Schiit Eitr Preview Thread

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

  1. SeanT

    SeanT Facebook Friend

    Joined:
    Feb 2, 2020
    Likes Received:
    63
    Trophy Points:
    33
    Location:
    Indiana
    Jason mentioned previously that there are no new plans to make a Unison based converter. Apparently sales dropped off after a while so that is why Eitr got the axe. If you want one, now is the time to get one.
     
  2. obsiCO

    obsiCO Thai Fish Experiment Gone Wrong

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 18, 2017
    Likes Received:
    634
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Bangkok, Thailand
    You can buy the Eitr and buy a separate 230v PSU that matches the Eitr's specs straight from Schitt's site. That's what I did with mine. Good luck!
     
  3. tangled

    tangled New

    Joined:
    Dec 23, 2016
    Likes Received:
    17
    Trophy Points:
    3
    Location:
    Japan
    Yes, you are 100% correct. I just wrote Schiit and they told me to order from the closeout and just add a note for them to ship it with a Euro wall-wart. When in doubt, just write Schiit! :)
     
  4. tangled

    tangled New

    Joined:
    Dec 23, 2016
    Likes Received:
    17
    Trophy Points:
    3
    Location:
    Japan
    Well, got my Eitr and I have to say I am impressed. I have the crowdfunded Geek Pulse Infinity as a DAC. My system used to cut off while playing, or after some inactivity, and I had to go turn off/on the DAC and reconnect the USB cable. After connecting the Eitr I realised that it took over the Windows sound output and 2 days in everythings works glitch free. No more DAC restarts. Much better experience than my DAC's software.

    Furthermore, my DAC sounds much better through SPDIF than USB. Obviously I still notice the Sabre DAC/Jotunheim amp 'sound signature', but somehow it's feels much cleaner and smoother. I (subjectively) feel it brought a substantial improvement in my system.

    Overall, I am fairly impressed with the Eitr. Not bad for $99 (closeout deal). I don't understand why it wasn't selling for Schiit. Just the connection stability it brought in my system is such a relief. With the sound quality improvement too, this seems like an amazing product.
     
  5. blacklava

    blacklava New

    Joined:
    Apr 14, 2020
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    1
    Location:
    Cesena, Italy
    Hi to all I'm new here, was browsing through the thread as I have the exact same issue with the Eitr. Also, it sometimes go out for a second when touching the volume pot of my saga+, or when plugging something (example: recharging the phone).

    Is there any solution to this issue ?

    It's really a shame because it really improves my modi multibit.
     
  6. Mg248

    Mg248 New

    Joined:
    Apr 3, 2019
    Likes Received:
    9
    Trophy Points:
    3
    Location:
    Mexico
    So now that the Eitr is not available anymore except a highly marked up unit on Ebay, what are the alternatives?
     
  7. loadexfa

    loadexfa MOT: rhythmdevils audio

    Pyrate Contributor
    Joined:
    Dec 26, 2017
    Likes Received:
    2,542
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    SF Bay Area Peninsula
    I went with a Pi2AES. It's more expensive but produces better results and has more digital outputs. Looking at what is involved can seem daunting but the thread on this forum does a great job of going over it clearly. Also Michael Kelly is awesome and deserves money from all of us. ;)
     
  8. Michael Kelly

    Michael Kelly MOT: Pi 2 Design

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Apr 22, 2016
    Likes Received:
    4,112
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Rhode Island, USA
    Home Page:
  9. ohshitgorillas

    ohshitgorillas Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Nov 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    681
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Sacramento, CA
    Seconding the Pi2AES as being much better than Eitr.

    I also really enjoy the xDuoo X10T II, which is a purely digital portable transport. It also has AES alongside 3.5mm coax, toslink, and USB C and can additionally be used as a USB to SPDIF/AES converter. It's a little cheaper than the Pi. If you can afford it, I'd definitely go with the Pi2AES as it's far more convenient for streaming, no battery to need recharged, no USB cable plus no fiddling with UAPP settings to get it to stream from a phone (BubbleUPnP is great), and the xDuoo can't EQ anything above 48kHz sampling rate.
     
