Schiit Eitr Preview Thread

Discussion in 'Digital: DACs, USB converters, decrapifiers' started by Rotijon, Jul 17, 2017.

  1. Mr.Sneis

    Mr.Sneis Friend

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    Got to borrow an Eitr for a few days and tried it with a few DACs and got some mixed results. I considered buying an Eitr but held off and glad I did for my specific gear, if I had a use case for it though I'd probably default to using one.

    Adcom GCD-750 as a DAC - Eitr had worse performance than CI Transient mk2 and Mutec 1.2. This doesn't surprise me as the DAC function of this CDP is picky as hell about the transport used, an old Hiface 1 bested a lot of other more expensive alternatives way back when. Listening via speakers with a dedicated sub in a big ass room. The sub bass benefited versus the others in a very real way but I ultimately felt boxed in and I just did not mesh with the sound.

    Denafrips Ares - Eitr had better performance than the Mutec with this popular DAC but the built-in USB does it better for me. Eitr gave a more clinical less exciting sound, I think it was maybe more detailed though. The Ares USB is actually much better than I thought it would be and I am happy that no extra box is required for the DAC. I wouldn't say the differences were significantly worse but I was able to hear this via near field speaker and headphone.

    MHDT Havana - Just quick listen with this one but the Eitr did amazing with the MHDT versus the stock USB. No other comparison converters used, but considering the time period of the Havana's inception the Eitr was an excellent fit.

    Hope this helps, too much "best shit ever" posts!
     
    Last edited: Aug 17, 2017
  2. joeexp

    joeexp Don't ship this man FD-X1 ever

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    Sorry about the extra noise!
    But your post kind of doesn't make sense.
    The main question is: does the Eitr deliver a 'clean' SPDIF signal or not.
    It does its job, regardless what DAC is connected to it or if people think it's the "best shit evar'!
     
  3. Darren G

    Darren G Friend

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    I don't see that anyone has measured it yet, but from Schiit's website -

    FAQ, benefit #3 = "It provides much higher quality, independent crystal-based clocks for the USB input and SPDIF output, operating at both 44.1 and 48kHz multiples."

    Implication being yes, an intended goal/feature is to emit a well clocked SPDIF stream.

    p.s. FAQ, benefit #2 is relevant as well = "...Eitr's low-noise and rechecking sections are completely self-powered."
     
  4. dread

    dread New

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    Clemmaster or any other electronics genius out there... Wall wart supplied withneitr caused bad 60cycle hum through my system so decided to power with a spare adjustable rail on my HDplex. For whatever reason I didn't even notice that the wall wart was 7v AC... duh so set the HDplex to 6v DC. works fine but I have occasional dropouts. so... reading the post above it seems that I could increase the supply voltage...so... what id the optimal DC voltage to allow the regulator to operate in its "normal range"?
    Thanks
     
  5. k4rstar

    k4rstar Britney fan club president

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    I recently installed the Gen5 USB board in my Gungnir Multibit and since there is no dedicated thread for it I figured I would share impressions here. My Gungnir Multibit has been on for 48 hours since the install. While I normally feel it takes 4 full days to warm up from cold, that does seem to vary some and there is a feeling of completeness when things are sufficient which is the case to me now, so I'm confident in these impressions.

    I was able to compare the Gen5 USB (G5 from here on out) to the S/PDIF output of my RME 9632 PCI card (RME from here on out). To date the RME had been the best digital source I had heard, miles ahead of Gen2 USB. I did comparisons between the two using both JRiver MC and foobar2000. For G5 WASAPI Event output was used, with a Schiit PYST USB cable. For the RME card RME's own ASIO drivers were used as I found them to perform slightly better than using WASAPI Event output in that case. A standard Cordial S/PDIF coaxial cable was used between the RME and the Gungnir Multibit.

