[Ableza]

FYI, the power supply for Wyrd and Eitr are the same, so if you (like me) are swapping an Eitr into the spot now occupied by Wyrd, and the P/S is in a hard to reach location behind a rack or furniture, there is no need to swap it. Just use the installed unit from Wyrd for Eitr.

 

[DougD]

My thought as a consumer is that the line-ups are a bit confusing partially because the product listing on the left side of the website is a bit too lean and clean. And some of the (presumably most popular) MultiBit DACS are not directly visible.

To my mind, something little this would be much more informative, without adding TOO much clutter or width:

In addition, the "product upgrades" (from delta-sigma to multi-bit) are only going to be of interest to people who have already bought a Schiit DAC, and are familiar with the product line-up. So on the main product listing, those could be consolidated to one line as "DAC upgrades", with a pointer to a subpage.

In terms of product reduction/consolidation, I don't have any sentimental attachments to earlier products (which makes me unbiased) but also don't have any info on sales (which makes me ignorant.) But when I think of Schiit and DACs, I basically think "Schiit: THE multi-bit DAC company." At the very low price end, obviously delta-sigma is the only option. But once a potential shopper is at or above the price point of the Modi 2 multibit at $249 (USD), I'm not sure there's much need for the more expensive delta-sigma models anymore.

HTH

 

[HumanFly]

So the internal optical drive on my 2009 iMac is basically nonfunctional. I'm curious what the consensus pick is for external (USB) optical drive. I'm looking at the current retina 5k, but of course it doesn't have a disc drive. And, you know, I have historical recordings of Wagner performances from the silver age.

Check this out ( I usually do), they generate data on thousands of disks and publish it : https://www.backblaze.com/blog/hard-drive-reliability-stats-q1-2016/

Edit:
OK. sorry! I missed the optical bit. I own a TEAC that I really like.( https://teac.eu/en/bd-w26ss-bm3.html ) But it is a slot-loader and some people don`t like those. Does Apple use ultra-slim or regular sized optical drives? Not sure.
Anyone running a NAS should still check out that link!

 

[DougD]

2017, Chapter 16:
What We Did Wrong

Oh boy! Now you get to read about all of our screw-ups for 2017! These are exciting times!

I only jest a bit. Because hey, sometimes you can’t look away from the car wreck on the 405 on the way home. Sometimes you can’t help but watch a video called, “Spectacular Fails” and cringe your way through a whole lot of stuff that didn’t work out for the people involved.

So, let’s start with this: no company is perfect.

Stop. Go back. Read that again. And then think about it. << snip snip >>

Stuff like this is a significant part of why Schiit Audio isn't just another company. The outreach and communication by both Jason and Mike is extraordinary. Let me put it this way: I've been on the planet a long time. As a CUSTOMER, I feel that I know and understand Schiit's philosophy, values, and approach to business better than I did, as an employee, at almost any company that I have worked for.

edit many hours later: Plus it's all just fun to read and think about.

 

[Brubacca]

Congrats! You will definitely hear an improvement I believe. I did not replace a Wyrd in my setup, but I have also tried Eitr between microRendu and Gumby with great results - next-level sound from the mR/Gumby combo.

I have 2 PSU for the mR. I'm curious to see if this upgrade makes them moot. I have the iFi and Teddy Pardo.

 

[valiant66]

Check for guides online to build yourself a Hackintosh tower with a 4k display. Best of both worlds; easy to repair/replace the components yourself and much cheaper than an iMac with more horsepower. Of course, it won't be as sleek as an iMac, but at least you're not stuck ditching the whole thing to upgrade a major component, like the screen, processor, or gpu.

I have built a couple of hackintoshes now, and money is no longer a reason to build them. If you built a hack with feature-to-feature parity you will find that Apples economies of scale kick in big time, even with the so-called “Apple tax.”

You can build a cheaper hack than the cheapest iMac, but it’ll have lower specs.

The reason to build a hack these days is for things Apple doesn’t offer, like an internal Bluray drive, multiple hard drives, multiple video cards, specialty bus cards, etc. Basically if you want a tower like the old Mac Pros your only choice is to build one.

If your Mac is otherwise functional but has a failing optical drive your cheapest fix is an external one as suggested above. Otherwise places like Macsales.com might have a replacement internal if you are willing to undertake repairs yourself.
.

