[dmhenley]

Hi folks, I've had my Eitr for about a month now so I thought I would post some impressions/experiences for the gang...

I should at this point clarify that I am using a loudspeaker system, not headphones: Conrad-Johnson CT-5 preamp, Conrad-Johnson LP70S stereo power amp, Michell Gyro SE turntable with SME V arm and Koestu Urushi Vermilion cartridge, E.A.R. 324 phono stage, Shunyata Triton power distribution with compelete Shunyata power cords, Sonore microRendu USB streamer, Schiit Modi 2 Uber DAC and Schiit Eitr USB/SPDIF convertor as my interim digital setup while my Gungnir is away getting upgraded (see below). All Audioquest Columbia or Colorado interconnects, and Dynaudio Contour S3.4 with Dynaudio Esotar 2 tweeter upgrade (the best soft-dome tweeter on the planet).

I originally bought Eitr for use with my Gungnir while I waited in the queue to be able to send it in for a Gen 5 USB and Multibit upgrade. One of the reasons for the Gen 5 upgrade is that I had a USB port/controller failure on Gungnir after disconnecting and reconnecting my Sonore microRendu when I moved the Mac Mini out of the stereo rack to move it into the bedroom in the other part of the house to get rid of all the high-bandwidth computer processor noise emanating from the Mac Mini (and sitting next to the stereo amplifiers; computers put out a crapload of noise).

After moving the Mac Mini out, the USB port on the Gungnir simply would not work anymore, at all. The DAC would not even show up when directy connected to a computer USB port. I attribute this mostly likely to a static electricity-charge induced failure.

So, I placed an order for a Gen 5 USB and Multibit upgrade, pulled the Gungnir out of the rack, and I put my Modi 2 Uber into the system and it works fine with the Sonore.

But, I wasn't that overly thrilled with the sound. Obviously, while the Modi 2 Uber is a good DAC, it does not sound as good as a Gungnir. It was acceptable; good, but certainly not great, it has a somewhat thin, dry & sterile presentation of the music compared to Gungnir, with a smaller soundstage (and nowhere near as good Loki, I might add, FWIW).

Then, Eitr got released. I figured, hmmm, I could use Eitr with it's Gen 5 USB/SPDIF conversion functionality and connect via the SPDIF input on Gungnir while I wait in queue. So, I ordered it, and when Eitr arrived, I hooked it up to the SPDIF input of Gungnir using a single Zu Wylde RCA interconnect.

My digital music chain at this point was: Mac Mini sending files from Roon wirelessly over wi-fi > Airport Express in the stereo rack > Ethenet Cat 5>Sonore microRendu > Eitr > Zu Wylde RCA "analog" interconnect cable > Gungnir SPDIF input > C-J amplification chain. Well, it sounded pretty darn good, and more importantly, my Gungnir was back in business while I waited in queue. Cool.

Meantime, I ordered an open-box Shunyata RCA terminated SPDIF 75 ohm digital cable. Once I got that, I replaced the Zu Wylde regular RCA analogue interconnect with the Shunyata 75 ohm digital coax SPDIF cable.

So now, my chain was this: Mac Mini/Roon > Airport Express > Sonore microRendu > Eitr > Shunyata Venom 75 ohm SPDIF digital coax> Gungnir SPDIF input.

Another NOTABLE improvement: with the Shunyata 75-ohm digital cable the sound quality was smoother, sweeter, more dimensional and more full-sounding than with the Zu cable, quite noticebly so. Soooo, now we're actually cookin' with gas...the system sounded VERY good and most importantly, my Gungnir was back in the system and performing to it's full potential. In fact, Eitr using a good SPDIF digital coax cable sounded notably better than the original direct (Gen 2) USB input on Gungnir.

So, I used this confiuguration until I got the email this week from the fine folks at Schiit to send in my Gungnir for my upgrades, which I did yesterday. I just put my Modi 2 Uber back into the system, but this time I used it in conjunction with Eitr and the Shunyata digital cable.

Okaayyy...using the SPDIF input on Modi 2 Uber in conjunction with Eitr takes this setup up quite a notch, IMHO. The musical presentation is now more natural, more full-bodied, sweeter-sounding, less sterile, and quieter than using the USB input only on Modi 2 Uber. NOT as good as Gungnir, but really quite good, impressively so when you consider what Eitr brings to the table for what it cost, and good enough that I can live with this easily until my Gungnir gets back from it's upgrades.