    Last edited: May 31, 2020
  10. oldbigears

    oldbigears New

    Joined:
    Aug 30, 2017
    Likes Received:
    9
    Trophy Points:
    3
    Location:
    New Jersey
    ***[MOD DELETED FOR SALE PLEA]***
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jun 13, 2020
  11. Walderstorn

    Walderstorn Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Mar 20, 2016
    Likes Received:
    1,904
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Europe
    There's a "For Sale" area on this forum.
     
  12. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

    Staff Member Pyrate BWC
    Joined:
    Sep 24, 2015
    Likes Received:
    89,771
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Padre Island CC TX
    Not sure if newbies can post or are allowed to buy / sell here. If I remember, the answer is no.
     
  13. Denis Binder

    Denis Binder New

    Joined:
    Jun 17, 2020
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    3
    Location:
    United States
    The Schitt Eitr is very synergistic with a NOS DAC.
     
  14. YMO

    YMO Chief Fun Officer

    Pyrate Contributor
    Joined:
    Apr 1, 2018
    Likes Received:
    10,518
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Palms Of The Coasts, FL
    Who are you? Almost 45 minutes with six posts and you joined the site today? Did you even read the required stuff when signing up for SBAF?
     
  15. Mindbender

    Mindbender Acquaintance

    Joined:
    Jul 15, 2019
    Likes Received:
    81
    Trophy Points:
    18
    Location:
    Anywhere the Wind Blows
    So I ordered an Eitr from the closeout sale, and it came in today. I'm wondering how the postman got it in there.

    The left edge was getting blocked by the frame of the mailbox and the right-side door was blocking the right edge of the box.

    [​IMG]

    To get it out - it took a fish spatula and a pair of needle nose pliers. The Eitr was unharmed.
     
  16. robot zombie

    robot zombie Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    May 11, 2016
    Likes Received:
    1,408
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Ennui, FL
    I just got mine set up the other day. Initially I passed on it when I picked up a b-stock Modibit, sorta already planning to go pi2aes (still may.) But I wanted to have an option for good direct audio from my PC, as I often use it as a media/gaming hub and everything I've found about streaming bare audio from windows via pi hats involves latency. So I figured this would at least be better than mobo toslink without sound lagging behind for games. Save the pi2aes for a setup where I can better take advantage of the wireless streaming/control. Nothing fancy hooking it up. The cheapest Pangea USB cable, blind buy. $20 for several feet of solid cable is reasonable to me. 1.5' BJC spdif coax in their standard configuration for the DAC.

    I was wasn't wrong in thinking it would help. I just didn't realize how much of a difference it would actually make. I wasn't even sure how well it would work with my machine. When I plug in any USB audio device, my components attempt communication with me, in the form of constant beeps and hiss. It's a bit like the old dialup sound. It's usable, but the distortion of whatever plays over top makes it sound broken. It's not.

    So yeah, I was worried that might interfere with the Eitr, but if it does at all, the improvement is still very much there and there is no noise or interruption. It took worthless USB and made it better than serviceable toslink.

    The first thing I noticed was the upper mids and highs. I can't place it, but with Modibit fed through toslink, certain details in there just sound sort of 'squished'. The Modibit does have sort of relaxed-sounding highs, but mixed in there was this paradoxical roughness. Certain details and spacial cues would be eerily flattened. Almost cut off. Certain male vocals and distorted guitars would seem to cut themselves out of the mix and all of the HF info was sort of like a mildly prickly beam of less distinct sound. Squished into a vacuum-sealed bag. Compared to the still well fleshed-out midrange, it just sounded off in another zone. On the wrong notes it would just jump out and take over everything, making things sound thin. Almost like the upper end fell off of the stage. There's really no extra energy to it now... just much more dimension and... approachability? It invites you to listen closer, instead of tuning it out for some other part of the sound. All of that stuff isn't a problem anymore. It no longer sounds exasperated when it comes to instruments and sounds with a lot of higher defining characteristics.

    Everything across the range of sounds just seems to both stretch out and congeal better. It's significantly more delicate and layered. It breathes more, especially when it comes to microdynamics. Bass is definitely tighter and more controlled, and according to my subwoofer it's no less there. It really sounds full, and tasty, and just plain musical. This is the Modibit I read about, not the mobo toslink one I had heard before.