 

[earnmyturns]

I have 2 PSU for the mR. I'm curious to see if this upgrade makes them moot. I have the iFi and Teddy Pardo.

In my experience, Eitr or Gen 5 pretty much zero the benefit of mR over cheaper RPi or Sparky (allo USBridge) sources, even with cheap power supplies.

 

[lurkusmaximus]

Fascinating read.

My two cents. I love my Loki and wouldn't consider it a failure by any measure. It allows me to tweak my listening experience, either to make subtle corrections to the source (so many sub-optimal recordings out there) and/or to tailor a listening session to a particular headphone. I'm thinking about getting a second one for my work system.

I am totally with you on this. Loki does a phenomenal job. You'll have to pry it out of my cold dead hands.

 

[Letmebefrank]

I have built a couple of hackintoshes now, and money is no longer a reason to build them. If you built a hack with feature-to-feature parity you will find that Apples economies of scale kick in big time, even with the so-called “Apple tax.”

You can build a cheaper hack than the cheapest iMac, but it’ll have lower specs.

The reason to build a hack these days is for things Apple doesn’t offer, like an internal Bluray drive, multiple hard drives, multiple video cards, specialty bus cards, etc. Basically if you want a tower like the old Mac Pros your only choice is to build one.

If your Mac is otherwise functional but has a failing optical drive your cheapest fix is an external one as suggested above. Otherwise places like Macsales.com might have a replacement internal if you are willing to undertake repairs yourself.
.

You might pay the same amount of money for a hackintosh as you would a low end iMac, (although no 8th Gen Intel for iMac for some reason) and they may even have similar performance, but in 2 years when prices drop down on 8th Gen Intel you could replace the 8100k with an 8700k and a new graphics card and now you're back on top.

To me it's all about upgradability. iMacs are basically disposable. But hey, people can buy whatever they want.

 

[LarryMagoo]

So the internal optical drive on my 2009 iMac is basically nonfunctional. I'm curious what the consensus pick is for external (USB) optical drive. I'm looking at the current retina 5k, but of course it doesn't have a disc drive. And, you know, I have historical recordings of Wagner performances from the silver age.

You just get a Apple external drive. www.apple.com/shop/product/MD564LL/A/apple-usb-superdrive?fnod
It works great for when I rip music to my MAC Mini Roon Server . It's about $80!
Cheers!

 

[rkw]

You just get a Apple external drive. www.apple.com/shop/product/MD564LL/A/apple-usb-superdrive?fnod
It works great for when I rip music to my MAC Mini Roon Server . It's about $80!
Cheers!

Beware, look at the customer reviews there: https://www.apple.com/shop/reviews/MD564LL/A/apple-usb-superdrive

 

[bosiemoncrieff]

Yeah customer reviews are Schiit

 

[valiant66]

You might pay the same amount of money for a hackintosh as you would a low end iMac, (although no 8th Gen Intel for iMac for some reason) and they may even have similar performance, but in 2 years when prices drop down on 8th Gen Intel you could replace the 8100k with an 8700k and a new graphics card and now you're back on top.

To me it's all about upgradability. iMacs are basically disposable. But hey, people can buy whatever they want.

Sure. Unless Intel does to you what they did to me and switch form factor. No upgrade path for my i7 3770k, because it’s a 1155 socket and current gen use 1150. My hack cost ~CAD$2,200 to build and there is no upgrade path except for a new motherboard, cpu and ram. Another grand... *sigh*
.
.

 

[winders]

Beware, look at the customer reviews there: https://www.apple.com/shop/reviews/MD564LL/A/apple-usb-superdrive

Seriously, buy this:

https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/MR3UBDRW16/

 

[LarryMagoo]

Beware, look at the customer reviews there: https://www.apple.com/shop/reviews/MD564LL/A/apple-usb-superdrive

I have come to learn the average Joe and their reviews do not hold a ton of weight depending on what they say. I have used this drive to rip TB's worth of CD's and it has been 100% flawless! One of the reason's I remain an Apple fan, is besides building the best products, their Customer Service is second too none! I do take care of electrical instruments though and that seems to have served me well over the years. I get what I seem to perceive as flawless file transfers to my MAC mini for playback via RoonServer that has been the finest player I have used to date.