Yeah, I read the website about reduced OI. With so many tubes I wonder whether it’ll be audible versus a tube hybrid or conventional tube amp with output transformers. Some argue OTL is special due to circuit simplicity, but 10 tubes and a second stage isn’t very simple. I look forward to the reviews and trying for myself.
Transformers in a SET amp have as much impact on the overall sound as the Tubes do, which is why you’ll see high end manufacturers spending a large portion of the BOM on them.
So it won’t sound like a transformer coupled design most of the better transformer coupled designs are going to be in the 1-8 ohm range for output impedance.
Yeah well, some argue that Cathode followers in OTL amps compromise sound too.
It’s all swings and roundabouts, all that really matters is what the final product sounds like.
The question I’d ask myself before buying one (it makes no sense given my headphones) is if you like the way Jason tunes amps, it’s fundamentally what’s going to have the biggest impact.
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Your Choice of No Tubes
Freya+ also offers our LISST “solid state tube” option, which replaces your tubes with depletion-mode MOSFETs in tube-like cans.
???
https://www.schiit.com/products/freya-n
Tubes or no tubes, that is the question………
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The new LISST looks like robo Digletts…
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I’m not sure if a week’s worth of listening is enough time to form a definitive opinion except in cases where something is either really good or really bad, but I’ll give it a shot. I initially used the HD6XX with the Lyr+ before moving directly to the LCD-X (2021) and skipping my other headphones. I kept the tube engaged for the entire listening time. Both DACs were left on for the duration of the week, though I turned off the Lyr+ every night.
When passively listening, i.e., having the headphones on but focused on doing other things like answering emails, both DACs did a good job with the HD6XX. Nothing really grabbed my attention - the music from both DACs were inoffensive and unobtrusive - nothing really seemed off either through a lack or through an overabundance. However, this was passive, unfocused listening.
When actively listening, the differences, while initially subtle, became very apparent once I became more familiar with the Guungnir Multibit (Unison USB). I won’t say that this is pure A/B testing, but I really wasn’t paying attention to the chain and recorded my reflections after each song separately before switching plugs and pressing the input selector again at the end of my test track playlist. My experience has been as follows:
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The bass seemed better controlled, e.g., in Grimes’ So Heavy I Fell Through the Earth (Art Mix) the first beat of the repeating beat pattern starting at roughly 0:17 felt tighter / less loose and over the place. This was noticeable with the HD6XX, but even more so with the LCD-X. However, Jeremy Soule’s Dragonborn from The Elder Scrolls V: Skyim (Original Game Soundtrack) sounds really, really good with the BF2. Especially the first 30 seconds. The deeper bass drums are very present but not overpowering.
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Stage seemed a bit wider as well, though I don’t chase stage width as much as definition/instrument placement (see note below). If the BF2 felt like the stage was headphone width or narrower, the Gumby felt like the stage was about shoulder width and sometimes a bit wider. It was also noticeably easier to place the instruments/voices in my head with the Gumby than the BF2. Compared with the BF2, there was a bit more space on U2’s Vertigo between Bono’s voice, the drums, and the bass guitar with the Gumby.
NOTE: With headphones and IEMs instead of feeling like I’m in the audience with the band / orchestra / etc. in front of me, I feel like the stage is in my head or I’m standing on it and I’m facing the audience. This occurs regardless of the headphone, source, etc., but isn’t a problem with speakers.
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I didn’t really detect the difference in noise floor, but I was only using the single-ended outputs of both DACs. Also, the Lyr+ was impressively quiet with the Dorado 2020 but made the Ara hiss (they are only dead quiet on the Asgard 3 and RebelAmp).
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Details seemed better, but not boosted to the point the music lost its music nature, i.e., over-sharpened. It’s like looking at the drawing on the cover of Santana on your iPhone and seeing a lion and realizing that there are some legs below the lion’s chin and not thinking much of it until you see it on your iPad and noticing there are faces hidden throughout the entire drawing. Now I can’t unsee those details.
