Schiit EITR

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@sukyung This looks like an 'industrial' version of their Balanced Power Supply range with higher rating and additional protection, which my unit (BPS1502EU) does not have. If you need 3000 VA for your audio equipment (seems rather high to me for typical audio) then I imagine this unit will be every bit as good as mine. However, something in the back of my mind advises caution regarding high VA rated transformers ... perhaps someone with an EE background could also comment.

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Has anyone done a comparison between the EITR and the MUTEC+3-USB ... without the (rather expensive !) Ref10 clock unit ?

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@OldBigEars Thank-you ... I'll check out that thread ... and for the suggestion. I thought that control in A+ was for track buffering purposes rather than playback. I had thought it was an electrical problem, following on from Mike Moffats post some time ago ... but I'll give it a go as you suggest.

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@Lebouwsky Thank-you for the link about the DDC comparisons. That resolves it in my mind !!

 

Regarding your comment about feeding the EITR with a different PS, Schiit strongly advises against that in the manual.

 

As I mentioned before, addressing your mains supply, either with a Balanced Power Supply or an Isolating Transformer would most likely give you the best results for ALL your audio equipment in one go.

 

I also agree with @Speed Racer about SMPS ... I have done various experiments in placing these and the results have been both surprising and worthwhile. I now have the perfect placement in my setup and I'll post my experience in a little more detail soon.

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@pas Interesting, although I suspect varying degrees of improvement might be expected depending on the quality of the S/PDIF in the first place, as @Speed Racer observed. 

 

I have a bit of a hate-hate relationship with the iPower PS, following my own experiments ... it will be leaving my chain very soon and I'll find something else to energise the UpTone LPS-1. 

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Part of the point of this thread was to prove (or dis-prove) the claim that nothing in front of the EITR makes any difference. I previously reported that the microRendu provided a small but worthwhile difference, particularly in soundstage depth in my setup, although I use it for other reasons as well. @pas's own impression with the ISO Regen is equally interesting. My conclusion was that there may to be something relating to the integrity of the USB signal fed into the EITR, since the power issues 'should' be well catered for in the EITR. I guess the same argument applies equally to Gen5 upgraded Schiit DACs.

 

I did consider including the ISO Regen but I am somewhat loath to put yet another box and its accompanying, potentially noise inducing, SMPS in the chain ... hence I focused instead on improving the mains supply to all the units. I argue that mains 'before' the EITR has a significant affect. More to follow about that !

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@Lebouwsky You have been busy !!! Interesting comments about the server setup you have.

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@Lebouwsky This seems like a reasonable low-cost, dedicated alternative setup to a MacMini ... which are typically much more expensive IME. 

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@TubeMan Probably best to email Schiit distributors in the UK and Holland for a forecast. They seem to have differing stock committments IME.

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Since getting the Balanced Power Supply (BPS), I have been experimenting with placement of the SMPS's I have as part of my setup. This was originally spurred on by @Abtr 's comment quite a few pages ago, which motivated me to try a BPS in the first place. The initial results I got from the BPS were very notable and welcome and I wrote up my views on that at the time.

 

I currently have 3 SMPS ... for the WD NAS, Netgear Switch and UpTone LPS-1. Through trial and error, I found that the iFi iPower (powering the LPS-1) was a key culprit in polluting  the AC supply to everything else. So, this has been relegated to a mains socket on its own, outside of the BPS. Equally, the other 2 SMPS were also guilty to some extent but I didn't want them sharing the socket that the iPower was using. So, I connected the other two SMPS to the battery side of an APC 900Pro UPS (used for the iMac in the same room). 

 

The rest of the gear chain (MacMini, EITR, GMB and MJ2) shares a strip connected to the BPS in glorious isolation.

 

Listening to some of my reference test albums, the improvement that the EITR delivers has been enhanced further to a significant degree by this power setup. The clarity of the instruments and soundstage depth & ambient quality is startlingly good. One particular album that had me sit up was 'Revisiting Grapelli' by Matias Levy, a wonderful alternative jazz performance with some amazing violin, cello and bass. The depth of detail of the effects played (and deliberately misplayed) on the strings was palpable. I'm not usually given to superlatives but this is truly superb and a great test of what the EITR/GMB pairing is capable of.

 

I don't know if my power setup makes sense from an EE point of view, but just using my ears and listening to music I now feel I have the optimal set up for ALL my audio gear, with what I have available.

 

The BPS, being system independent (together with a considered placement of any SMPS's) has become my favourite tweak ... a close run thing with the EITR for this crown.

 

Where do I go next ? I'm not sure there is much more I want to do with the main system. I did consider an audio optimised AQVOX switch but they are quite a price for an unknown, possibly small, SQ return in my system. Perhaps even a Schiit Gadget ? However, I think I'll focus on the headphones first ... something a bit more neutral than the HD650 ... perhaps the new Mr. Speakers Aeon Open ?

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AS a footnote to the above, and in the interest of fairplay, this thread reviewed a number of SMPS vs LPS's ... the iFi iPower measured very well on its DC output in comparison.

 

 

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@Speed Racer Indeed so !! ... quite a revelation to me.

