USB Meets its match - the Schiit Eitr (pronounced "Eater")

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by toddrhodes, Sep 15, 2017.

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  1. RiCat

    RiCat Forum Resident

    Location:
    CT, USA
    What are you using for the DAC? For not much more you can get a Modi Multibit. With it you get the USB upgrade and for the money a killer DAC. You have not filled out your profile. Please do this as it is one of the few requirements asked of forum users. An equipment list is most helpful when asking or replying in the forums. Thanks
     
  2. Joseph.McClure

    Joseph.McClure Forum Resident

    Location:
    Memphis, TN
    They have some sort of issue with black components? I can't buy any silver components to the wife acceptance factor.
     
  3. aoxomoxoa

    aoxomoxoa I'm an ear sitting in the sky

    Location:
    USA
    The **** eater?
     
    Markym likes this.
  4. Piotter

    Piotter New Member

    Location:
    Nantes
    I use the built-in DAC of my Hegel H80. I'll fill in my profile!
     
  5. RiCat

    RiCat Forum Resident

    Location:
    CT, USA
    Hegel is nice stuff. Have you tried connecting directly to the Hegel USB input? Looked at the M2 and they claim some stream processing to reduce jitter. It must get powered from the USB connection..just guessing. Seems like you are using the M2 to go from USB to Coax? This will let you play all streams to 192. If you are using Coax then I do not think making a change will give you much if any upgrade. The relevant issue is jitter. This is very low across Coax and the M2 seems to deal with it by it's specs. I added a Gumby as an external to the Bluesound Node2 DAC. I think it made a worthwhile improvement to the sound. As always if there is an upgrade made by changing gear you need to have the rest of the gear and room at a level that will let you hear the change. Schiit does offer a reasonable trial/return policy so you may consider that also.
     
  6. Ghostworld

    Ghostworld Senior Member

    Location:
    US
  7. Piotter

    Piotter New Member

    Location:
    Nantes
    As my Mac and Hegel are 10 meters apart I found a 10 meter Corning USB optical cable as a solution to bridge this distance. As a consequence the other end of the cable doesn't offer the M2 enough power to be recognized by my Mac, so I have added a powered USB to connect the M2. Yes I bought the M2 to change to coax. So in your opinion there's not much more to win in SQ?
     
  8. billnunan

    billnunan Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Hampshire
    I put the Eitr in my system about 3 weeks ago:

    JRiver >Schiit Eitr> Schiit Gungnir > Schiit Moljnir2 > headphones HD-650, PSP4Mu 1, HiFiman 400i

    The Eitr added a huge improvement. Well worth it.
     
    Ham Sandwich likes this.
  9. Time Is On My Side

    Time Is On My Side Forum Resident

    Location:
    Madison, WI
    I almost Schiit myself when I read that title.
     
    Aftermath likes this.
  10. Trashman

    Trashman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Wisconsin
    The product name is designed to make you smile.

    It's called it the Schiit Eitr grin.
     
  11. Bill

    Bill Senior Member

    Location:
    Eastern Shore
    Yeah. No room for humor in consumer electronics.
    Very. Serious. Business.
    (Schiit-eating grin).
    Great company.
     
    JohnCarter17 likes this.
  12. wmb44

    wmb44 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Florida
    I run a USB from my Mac mini to my Oppo 105, which I use as a DAC. Is the concept here that by running a USB from the computer to the Eitr and then a coaxial from the Eitr to the DAC that there will be an improvement in sound? Or, in my case, would the Eitr process the USB input better than the Oppo? I'm tempted to try it because it's relatively inexpensive but it's hard to see how an improvement could occur.
     
  13. billnunan

    billnunan Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Hampshire
    Yes, and, yes. Look for an improvement in the sound. The Eitr cleans up the USB signal.
     
  14. wmb44

    wmb44 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Florida
    Thanks. I'm going to give it a try.
     
    billnunan likes this.
  15. Piotter

    Piotter New Member

    Location:
    Nantes
    My question remains: Does the M2tech HiFace Two also clean the usb signal (or is it just a converter) and which of them does that better the M2 or the EITR?
     
  16. Werner Berghofer

    Werner Berghofer Forum Resident

    A while ago I in another thread I wrote the same about a music group calling themselves “Oingo Bongo”. Boy, I was heavily slapped for it.
     
    JohnCarter17 likes this.
  17. RiCat

    RiCat Forum Resident

    Location:
    CT, USA
    When I looked at the M2 specs the company claims the unit actively improves the signal. Since it is USB it must be USB powered from what I can tell. The company claims it is more than an adapter. I hope the OP keeps us posted on the comparison.
     
  18. Kristofa

    Kristofa Enthusiast of small convenient sound carrier units

    Location:
    usa
    I want to utilize the USB input on my Parasound integrated and am looking at streamers that have USB out. It doesn’t seem the Eitr is helpful here, since it changes it to coax, right? Would I need to find a Schiit product that takes a USB in then a USB 5th gen USB out to take advantage of the sound improvement being discussed?
     
  19. Ham Sandwich

    Ham Sandwich Senior Member

    Location:
    Sherwood, OR, USA
    The Eitr won't be of any help for you in that setup. If you're looking at the Auralic Aries, it already does a good quality digital SPDIF out and digital USB out. No need to clean up the digital outputs with an external device when using the Aries.
     
  20. Kristofa

    Kristofa Enthusiast of small convenient sound carrier units

    Location:
    usa
    Hehe, why yes, yes I am! :)
    Do you think this applies to the Aries Mini as well? It is the only Aries in my price range.
     
  21. Ham Sandwich

    Ham Sandwich Senior Member

    Location:
    Sherwood, OR, USA
    I'm not sure if the Aries Mini does the same sort of digital clocking as the bigger Aries version. The Auralic products are confusing to figure out. If I was going to buy one I'd need to have a dealer explain them to me and explain how the big Aries is different than the Mini. The product literature from Auralic is confusing.
     
  22. npc210

    npc210 Forum Resident

    Is this device a sizable improvement for someone, like myself, who has their DAC connected to one of the computer's USB ports?
     
  23. Ham Sandwich

    Ham Sandwich Senior Member

    Location:
    Sherwood, OR, USA
    It's just doing better USB. It's not going to be a sizable improvement unless your current DAC has a very poor USB implementation. Also would be useful for people who have older DACs that have older USB implementations that top out at 96 kHz.

    Schiit is working on an even newer and improved USB implementation. I would expect there to be a new version of the Eitr when that happens. So may be worth waiting.
     
  24. blacklava

    blacklava Active Member

    Location:
    Italy
    I respawn this old thread (@Ham Sandwich, @toddrhodes ?): I recently bought an used Eitr which is on its way, to be paired with a mimby. What coax cable would be a fair/balanced choice in terms of price range?
    I am currently using a cheap Grundig 5€ - 30 cm long coax from mimby to a dvd player used as transport, should I consider an upgrade?

    Thanks in advance.
     
  25. Ham Sandwich

    Ham Sandwich Senior Member

    Location:
    Sherwood, OR, USA
    Your current coax cable will be fine. I use a 75 ohm Monster Cable video cable (the kind with yellow marks plugs) that I got at a thrift store.

    I haven't explored trying better digital coax cable. I might hear some improvement with better coax cable, or I might not. I haven't explored.
     
    blacklava likes this.
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