Schiit Unviels Flagship Yggdrasil DAC

Forget everything you know about DACs. Yggdrasil is the world’s only closed-form multibit DAC, delivering 21 bits of resolution with no guessing anywhere in the digital or analog path. We’ve thrown out delta-sigma D/As, traditional digital filters, and sample rate conversion to preserve the original samples all the way through from input to output. To do this, we had to rethink everything about a modern DAC. Let’s take a closer look:

Closed-Form Digital Filter Preserves Original Samples

Most DACs simply use the stock digital filters embedded in their D/A converters. But even the most sophisticated ones, using their own digital filter algorithms, don’t have what Yggdrasil has—a digital filter with a true closed-form solution—meaning it retains all the original samples, as it performs a true interpolation. This digital filter gives you the best of both NOS (all original samples retained) and upsampling (easier filtering of out-of-band noise) designs—and it is only available on Yggdrasil.

21 Bits, No Guessing: Mission-Critical D/A Technology

When doctors are trying to diagnose whether you have gas or cancer from MRI results, or when the military is trying to ensure a missile hits an ammo dump and not a nunnery next door, they don’t use “24 bit” or “32 bit” delta-sigma D/A converters. Instead, they rely on precision, 20-bit ladder DACs, like the Analog Devices AD5791. This allows them the bit-perfect precision they need for critical applications, rather than the guesswork of a delta-sigma. We chose this same critical technology for Yggdrasil, in a balanced configuration that increases effective resolution to 21 bits. Following these unique D/A converters are sophisticated discrete JFET buffers and summers.

Adapticlock and USB Gen 3: Advanced Input Optimization

Yggdrasil accepts up to 5 digital inputs and carefully manages them with our Adapticlock™ clock regeneration system. Adapticlock is the most sophisticated clock management system in the world. It assesses the quality of all inputs, measures their incoming center frequency and jitter, and automatically routes the input to the best possible clock regeneration system. Yggdrasil also features our all-new USB Gen 3 input module, for even better performance than the acclaimed Gen 2 USB input.

Made in USA

By “made in USA,” we mean made in USA. The vast majority of the total production cost of Yggdrasil—chassis, boards, transformers, assembly, etc—goes to US companies manufacturing in the US. Our board house is 20 minutes away from our office in Newhall. Our chassis guys are just over the hill in the Valley.

5-Year Warranty

Yggdrasil is covered by a limited warranty that covers parts and labor for five years. That’s 5 years. Yes. FIVE. Which is up to 5X that of our competition, if you weren’t so hot at math. Note the marketing weasel-wording “up to.”

15-Day Satisfaction Guarantee

Try Yggdrasil in your own house for 15 days. If you don’t like it, simply send it back for a refund, minus a 5% transaction fee. Try spending 15 days in an audio store. They’ll kick you out. Unless you buy them donuts. Maybe.

Source: Schiit