Great New Schiit (USB Gen 5 upgrade and Eitr)

[The Computer Audiophile]

Directly from Schiit:

 

 

Hey everyone,

In today’s morass of USB decrapifiers, recombobulators, and other clean-upperers, it’s easy to get jaded. USB input? What a pain in the butt. And maybe not the best choice for sound.

Not anymore.

 

Introducing the new Schiit Gen 5 USB input—the USB so good that even Mike Moffat admitted it sounded great. With galvanic isolation (uniquely, via transformers), self-power via the DAC, and precision crystal local clocking for both the 44.1k and 48k sample rate multiples, it’s the highest performance USB input we’ve ever offered, by a large margin.

 

Sounds expensive? Nope. Come on, you guys know us. USB Gen 5 is the same price as the outgoing Gen 2. It’s standard on all our DACs. And, of course, everyone who already has an upgradable Schiit DAC can move up to Gen 5 for $150—with installation!

 

What’s more, we’ve taken Gen 5 technology and put it in a standalone USB-SPDIF converter. It works with any DAC that has a coaxial digital input, and it’s $179.

 

The Gen 5 USB input, the Gen 5 upgrade, and Eitr are all available now at Schiit.com

 

Product Pages: schiit.com/products/gen-5-usb, schiit.com/products/eitr 

Press Release: http://schiit.com/news/news/usb-solved-introducing-gen-5-and-eitr

Book Chapter: https://www.head-fi.org/f/threads/schiit-happened-the-story-of-the-worlds-most-improbable-start-up.701900/

 

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us anytime.

All the best,

 

Jason Stoddard

Mike Moffat

 

Co-Founders

Schiit Audio

[Speed Racer]

Intriguing, very intriguing!!

[rikhav]

A very slily question to ask, but better to clear a doubt

 

Can this board be used for non-schiit DACs to upgrade the usb interface ?

[The Computer Audiophile]

No silly questions. Anything is possible, but you'd be trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. Plus, doubt they will sell it as a part only. 

 

Who knows though.

[rikhav]

1 minute ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

No silly questions. Anything is possible, but you'd be trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. Plus, doubt they will sell it as a part only. 

 

Who knows though.

 

Hi Chris

Totally agree.

Best is to contact schiit directly

 

Things moving too fast with anything usb in DACs

 

The Allo transports, digione and usbridge

 

The new phasure Cable and now this

[The Computer Audiophile]

Fun stuff.

[JoeWhip]

Gee, USB solved and you don't need a new USB cable!

[scan80269]

Hmmm, I wonder if this Gen 5 USB can catapult the SQ of USB input above AES input for Yggdrasil.  I guess this is a $150+ question.

 

I also wonder if Schiit would entertain Yggy owners doing their own USB daughterboard swap, instead of sending their units to Schiit to get the upgrade done.  The Yggy is probably amongst the largest and heaviest of Schiit products so shipping can be substantial even within CONUS.

 

Another question would be whether the Gen 5 USB upgrade will be compatible with the native Class 2 USB audio driver of Windows 10 Creators Update (RS2).  I noticed the C-Media CM6631A USB chip on the Gen 5 USB board vs. the CM6632A chip on the Gen 3 USB board that Yggy has shipped with since its launch.  I have been unable to get my Yggy to work with the Win10 native Class 2 USB audio driver, so would really like to know whether the Gen 5 USB upgrade will represent a repeat case.

 

A somewhat related question would be whether a microRendu (with SonicOrbiter 2.5) driving Yggy would still work after the Gen 5 USB upgrade.  Perhaps this is a question best answered by Jesus?

 

$150 is not a heck of a lot of money, but answers to the above question should help me decide whether to spring for this upgrade, or sell my Yggy instead,

 

[JoeWhip]

The new USB card will be able to be purchased for self install according to Jason. Just not at the onset as they needed them for new DAC orders and those that want Schiit to do the upgrade. I will wait for the self install. For the Yggy, it is a snap. A bit harder for the Gumby. Hopefully in a month or so. fingers crossed.

[The Computer Audiophile]

Good questions scan. I'll be running those tests as soon as I can. 

[PorkChop]

Can this product really turn a run-of-the mill USB port (PC not built specifically for audio) into an audiophile quality SPDIF signal?  Almost sounds too good to be true.

[firedog]

4 hours ago, PorkChop said:

Can this product really turn a run-of-the mill USB port (PC not built specifically for audio) into an audiophile quality SPDIF signal?  Almost sounds too good to be true.

It probably can. "Audiophile" USB>SPDIF converters have been around now for about a decade, ranging in price from about $100 to $2000. In general, users report improved SQ using them, especially with some of the better ones. 

There are a lot of reviews of these devices around, including on this site. 

 

The new Schiit unit is probably  a good value  - generally Schiit makes products that give you a lot for your money, compared to many competing products. You could always try one and return it before the trial period ends. You haven't got much to lose.

[firedog]

On 7/18/2017 at 4:36 AM, The Computer Audiophile said:

Good questions scan. I'll be running those tests as soon as I can. 

Comparing it to your Berkeley USB would be very interesting....

[jventer]

3 hours ago, firedog said:

Comparing it to your Berkeley USB would be very interesting....