In conclusion, I’m really happy with the Gumby, Lyr+, and LCD-X chain. I can go from listening to Fleetwood Mac’s Dreams to Pavarotti singing La Donna è Mobile to Till Brönner and Bob James’ recording of Save Your Love for Me to Haujobb’s Penetration (F**k the Floor) to Earth, Wind, and Fire’s September and feel like the entire chain synergizes really well (this is not a common playlist for me, just songs on my test track list). While I have a niggling doubt in the back of my mind about how much performance I might be leaving on the table by not running the Gumby’s balanced outputs, it’s not enough for me to seek out a new balanced amp right away having sold the Jotunheim 2 (FOMO strikes again!). However, I remain curious as to how the chain would sound with a ZMF Atticus or Eikon instead of the Audeze; or with a Folkvangr, Ampsandsound tube amp, or maybe the Cayin HA-3A instead of the Lyr+. I also need to spend more time with the RebelAmp in place of the Lyr+ (Gumby squared?).
Of course, these are my recollections of a subjective experience and I make no claim to their universality. No coworkers were emotionally or physically harmed in the testing of this equipment. Your mileage may vary. Open other end. Close cover before striking. All standard disclaimers apply.
Regards,
Vic
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Haha, very enjoyable read! 
Your initial take on Gumby vs BF definitely falls into similar overall impressions I had with Yggy vs BF. Again quite noticeable improvement in bass control and extension, significant soundstage expansion particularly with Atrium, and just a general sense of everything being more sharply focused. Almost in a photographic sense perhaps. Treble seems both smoother and more extended, while midrange is just beautiful.
I had come down with a bad case of “got to have a suitable DAC to go with my new amp” though. I got a Burson Soloist GT w/supercharger PSU, and while the BF sounded very good, the Yggy is a better fit for it. Everything went “next level” with the combo.
I think the Rosson RAD-0 and the ZMF Atrium both sound out of this world good with them. The amp really complements and brings out a great synergy with these 2 headphones.
My sense on the SE vs balanced issue is that I wouldn’t stress too much about it. I’m running the SE outs to a Valhalla 2 and the Jot 2 (mostly used as a preamp now to desktop speakers), and SE sounds great.
I use the Valhalla 2 some for a Verite Open, and that combo is excellent. I confess I’ve never hooked up SE output to my Burson, which I run balanced. I suppose I should try it and see if there is much difference!
I’m glad you are enjoying the Gungnir! If you end up with a new amp I’ll be interested to hear what you choose. I’ve always had an eye on the Quicksilver headphone amp. It gets a lot of love, and it seems like you get a lot of great sound and performance for a pretty reasonable price (for a pretty high end amp).
Cheers!
Jon
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Very cool! I like the new form factor, and the ability to upgrade older Yggdrasils is a nice touch (and change colors too).
I’m glad to have ordered my Gumby when I did as it looks like that model will be going on hiatus for the foreseeable future pert the Schiit Happens thread.
Time to fire up the Folkvangr - there was ice on the ground this morning.
Regards,
Vic
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Hi Guys,
Today we are talking about the Schiit Audio Yggdrasil “OG”/A2/Unison DAC. There are three different versions of the Yggdrasil currently available, and various permutations over time with different USB solutions and analog boards etc…The three current versions are the “Less is more” “More is less” and “OG.” The “OG” is the original DAC chip configuration, with the second generation (A2) analog boards, and also includes Schiits proprietary USB solution, which is called “Unison.” I have not heard either the “Less is more” or “More is less” versions of the Yggdrasil, but I have actually heard the Yggdrasil with the original “A1” analog board, and Gen 3 USB. Schiit has very recently released the Yggdrasil +, which is simply a new, more streamlined chassis, with a remote control and a non oversampling mode. Everything else remains the same in terms of sound differences across the three available models, as far as I understand. I should note, Schiit has mentioned that the “More is less” version will likely be unavailable sooner rather than later, so if you want a Yggdrasil that is more measurement focused, now would be the time to pick one up. It does appear that the “OG” and “Less is more” will continue to be available.
For the rest of this review, I’ll just refer to the Yggdrasil as the Yggy, as its colloquially known, and all my comments are pertaining to the “OG” A2/Unison version, unless otherwise stated. I did most of my listening for this review with my Boulder 866 with the Yggy acting as the DAC, and also my DIYT2 for use with electrostatic headphones.
The Yggy does benefit from being left on continuously, which has to do with the DAC chips reaching their optimal operating temperature. Over time I do think this aspect has perhaps been slightly overblown, with people saying it takes months of being left on to reach thermal stability. From my experience a few hours seemed to do it, and then maybe some slight changes over the next day or two. With that being said, I’ve ended up just leaving it on, as then you don’t have to worry about it.
