My setup is:
wireless iTunes streaming via Airport Express --> 8" optical cable --> Micro DAC --> Hornet --> HD600 with stock cable
I have my music ALAC on itunes. I noticed that switching from USB to optical input added more body and impact to each note, with slightly more detail overall. However, the notes seem hazy around the very outer edges, "blurry" in a sense. Would this be due to the ultimate shortcomings of the Micro DAC//Hornet, or jitter?
Songs through USB seem more "polite" in a sense (as if the haziness on the edges of each note are smoothed over and not presented); I'm wondering if this is because such details are not manifested as much through USB (I'll blame it on kmixer if so).
Another improvement through optical is greater stereo separation. Sounds are better defined and presented at the extreme left and extreme right of the soundstage, giving the impression that the stereo separation has increased. For example, on Radiohead's "Let Down" track at 4:00, the two voices at the extreme left and extreme right are better defined and presented more realistically. Through USB, it sounds like the voices are "chopped off" or "blocked" at the left and right extremities; through optical they have fuller body and realism. It was a mind trip when I first heard this song through optical
Overall I like the optical connection more than USB, even though it is more of a hassle with wireless streaming. When you click to play a new song, jump within song, or pause a song then start it up again, I hear a faint hiss during a slight pause period before the 1s and 0s are wirelessly trasmitted and locked. Through USB I don't hear any hiss because the locking is instant.
wireless iTunes streaming via Airport Express --> 8" optical cable --> Micro DAC --> Hornet --> HD600 with stock cable
I have my music ALAC on itunes. I noticed that switching from USB to optical input added more body and impact to each note, with slightly more detail overall. However, the notes seem hazy around the very outer edges, "blurry" in a sense. Would this be due to the ultimate shortcomings of the Micro DAC//Hornet, or jitter?
Songs through USB seem more "polite" in a sense (as if the haziness on the edges of each note are smoothed over and not presented); I'm wondering if this is because such details are not manifested as much through USB (I'll blame it on kmixer if so).Another improvement through optical is greater stereo separation. Sounds are better defined and presented at the extreme left and extreme right of the soundstage, giving the impression that the stereo separation has increased. For example, on Radiohead's "Let Down" track at 4:00, the two voices at the extreme left and extreme right are better defined and presented more realistically. Through USB, it sounds like the voices are "chopped off" or "blocked" at the left and right extremities; through optical they have fuller body and realism. It was a mind trip when I first heard this song through optical
Overall I like the optical connection more than USB, even though it is more of a hassle with wireless streaming. When you click to play a new song, jump within song, or pause a song then start it up again, I hear a faint hiss during a slight pause period before the 1s and 0s are wirelessly trasmitted and locked. Through USB I don't hear any hiss because the locking is instant.
) but can still return it if I can find a suitable glass replacement.
