Schiit EITR

[Speed Racer]

8 minutes ago, jaaptina said:

I was in doubt between upgrading microRendu to ultraRendu or adding EITR. Since EITR is sold out and I could sell microRendu for a reasonable price I have upgraded to ultraRendu. Very happy with the boost in sound quality. More than I thought possible.

Might give EITR a try when it's on sale again. Just to be able to use coax input. 

 

What DAC do you have?

[Mshenay]

6 hours ago, Charente said:

@Mshenay .. Welcome !  Most of us here would agree that EITR is an impressive unit, especially at the price.

 

I suspect a s/hand Yggdrasil might be difficult to find ... that seems to be a rare event ! If a new one is a stretch, perhaps also consider a new Gungnir MultiBit (also with Gen5) ... it's pretty close to a Yggdrasil, maybe a bit less resolving ... but very satisfying nonetheless.

 

I also found significant overall improvement with a Balanced Power Supply, feeding mains to the EITR, DAC & AMP (only) and isolating from any other units (especially SMPS's) ... something else to consider !

 

What DAC are you currently using with the EITR ?

 

I should clarify, the adapter is more the issue than the circuity inside handling power, and really it's a "non issue" issue. But that you found improvements with a balanced power supply feeding the Etir let's us know that the included hardware isn't end game. Though Schiit nor any one else ever indicated that it was, so again really a non issue. I'm not being critical of the product by any means! It performs wonderfully! 

 

As for acquiring a s/hand model, there's actually one up now on Audiogon. So i'm pretty confident that finding one used won't be difficult. I'd still like to hear other options in the mean time

 

I'm using an Audio GD NFB10ES2, for the longest time I didn't have the physical space for a new DAC, as I literally built my desk around my NFB 10ES2 shortly after I got it in 2013. Thankfully that's no longer the case and I look forward to hearing other options

[jaaptina]

4 hours ago, Speed Racer said:

 

What DAC do you have?

Goldmund Job INTegrated amp with dac. Job seems to have a slight preference for usb input. However the startup procedure isn't straightforward when usb device is kept powered up. Coax input is without difficulty. Singxer F1 didn't sound as good as USB input though. 

[OldBigEars]

Wasn’t sure which forum to post this on, but decided to post here as this really goes back to the question about whether or not Eitr needs a superior source to get the best SQ,  or if it magically compensates for any source (as has been suggested).  

 

Recently i added a mRendu 1.3.  I thought it sounded marginally better than a straight connection from my MBP,  but not  a huge gain.  It was powered by an ifi ipower. 

 

Last night i added a CIAudio power supply.  Holy crap - what a jump in performance.  My wife couldn’t tear me away from my music collection last night.  I’m very pleased with it.  

 

Now that I’ve proved to myself that the source does indeed matter with Eitr,  I’ll probably go ahead and get the 1.4 board upgrade for the mR.  

[Abtr]

1 hour ago, OldBigEars said:

Wasn’t sure which forum to post this on, but decided to post here as this really goes back to the question about whether or not Eitr needs a superior source to get the best SQ,  or if it magically compensates for any source (as has been suggested).  

 

Recently i added a mRendu 1.3.  I thought it sounded marginally better than a straight connection from my MBP,  but not  a huge gain.  It was powered by an ifi ipower. 

 

Last night i added a CIAudio power supply.  Holy crap - what a jump in performance.  My wife couldn’t tear me away from my music collection last night.  I’m very pleased with it.  

 

Now that I’ve proved to myself that the source does indeed matter with Eitr,  I’ll probably go ahead and get the 1.4 board upgrade for the mR.  

 

Nice. The iFi iPower basically is a very good DC power supply. Unfortunately (like all SMPSs) it puts back a rather large amount of noise into your AC mains. You could try isolating this noise from your audio equipment by using a good (audio-grade) mains isolation transformer and connect your DAC, pre-amp and power-amp(s) to the IT, and the iPower to any wall outlet..
 

[Charente]

Good news @OldBigEars ! I agree with @Abtr on the approach of isolating mains supply to audio gear from absolutely ANYTHING else, particularly SMPS's. His recommendation earlier in this thread persuaded me to go down that route and I was surprised at the positive difference in sound quality this achieved. It's probably my tweak of the year !

[OldBigEars]

5 hours ago, Abtr said:

 

Nice. The iFi iPower basically is a very good DC power supply. Unfortunately (like all SMPSs) it puts back a rather large amount of noise into your AC mains. You could try isolating this noise from your audio equipment by using a good (audio-grade) mains isolation transformer and connect your DAC, pre-amp and power-amp(s) to the IT, and the iPower to any wall outlet..
 