The first thing I noticed about the Yggy was its bass response. Being my first long term experience with a Schiit DAC, perhaps this is the “Moffat bass” that people speak about (Mike Moffat being Schiits digital designer, and a pioneer in the field of digital audio conversion.) It came across as being perhaps the most bass, in terms of level, I’ve ever heard a DAC provide. Definitely north of neutral. Big, fat bass. Yet, although it was big and fat, it did retain quite a bit of speed and delicacy when called for. Its not the fastest, most incisive bass I have heard, but I didn’t find myself wanting for more in that area for most types of music. I could definitely see some DACs sounding a bit lean in the low end if you are coming from the Yggy to something more neutral in the low end. One thing I should note is that I didn’t find the low end of the Yggy sounding bloated and overly mushy. This can sometimes happen with the low end being prominent, but the Yggy didn’t go that far or have troubles with that, to my ears.
The mid range, in terms of level, seemed mostly neutral to me. There was a slight sense of harmonic sweetness in the mids, especially the lower mid range. It never really struck me as a very warm sounding DAC, and seemed to have more emphasis on the lows and highs, than the mid range. The slight sense of harmonic sweetness I mentioned in the mids did help with perceived timbre overall, and worked well with jazz and classical music in particular. It helped give a certain sense of “realness” in particular with acoustic instruments across the board.
The highs of the Yggy were also slightly elevated. Less so than the low end, but a very slight increase over neutral. I also found they had a really nice air and somewhat sparkly nature. Although I felt the lows and highs were elevated, I don’t want to give the impression that this is a V-Shaped DAC. It never went that far in my opinion, perhaps the low end does, but the highs are not north of neutral enough to say that the overall signature is V shaped. L shaped perhaps? I’m not sure if that is even a thing. I did feel the upper treble was slightly more emphasized than the lower treble, which is probably why I felt there was a nice sense of air and spaciousness to the treble response.
In terms of technical performance, the Yggy fared incredibly well for a DAC that costs $2699USD. There is a serious amount of value for money with this DAC. The overall detail levels were superb, especially for the cost of the DAC, both micro and macro detail. Though this is fairly hard to describe, it has a good amount of punch and slam, maybe this is also to do with that “Moffat bass” I mentioned earlier. Dynamic swings were handled very capably, though I felt it was much better at the Macro Dynamic side of things, with the tiny micro dynamics side of things being done better by some other DACs. The soundstage of the Yggy was quite wide, and expanded more left and and right, than out in front in terms of how I perceived its staging with headphones.
Schiit Audio’s proprietary USB solution, “Unison” was what I used for most of this review. I did also try the AES, Coax, and optical inputs from a D/D converter. I found the Unison USB to sound best to my ears out of all those options, but at the same time, if you have a particularly good source that you like, it might be better than the Unison USB. For someone like me, using a Laptop as their source, the Unison input is a bit of a no brainer, its a one and done, plug and play solution, that actually sounds better than most AES/Coax sources. With that being said, maybe you have some super CD spinner or similar that sounds awesome through its AES outpit, or similar, and in that case I would use the input that sounds best from your source. For me, and my uses, Unison was the winner. You, and your specific source, may end up having different results.
The build quality of the Yggy seemed great to me. Though the very recently released “+” version does have a slightly more streamlined looking chassis, the original chassis still works very well. Its a fairly heavy and solid feeling piece of gear, and I haven’t had any problems with it at all thus far. It just feels well put together, and like it will last a long time. In terms of build quality, the Yggy gets a thumbs up from me. I also like that Schiit has made black more commonly available across its line up as I do prefer black gear to silver gear. Obviously, it doesn’t effect the sound, and is entirely a cosmetic preference, but the fact it is a more readily available option than it used to be is neat.
In terms of comparisons, I can compare it to the Yggy A1/Gen 3 USB from memory, and also the built in DAC of my Boulder 866, which is an AD1855 based solution, and incredibly capable for a built in DAC.
Compared to the A1/Gen3 Yggy, the A2/Unison seemed slightly warmer, with more bass and more highs. The A1 seemed some what colder sounding, a bit more clinical in nature, though not highly clinical in an overall sense. Detail and resolution seemed quite similar between the two, but perhaps slightly more perceptible on the A1/Gen3 due to its slightly more clinical sound. Dynamics were better on the A2/Unison to my ears. If you find an A1/Gen3 Yggy at a really good price, that might actually be one of the better DAC bargains out there currently, especially if you use a cheap D/D converter to bypass the Gen3 USB by using AES or Coax. The Unison USB does sound much better than the Gen 3 USB did.
