[Jimmyblues1959]

Thanks Jimmy: I have an external hard drive that contains my Wave files. I usually have this plugged into my desktop as well as the Eitr; therefore two USB ports used. If I go for the android, I will only have the one USB-C port available. How could I get around this since I use two ports now?

Some type of adaptor?

 

[monadnock]

The Eitr sounded poor compared to my sMS-200 via USB into an Audiolab 8200CD/DAC.


There are plenty of third-party upgrades to make the Eitr sound better. An iFi Audio iPurifier2 was a good upgrade in my setup. USB cleaners are available from iFi Audio, Mutec, Audioquest, Uptone Audio, etc.. I use a Ghent Audio USB 2.0 Y-cable and linear power supply, which is a big improvement compared to the USB 5V bus from my laptop. Some of the other USB treatments allow an LPS without the Y-cable.

Those two improvements, reclocking and LPS power, brought the Eitr from barely listenable to really good, very, very close to the sMS-200 with LPS.

I'm confused, the SMS-200 is a streamer.. the EITR is just a USB to coax unit. Are you saying that a boosted EITR makes it close to comparable, with using a streamer? I find that hard to believe but maybe, depending on your system.

 

[audiobomber]

I'm confused, the SMS-200 is a streamer.. the EITR is just a USB to coax unit. Are you saying that a boosted EITR makes it close to comparable, with using a streamer? I find that hard to believe but maybe, depending on your system.

The Eitr is not just a USB to coax converter. It uses Schitt's "Gen 5" USB interface to provide a better USB signal. https://www.schiit.com/news/news/usb-solved-introducing-gen-5-and-eitr

I just cued up a 96/24 recording of Midnight In Harlem, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Revelator album, using QNAP NAS Music Station software to play the music. I switched between these systems:

1. QNAP TS-451+ NAS, TP-Link Archer C9 router, CAT8 ethernet cable, sMS-200 Neo powered by Zerozone 50W LPS, Oyaide neo d+ Class A USB cable, Audiolab 8200CD, Yorkville Studio One XLR cables, Hafler HA15 headphone amp, Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro headphones

2. QNAP TS-451+ NAS, TP-Link Archer C9 router, Wi-Fi to Dell Inspiron 7000 laptop, Ghent Audio USB Y-cable powered by Topping P50 LPS, iFi iPurifier2, Schiit Eitr, Monoprice coax cable, Audiolab 8200CD, Hafler HA15 headphone amp, Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro headphones

I switched between systems using the Audiolab remote. Sometimes I thought the sMS system may have had a slight advantage, but really no significant differences. I am pretty certain I would not be able to reliably tell which was playing in a blind test. Given the differences in cost, technology and cabling, this is a surprising result for me as well, but that is my honest evaluation.

I use the sMS system above to play uncompressed music from the NAS. I use the Eitr system to stream from the net, using Grado GH4 headphones. I rarely play music from my NAS through the laptop and Eitr, because it is not as reliable as the sMS system. I often process photos while listening, which uses a lot of RAM and interferes with music playback through the laptop. Also, using the two systems gives me an option in case one of the systems is temporarily compromised.

 

[Sterling2]

I purchased a Creative Sound Blaster X-FI HD about 8 years ago as I recall. It was purchased specifically to convert usb to optical S/PDIF thus permitting me to send music in my iTunes Library to my Sony TA-E9000ES Pre-Pro for digital to analog conversion. These days I use the X-FI to send 24/96 FLAC music in my Foobar2000 Library to the Sony TA-E9000ES.

So, here's what I know for sure from the X-FI HD experience: the X-FI HD gets the job done, AAC, ALAC, and AIFF music from iTunes and FLAC music from Foobar2000 sounds on par with same music on SACD played on my OPPO-205.

At any rate, now that Apple Music is delivering music which has been mastered for iTunes/Apple Music I am mostly playing Apple Music downloads these days from iTunes to Airport Express where it is converted to optical S/PDIF for processing by my Sony TA-E9000ES, since the Apple Music sound is also on par with SACD; yet, more convenient.

Now, if I am not dissuaded from the 7 actions needed to play from iTunes to my OPPO-205's DAC, I can get sound which I could describe as better than processed by the Sony Pre-Pro; but, that might just be my imagination running away with me as Smoky Robinson said.

Where the technology is going I do not know, but I suspect it's heading to smartphones delivering multi-channel music and videos stored in the cloud to wireless active speakers in some sort of home theater configuration. No more need for preamps, amps, stand alone DACs or other equipment in the chain to ear ecstasy.

 

[audiobomber]

Where the technology is going I do not know, but I suspect it's heading to smartphones delivering multi-channel music and videos stored in the cloud to wireless active speakers in some sort of home theater configuration. No more need for preamps, amps, stand alone DACs or other equipment in the chain to ear ecstasy.

Multi-channel music has never gained a toehold in the market; not with SACD, not with DVD-Audio, not with internet streaming. Dolby and DTS sound quality is awful.

Audiophiles in particular are not interested in M-C systems, and M-C gear receives almost no coverage in audiophile magazines or websites. Headphone listening has really taken off in the past few years, and what is the point of multiple channels for headphone listening, when you only have two ears and two earcups?

