[FredA]

Been through a dozen of so USB cables - the LH Labs LightSpeed Split 2G is amazing.

I don't doubt it. I have a problem payimg more than a 100$ for a usb cable though. But now, i know it can be worth it, sound-wise.

The mkii uses 6n wire by sommer cable of Germany. The cost of a cable is mostly labour and mark-up. As for the mkii, most of the cost is in the material. It is a direct sale of a cable made in China. So presumably, it is built like at least 4 times its cost.

This was my reason for ordering the straitwire, which is very well rated: just to get a hint as to how good the mkII was.

 

[bimmer100]

And so it begins. I have started Dissasembly of the diu8.
I had to show kingwa I was capable to remove the xmos board before I could order replacement boards. I want to have one board remain stock crystals, one to be 957's and another to be 575's.
Sounds like a lot of work, but shouldn't be too bad. I need to practice a new technique os soldering with a heat gun. Anyone done this and have pointers? I have a pretty fancy soldering station now and should be able to tackle this project.
The breeze will be next. I should have parts for everything hopefully in the next week. But replacement xmos boards I'm not sure... Waiting to hear back from kingwa still.


definitely one of the more time consuming removals of a usb module. about 15min to do this. the board was "floating" on ground wire posts...not typical brass posts. so I had to wick away solder for each corner to free the board. and remove a couple wires here and there.

I hope the crystal swap goes well.

 

[rb2013]

I don't doubt it. I have a problem payimg more than a 100$ for a usb cable though. But now, i know it can be worth it, sound-wise.

The mkii uses 6n wire by sommer cable of Germany. The cost of a cable is mostly labour and mark-up. As for the mkii, most of the cost is in the material. It is a direct sale of a cable made in China. So presumably, it is built like at least 4 times its cost.

This was my reason for ordering the straitwire, which is very well rated: just to get a hint as to how good the mkII was.

For me the 2G has been worth every penny times 10.  But for those on a budget I would recommend the Forza Twin Copper split cable, then the Supra.  I've had USB cables costing over $500 - the 2G smokes them.  But I do have my limits, won't spend $1000 for a 10g.
 

And so it begins. I have started Dissasembly of the diu8.
I had to show kingwa I was capable to remove the xmos board before I could order replacement boards. I want to have one board remain stock crystals, one to be 957's and another to be 575's.
Sounds like a lot of work, but shouldn't be too bad. I need to practice a new technique os soldering with a heat gun. Anyone done this and have pointers? I have a pretty fancy soldering station now and should be able to tackle this project.
The breeze will be next. I should have parts for everything hopefully in the next week. But replacement xmos boards I'm not sure... Waiting to hear back from kingwa still.

That will be interesting on the clocks - can you switch them on the fly?
 
I have not used a hot air soldering gun.  Which one did you get?

 

[bimmer100]

For me the 2G has been worth every penny times 10.  But for those on a budget I would recommend the Forza Twin Copper split cable, then the Supra.  I've had USB cables costing over $500 - the 2G smokes them.  But I do have my limits, won't spend $1000 for a 10g.

That will be interesting on the clocks - can you switch them on the fly?

I have not used a hot air soldering gun.  Which one did you get?

Not exactly how I have it planned... I mean... Not on the fly. Although.:.. I could do that if I get the right parts
I need to figure out how to mount a dip14 sockets on this tiny board. It's like putting a square in a round hole. It's just not supposed to happen.
But it's possible I suppose. Likely wouldn't be ideal as the longer the connections to the crystal the more likely it would interfere with its performance. Just my thinking anyhow:
But to remove this xmos board, it's a bit of a chore that requires patience.

I ordered a Talema breeze du-u8 too... And likely will reorder that pro3a from the sounds of it you may like it more? But I really just want to hear it first.

Do you know anyone hat has swapped the crystals in a breeze? And has photos to show the underside of the pcb or how easy of access it is to remove the crystals and install dip14's?
Just at a glance it looks easier than even the u12z should be a breeze right!?! Sorry... I had to.

The breeze will get 957's for sure. But the diu8 I may try 575's at the very least. I'm torn to if I can get a 957 to fit.
I think the 575 should be 99.5% the same. So I'm not too worried. Actually... LKS confirms the 575 sounds better than the 957's in their USB Amanero implementation. So that makes me feel better.

