[gefski]

Does the Atterotech use gigabit ethernet?

Yes, here's the manual.

https://www.atterotech.com/downloads/docs/manuals/unDAES-O-User-Manual.pdf

 

[bosiemoncrieff]

Thanks. I'm still not clear, though, about whether using gigabit ethernet will necessarily lead to improved sound quality. I'm also anxious that the next iMac will jettison ethernet ports. The MacBook Pro lost them at least two generations ago. My iMac is from 2009 (freshman year of college lol) but I'm hoping to upgrade it when the next generation is released—hopefully in the spring. But if I have to go through USB-C to get to ethernet, why not just put USB straight into Yggy? Does anyone think that converting USB-C on one of the new MBPs to ethernet and the ethernet to the digital XLR standard would improve audio quality?

 

[watchnerd]

  Thanks. I'm still not clear, though, about whether using gigabit ethernet will necessarily lead to improved sound quality. 

 
Why would it?
 
The needs of streaming lossless audio are far far below gigabit speeds.

 

[earnmyturns]

  But if I have to go through USB-C to get to ethernet, why not just put USB straight into Yggy? Does anyone think that converting USB-C on one of the new MBPs to ethernet and the ethernet to the digital XLR standard would improve audio quality?

You are talking about two very different uses of USB-C: 1) for an Ethernet connection; 2) for USB audio directly into a DAC. The benefit of using 1) to distribute digital music to Ethernet-based endpoints that connect to DACs is the electrically noisy Mac is electrically and spatially separated from your DAC and analog chain, unlike with 2). That benefit is independent of whether the Mac has an Ethernet port, or you have to use a USB-C Ethernet dongle for the purpose. Personally, I use Mac for general computing, but use a specialized server (Intel NUC) for streaming digital music (using Roon) to endpoints connected to my DACs.

 

[watchnerd]

  Personally, I use Mac for general computing, but use a specialized server (Intel NUC) for streaming digital music (using Roon) to endpoints connected to my DACs.

 
I use a headless (no monitor or keyboard) Mac mini as my dedicated music server, running Roon.  No DAC on the Mac mini.
 
My Roon endpoints are Raspberry Pi boxes.  They're connected to the network via Ethernet and output S/PDIF coax, which goes into my living room DAC.
 
(My DAW is a completely different scenario, using Thunderbolt-based interfaces for DSP/DAC).

 

[artur9]

   I'm also anxious that the next iMac will jettison ethernet ports.

I cannot imagine that they would do that.  What would be the point?  Then again, today's Apple seems to hate ports of all kinds.

 

[noshortcuts]

A good chronicle of musicians we lost in 2016: http://www.npr.org/2016/12/19/505570682/in-memoriam-2016

 

[Bunbury]

A good chronicle of musicians we lost in 2016: http://www.npr.org/2016/12/19/505570682/in-memoriam-2016

They will only be truly lost once we stop listening to their creations.

 

[schneller]

I agree that Schiit needs to at the very least offer a product that can properly help us feed its best DAC, the Yiggy with its AES/EBU XLR input. For me, this would be a Schiit PCIe card (with full- and half-height options) that would output to any of the Yiggy inputs, including XLR, at least one of the SPDIF (Coax) inputs, etc. Such a device should improve any/all Schiit DACs, down to the Modi2.

Bring it on!

 
I am going to quote myself... 
 
After having spent 5 hours on Sunday in a local HiFi shop comparing the Holo Spring Level 3, the Yiggy, the Ayre Codex, and the Chord 2Qute and doing so through a host of sources and inputs, I have to say yet again that Schiit should help us take the doubt out of USB. It is the most flexible medium but not the best sounding one. The AES/XLR is certainly preferred. I just really wish Schiit could make something that gives us better PC > DAC quality than USB and would allow us to ignore the countless threads about U2S converters, USB cleaners, re-clockers, isolators, etc. 

 

[watchnerd]

  I just really wish Schiit could make something that gives us better PC > DAC quality than USB and would allow us to ignore the countless threads about U2S converters, USB cleaners, re-clockers, isolators, etc. 

 
Streaming over ethernet, my friend, plus S/PDIF out.
 
All available for <$100 if you build a Raspberry Pi based solution yourself.

 

[earnmyturns]

   
I am going to quote myself... 
 
After having spent 5 hours on Sunday in a local HiFi shop comparing the Holo Spring Level 3, the Yiggy, the Ayre Codex, and the Chord 2Qute and doing so through a host of sources and inputs, I have to say yet again that Schiit should help us take the doubt out of USB. It is the most flexible medium but not the best sounding one. The AES/XLR is certainly preferred. I just really wish Schiit could make something that gives us better PC > DAC quality than USB and would allow us to ignore the countless threads about U2S converters, USB cleaners, re-clockers, isolators, etc. 

Is the problem USB, or super-electrically-noisy PCs? In my systems, Sonore microRendu+UpTone LPS-1>USB>Schiit multibit DAC (tested on both Bimby and Yggy) beat lesser digital sources>USB>well regarded USB>S/PDIF converter/reclocker>DAC. 

 

[bosiemoncrieff]

Can Mike add an Ethernet input to yggy

 

[earnmyturns]

Can Mike add an Ethernet input to yggy

He could do worse than make a deal with Sonore and incorporate the guts of a microRendu  

 

[bosiemoncrieff]

I can't see Mike or Jason giving up control of some component of their product without very good reason (i.e., a DAC chip, perhaps a vacuum tube).

 

[johnjen]

Can Mike add an Ethernet input to yggy

That would be about 1/3rd of the necessary h/w & s/w needed to be able to use that ethernet connection.
 
Either an AOIP, or a DLNA, or other network protocol would need to be implemented in both the player and the dac in order to 'talk' to the dac.
 
But it would seem that the ideal solution would be to have an ethernet connection on the dac and then have it plug directly into the dac's internal I2S bus.
This would bypass USB, SPDIF, AES, altogether.
 
It would also require a considerable amount of development.
 
JJ