So, bottom line...Eitr is a WINNER. Either used with Gungnir in place the stock Gen 2 USB, or with Modi 2 Uber in place of USB (AFAIK, Modi 2 Uber does not utilize the Gen 5 USB implementation), Eitr brings a notable improvement in sound quality and a more enjoyable and engaging musical experience. BIG thumbs up from me.

Hope this mini-review is helpful to the community.

Cheers.

Quick question - I didn't see comments on this. I've got a microRendu into the Eitr which feeds my Yggdrasil. No sound. Roon sees the mR, and everything appears to be working, but the Yggdrasil isn't seeing anything from the Eitr, as far as I can tell. Are there drivers, and or settings I need to adjust?
Thank you!

 

[dmhenley]

Disregard my previous post. User error.
Music! Look forward to some extended listening....

 

[Puma Cat]

Disregard my previous post. User error.
Music! Look forward to some extended listening....

Cool! Glad to hear you got it sussed. Let us know what you think.

Cheers!

 

[Ghosthouse]

@dbhenley

Glad things are working now.
If you will, please clarify something for me. What is the purpose of the microRendu in that chain? I've been to the Sonore site several times and can't figure out what it does. I'm not being argumentative but if you have the Eitr doing USB in/SPDIF out, why do you need the microRendu upstream.

 

[Puma Cat]

@dbhenley

Glad things are working now.
If you will, please clarify something for me. What is the purpose of the microRendu in that chain? I've been to the Sonore site several times and can't figure out what it does. I'm not being argumentative but if you have the Eitr doing USB in/SPDIF out, why do you need the microRendu upstream.

Ghosthouse, I fully agree with you that what the Sonore microRendu does is NOT clear from the Sonore website. And when I got one, it was not really clear to me how it did what it did; i.e., how it actually worked.

The microRendu does a number of things....

First and foremost, it removes the direct connection from the (very) dirty USB port of a consumer electronics-market computer going into a DAC. It also isolates the signal from the ground plane, reclocks and regenerates the signal and outputs it via USB with significantly less noise, grunge and jitter. Effectively what is happening functionally is you're improving signal-to-noise significantly by 1) reducing jitter and 2) significantly lowering the noise floor.

It also serves as an Roon end-point, so if you want to use Roon with a DAC that does not support it, you can. Lastly, it sounds REALLY good, better than many other "streamers", for example.

The information below that I wrote up in a post about Eitr will give you additional context about what it brings to the table:

I've been using a Sonore microRendu with Hardware version 1.3 since last December 2016 to stream music files from my Mac Mini music server to my early release (Jan 2012) D/S Gungnir via USB.

I specifically bought the Sonore microRendu for meeting a specific set of needs:

1. I wanted to be able to implement a Roon endpoint with the Roon core residing on the Mac Mini, as I really like Roon's capabilities, functionality, interface, as well as sound quality.
2. I wanted to get the Mac Mini completely out of the audio rack, take it off the same AC mains line that the preamp/amplifier/DAC was on, and place it in the far opposite end of the house, thereby removing a lot of high-bandwidth garbage/hash/noise/RFI emanating from a computer sitting next to my audio gear (and unshielded speaker cables).
3. Moving the Mac Mini also allowed me to hard-connect it (and thereby the Roon Core) via Ethernet to my network router which has resulted much more stable network connectivity when accessing Roon on the Mac Mini from my Macbook Pro or iPad running Roon in "Remote Control" mode on those devices.
4. As an added plus, I also found that the Sonore resulted in a notable increase in overall sound quality overall compared to my original setup of my Mac Mini connected via USB to Gen 2 USB Gungnir (via Wyrd). I attribute this improvement in part to a) no longer needing a direct USB cable connection from the computer to Gungnir via Wyrd b) no longer needing to use 2 USB cables to use Wyrd and 3) the reclocked/regenerated USB signal I was getting from the Rendu. I should also add that I did not have Etir at this point a means of providing a SPDIF source to Gungnir; I was running strictly with USB as an input to the DAC.

Sonore released a new hardware upgrade, version 1.4 in July, 2017. I just received my upgraded microRendu with the Version 1.4 hardware upgrade this week, and I can say that the new upgrade is a considerable improvement in sound quality over version 1.3. The upgrade consists of using new ultra-low jitter oscillators, so you're essentially getting a new "clock" upgrade.

