Article: And Now For Some Serious Good Schiit (Skoll Yggy!)

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Thanks for the article @JoeWhip, well kind of. Vinyl? Really? Only joking. As Sheryl Crow says, "If it makes you happy, it can't be that bad." :~)

Yggdrasil is still one of my all-time favorite DACs. I feel like Yggy is a franchise now, with a following and performance to match. Plus, the price is ridicilously inexpensive!

I have had my Yggy upgraded to the MiB DACs as well and my impression echoes yours. I never made the interim step to either of the two that came before. I like it so much that despite my McIntosh MAC7200 having a DAC built in that can accept higher resolution, I use the Yggy because I like the sound more. Something I did not see mentioned is the new Yggy with the new DAC also has a NOS mode which makes using it with HQPlayer, better? Schiits filter is damn good , however I find it works best on CD resolution files and I like what HQPlayer can do with High Res files more.

Great review.

Good point Audiodoctor. I do not have HQPlayer and frankly, have never preferred NOS on a Schiit DAC to their filter. I send a bit perfect stream to the Yggy and let it do its magic.  

I admire the company and the quality products they put out at reasonable prices.

The shit puns get a little tiresome though.

Fascinating that a digital company such as Schiit would release a phono stage. 

Doubly interesting that it would be only $400 and include both MM and MC.  Vinyl "for the rest of us"...

18 hours ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

Thanks for the article @JoeWhip, well kind of. Vinyl? Really? Only joking. As Sheryl Crow says, "If it makes you happy, it can't be that bad." :~)

 

Now, now.  There are still a few groups/records where vinyl still rules.  The Beatles, early Kinks, Zombies, Yardbirds, Queen, Talking Heads, are best heard on original or remastered vinyl over their crummy to mediocre digital counterparts.  If you want to be able to actually listen to Lindsey Buckingham's "Gift of Screws" you need the all analog vinyl.  The CD is an abysmal 6 on the meter.

That being said, I have bought 3 records in the last year.  The vinyl revolution is stalled, at best.

1 minute ago, Kimo said:

The Beatles, early Kinks, Zombies, Yardbirds, Queen, Talking Heads, are best heard on original or remastered vinyl over their crummy to mediocre digital counterparts.

Not sure what digital counterparts you are listening to. The Beatles remasters are excellent and the remixes totally outclass the originals - not even close.

I have very good sounding versions of the Kinks, Zombies and Yardbirds.

18 minutes ago, firedog said:

Not sure what digital counterparts you are listening to. The Beatles remasters are excellent and the remixes totally outclass the originals - not even close.

I have very good sounding versions of the Kinks, Zombies and Yardbirds.

The Beatles remasters are at best fair on digital.  The analog mono vinyl box beats them all.  Regarding the remasters in stereo.  The CDs are bested by the high resolution stick, which is bested by the vinyl, if only due to the vinyl having slightly better mastering choices.

The early German/British CDs for the Kinks PYE catalog are the best digital out there.  Everything else kind of sucks, so unless you have those, you don't have good sounding digital versions.  The all analog mono vinyl box is your best by a bit over those.

I would like to know where you found good sounding, i.e. not terribly sourced or overly compressed versions of the Yardbirds.  I have had zero luck.  Some of the earliest Rhino stuff is probably best, I guess, but the transfers are dated.

The Zombie Heaven set is pretty good, but honestly the original vinyl has a whole different vibe with way more billow in the voice.

As for the Beatles remixes, I have Pepper (compressed and nothing special), Abbey Road (Seriously with that bass?), and Let It Be (Fine, I guess).  Revolver is literally a joke of an effort, though the mono vinyl in the box is a nice alternative to that found in the box set.  

1 hour ago, Kimo said:

Now, now.  There are still a few groups/records where vinyl still rules.  The Beatles, early Kinks, Zombies, Yardbirds, Queen, Talking Heads, are best heard on original or remastered vinyl over their crummy to mediocre digital counterparts.  If you want to be able to actually listen to Lindsey Buckingham's "Gift of Screws" you need the all analog vinyl.  The CD is an abysmal 6 on the meter.

27 minutes ago, Kimo said:

 

As for the Beatles remixes, I have Pepper (compressed and nothing special), Abbey Road (Seriously with that bass?), and Let It Be (Fine, I guess).  Revolver is literally a joke of an effort, though the mono vinyl in the box is a nice alternative to that found in the box set.  

Exactly.  The technical vinyl vs digital debate is silly, or at least moot, unless of course you are an engineer.  If you're just a guy sitting at home, the real test is which version of a particular album is best.  No doubt CDs have higher potential for dynamic range, just to pick one obvious aspect.  But there is also no doubt that if you are listening to rock on digital, you are likely listening to lower dynamic range than you would be if hearing that same album on vinyl.

And of course, some of this is a matter of taste.  It's ironic that the Giles Martin Beatles has done so well among many who would normally profess to want higher dynamic range and/or sound truer to the original.  Compression is powerful and seductive, but it's a one night stand, not true love.