    It feels cliche, but the whole sound just opened up. Staging is better. Imaging and layering are better. The layering capabilities hit me especially. Since I got the DAC, I've had a few tracks in rotation that would sound a bit busy and congested. Lovely tone, but seemingly going through a tunnel with layered vocals and synths. Or really dense rock/metal passages. The openness is night and day now. If every sound in the mix has a blob it reaches out across within the confines of the total available width and depth, it got much easier to pick out where the blobs are relative to one another, and how far they go out to their boundaries, with more granularity. And they only overlap in a pleasant way, as opposed to bumping up against each other, trying to break out.

    Modibit may not be the most resolving DAC out there, but it's a good bit more resolving than I thought it could be on the coax. That was one slight downer with it before. My old M2U is nowhere near it in tone or really in any other way, but the M2U WAS by far the more resolving DAC to my ears, even with its velveteen highs and woolly bass. Not so anymore. It's far less smeary and that subtle mush is gone. Much deeper background, too. There's nothing that M2U does that this DAC doesn't do majorly better with the Eitr bump.

    I can honestly say I wasn't considering dipping into sources with this DAC, but it is kind of crazy to me how much better it sounds. I thought it would be something I'd have to listen closely for and appreciate more over time. Not even remotely the case. It was an immediate step up in pretty much every discernible way! I still don't get how it can be THAT different.
     
    Last edited: Jul 23, 2020
  17. Gruss Gott

    Gruss Gott Almost "Made"

    Joined:
    Oct 22, 2017
    Likes Received:
    235
    Trophy Points:
    63
    Location:
    Bay Area, CA
    Well, for me, the Eitr/MimbyV2 is probably near end-game (though I just bought a modius). I've demo'd all kinds of stuff (though not in my home as I'm not a friend :(), and every year I get a nice high 4 figure set of new equipment I juuuust about buy, and then in the end I try it one last time and decide that for Tidal streaming on my Atticus/Eikon/HD600/THx00 the Modi Multibit is damn good. I don't want to get to a place where the gear owns me.
     
  18. Azimuth

    Azimuth FKA rtaylor76, Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Nov 9, 2015
    Likes Received:
    6,833
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Nashville, TN
    Home Page:
    The postal workers have a key that opens the whole thing and probably just shoved it in your box without thinking that you had an individual door. I had an aluminum coffee mug I ordered from Amazon that I dented trying to get it out of my mailbox.

    And don't ever say never.

    I really think Etir is a great product and helps keep vintage DAC's relevant. Honestly I really think they should keep it around simply for that reason. It should not be viewed as a DAC, but more as an accessory, which means a slower sales cycle. I picked up one before they are gone and I would hope others would as well.
     
  19. dasman66

    dasman66 Self proclaimed lazy ass - friend

    Pyrate Contributor
    Joined:
    Mar 13, 2018
    Likes Received:
    2,461
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    NW Pennsylvania
    I have a friend trying to use an EITR on a MAC and is having problems with distorted music/drop-outs when playing 24/192 files (I believe he is using Jriver).

    I can play to the same EITR on windows without a problem. Are there any specific MAC settings or other issues that we need to be aware of to troubleshoot?
     
  20. Cooper32

    Cooper32 Facebook Friend

    Contributor
    Joined:
    Nov 20, 2020
    Likes Received:
    146
    Trophy Points:
    33
    Location:
    Wisconsin, USA
    I was using a Windows PC so my issue may not necessarily be applicable to Mac.

    The issue was the USB cable. I was getting some really weird distortion with a 5 m long dirt cheap (about $7) USB cable. 2 problems with that: the length and the build quality. I had it running below a carpet between the sitting position and the DAC. I think I must have stepped on it one too many times. Replaced it with a 1 m Monolith USB cable and a 5 m Monoprice Onix ($16) coax cable. Problem solved.

    Can your friend try a different USB cable?

    PS: My issue was happening all the time, regardless of file bit depth / sampling rate so not sure if my solution will be useful in your case.
     

Share This Page