I find that the new 1.4 hardware upgrade provides significant improvement in sound quality. What I noticed most was a lower noise floor, increased soundstage width and depth, improved articulation of musical instruments , more refined and delicate instrumental and vocal timbres and, increased resolution but not at the price of a more etched or sterile sound, Vocals and sutble instrumental details are notably improved in terms of “musicality”, but in a really nice, natural way. Overall, a more spacious, sweeter, musical, refined and most importantly, engaging musical presentation. Turnaround time from the time Sonore received the unit and shipped it back out was only a few days.

Overall, I've been VERY happy with the Sonore microRendu in my system. And Roon just flat rocks.

Now, regarding your last part of your question: if you are using an Eitr, does one still need to use Sonore microRendu to obtain a very clean USB output with very low jitter? From what I can tell from other folks, from a stricly sonic/sound quality perspective, one should not, but that is strictly hypothesis/supposition at this point, and not backed up by experimentation. It would also then mean that the computer has to go back into the audio rack to connect via USB to Eitr, and you wouldn't have a Roon endpoint, anymore if your DAC does not serve as an end-point.

Both of which ain't gonna happen in my system.

Hope this helps. Cheers.

 

[dmhenley]

@dbhenley

Glad things are working now.
If you will, please clarify something for me. What is the purpose of the microRendu in that chain? I've been to the Sonore site several times and can't figure out what it does. I'm not being argumentative but if you have the Eitr doing USB in/SPDIF out, why do you need the microRendu upstream.

What Puma Cat said...

 

[Ghosthouse]

@Puma Cat
Thank you very much for taking the time to provide that detailed reply...but YIKES! it will take me a while to absorb all of it. Main takeaway I got from a first read is the mR improved sonics associated with use of a MacMini. Ethernet connectivity on the mR let you move the computer away from your audio gear, hook into your home network and access it downstream using an ethernet connected mR via Roon.
Is that sort of how it's working?

Thanks again for your time. I might be inching closer to understanding the microRendu.

 

[Puma Cat]

@Puma Cat
Thank you very much for taking the time to provide that detailed reply...but YIKES! it will take me a while to absorb all of it. Main takeaway I got from a first read is the mR improved sonics associated with use of a MacMini. Ethernet connectivity on the mR let you move the computer away from your audio gear, hook into your home network and access it downstream using an ethernet connected mR via Roon.
Is that sort of how it's working?

Thanks again for your time. I might be inching closer to understanding the microRendu.

That's it exactly, Ghosthouse, but not just a Mac Mini; any consumer-electronics computer; PC, Mac, whatever. They all spew out large amounts of all sorts of noise and their USB ports are very dirty/grungy with respect to noise, as well.

As I mentioned above, I actually bought and intstalled it (which was simple) and I still wasn't quite sure how actually worked...but, it DOES work! And, it sounds fantastic.

Here's some pics of my "computer audio" rack...

Top shelf showing my Airport Express Wifi Router. This connects via Wifi to the Mac Mini in the far end of the house. An Audioquest Cinnamon ethernet cable from the AEx runs down to the next shelf and connects to the microRendu. You can see Eitr here, as well. The USB cable that comes out of the microRendu goes into the back of Eitr, and comes out as SPDIF via a Shunyata Venom 75 ohm digital RCA cable to the DAC. The McLaren F1 model is there 'cause its such a beautiful race car...

Here's the Rendu. It's the small silver unit, upper right. It's smaller than a pack of cards. The brown AQ Ethernet cable coming down from the top shelf from the AEx and the power from the Uptone Audio LPS-1 linear power supply enter on the left, and the USB cable that goes back up to Eitr exits on the right side(hard to see). The SPDIF cable that comes out of Eitr on the top shelf can be seen going into the back of my Schiit Modi 2 Uber's SPDIF RCA port. Modi 2 Uber is stricltly an interim DAC until my Gumby gets back from Schiit next week, and Gumby will occupy the majority of the shelf space that is presently empty. The only reason I moved Eitr up to the top shelf was so I could arrange all the cables so they were not crossing over or lying on one another as they are longer than I need for this configuration.

Of note is that there's no computer in the computer audio rack!