    When G5/Eitr released and Schiit was claiming they had 'solved' USB I couldn't help but scoff: "You can't fix USB, it's fucked! The best you can do is make it not sound like complete ass". As early impressions came out I was still skeptical as no one was comparing it to the solution I was using, at least not to my satisfaction, so I felt for $100 I may as well try it myself. Worst case scenario I would have slightly increased the re-sale value of my DAC.

    Immediately after installing the card I gave the USB input a go to make sure catastrophic failure had been avoided on my part. What struck me right away is the usual digital coarseness, hash and temporal grain I associated with USB audio in the past was totally absent. Yes, things did sound congested and the bass was spongy but these could all be attributed to lack of warm-up on the Gungnir. Over the last few days I repeatedly returned to the USB input for some casual listening and quickly became ready to eat my earlier words: the G5 input does not only meet my RME card in performance, in some ways I can't help but feel it exceeds it.

    A/B comparisons are not easy to carry out between the two as they involve switching the input on the Gungnir and switching the output in my playback software before restarting playback. I've relied mostly on long-term listening to both sources to reach my conclusion: as a digital input the G5 is the most 'correct' sounding I have yet heard. It comes off as more effortless and natural, with better separation and focus, and zero traces of any digital artifacts I can detect. Tracks with intense layering and complex passages are easier to follow, multi-tracked vocals are more distinct and intelligible. Instruments have more texture and dynamic shading. These differences are all subtle enough, but they add up such that the RME in direct comparison comes off as a bit gray/muted/subdued/flat overall. Even when writing this post I had one of my favorite EPs playing in the background and I had to stop typing several times to just listen. It got to the point where I just let the damn thing finish so I could continue.

    There were several instances during comparison listening where I had to double-check to make sure I actually WAS listening to USB. I was initially planning on citing some specific tracks and examples, but what's the point? I'm selling you on a $100-150 upgrade that I am confident is truly great. It is as plug-and-play as it gets with less investment and setup required than a PCI(e) card or AOIP solution. If you are currently using a direct USB connection or a mediocre converter (Singxer, Gustard and other Chi-fi DDCs are squarely in the realm of mediocrity compared to the RME card let alone G5) it will blow your mind. If you are already using a PCI(e) or AOIP solution, you will at the very least be pleasantly surprised enough to consider selling what you're currently using.

    Please note that I cannot speak for every setup out there, and that my RME card was installed in a computer I built myself but not solely dedicated to audio playback. It's possible something like @Garns media PC would bridge the gap or even outperform G5, but I do doubt it given the clocks used on these PCI cards are not the greatest as they pretty much expect you to use an external clock for any serious studio application. Also please note that I do not entirely expect G5 and the Eitr to perform identically, for several reasons. I'm going to try to borrow someones Eitr to confirm. I do, however, have a hard time imagining a digital source that would be more worthwhile than one of these two to pursue other than perhaps a really good CD transport. Hopefully this post helps someone who may be on the fence about upgrading.
     
    Last edited: Aug 27, 2017
  6. luximal

    luximal Made things right

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    I already talked to him about this before, but if @k4rstar is wants to , I can come to his place compare my eitr to his gen 5 and rme, and also my audial and the hugo 2 loaner to his Gungnir Multibit.

    I don't have much to say about the eitr, mostly because I have nothing good to compare it to. All I have is some cheap berhinger, and my hp-4a bl's usb to optical converter function. All I have to say it that it sounds quite good and that it's better than the previous 2 options.
     
  7. Luckbad

    Luckbad Traded in a unicorn for a Corolla

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    @k4rstar If you have JRiver, you can you link two playback zones and play the same thing on both at the same time, making it really easy to listen for differences if your DAC can swap inputs quickly.
     
  8. mrflibble

    mrflibble Friend

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    I am certain that I'm hearing a difference in USB cables with USB Gen 5 on Gungnir Multibit.

    The two cables are a Belkin USB Gold 1.8m and a Deltaco 2m (a very cheap USB cable that cost me about two euros).

