Jason and I are completely at opposite ends on this. You can be critical and appreciate the finer aspects of audio and still have a life. Maybe somebody would rather enjoy their entire music catalog anew rather than deal with flight delays, rude service, sunburn and boredom after staring at the same beach and ocean after 2-3 days. If anyone really cares, they can actually do both btw.

Personally I don't believe in settling for just okay or good enough, not part of my Asian genetic makeup. Resting on laurels is what gets you decades of decrepit American junk cars from Detroit. Nothing is perfect which is why we can always improve and seek progress as a species. I'll borrow a line from Toyota when they decided to join GM in making a joint factory here in Fremont, California (now the Tesla factory). When Toyota asked the GM reps what kind of problems they were having, the GM losers said they had no problems. Toyota's reply?

No problem is a BIG problem.

Everyone has their own right answer. That's just mine. So go ahead and exclusively use your phone for audio if that makes you happy...or don't.

To expand on some comments I made in the main Yggdrasil thread (and in the shoutbox), I believe we all may need to take a step back, take a deep breath, and ask ourselves, "Does the music make me feel good?"

If the answer is, "Yes," then you're probably fine with the DAC you have, whether it costs $100 or $10,000.

Why do I bother posting this? Because we're all susceptible to audiophilia nervosa, and it's easy to stoke this condition to seriously paranoiac levels. And because I know how you feel. I used to be all about finding that last 0.0035% of performance. It got bad enough I had to step out of audio for a while, because I lost perspective...I was spending silly amounts of money on audio gear, having less fun listening...and I had forgot how rich and varied life could be.

So, as an antidote to the audiophila nervosa, here are some things to help you relax:

1. When you read posts like, "Yeah, the Arglebargle XYZ was great and wonderful, but the Scintillant Megacomplex can transport you to even higher levels of enjoyment (for 5X to 20X more)," ask yourself: "Do I really want to spend car-like money on a component? Wouldn't it be better to buy an engagement ring for the one I love? Or learn to fly a plane...in Tahiti...while taking a month off? Or go to cooking school in France and tour wine country on the side? Or fly all over the world and go to a dozen amazing, once-in-a-lifetime concerts? There are many more things to do.

2. When you read posts like, "Hey, I heard one guy said his current Gammanator 12 beats the Arglebargle XYZ he's borrowing," be sure to remind yourself that humanity is not a rational animal, but a rationalizing animal. If he owns one and is borrowing another, especially if the borrowed product cost less, the expected result is that the borrowed product is inferior. The natural reaction is to justify the investment that's already been sunk.

3. When you hear someone say, "Well, I love this product, it's the most amazing thing I've heard," and then, a few weeks later, say, "Well, except it needs an audiophile fuse and some quantum damping on the chips," or "Well, I think the power supply topology isn't the best, and if that was just fixed, it would be perfect," remind yourself, "This is just one person, and where are they getting their information from anyway? Did they really A/B the results? Or is it even possible to A/B the results? Or is this just speculation to cause more audiophile nervosa?

So what's the bottom line? It's simple. How does the music make you feel? If you're good, then the component's good. And that's something that nobody can argue with. Sit back, relax, and enjoy some great music!

Agreed that's why I don't buy your over priced shit 

Vintage is just as good for my portapros

* fun fact every time I've talked to Jason at meet he's give me a WTF! Face 

Well yeah but Jason's face is priceless

...
 
Has anyone compared the Yggdrasil properly and directly with the Auralic Vega?
 A friend owning the Vega (I recommended him to purchase Yggy), recently received the Yggdrasil and completed warm-up. Listening for the first few hours comparatively, saying he's not impressed with the Yggdrasil would be understating it. Yes, both using USB. Unless he is doing something wrong, I am very surprised if Yggy is not matching up to the Vega. I personally have not heard Vega properly at home, so I can't really comment.

I would question his friendship, or trust, or ears with that position..

That friend just made you question what you say you herd in yggy,  compared to your MSB..

It has been known/posted for some time here how the Vega sounds.

Well after hearing the Yggy he actually thinks my descriptions of it were very similar to what he is hearing... which is even stranger. Even when I don't agree with someone in preferences, most of the time I can at least understand where they are coming from, if I hear the same gear properly. I did not hear the Vega in conditions that can allow me to comment on it comparatively. However I was not impressed with the Vega/Taurus stack I heard in a quiet room with the HD800s. But what is also true, the Taurus never impressed me whenever I heard it (thankfully he did not purchase a Taurus after my vivid impressions of it). So all a bit puzzling. Perhaps how there are R2R fans, there are Delta/Sigma lovers...

Nothing changed in how I rate the Yggdrasil. It's a really great DAC. This so far only proves there isn't something that can please everyone.