[luckybaer]

Maybe this is a placebo effect, but maybe it isn’t...

Please note my set-up in my signature.

I listen to my Modi 2 MB fed by USB and I also listen to it fed by digital coax from the Eitr. I have a really hard time casually noticing any difference, but if I really bear down and focus on a single track while going back and forth between the two, I’d say adding the Eitr gives me a “cleaner” sound.

The direct-from-USB sounds good to my ears, but there is something about the Eitr, and I can’t place my finger on it. “Cleaner,” more “resolution,” “crisper,” “revealing...” these are all adjectives that come to mind when attempting to describe the differences I hear.

 

[bunkbail]

Maybe this is a placebo effect, but maybe it isn’t...

Please note my set-up in my signature.

I listen to my Modi 2 MB fed by USB and I also listen to it fed by digital coax from the Eitr. I have a really hard time casually noticing any difference, but if I really bear down and focus on a single track while going back and forth between the two, I’d say adding the Eitr gives me a “cleaner” sound.

The direct-from-USB sounds good to my ears, but there is something about the Eitr, and I can’t place my finger on it. “Cleaner,” more “resolution,” “crisper,” “revealing...” these are all adjectives that come to mind when attempting to describe the differences I hear.

Maybe your headphones are not revealing enough to notice a difference. At least that's what happens to me. With HD660S I'm noticing a subtle improvement to the SQ but with M1060 the improvement the Eitr gives to the R2R-11 is so obvious, to the extent I can't even use the DAC without it.

 

[luckybaer]

Maybe your headphones are not revealing enough to notice a difference. At least that's what happens to me. With HD660S I'm noticing a subtle improvement to the SQ but with M1060 the improvement the Eitr gives to the R2R-11 is so obvious, to the extent I can't even use the DAC without it.

I notice SOMETHING, and it is more pleasant, but nothing to the point that makes the USB less-than-tolerable. Perhaps I need to spend more time A/B and sticking with a single headphone to notice a difference. I’ve got HD650, DT880, K601, D2000, and a couple of others. I think I’ll go with either the 640 or 880...

 

[thebkt]

I notice SOMETHING, and it is more pleasant, but nothing to the point that makes the USB less-than-tolerable. Perhaps I need to spend more time A/B and sticking with a single headphone to notice a difference. I’ve got HD650, DT880, K601, D2000, and a couple of others. I think I’ll go with either the 640 or 880...

It took a few tracks to really appreciate the difference, but it was very clear with my HE-560's. I'll have to a bit of back and forth with my other headphones at some point to see how much difference it makes with them. I use my work setup all day, then when I go home, there's definitely something special about that combo. It jumps out at me every time I hit play after getting home from work.

 

[davide256]

Guys I would like to know how you you use the Eitr and with which buffer settings. I like Asio the most, but keep getting glitches every few minutes or so, the same with Wasapi. I still don´t understand the problem, could it be the driver? Turned of all different power management settings and use Fidelizer Pro with Audiophile settings.

Do you have the same problem playing locally stored music using Foobar2000 or JRiver?

 

[jodokus]

I tried Qobuz Hifi again to research my glitchgate with Spotify (was shocked how much better Qobuz sounds compared to Spotify Premium, way more open, fluid, dynamic, real), and no glitches with Asio generic in Qobuz, without using Jriver wdm! The one thing that drives me crazy right now is that Qobuz doesn’t support the connect remote function and I can’t live without it, I need a remote app.... Now we know the problem is the Jriver wdm driver....

 

[jodokus]

Do you have the same problem playing locally stored music using Foobar2000 or JRiver?

I solved the problem!!!! Yesss!!!! Installed VB Asio bridge with Hifi cable instead of the Jriver wdm driver and music is clear and smooth as it should be, without any interference. Happy Eitr here!!

 

[mswobo]

NOOB ?....i use a Rega DAC 1st generation...the usb input does not support 192 sample rate......will this Schiit EITR upsample my streaming to 192 as the the coax input supports it?

thank you

 

[davide256]

NOOB ?....i use a Rega DAC 1st generation...the usb input does not support 192 sample rate......will this Schiit EITR upsample my streaming to 192 as the the coax input supports it?

thank you

The Eitr is a PCM USB converter. If you send it 192khz on its asynch USB input port, it will output 192khz on the coax out. It is not a computer, if you want a lesser rate upsampled to 192, you will need to do that in the device sending
the music to the Eitr.

 

[mswobo]

Thank you for the explination

 

[zolkis]

I listen to my Modi 2 MB fed by USB and I also listen to it fed by digital coax from the Eitr. I have a really hard time casually noticing any difference, but if I really bear down and focus on a single track while going back and forth between the two, I’d say adding the Eitr gives me a “cleaner” sound.

The direct-from-USB sounds good to my ears, but there is something about the Eitr, and I can’t place my finger on it. “Cleaner,” more “resolution,” “crisper,” “revealing...” these are all adjectives that come to mind when attempting to describe the differences I hear.

I have done the same experiment with the Mimby USB vs coax with two other USB-coax converters (from Matrix Audio and M2Tech) and the difference was rather big: much more fluid and musical sound. I have 4 of your headphones and have heard the difference with them as well. Now I wonder: if you have had hard time noticing the difference with the Eitr, then the Eitr might not be *that* good as they say. Might be that my system (amp, cables, what else) is more resolving and that is why I hear more difference (my hearing is likely not better than yours). Could not yet get the Eitr in the EU unfortunately.

 

[luckybaer]

I have done the same experiment with the Mimby USB vs coax with two other USB-coax converters (from Matrix Audio and M2Tech) and the difference was rather big: much more fluid and musical sound. I have 4 of your headphones and have heard the difference with them as well. Now I wonder: if you have had hard time noticing the difference with the Eitr, then the Eitr might not be *that* good as they say. Might be that my system (amp, cables, what else) is more resolving and that is why I hear more difference (my hearing is likely not better than yours). Could not yet get the Eitr in the EU unfortunately.

I meant I had to listen to just the music and not multi-task while listening in order to notice a difference. I did notice a difference, but it was not as though USB was unlistenable. It was fine, but Eitr was obviously better.

 

[AudioThief]

I was originally looking at the Eitr to solve my noise issues from my USB which my amplifier failed to eliminate. Since then, I have went entirely the Stax route - which does not carry the usb noise - but I am thinking about getting the EItr to improve sound quality. I'm the sort of guy who (feel I)notice a difference between Spotify quality and Tidal quality (Tidal clearly better to my ears even if the application sucks). So I would certaintly appreciate sonic improvements. I think that at this point in my journey, any sound improvement for the price of the Eitr should be worth it lol.

 

[zolkis]

Indeed the Eitr may be at the best price point for the improvement it makes. I have heard slightly bigger improvement on USB with the microRendu than with USB to coax SPDIF converters (that may be inferior to the Eitr), and in addition to cleaner sound, the sound stage got better, too. The ultraRendu and the SoTM Ultra gear are supposed to improve even more, I may soon find out. However, the benefits depend on what DAC you use and what USB input it has (if any), plus the price point is quite high already. Probably it would make most sense to stop the "USB nervosa" investment at the Allo USBridge (it has good design as the Ethernet and USB buses are separate, unlike with the Raspberry Pi, and it's cheap), followed by the Eitr for coax if needed (it has good design and it's cheap).

 

[jg1976]

Ok. I am confused, the Eitr has Gen 5 usb.
While Schiit says themselves, if you have Gen 5 usb you do not need to think about other USB devices such as "eitr" I guss..
Do I need a Eitr converter, if the DAC already has Gen 5 usb then? Is sound improved anyway?
Any comments or experience on this?