The percentage of multi-channel music in circulation today is miniscule, and the amount of music presently being recorded in M-C is insignificant. I had quite a good M-C system for a few years. There was almost no M-C music I was interested in purchasing. The selections I bought often put me in the middle of the band or orchestra, and I found that phony and irritating. Two-channel music is alive and flourishing. I don't see M-C happening, ever.

 

[Sterling2]

Multi-channel music has never gained a toehold in the market; not with SACD, not with DVD-Audio, not with internet streaming. Dolby and DTS sound quality is awful.

Audiophiles in particular are not interested in M-C systems, and M-C gear receives almost no coverage in audiophile magazines or websites. Headphone listening has really taken off in the past few years, and what is the point of multiple channels for headphone listening, when you only have two ears and two earcups?

The percentage of multi-channel music in circulation today is miniscule, and the amount of music presently being recorded in M-C is insignificant. I had quite a good M-C system for a few years. There was almost no M-C music I was interested in purchasing. The selections I bought often put me in the middle of the band or orchestra, and I found that phony and irritating. Two-channel music is alive and flourishing. I don't see M-C happening, ever.

I did not say multi/channel was popular but the sound quality is undeniable therefore I see it as the future .

 

[Sterling2]

I did not say multi/channel was popular but the sound quality is undeniable therefore I see it as the future .

 

[darkarn]

Since the Eitr is as good as gone, I am thinking of another angle: Using the SPDIF ports instead

I am thinking of using ifi iPurifier 2 to convert my computer's TOSLINK signal to Coaxial instead of using an Eitr to convert from USB to Coaxial

https://ifi-audio.com/products/spdif-ipurifier2/

Has anyone done a comparison between both?

 

[monadnock]

been going through and around about spdif converters.. looked at Singxer U1 and 2, the Kitsune versions.. how the test sites say these units are useless, how I put them into my system and hear audible 'improvements' between using and not using them.. feels like we're just pushing the ball around sometimes.. make the DAC do the work, make the source better, cleaner, relocked, different input I2S soo much better, cleaner some say but scant test data available to support.. test data possibly testing the wrong thing or interpreting the data incorrectly.. challenged.

for fun i put my EITR back into system and the sound got 'better'. hd >> streamer >> EITR >> DAC >> preamp... i was using the upsampling in the streamer to "clean" the signal.. then decided to let the DAC have a go at handling the raw native stream, whatever it may be. it sucked at it.

the problem is probably part DAC, part source.. part disappointment with a get me there EITR till something else shows up, solution. seems like for the forseeable, a DDC will be part of my system... would like to see the DAC streamer tackle these efforts.. less/ fewer cables, units, heavy petting the signal, is better imo than many/ more.

 

[UntilThen]

Still using Eitr into my original Yggdrasil.

 

[2bxfile]

I've been enjoying my Eitr in my 2 channel system for a week now - amazing. So, here is my query: I bought a new monitor and placed it into my setup with all power off. I powered everything back up and chose a track. What I heard this time with my Eitr setup, was great distortion/static from my speakers with the track faintly being heard through it all. This happened with both a WAV file and a YouTube track. My first instinct was to power off my Eiter, wait a bit and power it back on. Much to my delight, this remedied my static problem. My question for someone is: 1) what do you think occurred for this to happen? 2) Could this distortion episode have done any harm to either the Eitr or any of my other computer/amp components? Could this have been the result of a fault in the Eitr? Thanks for any input.

Chuck

 

[UntilThen]

I've been enjoying my Eitr in my 2 channel system for a week now - amazing. So, here is my query: I bought a new monitor and placed it into my setup with all power off. I powered everything back up and chose a track. What I heard this time with my Eitr setup, was great distortion/static from my speakers with the track faintly being heard through it all. This happened with both a WAV file and a YouTube track. My first instinct was to power off my Eiter, wait a bit and power it back on. Much to my delight, this remedied my static problem. My question for someone is: 1) what do you think occurred for this to happen? 2) Could this distortion episode have done any harm to either the Eitr or any of my other computer/amp components? Thanks for any input.

Chuck

Don't know. I did power off my PC often but usually Eitr and Yggdrasil is left powered on constantly so I never encounter your problem. When I get back to Canberra I'll check it out but I don't know when that will be....

 

[2bxfile]

Don't know. I did power off my PC often but usually Eitr and Yggdrasil is left powered on constantly so I never encounter your problem. When I get back to Canberra I'll check it out but I don't know when that will be....

Hello UntilThen: When you say you leave your device powered on when you shut down your computer, does your Eitr power light stay on or does it go off at that point? My Eitr's small white light goes out when I turn my computer off even when I leave the Eitr's device switch left on. Thanks.

 

[UntilThen]

Hello UntilThen: When you say you leave your device powered on when you shut down your computer, does your Eitr power light stay on or does it go off at that point? My Eitr's small white light goes out when I turn my computer off even when I leave the Eitr's device switch left on. Thanks.

I'm pretty sure the Eitr lights stay on because my Yggy light is on as Eitr is connected to Yggy. That is with my PC shut down but those 2 devices still powered on. However I need to go back to Canberra where my equipment is to find out.

 

[2bxfile]

I'm pretty sure the Eitr lights stay on because my Yggy light is on as Eitr is connected to Yggy. That is with my PC shut down but those 2 devices still powered on. However I need to go back to Canberra where my equipment is to find out.

Thanks