Schiit Decrapifier released - USB power isolator

[MacedonianHero]

  I got the Wyrd as an attempt to fix the skipping problem I had with my Emotiva DC-1 DAC. I think the problem is my computer, but sometimes it would skip for a split second and it was very annoying. This didn't happen always and I'm sure it had to do with the load the computer was running at the time. Also, it seemed to only happen with USB 2.0 mode, and not 1.1, but Emotiva recommends running 2.0. I was skeptical at first about this product since the DC-1 doesn't draw power from the USB port, but so far with the Wyrd the skipping has been gone! Fingers crossed it's actually the Wyrd and not just getting lucky so far.

Good to hear...I've had intermittent issues with my iMac not recognizing my DAC (new and old one). So I picked one up yesterday...should be here in a week or two. 

 

[KLJTech]

I bought the Wyrd Saturday and it'll arrive today, the extra USB cable won't be here until Wednesday and that's when I'll hook it all up. I was already using a Pangea USB cable to the Gungnir so I thought I may as well use the same type/brand cable going in and out of the Wyrd. I haven't had any dropout issues, but I do get odd noises now and then and my hope is that the Wyrd will take care of that small issue. We'll see... intermittent issues (however small) can be a pain.

 

[saxelrod92]

  I bought the Wyrd Saturday and it'll arrive today, the extra USB cable won't be here until Wednesday and that's when I'll hook it all up. I was already using a Pangea USB cable to the Gungnir so I thought I may as well use the same type/brand cable going in and out of the Wyrd. I haven't had any dropout issues, but I do get odd noises now and then and my hope is that the Wyrd will take care of that small issue. We'll see... intermittent issues (however small) can be a pain.

I'm curious to hear your experience when you have everything hooked up and running. I have a similar set up right now, I also use the pangea usb cable and going into a bifrost uber, but I have a feeling the usb ports/internal hubs are not that great on my laptop because when switching between the three of them (two of them are usb 3.0, and the one I use is usb 2.0/esata) I hear slight changes in the imaging and tone. enough for it to be annoying. and when comparing how those internal hubs are setup in device manager compared to "ideal" setups I can see theres some stuff I can't remove which could possibly be causing the not so ideal issues I hear. So I'm thinking of getting wyrd just so I have a nice clean external usb port to plug the uberfrost into so that I avoid all the internal ports/hubs. I dont expect any major change to the sound at all, but in my case I do expect to notice something different and for the better subtly. So I'm curious how this will work out for you too.

 

[KLJTech]

I believe my USB cable will arrive tomorrow or Thursday at the latest and then I'll set it up and we'll see if it takes care of the intermittent noise issue. I'm using a tower PC with Windows 7 x64 and the computer has a very good, Corsair 850 watt power supply but I have no idea how noisy or clean the power is via the USB. I should know soon if the Wyrd helps. 

 

[saxelrod92]

  I believe my USB cable will arrive tomorrow or Thursday at the latest and then I'll set it up and we'll see if it takes care of the intermittent noise issue. I'm using a tower PC with Windows 7 x64 and the computer has a very good, Corsair 850 watt power supply but I have no idea how noisy or clean the power is via the USB. I should know soon if the Wyrd helps. 

I think if anything, something to consider about the wyrd is that it technically an ideal usb port. Which makes me think about how many laptops/desktops on average would have perfect usb ports/internal implementation? So as long as wyrd is a better usb port than those that exist on the computer, it should in theory provide some kind of improvement. Of course depending on how bad/close to perfect the computer's usb ports are determines how much improvement the wyrd will bring. and I'm sure there is a definite line where it doesn't bring a noticeable enough improvement to need it. But, technically, you can always feel good knowing it is bringing improvement over whatever is on your computer, no matter what.

 

[castleofargh]

 
I think if anything, something to consider about the wyrd is that it technically an ideal usb port. Which makes me think about how many laptops/desktops on average would have perfect usb ports/internal implementation? So as long as wyrd is a better usb port than those that exist on the computer, it should in theory provide some kind of improvement. Of course depending on how bad/close to perfect the computer's usb ports are determines how much improvement the wyrd will bring. and I'm sure there is a definite line where it doesn't bring a noticeable enough improvement to need it. But, technically, you can always feel good knowing it is bringing improvement over whatever is on your computer, no matter what.

 it might reduce some problems that you shouldn't have. but it's certainly not the kind of stuff you want to add thinking "it's making things better anyway so it doesn't hurt getting one". because that's false and even schiit doesn't say that.
don't see this as a way to improve sound, see this as a possible patch when you refuse to change something wrong in your audio system. because there are plenty of DACs with independant power supply and a great clock.

 

[saxelrod92]

 
 it might reduce some problems that you shouldn't have. but it's certainly not the kind of stuff you want to add thinking "it's making things better anyway so it doesn't hurt getting one". because that's false and even schiit doesn't say that.
don't see this as a way to improve sound, see this as a possible patch when you refuse to change something wrong in your audio system. because there are plenty of DACs with independant power supply and a great clock.

That's all definitely true, and this product should not be looked at as making major changes in anything, so within the context of subtleties I can say that with my laptop each of the three usb ports causes a different sound, mainly with the imaging/clarity. I spent a lot of time testing to confirm. again all within the context of subtlety. So because of this, and the fact I use a bifrost uber with usb, I know for sure that using something other than the usb ports on my laptop will do something of benefit to the sound, as a "floating" 4th usb port away from the internals of my laptop. I think the idea for me here is not that it will make the sound better, but more that it will bring the sound back up to how it is supposed to be out of usb. Taking away the variables that are causing the very subtley, but noticeable to be annoying, differences in ports. If your usb ports already sound in a way that you simply don't notice any difference between them, and nothing stands out as slightly off in the sound, then your ports are already at the point of how usb is supposed to be, and with a powered dac wyrd would not be useful. For me I am considering to try it because I feel my usb ports have something off with them, and it would be nice to have a 4th port that is for sure unaffected by anything. If I do get wyrd and nothing AT ALL changes, then for me it becomes an entirely different situation.

