[johnjen]

Very sound reasoning. Of all I have heard and learned about cables, I have yet to hear anyone say a connector sounds better than another.If they spend enough money, I bet they hope it does. I trust Neutrik, and for good reason.

In my experimentation I have found that rhodium plated connectors inserted in gold plated receptacles was 'better' than any other combination.
And these benefits were increased after I had multiple sets of home built cables (all identical except for the connectors themselves) cryo treated, where these differences were even more pronounced.

And no they weren't expensive (≈ $50/cable for all parts including the cryo treatment).
As usual YMMV.

JJ

 

[earnmyturns]

Some of the best products in the world are made in China right now. Do they also make crap? Yes. But so does every country.

Like the Holo Spring DAC I have, which gave the Yggy v1 a good fight, and some unique pleasures, at a comparable price. Yggy v2 is a different matter. I've now listened to three great multibit DACs in the mid-$2K range, Yggy v2, Holo Spring KTE 3, and Ambre Onyx. The Yggy is the best all-rounder of the lot in my evaluation so far, the other two -- made in China, made in the Netherlands -- are very strong contenders and could be favored by some listeners. What matters for quality is not where it is made, but the knowledge, creativity, taste, and honesty of the designers and builders. Schiit, Holo, and Metrum are stand-up creators of wonderful gear, and even if I over time switch one for the other because of my flighty tastes, I will always recommend them because they care.

 

[earnmyturns]

I would say: get a Raspberry Pi (made in the UK0 with a 502DAC (made in the US) or a Digione (made in India) with coax(or AES), put that next to your DAC and forget you ever used USB from a PC.
You can have a DIY streamer for less than a fancy usb-cable and it will still play better than a pc over usb.
But I think you have to try it before you believe it.

Happy to help with hardware/software details on Pi+502DAC. I don't have the DigiOne, but I have another Allo gadget, the USBridge and I'm pretty familiar with DietPi. Just PM me if you need some guidance.

Do you guys ever wonder what non-americans think when they read about all those made in America feelings?
Shouid we all become patriots too and NOT buy american?

I'm Portuguese, long in the States. I appreciate why people would value companies who work hard to create good products and good employment at home. I live in California and I value what Schiit is doing for music fans and for the economy in our state. It's hard work, deserving of strong praise. But as I wrote about country-of-origin earlier, what I care most is about quality, creativity, and honesty, wherever it comes from. Above any nationality, I am part of humanity and I wish to encourage the best in our kind -- we all know that we fail to reach that bar more often than not, regardless of nationality, race, gender, or creed, so those anywhere who step up and show the way deserve our support.

 

[earnmyturns]

Silly Schiit-y question: would a SYS work well backwards, that is, one input (going to the OUT sockets) and two alternative outputs (from the two IN sockets)?

 

[Redabook]

Yes. I use one purely as an on/off switch for speakers, from my preamp.

 

[CAPT Deadpool]

Silly Schiit-y question: would a SYS work well backwards, that is, one input (going to the OUT sockets) and two alternative outputs (from the two IN sockets)?

I believe that it even says it will do that on the Schiit website, if you look at the FAQ. If you look at the board it will definitely work.

 

[Paladin79]

I like Litz because it looks cool and the name is cool!

I will preface this by saying I have always found Bagwell to be entertaining and very bright. There is not a whole lot of information out there about Litz wire and it has been a while since I studied it so if I get any info wrong I will certainly stand corrected.

First off it is produced and used to reduce skin effect. At frequencies above 100 kilocycles the signal travels significantly on the outside of wire but yet it does this as well to a small extent at lower frequencies. It is much more pronounced at high. Coaxial cable made in the 1,2, or 3 gig range often uses copper covered steel rather than solid copper for that reason and it is cheaper to produce. Why waste copper when the signal is on the outside of the wire anyway? Litz wire has each strand separately insulated so that they do not come in contact with the other wires so that conduction between them is lessened. They are then braided in a pattern where each wire comes to the outside surface of the bundle at an equal number of times. Notice I said each wire. This pattern reduces skin effect and the signal travels to a higher degree throughout the entire bundle, not just on the surface, and it conducts more efficiently.

As far as folks hearing differences in wire or connectors, or soldered connectors versus crimped etc. If you are are happy with a product and you believe it sounds better than another, more power to you.

 

[bagwell359]

I will preface this by saying I have always found Bagwell to be entertaining and very bright. There is not a whole lot of information out there about Litz wire and it has been a while since I studied it so if I get any info wrong I will certainly stand corrected.

