Schiit Eitr Preview Thread

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

  1. Cspirou

    Cspirou They call me Sparky

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    While I know that Schiit is anti-MQA, I think this would work fine with it. MQA is a different way of encoding/decoding PCM which is important at the source or DAC level. However this is just passing the data through without special processing so it should work fine.

    I don't think I've ever heard of DSD through SPDIF though.
     
  2. Torq

    Torq MOT: Headphone.com

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    Most DACs that do DSD and that have S/PDIF inputs will support something called DoP (DSD over PCM). And all that is, is packing DSD data into the sample-words in the S/PDIF stream. Most interfaces will work fine with this. I have not tested it with Eitr specifically, but I will when I get a chance.

    There's a preamble so the DAC can recognize that that's what it's being sent. The actual data that gets sent is PCM-legal, so it passes over the interface just fine. And the data recovered is exactly the same DSD bit-stream present in the source. So claims that DoP sounds worse than "native DSD" ... which could be any one of a number of actual encodings/representations, is a bit silly and has to be based on the notion that the "additional processing" to do the packing/unpacking is in someway detrimental to the sound.
     
  3. msommers

    msommers High on Epipens

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    Eitr won't do DSD
     
  4. Sanlitun

    Sanlitun Acquaintance

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    The Singxer will do this natively or via DoP with a DAC that can receive DSD via SP/DIF. Pretty much any of the newer ESS DACs will do x64 DSD over coax.

    I'm not really a DSD person but rather just curious as to what Schiit will choose with this. I have used a few DDC in my time that do not work with DSD.
     
    Last edited: Jul 19, 2017
  5. Torq

    Torq MOT: Headphone.com

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    If you do, it'll be specific to your system/environment. And as likely to be due to the nature of XLR cables as anything else. I believe I can tell a difference in my setup, but I wouldn't bet money on being able to do so blind. Well, not my money anyway. And the difference there is on the order of, say, 1% of the delta from using Eitr in the first place, so not something I'd spend time worrying about (I did it because it's my baseline reference and I already had the parts to do so).
     
  6. econaut

    econaut Almost "Made"

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    Europe will get first stock Eitrs and Vidars in mid august according to Sonority Audio (European distributor).
     
  7. Luckbad

    Luckbad Traded in a unicorn for a Corolla

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    Oh my.

    Schiit Eitr. Directly comparing it to the ESI Juli@ XTe by quickly switching between BNC and RCA inputs (ESI on BNC and Eitr on RCA).

    Eitr is destroying the Juli@ right now.

    Update: Definitively superior to the ESI Juli@ XTe, which was only 5% or so worse than the Lynx E22 in my DACs when I compared those directly. The gap is wider on something like the Holo or Yggdrasil.

    Using an MHDT Labs Atlantis+ or Orchid, it's astonishing how audibly superior it is.

    Note that the ESI Juli@ XTe is a PCIe S/PDIF solution that I also use for analog in/out for guitar stuff. It does a great job at its price point of $200 and won't be leaving anytime soon.

    That said, for something at the Eitr's price point, I was expecting something roughly as capable of ditching the USB swoosh as the ESI.

    I was wrong.

    I was guilty of being tricked into believing the Mutec MC3+USB was utterly amazeballs because it made audible differences to the sound.

    What I eventually realized in comparisons with the likes of the Rednet 3 and Lynx E22 (especially after I tried the latter with AES or remembered to switch it properly to S/PDIF mode for all my other DACs) is that the Mutec was not neutral. Different, yes. Great--to my ears--yes. But after experiencing proper neutrality with the Lynx and Rednet I now perceive "different" as what it is rather than "better."

    The Schiit Eitr doesn't make the sound "different." The ESI Juli@ XTe is very neutral and does a great job of not coloring the sound. When compared directly to a Lynx E22, the Lynx (sorry for this overused expression) lifts a veil. Clarity, detail, and dynamics all improve with the Lynx above the ESI without changing the color of the music in any way.

    That's what the Eitr does. Switching between the ESI to the Schiit Eitr removes a bit of blurriness you didn't realize was there. It doesn't accentuate anything or color anything, it just allows the music to flow unfettered from the computer to your DAC.

    It may very well be the best USB solution I've ever heard. No hint of the digital hash or swoosh I associate with USB. Beautifully black background. Effortless.

    I guess I'm ordering a second one right now.
     
    Last edited: Jul 19, 2017
  8. Darren G

    Darren G Friend

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    Mine won't get here until Saturday now, but I remain curious.