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There is quite an industry of threads on CA devoted to the effects of SMPS and switches, etc. ... some of which unfortunately goes right over my head in its detail ... apologies to the contributors but its horses for courses ! 

 

At least the EITR's wallwart is a relatively straightforward AC step down transformer, and not an AC/DC supply, which applies to all of the smaller Schiit products ... something I appreciate with the marque.

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@jaaptina What do you have as the energiser SMPS for the LPS-1 ? It may possibly be the main cause of AC pollution to other units, as I have found out. As far as the EITR is concerned, I refer you to the second para of my post just above yours.

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@jaaptina ... As @pas pointed out the EITR power supply is NOT an SMPS but an AC step-down transformer. The only reason it's an external unit is because it wouldn't fit into the EITR case. All your audio units will have a similar step-down transformer built in.

 

The isolation that mR gives is for the DC on USB and not AC. The polluting effect on AC is also profound, typically caused by AC/DC SMPS and this could affect all your other units connected to the AC mains. Hence why I isolated the AC supply to my audio units from everything else. Even then, there is the possibility of leakage current through the Ethernet switch which may end up in the mR.... this is all subject of many threads on CA.

 

During my experiments, I found putting the EITR PS on the same strip as an SMPS deteriorated the sound quality and is why I put it on the BPS.

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@Lebouwsky Excellent news ! I agree, the UpTone USPCB is certainly an affordable and worthwhile tweak ... and judged by respected commentators to be better than many higher end (cost) cables. It could be challenging to fit in certain setups tho', I can imagine, but seems you managed it !

 

I tried the switch and it simply disconnected the EITR ... apparently some small milliamps of vbus power are still required for handshaking (only) purposes

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@Abtr Thank-you for the album suggestion ! Always interested in hearing new music, so I'll dig it up tonight.

 

I can't offer any 'sane' explanation why you might hear a better result via a Gen2 USB input versus the Gen5 USB of the EITR. I'd need to understand the issues better to consider whether its down to XLR in my system. To be honest, I'm also not sure what 'technical' disadvantage Gen2 was supposed to have that caused Schiit to update their USB inputs to Gen5 for BiFrost, Gungnir and Ygdrassil.

 

From my experience, I had previously used the USB input on GMB exclusively, including some months with the mR (+LPS-1). That was fine ... it was clean and clear and I had no cause at the time to grumble. That was until I discovered I preferred the sound when I experimented with S/PDIF. I found the sound to have more body (weight) to it whereas, by comparison via USB, it sounded 'flatter'. To my ears, the EITR gave additional clarity and therefore detail. So, I guess, the other (potentially big) difference in our system is our ears !! 

 

I have never tried an Intona, although I have heard good comments about it. I'm not sure what you meant by ... "And I found that clean, isolated 5V USB power injected at the DAC by an Uptone LPS-1 improves SQ" ... could you elaborate ?

 

However, I did try the MacMini connected to AC outside the BPS as part of my recent experiments and I found that gave me a more 'compressed' soundstage ... the instruments and vocals sounded much closer to me and the depth I had before almost vanished and that ambient airy quality was missing ... so the MacMini went back to the BPS.

 

Whilst unhappily I don't concur with you in this instance, thank-you for your thoughts however.

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@Abtr I can't understand why we hear USB & S/PDIF inputs as exact opposites ... bizarre to say the least ! I can't imagine that Gungnir's USB input is worse than Modi's ... probably the same, but I don't know for sure ... I may give USB direct another whirl at some stage if only to quell the seed of doubt in my mind !!

 

Ah, OK ... I see what you're doing with the clean 5v injection at the DAC ... I've never tried that so, didn't understand your original suggestion. I do have a USB adapter with a pigtail somewhere in my collection of bits, so I could try that at the same time to try and replicate your setup. 

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I have this one ... made by Audiophonics in France ... 

https://www.audiophonics.fr/en/various-adapters/usb-b-adapter-cable-for-55-21mm-female-power-supply-p-8332.html

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A good point/question !

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Agree with @Lebouwsky ... a bit of 'running in' may help the Gen5 board bring out its best ... certainly the case with the EITR, ime, altho' not as much as a totally brand new GMB (altho' some say it makes no difference at all). 

 

From memory, did you feel that the Gen2 USB you had before, was better or worse than S/PDIF on the GMB ? ... or same difference as with Gen5 ?

 

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Good news @EMMM ... The GMB is a stellar DAC and very revealing, as you describe. I'm sure you will enjoy it for some time to come. 

 

Regarding your power supply, I know I've been banging this drum before (you may have read my previous posts), but it is a worthwhile aspect to pay attention to. I don't use a power conditioner or power filters (some advise against them) but can highly recommend an Isolation/Balanced Power Transformer to achieve a good boost in SQ.... particularly for live recordings, such as you listen to ... the ambience detail is excellent.

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On 10/28/2017 at 7:01 PM, Lebouwsky said:

Last weekend I discovered a nice feature of the Eitr that is worth sharing. It involves movies instead of music (blasphemy, I know). 

 

 

 

Great tip @Lebouwsky... I don't watch many movies, in fact I don't watch much TV either but I'm sure others will be interested to try your experiment.

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An EITR challenger ? ... 

Chances are it will be much more expensive ... No details yet, but looks interesting.