Schiit Eitr Preview Thread

There was a guy on HF that had a speaker system with multiple Gumbys, and swore up and down that running multiple Wyrds in series made a difference...

 

If the Eitr does not slay the Audiophileo it really is not worth buying!

 

If anyone needs a good digital coax cable that to me sounds a bit better than the Blue Jeans, let me know via pm and I can post it to you to try. Also have some RCA to BNC connectors if you need one. If you like the cable gift me $15, otherwise send it back in a few weeks.

 

It's easy to forget so much like ...

The low level firmware and hardware that is reading block data, error correcting, buffering, at the hard drive, SSD, or optical drive; the filesystem layer above that.

If streaming, the IP packet data format, the NIC or WiFi device and all of that firmware; the network stack above that; the application above that.

The OS and all else that goes on processing interrupts from other hardware.

And so much else. I try not to get too focused on the USB part in and of itself.

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p.s. That written, the isolation problem is solvable, but an accurate 'clock' through and through remains a hard problem.

 

Likely mucked up because the USB part (and drivers) do support 32-bit, but (after conversion) SPDIF doesn't (reference - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S/PDIF)

Not that 32-bit has any real practical use, but understood why this can throw a user off.

 

Hello, my name is Matt and this is my first post. As an Yggdrasil owner I very much appreciate this site.
This may be a naïve question, but directly upstream of my Yggdrasil I use a Sonore Microrendu (maybe soon an Utrarendu) which feature ultra low noise regulators for USB and ultra low jitter oscillators. Do these Rendus clean up the USB signal to a degree that the benefits of adding an Eitr USB to SPDIF converter would be diminished or even negligible? I would be interested in any opinions, thank you!

 

there are a lot of people using the microrendu that found that adding a de-crapifier of some sort (latest trend is the uptone audio iso regen) improves sound. so to that end, i would think that the eitr would provide value.

the ultrarendu does have better regulators, etc. than the microrendu and discussion over on c.a. is mixed on the need for an iso regen.

i've gotten rid of all my de-crapifiers and converters (regen, iso regen, singxer f-1) because i didn't like the device/cable proliferation and didn't find the price/value proposition attractive. i found the the f-1 to actually be detrimental to the sound quality in my system.

i did send in my Yggdrasil for the gen 5 usb upgrade. it appears to be the best of the options for me.

 

One of the many "solutions" I've tried over the years to get the files from my Mac Mini to my Yggdrasil was a purchased new microRendu and LPS-1 using the short USB connector. A modified Wi-Fi Apple Airport Express via Toslink eventually replaced that, with better SQ, IMO. Ran that for 6 months. Got an Eitr Saturday. After some run-in, it smokes the AE, and by inference the uR. Problem solved.

 

Great feedback, thank you gentlemen.

 

There is a story attributed to Einstein, that may well be myth, but the story goes like so...

Einstein sets his pocket watch in his country of departure, per the big clock in the city square. When he arrives by train in another city he notes his pocket watch doesn't exactly match the clock in his city of arrival. The question is, whose clock is correct, the originating city that he can no longer refer too, his pocket watch, or the clock of interest now? If you get this, then you get the clock problem. A perfect clock is not possible. It's better now in many ways, but the last bits, a perfect clock is illusive. In theory if we had a digital transmission format where every data sample was time stamped, we would be closer to perfect clock re-construction, but there is no such format. And if the ADC conversion isn't perfect, if the clock used had jitter, there isn't much that can help here.

The goal to decrease jitter is cool but SPDIF (over any connector) cannot provide this perfectly either. So choose the connector that sounds good to you

 

I've kind of wondered why we can't have time stamped standards for audio transmission especially with huge bandwidth cables like thunderbolt III that make the relative sizes pretty trivial. Say in like a worst case scenario we have a file that's 1411kb/s. Even if you need 42 ish bits to represent the time (which you about need) that would make it 42 times larger than the normal file size if every single bit is marked. So instead of 1,350,000 bits a second (from google for that rate flac file... Shouldn't it be 1.411mb/s? Whatever not really relevant) you need 56,700,000 bits a second... Which is absolutely nothing compared to current bandwidth capabilities of thunderbolt III that are like an order of magnitude above that. And using a 42 bit time would allow the recording to be somewhere around 20 minutes long without running out of time bits...

This would be a very large file, but should sound perfect . And adding more time bits is realistic with Thunderbolt III and even USB 3.0 without much issue at 40 and 10 Gb/s.

Though streaming this would be fairly unlikely for a while at over 50Mb/s

 

Hello, I am a new member and I was hoping to get some assistance. I recently purchased the Schiit Eitr and am unable to play any files over 16/48000. My music is stored on the main computer (Windows 8)>cat 6>router>cat 6>Ethernet switch>cat 6>microRendu>usb>Schiit Eitr>coax>Schiit Modi Multibit. I am using JRiver MC20 and JRemote on a tablet for control. If I use my other setup, main computer (Windows 8)>cat 6>router>cat 6>Ethernet switch>cat 6>CAPS>usb>Schiit Eitr>coax>Schiit Modi Multibit it will play all files up to and including 24/192000.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Are you saying that it works without the Eitr (microRendu>usb>Modi Multibit) and inserting the Eitr breaks the path?

 

It seems like the difference between the working chain is microRendu (working) and CAPS not working. Try adding or removing them both to isolate the problem.

 

Correct!

 

The CAPS works as intended up to the 24/192000 limit of both the Eitr and Modi MB, the microRendu only works up to 16/48000.

 

Well pull the mircoRendu out then, @Torq and others have said that adding things in front of Eitr did little or nothing to the sound.

 

Could be done per sample, so if using a 24 bit sample, that would make the format about 2.5-3x as large (if using 42 bits to represent time), not so bad really. Reality though is most people are pretty happy with digital audio as it is, and there is probably more motivation to compress better than there is to create/use a format that sounds better. Digital audio still doesn't sound entirely right to me, but I have to admit, it does sound pretty good as compared with the earliest attempts at CD players. I also admit I was in the does a DAC matter camp? It does. With Eitr, it's even closer to sounding analog like.

 

It really isn't a question of what use anything is or isn't. It's more that a lot of players have the ability to auto-select, which is often the default. Advertising modes which don't work means that this breaks. People generally object to sudden bursts of white noise in their ears. I do, certainly, unless it's Atari Teenage Riot, but then I'm expecting it.

The point that both I and @drfindley were making was about wonky USB audio receiver behaviour- which isn't really a lot to do with your opinions about which bit-depths and formats are or are not useful.

Edit: I tried three times to rephrase that last bit so it didn't sound really catty, but I can't manage it for some reason, I think the coffee is still soaking in. Don't be too horrified, nod and smile, and here's a picture of amusing cats:





Anyway, the useful bit, which I am leaving in this thread for those who need it.. If you're getting horrible white noise when you connect your brand-new Eitr to your DAC and press "play", go into your player's sound config, and switch the bit depth/format from auto to something specific and sensible. It might help.