    PC USB -> Yggdrasil, I could hear there was a problem, though subtle, I felt annoyed. After I inserted the rather pricey Intona box into the chain, which is just an isolation bridge (no packet re-clocking whatever, but it does break any GND loop), Yggdrasil sounds lovely over USB. I've been happy with this solution, but am hopeful Eitr steps it up .5% of a notch. We will see.
     
  9. hifimckinney

    hifimckinney New

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    Does Eitr have potential of replacing Rednet (Dante)?
     
  10. hifimckinney

    hifimckinney New

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    Are you sure that it will work with iPhone without using a powered USB hub that I had to use when I used my iPhone/Pad with Yggdrasil?
     
  11. Torq

    Torq MOT: Headphone.com

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    Absolutely.

    I moved away from the RedNet solution as a result of finding that Auralic's Aries sounds at least as good, or generally better, than the Dante-based stuff, is more relevantly functional, and a whole let less hassle to deal with. Even adding a Mutec MC3+ to the RedNet left it no better than the Aries (full-fat version at least) into DACs with proper re-clocking capabilities.

    Eitr, and the USB Gen 5 interface, comfortably equals (and even exceeds) the sonic performance of the Aries* - and for me that'd translate into them beating the RedNet units.

    Unless you want the other features of the Aries (or other AOIP solutions) I would just go with Eitr or the USB Gen 5 approaches.

    --

    *I've gotten a bunch of questions about "how is it possible for the $179 Eitr to sound better than the $1,500 Aries, or the ~$1,000 RedNet". That's pretty simple to understand. Eitr and the USB Gen 5 boards are single-purpose/dedicated solutions to a very specific problem. They do not have the functionality of the Aries (streamer, with wired and wireless networking, a self-contained music server with remote and a display, multiple output options, support for multiple network/audio protocols, complex software and applications support and so on) or the RedNet (many channels, bi-directional I/O, studio integration, multiple interfaces). I'd be very surprised if the output section of the Aries cost as much of the BoM as Eitr. I'm 100% sure it doesn't in the case of the RedNet boxes.
     
  12. Grahad2

    Grahad2 Red eyes from too much anime

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    I suppose even if you want ethernet/avoid long USB cable runs, a Raspberry Pi solution + Eitr/Gen5 would better serve the purpose.
     
  13. Torq

    Torq MOT: Headphone.com

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    If you're willing to put it together, no reason why not.

    That's mostly a question of how much your time is worth, and what you're comfortable doing. But it's a lot less hassle than it would have been as there's not much need to twat around with special PSUs for the Raspberry Pi if you're feeding it into Eitr or the USB Gen 5 board. Don't even need the digital-output hats anymore.
     
  14. Clemmaster

    Clemmaster Friend

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    Now the question is: Allo USBridge + Eitr, or Allo Digione :rolleyes:
     
  15. Grahad2

    Grahad2 Red eyes from too much anime

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    Fairly back into the Nervosa lands though, with USB reclocking :rolleyes: and what not.
     
  16. Luckbad

    Luckbad Traded in a unicorn for a Corolla

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    As I was hooking up the Eitr at work, I noticed a Wyrd was hooked up to my USB cable. Totally forgot I had that here, but it helps explain why it has always sounded better than TOSLINK.

    Maybe it's time to do those exotic mods to the Wyrd since I know how to solder now.
     
  17. Abraham Lincoln

    Abraham Lincoln New

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    Wondering if the Eitr/Gen 5 makes the choice of connecting input USB cable irrelevant.
     
  18. neogeosnk

    neogeosnk Friend

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    Quick review, compared Lynx aes16e vs. Eitr. Switched back and forth for a couple of hours. They're pretty much indistinguishable. The Eitr is slightly sweeter than the Lynx which I think I may prefer. The lynx card has a dryer more sterile sound. This should end my usb nervosa for a while.

    Bottom line, for 1/4 of the price of a lynx card, you get pretty much the same results with slightly different sound signature.
     
  19. Clemmaster

    Clemmaster Friend

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    Never hurts to have a clean signal to start with...
     
  20. Artasia

    Artasia Friend

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    Your description of the Lynx as imparting a relatively drier sound corroborates my own impressions when switching from USB directly and from my now long-gone uRendu and Mutec. The tonality also slightly seemed brighter through the Yggdrasil. I chalked this up to being more that the Lynx was allowing more of the Yggdrasil's true character to come through, which had been marred by USB. Yet perhaps this is also a trait of the Lynx itself.

    It sounds like the Eitr may be a better tonal match, even if subtle, than the Lynx for the Yggdrasil, which itself may be described as drier and brighter than something like the Gungnir Multibit, for some setups. One caveat is that my Lynx card was sitting in PCIe slot of my PC and not isolated off with its own LPS, an advantage of the Eitr.
     
    Last edited: Jul 20, 2017

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