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Optical out from Rockboxed iRiver iHP-120 versus Macbook Pro optical out

post #1 of 3
11/18/08 at 2:41am
Thread Starter 
Am I imagining things or can someone help me figure this out?

I have the same set of of Apple lossless tracks on my Rockboxed (a few months old for rockbox version) iRiver iHP-120 player and on a MacBook Pro with iTunes-latest in MacOS X-latest.

I'm feeding a DAC with an optical input.

The Macbook Pro sounds "better".

Am I imagining things (er, I mean, more than usual)? Or is there a qualitative difference anyone can point me to, that is, an explanation for why there is a difference between these two attempts at a CD-quality "transport" with optical out? Is he Rockbox/iHP-120 not as adept at delivering a CD-quality digital stream as the MacBook Pro? Or is this just another example of why they invented the double-blind approach to testing anything?

Thanks,

__Roy
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post #2 of 3
11/18/08 at 2:57am
How is your EQ setting in iRiver? Is it flat? Also check out other sound settings (gain, stereo width, crossfeed on/off, etc.)

I can't think of anything else, these two transports should sound the same thru the same DAC.
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post #3 of 3
11/18/08 at 3:02am
Its possible the Iriver can't supply enough power to get a perfect optical signal, and that the Mac is putting out a brighter cleaner signal. Though that seems like a stretch.
Are you using the same cable? Is there any chance of there being pocket lint or dust in the Iriver's optical out?
Perhaps Rockbox's firmware is not set up to allow for the optical out to be used to its fullest potential.

If you can get someone to help you with a double blind test, I would be most interested in seeing the results
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