Compared to my Boulder 866’s built in DAC, which I did a lot of direct A/B comparisons with. The 866’s DAC is much more neutral. Less bass, and less highs. More even keeled sounding overall. The 866 does outdo the Yggdrasil in terms of overall detail levels, but the Yggdrasil seemed better at Dynamic swings and was also more “fun” to listen to. There was also the slight harmonic sweetness in the midrange that the Yggdrasil has that the Boulder did not have, which was nice with acoustic instruments in particular.
Another DAC that is in a similar price range to the Yggy is the iFi Audio Pro iDSD Signature. Though it has all sorts of features the Yggy doesn’t (Headphone Amp, Tube section etc…) I think I prefer the Yggy in terms of DAC performance. The Yggy is slightly more detailed, slightly less warm, and also better dynamically. If you want the other features like a headphone amp, tube section, etc…that the iDSD Signature has built in, then it is a very good choice, but if you want a pure DAC only option, I would save a few hundred dollars and go for the Yggy.
Overall, the Schiit Yggdrasil A2/Unison “OG” is probably the best DAC for the money at MSRP I have heard. At $2699USD, there are other options on the market, but I think the Yggy really makes a case for itself in terms of how enjoyable it is to listen to. I really loved its bass response, and its technical performance was great for how much it costs. There are better, more technically capable DACs out there, but the ones that I have heard all cost a lot more money, which complicates matters. The Yggy is very, very competent in its overall performance, it is fun to listen to, it doesn’t cost as much as a house, and it is really well built. I would definitely recommend the Yggdrasil if you are looking for a DAC. If you want to save a few hundred dollars, definitely do some reading about the “Less is more” version also, as some people do actually prefer it to the “OG” I have written about in this review. That will be up to you and your ears, but from what I understand it’s pretty hard to go wrong with either version. Good Job Schiit!
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This device:
the NITSCH x Schiit Magni Piety, is opening for pre-orders on Sunday, Nov 20, 2022 at 9AM. It will have a limited run of 1000 units. It’s a solid state amp that uses transistors no longer being produced (hence the limited run) to achieve a tube-like sound.
Here’s the link to where it will be offered for sale:
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Thanks for the heads up! I was considering replacing my Magni 3 with my Vali 2 on my desktop, but I keep my desktop amp powered on as I’m constantly using it for a few minutes throughout the day. This seems like the perfect solution. Well almost perfect as it appears the finish won’t match my Modi.
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Interesting. The “Limited Edition” trend is now “everywhere” and looks like Schiit is one of the first companies boarding into this “train” w.r.t. amps. In the IEM space it is already settled. Not too long ago, companies used to name this kind of initiative as “anniversary edition”.
Can’t deny it tickles reading that is a limited run. 
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Note the exclusive vendor: Apos Audio. To me that suggests they are attempting to stake out a unique market niche in the ChiFi market.
Also, I thought the regular production LISST was their primary solid state tube substitute. Marketing.
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Just to make sure we’re all on the same page: Schiit is not making this amp, NITSCH is.
“Schiit was kind enough to let NITSCH assemble and launch the product as a limited edition for the community.”
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Nice setup!
Your poor BF2 looks like it was run over, wtf? 
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Thanks for clarifying. I’ve stopped reading “the fine print” when I saw “limited edition”. That was the trigger for me. 
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I don’t know what I would do with this, as it is a significant step down from any of the amps I already have.
Nonetheless, I’m intrigued, and trying to think of a use case scenario for it. I could buy it as a gift, but if I listen to it and it really sounds pretty cool I might want to keep it!
I wonder what a suitable DAC would be if I gifted it, and how it would do with something like HD6xx. There’s the usual suspects like Schiit Modi (wish the Modi Multi still existed). Fair or not I’ve always been sceptical about cheap chifi stuff from Topping or SMSL. I’ve been trying to interest my brother in the headphone thing. He enjoys music and has had some decent home audio gear in the past…
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Imma add a Loki and Heresy and wire it all up to my Modi so I can switch between the Magni, Vali, Piety, and Heresy. Schiit Stack Supreme with Special Sauce! 
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Probably he saved 10% because “cosmetic defect.”
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