Schiit Introduces Yggdrasil DAC

 

April 21, 2015, Valencia, CA. The new Yggdrasil DAC from Schiit Audio is an entirely different take on "end-game" DAC design, eschewing the now-standard delta-sigma and DSD-optimized architectures to deliver optimal performance for the 99.99% of recorded music out there—music in PCM format.

 

"Yggdrasil was designed with a single goal in mind: to give you the most from the music you already have," said Mike Moffat, Co-Founder of Schiit Audio. "It's the end result of five years of research into digital filter algorithms, resulting in a unique closed-form digital filter running on an Analog Devices SHARC DSP processor, as well as four true 20-bit Analog Devices DACs running in differential configuration."

 

Yggdrasil, or "Yggy," as the DAC in known informally at Schiit, supports all PCM formats from 16/44 to 24/192 through all inputs, including USB, AES/EBU, BNC, Coaxial, and Toslink optical. From there, the all-new USB Gen 3 input receiver and Schiit's proprietary Adapticlock™ system carefully manages clock regeneration for optimal performance. The SHARC DSP processor implements Schiit's proprietary 18,000+ tap digital filter algorithm at 352.8 or 384kHz sampling rate and 20-bit depth, which is then passed to the AD5791 DACs and a discrete JFET output buffer. Yggy outputs both balanced XLR and single-ended RCA (summed) analog simultaneously.

 

"It's the best DAC I know how to build," Mike summed up. "We're very proud of its performance—and we're very excited to be able to deliver this level of performance to the overwhelming majority of PCM music that everyone already owns."

 

Like all Schiit products, Yggdrasil is designed, engineered, and manufactured in the USA, with the vast majority of its total production cost going to companies manufacturing in the USA, and local assembly, testing, and support through Schiit’s Valencia, CA offices. 

 

Yggdrasil, (in Norse legend, the "world tree" or source of all things) is available to order now on the schiit.com website for $2,299. 

 

Founded in June 2010 by audio industry “old dogs” Jason Stoddard and Mike Moffat, Schiit Audio has a simple, if somewhat insane, mission: to bring superior performance, design, and quality to audio products, while manufacturing in the USA. Schiit has grown into a leader in the "personal audio" market, with a wide range of products spanning DACs, headphone amplifiers, and preamplifiers, from $49 to $2299. Schiit is also a leader in the direct sale of audio products, passing additional value along to the customer by foregoing the cost of traditional distribution networks.

 

Jason Stoddard was the former engineering lead at Sumo, designing power amps that included Polaris II, Polaris III, Andromeda III, Ulysses, Ulysses II, The Ten, The Five, as well as preamplifiers including Athena II, Diana, and Artemis, and Sumo’s first digital line: Axiom and Theorem.

 

Mike Moffat was the founder of Theta, Theta Digital, and Angstrom, and his audio history covers an impressive list of firsts, including the first standalone DAC, the Theta DSPre, the first use of digital signal processing and bit-perfect digital filter algorithms, the first DTS surround processor, and more.