[ckyr]

http://schiit.com/products/wyrd-usb-decrapifier

 

[HiFiAudio]

It cleans a digital signal of noise and glitches, oh my they do really try to sell you anything these days.

 
From one online poster:

They brought out a device that does nothing else than taking USB input, 'cleaning' it and putting it out again.

 

[ckyr]

I wonder what difference it might make...

 

[HiFiAudio]

I laughed at John H. Darko take on this news from this Five new pieces of Schiit drop at T.H.E. Show Newport Beach 2014 article.
 
arctle
Next up there’s Wyrd. It looks a lot like the Modi DAC but it’s anything but. Common decency had Schiit revise the working title of De****ifier to Descrewifier. Its purpose? To hoover up host PC noise. USB input –> reclock, rejuice –> USB out. Power comes from a low-noise, external linear brick (not switching). Keeping expectations appropriately low, Stoddard refuses to make wild claims about what the Wyrd will do to your system.
 
“We’re not going to make any claims about sonics, but it’ll definitely stop USB noise and power problems in their tracks. Some people say Wyrd makes everything sound better. We don’t know how it can possibly do so, so we’re going to stay Swiss on the subject.”
A sticker of US$99 means you can easily find out for yourself.

 

[Currawong]

I talked to Jason about this a bit and the basic story that I recall was that it was an experiment they didn't think would do anything but turned out to have some positive effects on some USB DACs. I don't know exactly what is in it, but it probably does something like reduce RF noise travelling over the USB cable, which reportedly can have a negative effect on DAC electronics. 

 

[pixelcity]

Honestly, the only useful thing this could have had was galvanic (including ground) isolation, but it doesn't; it favors usb 2.0 instead.

 

[jdpark]

It looks like a cool product.  As an owner of and HRT HD, I do notice high frequency energy, which is highly audible an extremely distracting in my Beyer 990s.  I've checked and it's not my Schiit Magni making the noise, even though I know it's not completely black silent, either.  
 
I've been looking into getting an iUSB power supply for a while, and this is half the price.  Unfortunately I live in Israel, where we have 220v, and this Decrapifier only comes in 125v now.  I suppose I could use it with a step down converter, but by then the price is going to be similar to the iUSB.  
 
One thing I've found is that if I turn my volume down by 15-20db on Foobar2000 and crank my Magni up to 12-2 o'clock depending on the song, I don't hear any of the high frequency buzz.
 
Is that a simple low-fi solution?  Does anyone know the science behind why it seems to work?
 
Thnx,
 
Joel

 

[saxelrod92]

This decrapifier isn't as "snake oily" as it seems, as far as I understand its purpose. It's meant for usb powered dacs, where if the power coming out of the usb port isnt perfect, clean, and constant, it can and will cause some serious sound issues, because you would essentially not be getting correct power to make the dac work. And I'm sure on some computers depending on where the port is located or if anything else is on the internal hub other than the dac, then something like this device can come in handy by simply providing a constant power supply through the usb cable for the dac, and keeping the signal alone from the internals of the computer, so its as uninterrupted as possible. If you have a powered dac, that just has a usb input option, like the bifrost for example, then this device is basically useless. unless you have some serious usb port issues/noisey internals in your computer or something. but this yould make a good alternative over a powered usb hub for a usb powered dac.

 

[darinf]

  This decrapifier isn't as "snake oily" as it seems, as far as I understand its purpose. It's meant for usb powered dacs, where if the power coming out of the usb port isnt perfect, clean, and constant, it can and will cause some serious sound issues, because you would essentially not be getting correct power to make the dac work. And I'm sure on some computers depending on where the port is located or if anything else is on the internal hub other than the dac, then something like this device can come in handy by simply providing a constant power supply through the usb cable for the dac, and keeping the signal alone from the internals of the computer, so its as uninterrupted as possible. If you have a powered dac, that just has a usb input option, like the bifrost for example, then this device is basically useless. unless you have some serious usb port issues/noisey internals in your computer or something. but this yould make a good alternative over a powered usb hub for a usb powered dac.

According to Purin, the Wyrd also reclocks the data, so it's not just power related. It also affects the data. Even with USB DAC's that have separate power supplies, the Wyrd may still affect the sound.
http://www.head-fi.org/t/721201/schiit-hits-the-fan-valhalla-2-lyr-2-announced-wyrd-and-mani-previewed/150#post_10678739
 
I found that the sound is affected even on a powered DAC like the Hugo.