 

Thanks @Abtr but I probably wasn't very clear...I rushed my earlier post in my enthusiasm to gush about my new CI Audio power supply.  It's a linear power supply, and has replaced my iPower.  This difference in SQ is really surprising me, in the best possible way.  I was kind of expecting at best a marginal improvement, due to the aforementioned Eitr.  But no, it's a stark, obvious step up in musicality, body and detail.   Now about that AC power conditioner....I may well get to that soon.  I don't doubt what you say about the importance pf clean power.

[Speed Racer]

What kind of power conditioner?

 

I would look hard at an isolation transformer versus a power conditioner. 

[OldBigEars]

1 hour ago, Speed Racer said:

What kind of power conditioner?

 

I would look hard at an isolation transformer versus a power conditioner. 

I have the opportunity to pick up an audioquest niagara 1000 at a very good discount. Thinking about it. ?

[Speed Racer]

1 minute ago, OldBigEars said:

I have the opportunity to pick up an audioquest niagara 1000 at a very good discount. Thinking about it. ?

 

Why? A Topaz .0005pF interwinding capacitance isolation transformer would be better.

[OldBigEars]

I’ll take a look.  Thanks 

[jaaptina]

With microRendu I replaced the iFi iPower with a stack of rechargeable batteries. It sounded so much better I decided to buy uptone LPS-1. 

A few weeks ago I sold the microRendu and bought an ultraRendu. Again a clear improvement. 

[Charente]

@jaaptina ... Yes, IMO a LPS is a mandatory recommendation for the xRendus. Do you still intend to pair up with an EITR ? I am running an original mR v1.3 into EITR and altho' some suggest the 1.4 upgrade (or even an ultraRendu) is an improvement in that setup, I am not yet persuaded that the difference will be worthwhile. So long as the EITR gets a good quality signal, it does the rest to produce good SQ. So, the question is, how much better quality signal does it have to be to make a worthwhile difference through the EITR ? ... and why ?

[Speed Racer]

An LPS made a noticeable improvement with my ultraRendu.  I went with a Teddy Pardo 7vdc unit. I really would have liked to go with the UpTone Audio UltraCap LPS-1 as I think the use of capacitors is a great idea. But, the fact that it needs another energizing supply (which really needs to be an LPS so the AC mains are not contaminated) and that it puts out only 1 amp stopped me.

[OldBigEars]

3 hours ago, Charente said:

@jaaptina ... Yes, IMO a LPS is a mandatory recommendation for the xRendus. Do you still intend to pair up with an EITR ? I am running an original mR v1.3 into EITR and altho' some suggest the 1.4 upgrade (or even an ultraRendu) is an improvement in that setup, I am not yet persuaded that the difference will be worthwhile. So long as the EITR gets a good quality signal, it does the rest to produce good SQ. So, the question is, how much better quality signal does it have to be to make a worthwhile difference through the EITR ? ... and why ?

 

Yep I think I'm gonna get my 1.3 upgraded to 1.4 while I'm away next week.  Once again, I'm skeptical about the improvement but for $235 let's call it an X-mas prezzie to myself - if nothing else, I'll have checked that box and won't be wondering what if...  I'm well aware that people are reporting a clear improvement between the mR and uR.  I don't think my ears are that good :-)  And I really can't be bothered to go through the selling and buying process.  My wife already thinks I'm absolutely mental. LOL

[Charente]

@OldBigEars ... let us know your thoughts when you get the mR upgrade done.

[Charente]

5 hours ago, Speed Racer said:

An LPS made a noticeable improvement with my ultraRendu.  I went with a Teddy Pardo 7vdc unit. I really would have liked to go with the UpTone Audio UltraCap LPS-1 as I think the use of capacitors is a great idea. But, the fact that it needs another energizing supply (which really needs to be an LPS so the AC mains are not contaminated) and that it puts out only 1 amp stopped me.

 

@Speed Racer ... I presume the Teddy Pardo unit is this one ... https://www.teddypardo.com/powersupplies/teddy7-2.html ... looks remarkable value compared to the LPS-1 ... I wonder what the difference in SQ is. The iFi iPower energiser for the LPS-1 on my setup is outside the Balanced Power Supply and I noticed that made a difference when I did some swap-out tests a while ago. The sound I get is very clear now and low level detail is remarkable. Difficult to see how it could get much better ... but who knows !

