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iBasso D10 USB vs. Optical in? - Page 2

post #16 of 23
8/17/09 at 11:56pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by wolfen68 View Post
I understand, but you may have missed my point. The MicroDAC's sound didn't really "scale up" in your case as it was always putting out a high quality signal. You just needed an amp of equivalent or better quality to hear it. Therefore, your observation isn't what's "interesting" about the MicroDAC, but actually what's interesting about the MicroAmp (in respect to it's shortcomings).

It's like saying your source scaled up when you tried better headphones....a bit of a misnomer.
You know what I meant. I said the "sound" scales up, not the DAC.
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post #17 of 23
10/2/09 at 11:43am
Hi,

I don-t know if anyone already mentioned this (concerning D10 opt vs USB)

The 1 sampling delay in PCM2906 « Madwolf

Is there any truth behind this find out ? Can it be seen as the cause of the difference of the sound quality ?

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post #18 of 23
10/4/09 at 5:48am
What about battery life? Do they last longer if you use Opt/Coax rathet than USB ?
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post #19 of 23
10/9/09 at 9:12am

Noise in optical

I've had my D10 for 5 days now and the mini optical to toslink cable arrived yesterday. My initial impression is of slightly better detail but of more noise (very low level white noise) . I'm playing 44.1 flac files on my macbook pro through the D10 to my SR80i's. I've configured the midi out to be 44.1/24 bit.

So my question is this in the D10, the mac, or is it inherent in the recording? It does seem like the level of noise depends on the file being played. For example, Coldplay Got Put A Smile Upon Your Face the noise is only at very high volume. In the remastered Beatles Let It Be it's pretty audible. Radiohead Kid A it's also only audible at higher volumes. I have a recording of Anne Sophie Mutter performing the Sibelius violin concerto that is dead silent at any volume.

Thanks
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post #20 of 23
10/9/09 at 9:27am
Quote:
Originally Posted by stringgz301 View Post
I've had my D10 for 5 days now and the mini optical to toslink cable arrived yesterday. My initial impression is of slightly better detail but of more noise (very low level white noise) . I'm playing 44.1 flac files on my macbook pro through the D10 to my SR80i's. I've configured the midi out to be 44.1/24 bit.

So my question is this in the D10, the mac, or is it inherent in the recording? It does seem like the level of noise depends on the file being played. For example, Coldplay Got Put A Smile Upon Your Face the noise is only at very high volume. In the remastered Beatles Let It Be it's pretty audible. Radiohead Kid A it's also only audible at higher volumes. I have a recording of Anne Sophie Mutter performing the Sibelius violin concerto that is dead silent at any volume.

Thanks
Microphones aren't intelligent, so they will always pick up background noise like fans etc. Changing OPamps and Buffers can change the hiss, or white noise, but if it's something wrong with your mac or D10, there shouldn't be any difference whther what song ur playing, except if you're playing something with "alot" of sound, making u unable to hear the white noise. OPamps and buffers chan change the ouput but also recess the highs, making it less apparant, though it's actually there. Getting warmer, darker headphones, with less treble will make a good difference in whether a recording is good or not. I like the dark cans for listening to music without great quality. They can keep the detail, without making hiss and sibilance from a bad recording.
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post #21 of 23
10/9/09 at 9:48am
I would say its a combination of the recording and your headphones being a little bright and maybe not being the best match for the stock opamp stringgz301.

I have something special in store, wont be here for a couple of weeks, amazing OPAMPs that is. wont say more until they arrive, sorry about the cloak and dagger stay tuned, this has the potential to be a MASSIVE WIN for D10 users
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post #22 of 23
10/11/09 at 1:21pm
An easy way to determine the effect of the 1 sample delay is to get a 440 Hz sample tone (Which is the frequency of a standard tuning fork). And listen to the AMP from one channel. If there is no delay between the left and the right the sound should be similar weather you listen to the left the right or both of them together.

When there is a delay between the left and right channel and you listen to the 2 channel together you will find that the note changes. The 440hz is no longer 440hz. Just move one of the ear piece in and out of your ear and note the change in frequency.

You could get the sample tone from here A440 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Another way to determine the effect of the one sample delay is to the sound stage of some complicated music. With the delay the sound image is just floating and you would not get that pin point accuracy.

Sometimes ignorance is bliss.
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post #23 of 23
12/18/10 at 10:29am
Quote:
Originally Posted by qusp View Post

I would say its a combination of the recording and your headphones being a little bright and maybe not being the best match for the stock opamp stringgz301.

I have something special in store, wont be here for a couple of weeks, amazing OPAMPs that is. wont say more until they arrive, sorry about the cloak and dagger stay tuned, this has the potential to be a MASSIVE WIN for D10 users


Hi qusp, just wondering if you got the new OPAMPs and if they made the massive improvement you thought they might?

 

I have just been doing some A/B testing of my D10 with optical and USB inputs. I thought it would be very unfair because although I'm using the same phones - IE8's - I'm using different sources.

 

My portable rig is the optical source, coming from an SD card in an Edirol R-09 recording device, with 16bit/44.1kHz .wav files ripped from CD using the uLilith audio player on my computer. The USB comes direct from my custom music PC, again using uLilith but just as an audio player-to-USB. I've been swapping the source every 30-60seconds while keeping my IE8's firmly in place in my ears, and I have to say I'm really surprised. The R-09 may not be a dedicated audio player but the sound quality from its optical output through the D10 is instantly noticeable as cleaner and clearer right across the spectrum than the USB + D10 route direct from the computer - despite the fact that the music in both sources came from the same original CD ripped using the same audio player in my computer! That's why I thought it would be a very unfair test, as I assumed that the R-09 adds extra components into the signal path and so should be inferior. I guess the conclusion must be that the files are reaching the D10 as 16bit/44.1kHz .wav files and the D10 is simply better at processing the optical source than the USB source.

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