 

[saxelrod92]

Yea it could help out powered dacs, especially if you dont have the best usb ports ever or something. or just to satisfy that ocd to make sure theres definitely nothing in the usb signal path that is messing with the sound other than the dac, amp, and headphones lol. I know this because I just tried my other usb port, and got a super subtle different sound, just a super tiny change in imaging, the other port was super slightly less able to layer sounds right, compared to the usual port I use. Its still very very small differences, but its just like that sensation that something is off, but its too small to exactly pinpoint right away. so I figure if someone gets really annoyed about that, the wyrd will help solve any such difference by acting as a perfect usb port.
 
 
(if I had a spare 100 bucks to spend on something like this, I would totally get it, but thankfully nothing in my system is really breaking that ocd annoyance barrier that would make me go for this, at least for now lol)

 

[mwillits]

In my particular situation (YMMV), the Wyrd seems to work as promised. Nothing less, and nothing magical.

My MacBook Pro Retina Late 2013 has a slight issue in that I can hear the electrical activity of the processor as intermittent static coming through the USB port and into my Schiit stack (Gungnir to Mjolnir and onto my headphones / speakers). By process of elimination, I discovered that if I removed the MBP power supply connection the noise went away slightly, but not completely. And, it wasn't a ground loop issue as I would hear the noise only when clicking on windows and opening applications, basically anything that would require some increased work by the processor (or something related electrically). Otherwise no background hum characteristic of a ground loop. Hooking up my DAC via optical solved the issue but I prefer using USB.

Thus, the Wyrd seems to accomplish its simple mission of interrupting the transmission of this electrical activity noise. That's all I wanted it to do, so it was $99 well spent. I was also considering the iFi Purifier but decided on the Wyrd simply because it was made by Schiit.

EDIT 6.6.14 - Correction, I'm still experiencing the same issue. However, having the Wyrd connected doesn't seem to introduce any additional noise. Hopefully I can troubleshoot and report on progress later.

 

[ieee754]

  According to Purin, the Wyrd also reclocks the data, so it's not just power related. It also affects the data. Even with USB DAC's that have separate power supplies, the Wyrd may still affect the sound.
http://www.head-fi.org/t/721201/schiit-hits-the-fan-valhalla-2-lyr-2-announced-wyrd-and-mani-previewed/150#post_10678739
 
I found that the sound is affected even on a powered DAC like the Hugo.

Aren't data packets received from USB buffered in the DAC anyway? So reclocking the data shouldn't make any difference.
 
EDIT: I see now that it works this way only in USB asynchronous. Possibly in USB adaptive mode this could make a difference, if there is something wrong with the source.

 

[superjawes]

According to Purin, the Wyrd also reclocks the data, so it's not just power related. It also affects the data. Even with USB DAC's that have separate power supplies, the Wyrd may still affect the sound.
http://www.head-fi.org/t/721201/schiit-hits-the-fan-valhalla-2-lyr-2-announced-wyrd-and-mani-previewed/150#post_10678739

I found that the sound is affected even on a powered DAC like the Hugo.

Noise in the power of your USB port can show up as noise on your signal. You want that signal to be as clean as possible because you're going to turn it into something audible (and I'd bet that signal noise on the digital side would still show up in the analog parts of the DAC). My understanding is that Wyrd would basically grab the 1's and 0's and retransmit them with cleaner power (less noise).

So yeah, Wyrd could still help out powered USB DACs if it provides a cleaner signal than the original USB port. Putting it in a separate chassis further isolates noise from the analog parts, too.

 

[mcandmar]

Having built and used various USB isolators i am glad to see somebody like Schiit releasing a product of this nature.  I would love to see a pic of the internals if anybody can dig one up?

 

[ProtegeManiac]

It's an expensive powered USB "hub" (since it only has one input and output), but it has its market beyond those who squeeze every last (perceived) improvement by tossing money at it. Those following the iOS and Android DAC threads would be familiar with how many inexpensive hubs didn't work with DACs, and it's happened before that the specific models known to work went out of production (or for those who have to buy them online might find the return process prohibitive depending on their location), or didn't work with some devices on either end. For those who want to skip the guesswork in the possibility of going through several powered hubs, paying $99 in one go would seem like a good option. If anything, those who have a huge music collection on a portable HDD will not be able to use it as with the other hubs, but some would likely have an NAS or wireless HDD instead as even Neutron Media Player and MediaMonkey for Android have UPnP now (and presumably, so would the upcoming Foobar player).