Schiit Eitr Preview Thread

Uhm, if you buy the board ... well you know there is an internal connection, and there is no 1.5m of connecting wire. Nervosa

 

@winders @Metro Check out this wikipedia article: Reflection coefficient

As the impedance of the cable approaches the impedance of the terminations, the reflection coefficient goes to zero. In turn the amplitude of the reflections goes to zero. The article posted by winders says as much. So I would say buy a properly spec'd cable and don't worry about it. Just buy the appropriate length based on where you want to place your components. With Eitr and Modi Multibit, why not just stack them and use a 6-7" coax run? Are you really going to get sweaty about having a short cable because you're worried about a <1% amplitude reflection? You'd more than likely be creating a different set of headaches anyway.

I think @Darren G was referring to Gen 5, which obviates the need for S/PDIF altogether. If S/PDIF nervosa is going to become a thing, then that seems like the only phool-proof option. Overall though, I think it's probably best to let Eitr do its thing without creating a new subcategory of audio-induced nervous conditions.

 

It's your system, so definitely do what makes you happy. But as far as advocating for a minimum 1.5m length in general, I found Nugent's article to be pretty flimsy. As far as I can tell, he seems to be the only proponent of this idea. That by itself should tell you something. This very much seems to be a case of one person repeating themselves loudly enough, frequently enough that an idea becomes established dogma. Again, do what makes you happy in your system though.

 

Has anyone had a chance to try the Eitr into a Bifrost Multibit? I liked the Bifrost Multibit but it was a little hard edged from USB before. Wondering if USB 5/Eitr cleans things up.

 

@winders The SNR here is getting pretty low. I didn't realize this was something you're so passionate about. My recommendation would be to take Nugent's article as one data point and maybe pursue additional points of view. If you're skeptical of me, I can respect that. You might want to look up what other folks have said about Nugent's argument, like Dan Lavry, who have just as much experience in audio as Nugent.

 

On a related note, I've been using the Eitr to feed my Gungnir Multibit, and I have to say so far I really can't tell a difference between that and USB gen 2. Then again, I've never had extraneous noise in my system anyway.

 

See how long listening sessions go. I get less fatigued with Eitr than straight USB, also things seems to flow better and imaging is more apparent with less smearing overall. It sounds less forced with Eitr. Of course IMO, IME, and with my particular gear/hearing.

 

It'd be interesting to see a direct comparison vs Schiit's adapticlock in their other models, and whether the Eitr is a direct improvement over it in terms of jitter reduction. Not familiar with the electronic stuff, but, can the adapticlock be bypassed at all?

 

Eitr is definitely an improvement over Wyrd > Bifrost Multibit, more linear bass and details are pulled out of thin air, but I'm having some technical issues where my Bifrost Multibit now clicks constantly (muting relay going nuts) when appliances and lights are turned off and on in my house. I don't think it's a power draw issue and it's never occurred when I used the wyrd / ifi idsd nano / Holo titanis in the chain. Don't have a ups on-hand.

 

Might want to read this:

https://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?posts/154263/

 

Asked and answered.
https://www.superbestaudiofriends.o...-eitr-preview-thread.4729/page-21#post-153795

 

I must be missing it.

I'm wondering about Bifrost Multibit vs. Bifrost Multibit w/ Gen 5 or Eitr. What are the differences, specifically? I felt the Bifrost Multibit had a few hard edges while also being a bit grey. Does Gen 5/Eitr fix that? I might end up finding out for myself since there are some black ones on the site right now.

Edit: I think I see what you're saying. That it makes a bigger difference on Bifrost Multibit than Gungnir Multibit/Yggdrasil.

 

I think it's a given that S/PDIF in is better than USB on all Schiit DACs (I personally haven't heard them, but that's the consensus from everything I've read here). In @Torq's first post in this thread, he says that compared to every other DDC he's tried, Eitr/Gen5 is better. And yes, he later goes on to say that the improvement can be greater with Bifrost Multibit/Modi Multibit than Yggdrasil/Gungnir Multibit.

Sorry for being terse. This thread has been going round in circles for the past several pages, or I guess even longer.

 

Mine does the same thing. I think this is normal behavior.

 

Eitr/Gen5 provides a couple of explicit benefits.

First being isolation. USB is four (4) wires; the data lines, two of them for differential signaling, ground and +5 volts. Eitr isolates the ground and +5 lines of the USB source (e.g., a computer). That can fix ground loops and if any, noise from the +5 volt line. There are some other products that provide this, but they cost more (e.g., Intona). That makes the Eitr a good value even if all you get out of it is this one benefit.

Second, Eitr also has it's own accurate 44.1K and 48K clocks, so can a generate a well timed SPDIF stream. Thing is Yggdrasil and Gungnir Multibit already have their own very good re-clocking. It may matter less then when used with these because those products already re-clock SPDIF streams (doesn't matter if the stream is sent over AES, coax, toslink). It's possible they still end up calculating a better result if the stream is well clocked, but since they already do a good job re-clocking you may hear less benefit.

 

Almost time to lock this thread and put a FAQ on page 1.

Where's @zonto at?

 

Gungnir Multibit arrived back less than an hour ago with Gen 5 USB snug inside. Took me awhile to get it working with ALSA on Linux. I had ALSA setup with a 32bit sample format. As the Mac guys found Gen 5 USB doesn't support 32bit sample format. The correct ALSA sample formats are: "S24_3LE" or "S16_LE".

Very brief first impressions: Sounds very musical and easy to listen to, harshness of M-Audio Audiophile 192 is gone, muddiness of Gen 2 USB is also gone. It just sounds "right"

I'm supposed to be studying not listening to Gungnir Multibit, further comparisons to Audiophile 192 will have to wait!

 

Interesting Thread Guys, thanks! I've been a long time reader, but just joined today.

I've got a question regarding the Gen5 card. Does the Gen5 USB card convert to SPDIF internally on the card before passing the digital signal on? Or does USB get directly converted to I2S or some other format? Cheers.