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post #736 of 1713
3/10/10 at 5:10am
Is there something like the m2tech but that will output a low jitter optical signal instead?

Gear mentioned in this thread:

Emu 0404 USB 2 Audio/MIDI Interface
post #737 of 1713
3/10/10 at 5:30am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kawai_man View Post
Is there something like the m2tech but that will output a low jitter optical signal instead?
In my opinion, the closest thing to the hiface (at a reasonable cost) would be the Teralink-x2 (even though I only tried the older model).
However, if you make the assumption that optical has (in general) a higher jitter than coaxial. And if you are planning to use Teralink-x2+Optical, you are looking at a definite step back from the performance of a Hiface+coaxial.
post #738 of 1713
3/10/10 at 5:59am
Right I understand that, but for many reasons I need electrically to separate my computer and my audio equipment.

Ive been wondering what would be a better solution to get the best optical sound, a DAC with a good reclocker or jitter reducing built in, or a device like the x2 to output a better signal, or maybe both.
post #739 of 1713
3/10/10 at 6:00am
Quote:
Originally Posted by slim.a View Post
Is the sys concept fiber optic cable a glass optical cable? How much does it cost?
The Sys Consept is plastic, it's cheap about $30, but they can make any lenght up to 25m, if I remember well.
Their site allows you to specify your own custom lengths, they make and despatch the cable the same day!
post #740 of 1713
3/10/10 at 9:13am
@slim.a: ok, sounds good! that's the cable I use: Amazon.com: 6 Ft. Toslink Glass

it comes from the taiwanese OEM manufacturer I mentioned, and is very cheap...but good luck finding a dealer willing to ship to France, I had to buy mine second hand here on the forum.

@Kawai_man: coax will also be galvanically isolated from the computer ground if it's got a pulse transformer.

look here, that's the black square on the PCB: HA INFO Audio Studio
post #741 of 1713
3/10/10 at 9:18am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kawai_man View Post

Ive been wondering what would be a better solution to get the best optical sound, a DAC with a good reclocker or jitter reducing built in, or a device like the x2 to output a better signal, or maybe both.
The DACs with a legit in-built reclocker typically cost a lot, such as the Ayre QB9
post #742 of 1713
3/10/10 at 9:25am
Hi,

The y2 from MisterX/AMB uses an src4192 chip to upsample and reduce jitter. The Euroquartz xo that fits the y2 is said to have less than 1ps phase noise according to the data sheet, so the y2 is a low-cost way to have a very low jitter and high-definition dac.

It also uses an i2s signal which has separate clock and signal lines which is said to further reduce jitter.

I'm pairing the x2 with the y2 via iis and the definition is awesome = very little jitter.
post #743 of 1713
3/10/10 at 10:57am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by rosgr63 View Post
The Sys Consept is plastic, it's cheap about $30, but they can make any lenght up to 25m, if I remember well.
Their site allows you to specify your own custom lengths, they make and despatch the cable the same day!
Quote:
Originally Posted by leeperry View Post
@slim.a: ok, sounds good! that's the cable I use: Amazon.com: 6 Ft. Toslink Glass

it comes from the taiwanese OEM manufacturer I mentioned, and is very cheap...but good luck finding a dealer willing to ship to France, I had to buy mine second hand here on the forum.
Thanks for the links guys! Since I couldn't find the one leeperry pointed (that would ship for a low price to France), I went ahead and ordered a 2m cable from Sys Consept. I will try it against the Mitsubishi Eska POF I got from Blue Jeans Cable
post #744 of 1713
3/10/10 at 11:03am
Quote:
Originally Posted by slim.a View Post
Thanks for the links guys! Since I couldn't find the one leeperry pointed (that would ship for a low price to France), I went ahead and ordered a 2m cable from Sys Consept. I will try it against the Mitsubishi Eska POF I got from Blue Jeans Cable
slim.a when you receive the cable please do a quick ABX and let us know what you think.
post #745 of 1713
3/10/10 at 11:08am
but in this link, they say that the ESKA toslink is worthless: LITE AUDIO DAC AM REVIEW
Quote:
The Mitsubishi POF cable sounded dull and lifeless [..]
the Dayton glass optical cable was a little smoother and warmer than the coax but with better sounding highs and imaging.
and the Sys Concept is also plastic...so, how would that help to evaluate glass toslink exactly? once I get my NG COAX, maybe I could lend you my glass toslink cable if you really can't find one online(the Dayton GOC-3/6 are available on parts-express.com, but the shipping costs to france are like $45).