I will look up the Lindsey Buckingham--thanks

26 minutes ago, PeterG said:

The technical vinyl vs digital debate is silly, or at least moot, unless of course you are an engineer.  If you're just a guy sitting at home, the real test is which version of a particular album is best.

100% agree. 
 

There are pros and cons to all releases on all formats. The best part is that we have choices. 

You can never have enough Schiit!

I have my eyes on the Kraken!  I want to feed from the Urd + Syn  5.1 from Redbook CD!

Bobfa, you going to release the Kraken anytime soon?

Only if Schiit will send me one to test!!!  Talk about reducing complexity...

It AIN'T ATMOS !   But it's GREAAAAAAT

57 minutes ago, bobfa said:

Only if Schiit will send me one to test!!!  Talk about reducing complexity...

 

It AIN'T ATMOS !   But it's GREAAAAAAT

 

 

A little too close to Kellog's TM lines, just a thought.

I'm mostly a digital guy but recently got a Pro-ject Automat A2 for nostalgia vibes. I got a Skoll to go with it. The first thing I had was this loud hum. Loud enough that it could be heard from 7 feet away. It was always there even when the TT was not actually playing. Music did mask the hum to an extent, but it was annoying nevertheless.

Then I found, on the turntable, that if I touch the RCA left channel outer sheath and the ground pin with a single finger together, the hum would disappear. If I disconnected the TT from power but kept the Skoll powered on the hum would disappear. This meant that the TT was at fault. Likely the cheap power supply was the source of noise. I could have opted for an iFi low-noise power supply that I have for a couple of other elements in my chain but that is another $115. 

Eventually, I did a couple of things. Connect the ground wire from TT to Skoll, as usual, but also, connect the ground from the Skoll to a water pipe below the nearest sink! I used 12 gauge speaker wire that I had lying around. Then, I connected the left channel RCA plug's outer sheath to the ground terminal on the TT using a self-adhesive copper tape.

Voila, no hum, nothing, nada. 

Thanks for the suggestion. I will do some more trouble shooting.

11 minutes ago, jrobbins50 said:

Just remember folks, vinyl and digital can live together. I digitize my vinyl to 24/192 so HQP can apply my Audiolense convolution filters and upscale to DSD128. Best of both worlds! JCR 

I tried that extensively over a long period of time. . I invested in various top of the line studio analog to digital converters, several highly regarded microphone preamps so I could do the RIAA in software along with the best software, Mitch Barnett  convolution filters derived from the best software and microphones to analyze my room and speakers, and very high end DACS. 

Yes,  it was better in all the ways that one would expect. However, at the end of the day, the vinyl magic was gone. Whatever it is that your brain reacts to that truly connects you to the music was missing. It was indeed excellent sound , but  I was listening to excellent sound instead of excellent music. 

Even though he focused on the speakers and implied what he heard was despite the fact he was listening to vinyl instead of because he was. I can't help but think these reactions from Chris recently about a vinyl system at Munich with Cessaro horns were due in large part to the fact he was listening to vinyl. 

Quote

 

The sound was absolutely luscious and larger than life.

 

I was stunned by the dynamics and texture reproduced by the Cessaro horns. The presentation was huge and produced the most concert-like experience I’ve ever heard. I sat through entire orchestral pieces, thinking it was just like listening to my hometown Minnesota Orchestra live at Orchestra Hall.

 

A drum kit playing through this system sounded like an actual drum kit was in the room. It was powerful and a touch scary. This system was capable of reproducing certain musical aspects like no other system I heard at the show

 

Overall I was surprised, delighted, and a bit scared by what this system could reproduce

.

 

" I invested in various top of the line studio analog to digital converters"

Any recommendations regarding ADCs?

2 hours ago, bbosler said:

Even though he focused on the speakers and implied what he heard was despite the fact he was listening to vinyl instead of because he was. I can't help but think these reactions from Chris recently about a vinyl system at Munich with Cessaro horns were due in large part to the fact he was listening to vinyl. 

This makes no sense to me. 
 

The flaws of vinyl couldn’t be ignored and held the system back. 

22 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

The flaws of vinyl couldn’t be ignored and  held the system back

The main point of my post was that digitizing vinyl is not "the best of both worlds, 

but since since you responded to the other part... ..

 held the system back is pure conjecture. You did not hear it with digital, so you are guessing that vinyl held it back. Another equally valid guess is that, despite the flaws, playing vinyl allowed it to perform at the highest level it was capable of. You have nothing to support the idea that it would be better with digital other than your your preconceived notions.

In an all digital system one could just as easily guess that it is the flaws of digital that is holding it back.

While I admire your passion for this hobby, I can't help but think that your dogmatic beliefs are holding you back.

dogmatic (adjective) strongly held beliefs as if they were facts

The difference between us, and please correct me if I am wrong about your experience, I have  lived with very high levels of both vinyl and digital for extended periods in my system while you have not.  I will leave it that because the debate is endless, and your mind is obviously made up............ like mine.

3 minutes ago, JoeWhip said:

Please, not another digital v. Vinyl diversion. 

uhhhh,

you published an article with both digital and vinyl devices so really not a surprise it would go in that direction... , but I agree, I've stated my thoughts so I'm done with it.