First off it is produced and used to reduce skin effect. At frequencies above 100 kilocycles the signal travels significantly on the outside of wire but yet it does this as well to a small extent at lower frequencies. It is much more pronounced at high. Coaxial cable made in the 1,2, or 3 gig range often uses copper covered steel rather than solid copper for that reason and it is cheaper to produce. Why waste copper when the signal is on the outside of the wire anyway? Litz wire has each strand separately insulated so that they do not come in contact with the other wires so that conduction between them is lessened. They are then braided in a pattern where each wire comes to the outside surface of the bundle at an equal number of times. Notice I said each wire. This pattern reduces skin effect and the signal travels to a higher degree throughout the entire bundle, not just on the surface, and it conducts more efficiently.

As far as folks hearing differences in wire or connectors, or soldered connectors versus crimped etc. If you are are happy with a product and you believe it sounds better than another, more power to you.

There is a lot of goofing in this thread, so sometimes it's fun to join in. But seriously I'm all for more attempts to separate the wheat from the chaff.

 

[Derrick Swart]

If you already have a device with Gen 5, adding Eitr is a waste of $$.

Why?

 

[bagwell359]

Why?

EDIT: Oops wrong: Gen5 works USB to USB - i you only have a 1 USB and a coax you'll need eitr.


The eitr is a circuit taken from the Gen5. Schiit and reviewers say so. Google it. Now if you want the Gen5 function and don't have a Schiit DAC that can accept it, you'll need the eitr.

 

[KoshNaranek]

8 October Wall Street Journal

 

[Derrick Swart]

The eitr is a circuit taken from the Gen5. Schiit and reviewers say so. Google it. Now if you want the Gen5 function and don't have a Schiit DAC that can accept it, you'll need the eitr.

And if you want coax?

 

[bagwell359]

And if you want coax?

Well I believe that the Gen5 is USB only, so to get coax - yes eitr. Sorry about previous post

I bought the Gen5 for my Gumby about 3.5 weeks ago, but since then I've decided my designated PC isn't up to the job of being my main source, so I swung back to a new transport and a coax.

Big increase in clarity. But the amount of verbiage about digital coax cables is astounding. I bought a low end audiophile one to get started. Going to build two - one using solid core copper, the other stranded - all terminated with fancy terminations, and find out for myself about that.

 

[US Blues]

Silly Schiit-y question: would a SYS work well backwards, that is, one input (going to the OUT sockets) and two alternative outputs (from the two IN sockets)?

Yes, the SYS is not very bright (stupid Schiit) and cannot tell which way the signal is flowing.

 

[Robert Padgett]

Well I believe that the Gen5 is USB only, so to get coax - yes eitr. Sorry about previous post

I bought the Gen5 for my Gumby about 3.5 weeks ago, but since then I've decided my designated PC isn't up to the job of being my main source, so I swung back to a new transport and a coax.

Big increase in clarity. But the amount of verbiage about digital coax cables is astounding. I bought a low end audiophile one to get started. Going to build two - one using solid core copper, the other stranded - all terminated with fancy terminations, and find out for myself about that.

It was my understanding that the EITR incorporated the Gen5 technology to convert USB to SPDIF. I use the ALLO DigiOne with a RasPi as my SPDIF transport, because at $135 is was cheaper than a $179 EITR. I wish I had purchased the EITR because I like the Schiit ecosystem, and the RasPI/Allo has a very weak link--the coaxial connection.

Mine is broken off the board. Thank goodness that they also have a BNC connector which is more robust, because the locking collar can be tightened down to eliminate the "wobble" when coupling a stiff HFC CT-2 Helix Technology SPDIF interconnect.

Quality control at ALLO is rather poor--or should I say, that the robustness of their connections are suspect. I have an ALLO Boss DAC with the left channel jack broken off the board, and my first ALLO Boss DAC, the USB-C connector for separate power popped off as soon as I plugged the cable into it.

I am not a good DIY/solderer. I suspect that build quality of the EITR is much better quality.

Although I am committed to the RasPi as my end-points, had I done my due diligence on ALLO, I would have made different choices.

As HFC founder Rick Schultz advised me, High-end Audiophile cables and the Raspberry Pi solutions are a crap shoot at best. The stiffer cables overpower weak solder connections. High-end Cables assume High-end connections. Unfortunately, my "on the Cheap" attitude has bitten me on the butt numerous times.