Tongue in cheek?

[firedog]

6 minutes ago, jventer said:

Tongue in cheek?

Not at all. Schiit claims they have a special converter design which is as good as anything on the market:

Quote

. It’s simply the highest-performance USB input available today, with complete electrostatic and electromagnetic isolation (via transformers), self-power (requires no USB input power) and separate, precision clock sources for both 44.1 and 48kHz multiples. (And if you don’t understand the technobabble, here’s the point: it works great and sounds great, too.)

 

Based on their track record, I expect the unit to be as good as some other converters that cost much more. So let's get a direct comparison with Chris' Berkeley USB, which costs close to $2k and is considered to be the best or one of the best converters on the market.

Chris' has often written that his Berkeley USB has improved the sound of even high end components. Let's see if he thinks the Schiit converter is as not as good, nearly as good, as good, or better than the Berkeley. 

 

I am an admirer of Schiit. But if they want to make claims that their much less expensive stuff is as good as much more expensive stuff, they should be held to that standard. 

[jventer]

Looking forward to reviews

[PorkChop]

14 hours ago, firedog said:

It probably can. "Audiophile" USB>SPDIF converters have been around now for about a decade, ranging in price from about $100 to $2000. In general, users report improved SQ using them, especially with some of the better ones. 

There are a lot of reviews of these devices around, including on this site. 

 

The new Schiit unit is probably  a good value  - generally Schiit makes products that give you a lot for your money, compared to many competing products. You could always try one and return it before the trial period ends. You haven't got much to lose.

 

 

Thanks firedog. My question was naive.  What I was really asking was, is there something about the technology of the Eitr that would make it more USB agnostic than the competing products?

[mourip]

On 7/17/2017 at 7:17 PM, scan80269 said:

Hmmm, I wonder if this Gen 5 USB can catapult the SQ of USB input above AES input for Yggdrasil.  I guess this is a $150+ question.

 

I also wonder if Schiit would entertain Yggy owners doing their own USB daughterboard swap, instead of sending their units to Schiit to get the upgrade done.  The Yggy is probably amongst the largest and heaviest of Schiit products so shipping can be substantial even within CONUS.

 

Another question would be whether the Gen 5 USB upgrade will be compatible with the native Class 2 USB audio driver of Windows 10 Creators Update (RS2).  I noticed the C-Media CM6631A USB chip on the Gen 5 USB board vs. the CM6632A chip on the Gen 3 USB board that Yggy has shipped with since its launch.  I have been unable to get my Yggy to work with the Win10 native Class 2 USB audio driver, so would really like to know whether the Gen 5 USB upgrade will represent a repeat case.

 

A somewhat related question would be whether a microRendu (with SonicOrbiter 2.5) driving Yggy would still work after the Gen 5 USB upgrade.  Perhaps this is a question best answered by Jesus?

 

$150 is not a heck of a lot of money, but answers to the above question should help me decide whether to spring for this upgrade, or sell my Yggy instead,

 

 

I do not see any driver download for the EITR so do you think that we can assume that it is USB 2.o compliant and has been tested to work with the Windows 10 update?

[New guy]

I shipped off my Schiit Bitfrost multibit today and Schiit should have my unit tomorrow!  This will be an interesting upgrade.  With all of the improvements in USB audio technology over the last year I am thinking this should be one of the best.  Adding galvanic isolation and a precision clock on an already good DAC should be a substantial change for the better.  I'll let you guys know how it sounds next week.

[scan80269]

4 hours ago, mourip said:

 

I do not see any driver download for the EITR so do you think that we can assume that it is USB 2.o compliant and has been tested to work with the Windows 10 update?

That's exactly what I was unwilling to assume for the Gen 5 USB upgrade.  I'll wait for Chris or someone else to be the guinea pig to test the HW against the Win10 native Class 2 USB audio driver.

 

[firedog]

6 hours ago, PorkChop said:

 

 

Thanks firedog. My question was naive.  What I was really asking was, is there something about the technology of the Eitr that would make it more USB agnostic than the competing products?

The Schiit claim is probably that their transformer based tech is better than what is in competing products. It is a unique implementation, AFAIK.

[gmgraves]

On July 17, 2017 at 11:00 AM, rikhav said:

A very slily question to ask, but better to clear a doubt

 

Can this board be used for non-schiit DACs to upgrade the usb interface ?

Not silly at all. Schiit sells a stand-alone version for use with other DACs. You'll lose a coaxial SPDIF input because the G5 converts USB into SPDIF.

[rikhav]

25 minutes ago, gmgraves said:

Not silly at all. Schiit sells a stand-alone version for use with other DACs. You'll lose a coaxial SPDIF input because the G5 converts USB into SPDIF.

 

Thanks a ton for this info

I never really noticed the eitr usb to spidif converter

[Ralf11]

I'd love to see some comparison reviews, Berkeley yes - but also the less expensive items like the Sonica

[blownsi]

A few years ago there was a Gustard model which was a giant killer that supposedly beat out all the expensive competition.  Personally I'd love to see a comparison against a device like the USB 3.0 from Ifi.  If the Schitt truly does what it says then it will make the Ifi useless.