Schiit Audio - Official Thread

Headphone/DAC/DAP/Amp Brands
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Jason is already on record that there will not be major changes to Yggdrasil in 2020 as he does not want to hurt resale value for owners. Expect Unison USB boards this month or next for OG Bifrost, Gungnir and Yggdrasil.

Depending on how Autonomy is received, it may or may not find its way up the line. However, it almost certainly won’t result in an Yggdrasil 2. Yggdrasil is a significant investment. We want to protect your investment. So, while we will be working to ensure that as many Yggdrasil upgrades as possible don’t require a factory visit, we’re not a fan of burning the current architecture to the ground and starting over. So, I’d expect that if you’d like an Yggdrasil with remote control, you won’t have to sell your current DAC in order to get it. Eventually.

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Is Jason on this forum?

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Yes, he posts as @schiit.

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I for one am extremely interested in how well the unison upgrades go for the higher end DACs - the Bifrost 2 is fantastic, and I wonder how much better the Yggdrasil might be with it.

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See this thread at SBAF for some perspective on Unison USB on Yggdrasil.

TL;DR: The digital transport makes a difference in the sound of your system, and Unison USB is not the “great equalizer” making even your shitty PC sound as good as a multi-kilobuck purpose-built digital audio transport devices (it may get close enough for many people however). I’m not advocating spending multi-kilobucks on a transport, but don’t expect your 3 year old Chromebook to do as well as a device that’s specifically designed to feed audio to your DAC (Unison USB or otherwise).

For those not wanting to get into Ethernet streamers Unison is probably good enough, especially on headphones which don’t reveal subtle changes in imaging or staging as well as speakers.

@rlow did his comparisons on a pretty good speaker setup: Graham Chartwell LS6 speakers powered by two Vidars plus a REL T7i powered subwoofer. What I am most interested in is the coming Schiit CD transport which will output to the Unison receiver I will update on my Yggdrasil.

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Does Schiit follow any kind of product life cycle or is it pretty random? I ask as I am new to this audio enthusiast world.

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I know many people won’t agree, but I think if you can significantly improve your product line, then hamstringing yourself to protect resale value of already sold product is just a bad business decision. I also know Schiit doesn’t do what other companies would do, and that’s just part of what Schiit is. I admire that, and it’s half of why I buy their products.

Here’s my situation and why I think what I think.

I’ve been ready to buy a Yggy for over 9 months now. I was about to pull the trigger on an A2 when I heard of a new USB tech they were working on. I was able to borrow a friend’s A2 + beta Unison card for a month before I had to give it back. I knew I wanted this in my Yggy, but didn’t want to ship a new Yggy back just to have it installed. So I waited. Now I have a Bifrost 2 as a hold-me-over, and I see how freaking amazing it is to have the remote control, phase swap feature, the self-update flash card ability, and the modular components that can easily be swapped out, and I am convinced that these features really need to be in the Yggy.

So, I was really frustrated when @schiit announced there will be no Yggy Ver 2 this year because that just tells me either:

  1. I need to suck it up and get Yggy when Unison is available, sans the awesome new features -or-
  2. I keep waiting till next year.

#1 irks me because it is frustrating knowing I am going to buy a Yggy just to upgrade again in a year. Also because Yggy deserves these features - and they won’t include them just to coddle previous buyers? Audio gear depreciates. It’s a fact of life. I assure you, Benchmark didn’t feel one tang of remorse for resale values of the DAC2 when they released the DAC3, or Dan Clark when he released the Ether 2, etc. It is not a good reason to hold back on improving your products.

#2 sucks because I know they could make it, and I could have it soon, but for “reasons” I just can’t.

I know the silent revision / release of the Yggy A2 was a complete fluster cuck for them, and has put Schiit in a “once bitten, twice shy” mindset, but I really wish they could just declare a product lifecycle schedule and cut bait.

So… In the end I tell myself it’s just audio, it will all work itself out, and maybe by the time @schiit gets it all figured out I’ll be the proud owner of a brand new Metrum Adagio.

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This post is based on absolutely no real information whatsoever, and definitely not anything resulting from talking with either Mike (haven’t had a chance to talk with him since shortly after CanJam @ RMAF 2018) nor Jason.

In fact it is 100% based on reading between a few lines in some posts, and a bit of creative thinking …

Yggdrasil is Schiit’s flagship upgradeable DAC. And the first major upgrade to it was, as you know, met with a ridiculous, self-entitled, backlash - severe enough that it appears to have been sufficiently impactful that NONE of the rumored “A2” updates were ever formally acknowledged.

Short version: An “Yggdrasil 2” is possible, within the framework of what has been said publicly. It’d be an RTB upgrade, but that’d be a one time thing, after which “Autonomy” would be doable.

Long Version:

“Autonomy” and remote control excepted, all potential upgrades to Yggdrasil can be done in a way that would work for all existing Yggdrasil owners, as well as for a potential Yggdrasil 2.

Yggdrasil has 7 boards in it:

  • Main board
  • S/PDIF/AES input board
  • USB board
  • DSP board
  • 2z DAC/Analog boards
  • Front-panel board

An Yggdrasil 2 could be implemented with a new chassis and an update to the Mainboard (primarily for SD-card firmware updatability) and front-panel boards (for remote control) and directly re-use the two input boards, DSP board and DAC/analog boards.

The upgrade cost might pan out to be 50% of the existing unit (casework is disproportionately expensive), but it’d be doable.

And Schiit already have a model for re-using the original Yggdrasil parts in their “Yggdrasil GS” offering.

That’s a win-win for both original Yggdrasil owners and new “Yggdrasil 2” owners. Important aspects of upgradeability are preserved for existing owners, with a simple, cost-reduced, path to upgrade if desired.

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I won’t dispute that. What else are we to do though? Schiit isn’t talking, and the best we get are vague hints in a head-fi thread and recently released products to compare and judge things by?

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That’s a trickier question.

Personally I typically follow a “do it now” philosophy in most things, since I do not know if I’l be here tomorrow.

Though in this case, if I’m right, I suspect things are close enough, after how long you’ve waited already, that a bit more waiting will pay off. Though, if I am right, the price difference in buying a new Yggdrasil 2 vs upgrading an Yggdrasil A2 is probably the same as you’d get for selling your Bifrost 2.

All pure speculation.

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Any possible speculation on a replacement for the Lyr 3? It’s approaching 2 years old in March.

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If I were Schiit, I’d take a ain’t broke, don’t fix it approach with Lyr 3. It’s one of the best amps at the price point, imo.

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I wonder if they will at least update the dac card/usb unison soon for it like you were thinking. If I wanted all in one solution with that amp to save some space. Worse case it could be purchased as the LYR3 with no dac or phono pre-amp and I believe the dac card can be inserted later when a new one is offered? Correct me if I am wrong.

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You are correct! It is updatable.

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It can. I just wanted the amp. I already have a preamp, and plan on a Bifrost when I think it’s an opportune time. The Dragonflies and the iFi xDSD will hold me until then.

I wouldn’t mind a WiFi card board so ROON could send it audio.

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Awesome!

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I think I will take the same approach when I am ready to get it.

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I’ll jump on Lyr as soon as they make it in black!!

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Um. There is no WiFi card. It’s my suggestion to Schiit.

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Dude it’s like you were just reading my mind! Lol I want a black LYR3 too!

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