    The Deltaco sounds noticeably cleaner, clearer and sharper. The Belkin is grey in comparison, thicker and less detailed. Both cables exhibit the improvement in soundstage compared to my M-Audio 192 and BNC input.

    I bought the Belkin cable many years ago, before they became popular with the audio crowd. I'm therefore pretty sure it's genuine. The plugs are purple with Belkin embossed on them and the contacts are gold. The Deltaco cable just has normal contacts, it looks like a generic no-name cable except for the paper label attached to it.

    What gives? I thought Eitr / Gen 5 USB was supposed to be pretty much immune to variations in USB cable? I'm not complaining - I'm very pleased with the Gen 5 USB upgrade :) The apparent sonic difference is curious, however.
     
  9. damaged-goods

    damaged-goods Acquaintance

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    I got my Eitr today and have tried to get it working from a raspberry pi with mixed results. Redbook CD rips work well but 96/24 plays music with lots of popping noises and 88/24 just is lots of noise.
    Right now I'm using moode audio set to "usb device" for output.

    The Eitr works from my windows 10.

    Is anybody here using the Eitr from a raspberry? What software do you use and what settings?

    Thanks!
     
  10. joeexp

    joeexp Don't ship this man FD-X1 ever

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    Same problem here! Some rather nasty popping noises. Not what I had hoped for.
    Not sure if that's just a problem with moode.
     
  11. Clemmaster

    Clemmaster Friend

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    Got some hiccups with Roon bridge as well.

    Works just fine on a computer, though.
     
  12. damaged-goods

    damaged-goods Acquaintance

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  13. Clemmaster

    Clemmaster Friend

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    Sorry I should have been more clear: the hiccups are only when using the raspberry Pi, NOT a computer.

    My first Eitr didn't work in exclusive mode on the computer. This probably had to do with it having an early/wrong firmware (the one reporting 32-bit support, when a S/PDIF converter cannot do more than 24-bit). Got a replacement and everything has been fine since.
     
  14. haywood

    haywood Friend

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    Did you try the USB (UAC2) Fix option in the System configuration panel? You should also touch base with Tim in the diyaudio thread, even if he can't point to a specific fix he might know if this is a Pi thing or a Linux driver thing or where to file a bug report.

    http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/pc-based/271811-moode-audio-player-raspberry-pi-831.html
     
  15. trung225

    trung225 Facebook Friend

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    Did you try to increase the Audio Buffer size on MPD config and use the standard Linux kernel. I fix this problem on my Gen V by this method.
     
  16. damaged-goods

    damaged-goods Acquaintance

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    USB(UAC2)fix solved the issue. Just don't forget to reboot. :rolleyes:
    So Eitr works from a Raspberry and it sounds great. Makes for an inexpensive music streamer.
     
  17. atomicbob

    atomicbob dScope Yoda

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    For those wishing to perform A/B comparison requiring two USB streams on Windows PC, without resorting to JRiver multiple zones, VB-Audio VoiceMeeter will provide an easy T solution. Media player will send to VoiceMeeter virtual audio input. VoiceMeeter has two hardware device driver outputs. Leave all faders at 0.

    http://www.vb-audio.com/Voicemeeter/index.htm
     
  18. Senorx12562

    Senorx12562 Case of the mondays

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    Once the eitr was added to my signal chain, (JRMC20, modi MB, vali2) I started getting dropouts every few songs. Nothing I could think of stopped it. The marginal improvement in sound was not worth it. Returned it.
     
  19. LetMeBeFrank

    LetMeBeFrank Won't tell anyone my name is actually Francis

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    Is there any benefit to using Eitr instead of my motherboard S/PDIF header?

    I have a small asus add in board that connects to the internal S/PDIF header on my mobo and provides toslink and coaxial.

    Mobo: asus sabertooth z97 mk1
     
  20. Luckbad

    Luckbad Traded in a unicorn for a Corolla

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    If you have a good DAC, it's definitely better than any motherboard header I've personally used. Isolation and reclocking will certainly provide benefits.
     

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