraded I completely re-stored my music server iMac (2012) back to factory settings, and I’m just in the process of evaluating Pure Music and Amarra again but limited to Mountain Lion (10.8). I’ve got a demo of Pure Music running at the moment and there’s quite a few differences since I last used it, and I can now hear a difference. iTunes seems a bit muddier in comparison. Do you think these playback software companies purposely shape the sound a little...?  I have suspicions, but am liking what I’m hearing.

[Laowei]

Never a fan of iTunes.I bought Pure Music early on. Tried the Amarra (meh) and Audirvana early demos. Was questionable if I heard a real improvement between them, but was not using STAX with Gilmore amps at that time. I ended up buying Audirvana and kept it. It's been massively updated with options over the last several years, and the SQ has improved too. Just now comparing to Pure Music, the latest Audirvana is quite a bit more transparent, resolving and clear. It shines with the Yggdrasil Gen 5 upgrade, IMO. 

You might consider trying the free Audirvana demo: 

https://audirvana.com/?page_id=3397

Later if you like Audirvana, there is really slick iPhone app for remote control: 

https://audirvana.com/?page_id=3620

I use it to run my Mac mini headless. Its really nice to use. 

 

Edited August 15, 2017 by Laowei

[Lxgreen]

How long are people waiting to get notification Schiit is ready for factory installed gen5? I think it's been a couple of weeks since I have ordered but haven't heard anything yet. I am curious to try it with my microrendu 1.3 with the isoregen powered by Lps-1. The isoregen made a clear improvement for me but if unneeded with gen5 upgrade I will sell. Still thinking about a 1.4 upgrade or ultrarendu but waiting to hear from others that have tried it.

[jp11801]

I was on the list for upgrade waited 10 days or so and barely moved 2-3 slots forward on the list so I cancelled and ordered the gen 5 board for self install. Not difficult at all just a shit ton of screws to get to the boards. 

[Lxgreen]

Thanks jp11801.  I saw the self install instructions posted and other than the screws it did seem straightforward but quite a long procedure.  How long did it take you to do and did you run into any difficult situations?

[Laowei]

FYI, just got thru opening up my Yggy to pull two analog PCBs and swap out 4 filter caps. Took me 25 minutes. 

Upgrading to the Gen 5 USB PCB earlier took me maybe 15 minutes. First time taking it slow and careful,  it may take you a half hour. It's really easy, and the SBAF instructions are very straightforward. No need to over think it. 

Edited September 4, 2017 by Laowei

[johnwmclean]

Any differences with upgraded caps?

[Laowei]

Yeah, I think so after a first night of listening. Will need more run in time to hear how they finally settle in. 

Months ago I replaced the 220pf and 330pf WIMA FPK and 0.1uf WIMA MPK caps in the anti-imaging filter of each channel. I have a general bias against any WIMA caps in the signal path. So I purchased some AMTRANS polypropylene film and copper foil caps from Parts Connexion for the first 2 values , and  new manufacture black case Vishay MKP 1837 from Mouser for the later. I had read many good things on websites about those ERO/ Vishay caps. Replacing the stock WIMAs mostly opened up the low level upper harmonics and gave a clearer picture on the music. The stock Yggy is a bit veiled in that regard IMO. 

But there remained a slight coarseness in the HF, that became noticed as a signature as time went on. It made extened listening sessions fatiguing after several hours. I swapped out copper for silver/gold wiring, other makes/brands of tubes, even replaced the NFB resistors in my GG with naked  foil TX 2575 Vishay resistors. More resolution, but still that nagging coarseness. Was it my SR-009??? Found an eBay site and that listed NOS ERO KP1837 blue case caps. Seems that when Vishay bought ERO/Rhoderstein they moved production and changed the dielectric from the earlier well reviewed capacitors. So I bought these NOS caps, and just put them in last night. On first listen coursness is gone, there is more low level info naturally portrayed, slightly more color and tone in the body of instruments, and seemingly better dynamics. To me it is always interesting how getting the upper HF sorted out can focus the imaging and also give better dynamics and definition to the bass. 

I have a limited number of those NOS blue case ERO 0.1uf caps left over. PM me and I could send you a quad if you would like to mod your Yggy.. Also have some 220pf and 330pf NOS blue case ERO KP1830 polypropylene film and tin foil I could include. Those are reputed to be more neutral and less warm than the AMTRANS. 

 

 

 

Edited September 4, 2017 by Laowei