Comparison: Schiit Yggdrasil DAC vs. Berkeley Alpha DAC 2

Al M.

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Al, after my experience with listening to MQA files last night at the Alma audio event where Peter MCGraph demoed his outstanding original files vs. the same files decoded in MQA, I am a BIG believer in the value of MQA! Since the Yggy can apparently decode MQA, I would ask if you have heard any of these files played back by the Yggy? If not, I think you will be in for a very large treat indeed! If so, what were your impressions?

Davey, yes I saw your enthusiastic post about the event last night. The Yggy does not decode MQA:

http://www.schiit.com/news/news/why-we-wont-be-supporting-mqa

Frankly, even if MQA sounds great I don't see the point of it since unlike vinyl and CD, but like DSD and 24/192 PCM, it will always be a niche product with relatively few titles available. The Yggy gets the most out of plain Redbook CD which is what counts -- it sounds incredible on that format where all the music is.
 

DaveyF

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Al, I thought it said on the site that the Yggy can play MQA files--unfortunately I see it cannot unfold them!:(
....after what I heard last night. ( BTW, apparently several large companies are getting on board with MQA...although we have all heard that before! ) MQA is.. at least IMHO, a major upgrade and one that I would definitely want as part of my DAC capability, even if there are scant few MQA files ( at the moment). One listen will tell you all you need to know...it's that good!
Mike Moffat should seriously consider offering an upgrade to allow the Yggy to unfold MQA...that is if he is serious about the product. Hate to say this, but without the ability of a DAC to unfold and play MQA files, IMO it is now lacking.
 

opus112

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Sounds like he will Use BWD to send the digital signal instead of I2S, which he feels is a superior way to do it. That was the way it was done before Phillips developed I2S to save money.

He lost me completely there - to 'defuckify' I2S all that's needed is to delay the WS (word select) by one bit clock. No demuxing, decoding, resyncing required just a single flip-flop. There are variants of the three wire protocol (EIAJ for example) which don't have the delayed-by-one datastream which are available if I2S is really such a pain.
 

audioarcher

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Al, I thought it said on the site that the Yggy can play MQA files--unfortunately I see it cannot unfold them!:(
....after what I heard last night. ( BTW, apparently several large companies are getting on board with MQA...although we have all heard that before! ) MQA is.. at least IMHO, a major upgrade and one that I would definitely want as part of my DAC capability, even if there are scant few MQA files ( at the moment). One listen will tell you all you need to know...it's that good!
Mike Moffat should seriously consider offering an upgrade to allow the Yggy to unfold MQA...that is if he is serious about the product. Hate to say this, but without the ability of a DAC to unfold and play MQA files, IMO it is now lacking.

The Yggy could play MQA files if the software/hardware player can unfold them for it. Not sure if there is anything out there like that yet, but there could be.
 

audio.bill

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The Yggy could play MQA files if the software/hardware player can unfold them for it. Not sure if there is anything out there like that yet, but there could be.
It could play MQA files which have been MQA Core decoded (first unfold only), but the final decoding (also called MQA rendering) required for full MQA playback is DAC specific so it can't be provided for non-MQA DACs. Of course things may change in the future but that's the current state regarding MQA decoding.
 

Joe Whip

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Feb 8, 2014
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I have not heard MQA. Friends have at a well known mag reviewers place and didn't like what they heard. Kinda got contentious I hear. There are threads at CA and some blogs that go into what MQA is really doing. I don't like what I read. I can do the first unfold via Audirvana but I don't subscribe to Tidal so haven't tried. It seems that the second DAC unfold only involves choices of simple filters. I see no reason why the whole thing can't be done via software. For it to succeed, I think that is the most reasonable path. As for Mike Moffat, if you think he is concerned about the impact of MQA on the sales of his DACs, think again. I could not care less at this point either. Wake me up in a couple of years. Will see what is happening then.
 

Al M.

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Yes, there are different opinions about MQA.

I suggest that we all move the MQA discussion from this thread to a new one that I just started:

Schiit Yggdrasil DAC and MQA

Thank you.
 

audioarcher

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I'm finding the Yggy is quite sensitive to different power cords. I have a new Furutech GTX-R NCF outlet on the way to replace the PS Audio Powerport I'm using now. Also have an Oyaide R-1 coming as well.

Been thinking about getting an Isolation transformer for my source components. Anyone have thoughts on what I should look for? The Triplite look interesting. Could always replace the outlet in it with a better one.
 

Al M.

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I'm finding the Yggy is quite sensitive to different power cords. I have a new Furutech GTX-R NCF outlet on the way to replace the PS Audio Powerport I'm using now. Also have an Oyaide R-1 coming as well.

