Musical Fidelity V-LINK USB SPDIF - Page 7

Does anyone have any speculation on how well it would work on the following?

Laptop > Win XP > iTunes > USB (Nordost/Belden Gold) > Cary Xciter > b22/WA6SE > HD800

I had the Blue Circle Thingee but sold it after I upgraded from the DacMagic to the Xciter.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Justin Uthadude 

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?

 

I thought first that DI sounds brighter than HiFace but when I switched to upsampling to 192khz, it changed to more balanced sound IMO. I like it better with upsampling on. Anyway, my setup is very capable and revealing and if DI would be too bright then I would hear it. DI + PSU is just better sounding than V-Link. Better separation, deeper and more powerful bass, better PRaT and all in all more dynamic sound. More lively. My HiFace is borrowed to my friend at the moment so I can't say anything about it.
 

Patu-

I believe that your system is revealing. I was trying to get a feel for what you were calling bright and what you called dull or muffled. I have a better idea now when you say you like the balance, bass, PRaT, etc better when your DI is in upsampling mode than when it is in bit perfect mode. I do not doubt your taste. Since they are roughly the same price without external PS, I tried the v-link first because I wanted as little dsp as possible. Now you make me curious again to compare. 

thank you guys for your contribution.

So it sems that for the money, the audio GD DI+psu it the one to beat.

did someone already had he occasion to compare it to the firestone bravo+supplier psu?

does the DI act as a reclocker like the bravo do?

any information/impression/advise is welcome.

;-)

I forgot to mention that I hate too bright or extremely revealing sound. Sibilance is the worst, I'm very sensitive to it. It makes me fatigued quickly.

I think mine is sitting at the post office. :) 

(Either that or a soldering iron).

Well it was the soldering iron but I did pick up my v-link today. I have some listening to do.

You would adore the LCD-2's, revealing without the sibilance.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patu 

I forgot to mention that I hate too bright or extremely revealing sound. Sibilance is the worst, I'm very sensitive to it. It makes me fatigued quickly.

 

Has anyone read the writeup in April's Stereophile?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Justin Uthadude 

Has anyone read the writeup in April's Stereophile?

I read your post and dropped by local Barnes and Noble. John Atkinson reviewed V-link and did an interesting set of measurements. He fed Musical Fidelity X24 DAC that doesn't have good jitter rejection with J-test pattern generated from AP2772 and measured jitter on the output to establish some reference. Then he used 15' Toslink and fed the same 16bit J-Test signal from his mac mini to the same DAC, then repeated measuments with V-Link using coax and toslink outputs. He also measured jitter on AP2772 and it was similar to U-stello usb-spdif converter. In his review he compared it to Halide Bridge and mentioned that Halide was more precise and transparent. Overall interesting article that is worth reading. I was considering getting V-link and was looking forward to pro reviews. I wasn't able to get a hold of February Hi-Fi News in US where V-link was reviewed.

I just changed a few things around and put a V-Link in between my old Mac Mini running ALAC > Pure Music and my surround receiver's coaxial input with bi-amped Polk towers and a 15" subwoofer, and it's never sounded so good.

Had a brief comparison with Genesis Digital Lens in my system the other day and couldn't tell much of a difference.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tubesound 

Had a brief comparison with Genesis Digital Lens in my system the other day and couldn't tell much of a difference.

So the tiny USB-powered V-Link is just as good as the much bigger, more expensive, and AC-powered Digital Lens (which still fetches $500 used) for jitter reduction, that's great news!

One question: after I connect V-Link to the computer (Windows Vista or Window 7), the computer installs the driver automatically. However, this driver only supports 24/44.1, 24/48 and 24/96. No 24/88.2 or any 16 bit formats on the drop down list (although 16 bit is supported). Is this the same case for you?