2023 Golden Ear: Schiit Audio Yggdrasil+ OG Multibit DAC

$2699/2799 black/silver

After Schiit Audio unveiled the Yggdrasil+ in late 2022, I decided to send my Yggy to the factory for the upgrade to Yggy+ status, “to get remote control, NOS mode, and a new chassis that looks better, offers way more flexibility, and substantially simplifies upgrades.” I had listened to the Yggy off and on for a number of years, liked its sound, and expected more of the same out of the Yggy+ with the benefit of added flexibility. I was wrong! When I streamed Qobuz off my MacBook Pro, I found that sound quality had improved dramatically with basically the same front end. I’m not sure how to account for the sonic transformation, but after being left on to thermally stabilize overnight, harmonic textures had the delicacy of the real thing, without any perceptible grain. Soundstage transparency and immediacy were superb, making for a compelling musical presentation. Dynamic nuances were well fleshed out. Bass lines were a real treat, decisively delineated and capable of delivering a punch. The phase inversion and non-oversampling mode (NOS) functions are extremely handy and allow for quick A/B comparisons during playback. The Yggy+ is the only DAC I’ve auditioned where bypassing the digital filter (NOS mode) doesn’t typically sound better. In fact, there are only small sonic differences between the two modes, with the digital filter offering a smoother treble range. The Analog Devices AD5791 DAC chip is a highly linear and precise multibit design, but at 20-bit resolution it will truncate 24/192 files to 20-bit resolution. This is a minor issue, as bit depth is not easy to resolve in most setups. And of course, it will not handle DSD files, but then again 99% of my digital source material is 16/44. Within its limitations, the Yggy+ is a superb DAC, designed and built in the USA, that to my ears offers a closer approach to the absolute sound than a host of noise-shaping sigma-delta designs. (273; Yggy+ version forthcoming)