Been thinking about getting an Isolation transformer for my source components. Anyone have thoughts on what I should look for? The Triplite look interesting. Could always replace the outlet in it with a better one.

The Tripp Lite IS1000HG works well for me. I'm not sure what replacing the outlet would do. I am using a regular power chord for the Yggy. I bought a thicker one (Tripp Lite, $ 13 from Amazon) because the stock chord with the Yggy did look a bit flimsy to me...

I am more a believer in power conditioners (isolation transformers and other devices) than power chords: if I have to choose, I'll rather put my money in the former, even though in the absence of a dedicated power conditioner a power cable may partially act as such (?).
 

audioarcher

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The Tripp Lite IS1000HG works well for me. I'm not sure what replacing the outlet would do. I am using a regular power chord for the Yggy. I bought a thicker one (Tripp Lite, $ 13 from Amazon) because the stock chord with the Yggy did look a bit flimsy to me...

I am more a believer in power conditioners (isolation transformers and other devices) than power chords: if I have to choose, I'll rather put my money in the former, even though in the absence of a dedicated power conditioner a power cable may partially act as such (?).

I'm more of a everything in the signal path matters kind of guy. Some people like to argue that since all the power distribution before your house may suck, why sweat the last 6 feet before your system? Because you can control that. I've been meaning to try out some of the more fancy outlets, and decided to give a couple a try. As for power cords, none of the ones I have are all that costly. Most expensive one was about $200 to $300. I like the ones I built myself more than the name brand ones. Mine do have better ends and wire so that is not a surprise to me.

What sort of differences in sound did you hear after you inserted the Tripp Lite into your system Al?
 

lordcloud

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I'm more of a everything in the signal path matters kind of guy. Some people like to argue that since all the power distribution before your house may suck, why sweat the last 6 feet before your system? Because you can control that

I love this.
 

Al M.

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What sort of differences in sound did you hear after you inserted the Tripp Lite into your system Al?

Haven't done yet the comparison in my system, but we did the comparison in a friend's highly resolving system where I thought differences could be heard easily. On a prog rock piece we thought that with the TrippLite the sound was bigger, richer, cleaner and had more punch in the drums, more drive. We went back and forth another time to confirm. This was not a blind test though, so take it for what it is.
 

microstrip

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(...) Some people like to argue that since all the power distribution before your house may suck, why sweat the last 6 feet before your system? (...)

Shunyata answered this question in their white papers - because the power cable are the first 6 feet before our system.
 

PeterA

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With the just released Analog 2 upgrade for the Yggdrasil is it enough to make it the clear winner?

https://www.computeraudiophile.com/ca/bits-and-bytes/schiit-audio-yggdrasil analog 2-released-r689/

Thanks for posting this, Dr. Tone. I am not sure that Al M. is yet aware of this. It was interesting to read that the Yggy is now four years old, so it makes sense that an upgrade is due. I just reread the first page of this thread in which the listening impressions expressed by members of our Boston Area Audio Group seem pretty mixed. I have been meaning to compare again these two DACs, but Al has been very busy auditioning different amps and breaking in his new speakers. His mind is made up about the superiority of the Yggy, but I would like to hear his Berkeley DAC again in his more resolving system so see if my old impressions remain. His system is sounding excellent these days. Interestingly, Ack owns a heavily modified Berkeley Alpha DAC and Madfloyd now also owns the Yggy. I don't know if this Analog 2 upgrade will tip the balance in favor of the Yggy. Al or Madfloyd will have to upgrade his unit to find out.
 

MadFloyd

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Thanks for posting this, Dr. Tone. I am not sure that Al M. is yet aware of this. It was interesting to read that the Yggy is now four years old, so it makes sense that an upgrade is due. I just reread the first page of this thread in which the listening impressions expressed by members of our Boston Area Audio Group seem pretty mixed. I have been meaning to compare again these two DACs, but Al has been very busy auditioning different amps and breaking in his new speakers. His mind is made up about the superiority of the Yggy, but I would like to hear his Berkeley DAC again in his more resolving system so see if my old impressions remain. His system is sounding excellent these days. Interestingly, Ack owns a heavily modified Berkeley Alpha DAC and Madfloyd now also owns the Yggy. I don't know if this Analog 2 upgrade will tip the balance in favor of the Yggy. Al or Madfloyd will have to upgrade his unit to find out.

I have the upgraded version already. I would have to compare it to Al M.'s to truly understand any sonic differences.
 

MadFloyd

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well, is it a Vivaldi slayer or not?

Good question. That might depend on one's taste and system synergies.

I haven't listened to my Vivaldi in months.
 

MadFloyd

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