 

[Ghosthouse]

@Puma Cat
Thanks yet again Puma...
The pictures are very helpful.
So, speaking of the "missing" computer...
that is located elsewhere and hardwired via ethernet to your ISP's box/modem.
The Airport Express "sees" it wirelessly? and provides the connection between it and the microRendu.
BUT - what do you use to control Roon? Isn't the Roon GUI on the Mac? (if that's still what they call the user access).
Or is there some kind of phone app for Roon via the microRendu??

Just noticed...what is the black device between the microRendu and USB cable?

(Off topic but I see you have a pair of Senns. What model? Nosy me. Have a pair of 600s myself)

BTW - Agree about the McLaren. A cat fancier too, I'm guessing. We have 4.

 

[Letmebefrank]

@Puma Cat
Thanks yet again Puma...
The pictures are very helpful.
So, speaking of the "missing" computer...
that is located elsewhere and hardwired via ethernet to your ISP's box/modem.
The Airport Express "sees" it wirelessly? and provides the connection between it and the microRendu.
BUT - what do you use to control Roon? Isn't the Roon GUI on the Mac? (if that's still what they call the user access).
Or is there some kind of phone app for Roon via the microRendu??

Just noticed...what is the black device between the microRendu and USB cable?

(Off topic but I see you have a pair of Senns. What model? Nosy me. Have a pair of 600s myself)

BTW - Agree about the McLaren. A cat fancier too, I'm guessing. We have 4.

I'm guessing the black thing is AQ jitterbug, and the Sennheisers next to the Eitr are HD600s, the only ones with that funky paint job and the blue labels.

 

[Ghosthouse]

Letmebefrank (love that user name)...I was thinking AQ Jitterbug too but that, if correct, has me doing additional head scratching. Didn't know that HD600 color scheme was exclusive to them. Thanks.

 

[Puma Cat]

@Puma Cat
Thanks yet again Puma...
The pictures are very helpful.
So, speaking of the "missing" computer...
that is located elsewhere and hardwired via ethernet to your ISP's box/modem.
The Airport Express "sees" it wirelessly? and provides the connection between it and the microRendu.
BUT - what do you use to control Roon? Isn't the Roon GUI on the Mac? (if that's still what they call the user access).
Or is there some kind of phone app for Roon via the microRendu??

Just noticed...what is the black device between the microRendu and USB cable?

(Off topic but I see you have a pair of Senns. What model? Nosy me. Have a pair of 600s myself)

BTW - Agree about the McLaren. A cat fancier too, I'm guessing. We have 4.

Correct. The Airport Express connects to, and extends, the Wifi network from the main router. It has an Ethernet port on the back, so once the AEx is on same network that the Mac Mini is on, you can stream files from the Mac Mini to the Rendu via WiFi.

To control Roon, you just install the Roon app on another computer, or as an iOS app on an iPad, and run it in Remote mode. It connects to via the Network to the Roon Core resident on the Mac Mini and then you can manage playback without having to use Screen Sharing. The black devices between the Rendu and USB cable is a AQ Jitterbug; I originally had it installled, but its since been removed; there's no need for it in conjunction with the Rendu; it's superfluous. I do have one in one of the unoccupied USB ports on the Mac Mini.

And yes, HD600s, and a cat-lover here. Just adopted two kittens from the SPCA about a month ago; Aga, a 4 month old female, and Ringo, a 5 month old male. They are quite a pair, very sweet, but they are constantly getting into mischief! Kids, I tell ya....

 

[Puma Cat]

Letmebefrank (love that user name)...I was thinking AQ Jitterbug too but that, if correct, has me doing additional head scratching. Didn't know that HD600 color scheme was exclusive to them. Thanks.

Yes, it's a Jitterbug, but it's since been removed; no need for it in actuality.

 

[Puma Cat]

I'm guessing the black thing is AQ jitterbug, and the Sennheisers next to the Eitr are HD600s, the only ones with that funky paint job and the blue labels.

Correct. HD600s. Wonderful headphones. I bought them to use in my bedroom office system with my Valhalla 2 and Modi 2 Uber. I also have a pair of Oppo PM-3s which I like very much.

 

[Puma Cat]

Off-topic for Ghosthouse: Pictures of Aga and Ringo from a few weeks ago. They've grown noticeably since these were taken.

Aga, who has TON of personality....she is a real character, let me tell you. Aga was named after the Czech female pro tennis player, Agnieska (Aga) Radwanska, because she has a similar character and physique.

Ringo, the sleek, muscular, black leopard...he goes around like Sean Connery in a tuxedo saying, "Bond...James Bond."