 

[jaaptina]

4 hours ago, OldBigEars said:

I don't think my ears are that good :-)  And I really can't be bothered to go through the selling and buying process.  My wife already thinks I'm absolutely mental. LOL

?I didn't hear much difference between dacs (4) and amps (2) let alone cabling. Differences between Pioneer N-30 streamer, Aries Mini, microRendu and ultimately ultraRendu were all very satisfactory.

Now I'm wondering about the nuances I missed in my former Metrum Octave dac and Sonneteer Alabaster amp due to the lousy N-30. 

[Speed Racer]

4 hours ago, Charente said:

 

@Speed Racer ... I presume the Teddy Pardo unit is this one ... https://www.teddypardo.com/powersupplies/teddy7-2.html ... looks remarkable value compared to the LPS-1 ... I wonder what the difference in SQ is. The iFi iPower energiser for the LPS-1 on my setup is outside the Balanced Power Supply and I noticed that made a difference when I did some swap-out tests a while ago. The sound I get is very clear now and low level detail is remarkable. Difficult to see how it could get much better ... but who knows !

 

 

Yes, that is the Teddy Pardo that I bought. I could have plugged the LPS-1's Meanwell SMPS into the same wall socket I have my Topaz plugged into. Tat would have kept the SMPS from contaminating the AC after the Topaz. But, I didn't want any SMPS any where near my audio gear which would have required me to buy another LPS power source fro the LPS-1.

 

I don't know if the Teddy Pardo is as clean as the LPS-1, but the difference is certainly not significant.

[Abtr]

21 hours ago, OldBigEars said:

Thanks @Abtr but I probably wasn't very clear...I rushed my earlier post in my enthusiasm to gush about my new CI Audio power supply.  It's a linear power supply, and has replaced my iPower.  This difference in SQ is really surprising me, in the best possible way.  I was kind of expecting at best a marginal improvement, due to the aforementioned Eitr.  But no, it's a stark, obvious step up in musicality, body and detail.   Now about that AC power conditioner....I may well get to that soon.  I don't doubt what you say about the importance pf clean power.

Yes, I got that. I merely (implicitly) suggested that the iPower might sound as good or better than the CI Audio LPS if you isolate it from your analogue audio gear with a good mains isolation transformer.

 

I'm interested in any experience with the AQ Niagara which, according to AudioQuest, might be a game changer. Yet I'm skeptical it could outperform an audio-grade (low capacitance) mains IT..

[Charente]

41 minutes ago, Abtr said:

I'm interested in any experience with the AQ Niagara which, according to AudioQuest, might be a game changer. Yet I'm skeptical it could outperform an audio-grade (low capacitance) mains IT..

 

Me too ! For the price difference between an Airlink Transformer and Niagara, it would have to unequivocally trounce the Airlink ! I worry that it's a 'conditioner' having previously been advised against this for audio.

[Speed Racer]

43 minutes ago, Abtr said:

Yes, I got that. I merely (implicitly) suggested that the iPower might sound as good or better than the CI Audio LPS if you isolate it from your analogue audio gear with a good mains isolation transformer.

 

Not likely. I still think it is smart to get rid of any SMPS you might have plugged into the same same circuit as your audio gear, before the isolation transformer or not.

[Speed Racer]

46 minutes ago, Abtr said:

I'm interested in any experience with the AQ Niagara which, according to AudioQuest, might be a game changer. Yet I'm skeptical it could outperform an audio-grade (low capacitance) mains IT..

 

I have seen nothing to suggest that it beats this:

[OldBigEars]

3 hours ago, Charente said:

 

Me too ! For the price difference between an Airlink Transformer and Niagara, it would have to unequivocally trounce the Airlink ! I worry that it's a 'conditioner' having previously been advised against this for audio.

 

I doubt I'd pay anything like normal retail for the Niagara, but fortunately it seems I can get one for under half price.  It's hard to ignore. It's got some killer reviews, if you believe that stuff.  I'm curious, I have to say. 

[One and a half]

The Niagara certainly looks a lot better than the Topaz, has all the outlets built in. From a convenience point, the Niagara would take the prize, the Topaz being the ugly duckling. The Topaz would need to be fitted with a distributor, earth fault protection and if you can hide it, the 1000 has no common mode noise reduction at all. The efficiency stakes, the Topaz wins hands down, and is still cheaper than Niagara at 50% off.

Forget all the current delivery nonsense of the Niagara, just size a Topaz accordingly and it more than enough provide current for any amp.