 

[KLJTech]

I'm not sure why it would be beyond the realm of possibility that a device that delivers a cleaner signal to your source component could improve sound quality. 
 
Back in the day we used to buy better CD transports to send the digital signal to our DAC's...it's true that most of us are buying the Wyrd because of either intermittent drop outs or odd noises yet the device is still meant to provide a better signal to your DAC. 

 

[saxelrod92]

  I'm not sure why it would be beyond the realm of possibility that a device that delivers a cleaner signal to your source component could improve sound quality. 
 
Back in the day we used to buy better CD transports to send the digital signal to our DAC's...it's true that most of us are buying the Wyrd because of either intermittent drop outs or odd noises yet the device is still meant to provide a better signal to your DAC. 

yea that pretty much sums it up for me right there. Like I said above it acts as a "floating" usb port, and unless the ones on the computer are somehow more isolated, have repeater's, and individual power supplies, then this will send the signal without flaw. the normal ports could cause flaw, and hence a worse sound, with wyrd making it better. I dont see why it's so hard to believe, because if different ports/digital is all the same were 100% true then I could just swap between all my ports and no matter what not hear any change at all, yet I do, and I tested it blindly. So obviously getting a "perfect" port, by using wyrd, you solve whatever causes those problems.

 

[Aeolus Kratos]

Does anyone recently get a Wyrd? If so, did you guys notice any SONIC improvements it brought?
 
I'm asking because I'm planning to order a Wyrd, but I've never had any 'skipping' issues or 'noise' problems with my USB Port from my HP Probook laptop. I was just about to buy a Wyrd just to get a darker background, greater dynamic or more extension to both ends.
 
Thanks!

 

[castleofargh]

  I'm not sure why it would be beyond the realm of possibility that a device that delivers a cleaner signal to your source component could improve sound quality. 
 
Back in the day we used to buy better CD transports to send the digital signal to our DAC's...it's true that most of us are buying the Wyrd because of either intermittent drop outs or odd noises yet the device is still meant to provide a better signal to your DAC. 

anything the wyrd can do could be done by a DAC, be it buffering, reclocking, or use an external power supply. that means that any problem you have that is effectively solved by the wyrd, could be avoided if you didn't have the DAC you actually use. that is a very basic assertion nobody can deny. so for me it's obvious that another DAC would be the real solution, not a magic box.
and that's why I said this:

Originally Posted by castleofargh 
 see this as a possible patch when you refuse to change something wrong in your audio system.

 

 
 
 

I was just about to buy a Wyrd just to get a darker background, greater dynamic or more extension to both ends.

 

[Currawong]

Well, Schiit could build the Wyrd into a better USB board for the Bifrost I suppose (you'd have ask them) and charge the extra for that board instead. Same difference? 

 

[ogodei]

  Does anyone recently get a Wyrd? If so, did you guys notice any SONIC improvements it brought?
 
I'm asking because I'm planning to order a Wyrd, but I've never had any 'skipping' issues or 'noise' problems with my USB Port from my HP Probook laptop. I was just about to buy a Wyrd just to get a darker background, greater dynamic or more extension to both ends.
 
Thanks!

 
I have used it for about 4 weeks with 3 different powered DACs (including Gungnir) and 2 different amps.  In casual listening so far, no sonic differences.  It certainly it does not, and I quote, "work magic" as has been claimed elsewhere around here.
 
I picked up a Modi to try it with an un-powered DAC but no chance to test this out yet.
 
And for me it does not fix 'skipping,' as on my machine the skipping is not caused by power or USB issues.  I'm interested to hear details on other people's results on fixing skips.

 

[KLJTech]

  anything the wyrd can do could be done by a DAC, be it buffering, reclocking, or use an external power supply. that means that any problem you have that is effectively solved by the wyrd, could be avoided if you didn't have the DAC you actually use. that is a very basic assertion nobody can deny. so for me it's obvious that another DAC would be the real solution, not a magic box.
and that's why I said this:

 

 
 
 
 

 
I'll be sure to sell my Gungnir USB 2 right away!
 
I'm not sure why some have an issue with a $99 device that provides a better signal to your DAC. The intermittent problem I'm having with the odd noises only happens once or twice a day and I had the same issue with my other USB DAC's. Sure, Schiit Audio and the companies that made my other DAC's could have built-in something like the Wyrd but keep in mind the relatively short period of time we've been using asynchronous USB DAC's. In the 90's many of us were buying stand alone CD transports (they're still sold today) to provide our DAC's with a better signal and they could run just a tad more than $99. Actually most probably spent more than $99 on their digital audio cable that ran from the Transport to the DAC. 
 
As an aside, the Wyrd isn't touted as a "magic box" by anyone, we're told what it does and what it contains on the Schiit Audio website.
 
This is a GREAT time to be a music lover as wonderful sounding digital gear is now available at extremely low prices as compared to what the same level of sound would have cost just 6-8 years ago. Be glad that great sound can be had for far less now rather than being worried a very consumer friendly audio gear company is offering a $99 component to provide a cleaner/better signal to a DAC.

 

[CharlesC]

The fact that the Wyrd exists suggests that USB audio may be overrated.  Perhaps we should be pushing for more computer SPDIF solutions.