Musical Fidelity V-LINK USB SPDIF - Page 6

I've actually been confused to the nature of the Audio GD DI, is it asynch or not? i read the entire thread on it and no one had a definitive answer, everyone just assumed because of its parts that it was not async. To make it more confusing, it clearly states on Audio-GD's website that it is async, maybe something was lost in translation. If you know a more detailed answer i'd like to hear it. 

anyways, async is not a deal breaker for me.. as the Audio GD has been compared quite favorbly to the HiFace, which is async.. so it does not seem to matter much. 

Mike, I suspect it is not true async because there is no mention of software drivers.  Perhaps an owner could jump in here to clarify?

Originally Posted by MikeW 

I've actually been confused to the nature of the Audio GD DI, is it asynch or not?

These days, all transports have become low jitter and async...isn't that a wonderful world?

The DI uses the Tenor TE7022L USB chip, and here's what the Macintosh "USB Prober" app has to learn us about it:

"Audio Class Specific Audio Data Format
Audio Stream Format Type Desc.
Format Type: 1 PCM
Number Of Channels: 2 STEREO
Sub Frame Size: 2
Bit Resolution: 24
Sample Frequency Type: 0x04 (Discrete)
Sample Frequency: 32000 Hz
Sample Frequency: 44100 Hz
Sample Frequency: 48000 Hz
Sample Frequency: 96000 Hz
Endpoint 0x03 - Isochronous Output
Address: 0x03 (OUT)
Attributes: 0x09 (Isochronous adaptive data endpoint)
Max Packet Size: 388
Polling Interval: 1 ms"

For async, it should read: "Isochronous asynchronous data endpoint". Facts are hard to deny, aren't they.

Originally Posted by MikeW 

It's actually been shown that NOS dacs and R2R dacs in general, because of their Non-oversampling nature, tend to shine more with a low-jitter source.

Oh yah, I forgot. When I read for another Tera DAC "You will hear minor noise, major from right channel", I tend to honestly believe that the bottleneck won't be your transport. Now if you wanna go for the snake oil async Halide Bridge(measured at 780ps jitter), be my guest

This said, the DI seems to have a solid PSU section...and that's essentially what you're listening to. And it's got a real big ferrite bead on its coax output too.

The chameleon is a completely different animal compared to the valab dac. The only thing they have in common is the TDA1543 and the Passive I/v stage. They have different input chips, the chameleon has 16 dacs, and a dedicated power supply, not to mention mine's heavily modded. Also, the thing about noise.. those are Kevin's words, a reseller for Teradak, they don't come from the manufactor. And it's obvious something was lost in translation. Either way, I've owned both dacs and they don't a noise imbalance between channels 

Thanks for the info on the Tenor chip.

Anyone with the V-Link want to run that program to see if it is in fact async?

I have no idea if it makes a difference... I guess I will see soon enough.

Isn't the issue implementation? Like any other component, just because it has X (in this case async) doesn't mean it's automatically better. Even Jkeny ranks the Audio-gd DI as much better than the Hiface (but not as good as his modded version of course).

There is the Teralink and Halide bridge as well.  hell even a Logitech Squeezebox touch.

Yes I believe the issue is implementation, to a degree. A poorly implemented Async device would get trashed by a well implemented Iso. But because an  Async can recover more data, a well implemented Async device should always have the edge on a well implemented Iso device

Atm my main system is as follows :-

Mac mini, usb out to Cambridge Audio Dacmagic (newest one) rca outs to marantz 66 KI Signature amp (oldie but goodie)Mission 780 speakers. Most of the files are alac.  Any advantage to getting one of these vlink things or is it just if I prefer coax to usb or optical?

Cheers

patu, any update of the v-link vs audio GD DI?

and did anyone compared it to the firestone Bravo?

Quote:

Originally Posted by dookie182 

patu, any update of the v-link vs audio GD DI?

and did anyone compared it to the firestone Bravo?

 

Just plugged V-Link in. It sounds muffled compared to DI + PSU. It also loses in PRaT. I think the difference is quite obvious. Of course the V-Link isn't burned in but I'm not sure if I even have any motivation to start the burn-in process.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patu 

Just plugged V-Link in. It sounds muffled compared to DI + PSU. It also loses in PRaT. I think the difference is quite obvious. Of course the V-Link isn't burned in but I'm not sure if I even have any motivation to start the burn-in process.

Patu-
Does it also sound muffled compared to the Hiface you have in your signature? I have the v-link and think it sounds better the longer I listen to it. I was considering the DI first and got the v-link instead. Then I thought I might get the DI also for comparison, but if the v-link sounds muffled compared to it, I might not like it. I think the Hiface is bright and trebly to my ears, so the v-link should sound muffled compared to it also. Does this make any sense?

My findings are the same as yours Justin, except compared with the musiland usd1, (I don't have a hiface to compare).

The v-link for me sounds naturally balanced, and very clear but without sounding hyped with exaggerated treble.

Matter of taste me thinks?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wood 
......Matter of taste me thinks?

Wood-

I believe you have hit the nail on the head. I went to the Atlanta mini-meet over the weekend. Incredibly, there were HD800, T1, R10, L3000, HE-6, stax, etc. It was my first meet and after a lot of listening I realized that once you get to a certain point, there doesn't seem to be a good or bad; just different. Taste plays a big role in what you think is 'better'. I have a certain tube that made my amplifier sound more detailed, but after a week it started to sound too bright. I went back to a tube that sounded a little dull before, but now sounds more realistic. I am finding out that for me, what initially might sound boring later turns out to be neutral (or the recording) and what initially sounds better turns out later to be coloration.

Honestly, I am beginning to find that there is often more difference in the various recordings than there is in the equipment. In any event, I am really liking the v-link and maybe won't get the DI to compare just yet.