besides I don't really trust toslink cables custom built on order, nothing's more accurate than an industrial process to put the plugs on both ends.
post #746 of 1713
3/10/10 at 11:27am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by rosgr63 View Post
I use a glass fiber optic cable but I much prefer my custom made sys concept fiber optic cable, which is reasonbly priced, well made.
Quote:
Originally Posted by leeperry View Post
but in this link, they say that the ESKA toslink is worthless: LITE AUDIO DAC AM REVIEW


and the Sys Concept is also plastic...so, how would that help to evaluate glass toslink exactly? once I get my NG COAX, maybe I could lend you my glass toslink cable if you really can't find one online(the Dayton GOC-3/6 are available on parts-express.com, but the shipping costs to france are like $45).

besides I don't really trust toslink cables custom built on order, nothing's more accurate than an industrial process to put the plugs on both ends.
Of course, getting a plastic cable won't help evaluate a glass toslink. I will buy the a glass one if I come accross it at a reasonable price.
However, I am pretty sure not all plastic toslinks are bad.
rosgr63 prefered the Sys Concept to a glass cable and I trust his judgement (he is the one who pointed me into the Oyaide digital cable direction for example). So at the very least, I hope that the Sys Concept is better than the Mitsubishi Eska and it will also serve me as a reference for plastic based cables when I decide to compare it against glass based ones.
post #747 of 1713
3/10/10 at 11:32am
alright, but it would appear to be custom built...so the plugs installation on both ends might not be perfectly controlled, and you could easily end up being a victim of poor QA...just saying anyway! hope you can put your hands on a proper glass toslink at some point

BTW, glass toslink from that taiwanese manufacturer comes in 280 and 65 strands flavors...and if you check the link I just posted above, the guy says that the sound seemed to follow the cables more than the sources...humm?
post #748 of 1713
3/10/10 at 11:57am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by leeperry View Post
alright, but it would appear to be custom built...so the plugs installation on both ends might not be perfectly controlled, and you could easily end up being a victim of poor QA...just saying anyway! hope you can put your hands on a proper glass toslink at some point
I promise I will try to get my hands on a proper glass toslink
However, this will only be fueled by curiosity from end as I will be using the Teralink-x for my testing. My reference transport (the hiface) has a BNC output and my reference DAC (the dac19mk3) is optimized to work best from its BNC input (Kingwa mentioned somewhere that he measured a jitter that is 20x higher from the optical input in comparison with the BNC is his DACs if I remember correctly).


Quote:
Originally Posted by leeperry View Post
BTW, glass toslink from that taiwanese manufacturer comes in 280 and 65 strands flavors...and if you check the link I just posted above, the guy says that the sound seemed to follow the cables more than the sources...humm?
Well depeding on the system, difference between digital cables can go from not audible to very audible. It depends on many characteristics to draw conclusions. Sometimes even the direction of the cable can have an effect on the sound : Stereophile measured a difference of 1350ps in jitter just by reversing the direction of the cable (see here : Stereophile: A Transport of Delight: CD Transport Jitter). So it is hard to draw definitive conclusions from his findings (change in cable is more audible than the change in source).
post #749 of 1713
3/10/10 at 12:04pm
yay, my hi-face was shipped , will post some impressions after i will have it in hand
post #750 of 1713
3/10/10 at 12:05pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by rosgr63 View Post
The Sys Consept is plastic, it's cheap about $30, but they can make any lenght up to 25m, if I remember well.
Their site allows you to specify your own custom lengths, they make and despatch the cable the same day!
rosgr63, you were totally right about Sys Consept: They made me a custom 2m cable with silver plugs and shipped it whithin one hour! It is amazing, thanks again for the link!
I will report back when I receive it.
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Gear mentioned in this thread:

Emu 0404 USB 2 Audio/MIDI Interface
Head-Fi.org › Forums › Equipment Forums › Dedicated Source Components › USB to SPDIF converters shoot-out : EMU 0404 USB vs. Musiland Monitor 01 USD vs. Teralink-x vs. M2Tech hiFace