More from the guys themselves:
Quote Originally Posted by Superdad View Post
Well Jason at Schiit does not like to make claims (I admire that among many other excellent business practices of theirs), but in his long blog/book on HeadFi he does talk about the SQ differences the Wyrd can make. But as John pointed out, the degree depends upon both the computer and the DAC. But the design of both the Wyrd and our Regen is absolutely not just about providing cleaner 5V USBVbus power. One does not need a hub chip, clocks, etc. to do that. In fact, in designing the piece, John and I discussed whether to even interrupt the USB VBus power to provide our own, but of course it made sense to do so.
So yes, both the Wyrd and the Regen will perform their primary purpose even if the DAC does not use 5V Vbus power at all. (John did some trick things to make ours work/sound extra good: 4 layer board with impedance-controlled output, ultra low-noise regulators, external DC supply--Wyrd brings low voltage AC into it, no USB output cable--I'll be proving USB A>B solid adapter so tiny box can go at the DAC and not introduce another USB cable.)
As for the advantages, it comes back to the research he has been doing on packet noise (where poor SI makes the DAC's USB PHY and processor work harder--causing internal modulation at both 8KHz packet rate and wideband), power distribution networks, etc. So Regn places creation of new and clean USB signal right at the DAC. Kind of like an external version of an audiophile USB card (SOtM, Paul Pang, etc.), but at the correct end of the cable and not powered by the computer. A boon for Mac users for whom such cards don't even exist.
Quote Originally Posted by Superdad View Post
Well Jason at Schiit does not like to make claims (I admire that among many other excellent business practices of theirs), but in his long blog/book on HeadFi he does talk about the SQ differences the Wyrd can make. But as John pointed out, the degree depends upon both the computer and the DAC. But the design of both the Wyrd and our Regen is absolutely not just about providing cleaner 5V USBVbus power. One does not need a hub chip, clocks, etc. to do that. In fact, in designing the piece, John and I discussed whether to even interrupt the USB VBus power to provide our own, but of course it made sense to do so.
So yes, both the Wyrd and the Regen will perform their primary purpose even if the DAC does not use 5V Vbus power at all. (John did some trick things to make ours work/sound extra good: 4 layer board with impedance-controlled output, ultra low-noise regulators, external DC supply--Wyrd brings low voltage AC into it, no USB output cable--I'll be proving USB A>B solid adapter so tiny box can go at the DAC and not introduce another USB cable.)
As for the advantages, it comes back to the research he has been doing on packet noise (where poor SI makes the DAC's USB PHY and processor work harder--causing internal modulation at both 8KHz packet rate and wideband), power distribution networks, etc. So Regn places creation of new and clean USB signal right at the DAC. Kind of like an external version of an audiophile USB card (SOtM, Paul Pang, etc.), but at the correct end of the cable and not powered by the computer. A boon for Mac users for whom such cards don't even exist.