Funny thing is, I'm likely going to sell all but one DDC in end. Maybe someone will get one of my Frankenstein builds. Actually, all my ddc's will likely be sold once I get the Lhlabs geek source with triple femto and all the other power upgrades. It is also xmos but will be insanely high spec! That being said, I doubt any of these ddc's will have a chance. This doesn't stop me from being curious and tinkering/DIY. And others can learn from my experiences too.
I'm talking with Dacladder about repairing my u12's coax. I want it to work if I decide to sell it.or find someone who doesn't need coax and only needs i2s HDMI. Will sell for a cheap price!

 

[Jerryfan]

Do you know anyone hat has swapped the crystals in a breeze?

I'm also interested in this question.

 

[murphythecat]

hi everyone, I dont have the time to read the whole thread.
What is the better unit, Musiland 03 or the Gustard U12 or the Ifi audio Ilink?
I use a musiland 01 usd and want to upgrade!

 

[rb2013]

Not exactly how I have it planned... I mean... Not on the fly. Although.:.. I could do that if I get the right parts
I need to figure out how to mount a dip14 sockets on this tiny board. It's like putting a square in a round hole. It's just not supposed to happen.
But it's possible I suppose. Likely wouldn't be ideal as the longer the connections to the crystal the more likely it would interfere with its performance. Just my thinking anyhow:
But to remove this xmos board, it's a bit of a chore that requires patience.

I ordered a Talema breeze du-u8 too... And likely will reorder that pro3a from the sounds of it you may like it more? But I really just want to hear it first.

Do you know anyone hat has swapped the crystals in a breeze? And has photos to show the underside of the pcb or how easy of access it is to remove the crystals and install dip14's?
Just at a glance it looks easier than even the u12z should be a breeze right!?! Sorry... I had to.

The breeze will get 957's for sure. But the diu8 I may try 575's at the very least. I'm torn to if I can get a 957 to fit.
I think the 575 should be 99.5% the same. So I'm not too worried. Actually... LKS confirms the 575 sounds better than the 957's in their USB Amanero implementation. So that makes me feel better.

Funny thing is, I'm likely going to sell all but one DDC in end. Maybe someone will get one of my Frankenstein builds. Actually, all my ddc's will likely be sold once I get the Lhlabs geek source with triple femto and all the other power upgrades. It is also xmos but will be insanely high spec! That being said, I doubt any of these ddc's will have a chance. This doesn't stop me from being curious and tinkering/DIY. And others can learn from my experiences too.
I'm talking with Dacladder about repairing my u12's coax. I want it to work if I decide to sell it.or find someone who doesn't need coax and only needs i2s HDMI. Will sell for a cheap price!

Great news on the LH labs DDC - will be interested to see how that stacks up.  By triple femto you mean OXCO clocking?  That's the only way I could see their clocking to be better then say the femto TXCO ultra low phase noise NDK SD's or Crystek 957, 557's.
 
On the top of my 'would love to hear' list the $1800 Berkely Alpha USB - only SPDIF outputs but that works for me.  Amazing attention to design - won the CA USB DDC shootout.  Anyone have one for a quick loan?

 




 
 
http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f6-dac-digital-analog-conversion/15-universal-serial-bus-industry-standard-cables-connectors-and-communications-protocols-between-computers-and-electronic-devices-spdif-converters-shootout-15327/
 
On the clock mounting issue - why not just go with DIP14 sockets - then you can just swap clocks easily, once the clocks are on a DIP adapter (not so easy).
Here are the ones I have mounted in a MX-U8:

 

[rb2013]

  hi everyone, I dont have the time to read the whole thread.
What is the better unit, Musiland 03 or the Gustard U12 or the Ifi audio Ilink?
I use a musiland 01 usd and want to upgrade!

I had the Musiland USB 03 and the Gustard U12 is better.  But better still is the Breeze Audio DU-U8 and the DXIO Pro3a at least of the dozen DDC's I've had.  I had an iFi DAC2 which can be used as a USB bridge as well - the worst of the bunch.
 
Good luck

 

[robertsong]

 
 
MurphTheCat:
 
Once again... on the the Gustard U12. The Breeze unit is a big step up.
 
 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/262010528369?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
 
OR
 
 
http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/Breeze-audio-Best-pure-USB-decoder-XMOS-U8-DU-U8-DAC-Asynchronous-USB-coax-fiber-XMOS/331129_32499738639.html
 

 
 
See posts #3264 and #3265. Make sure to ask for the Talema transformer upgrade.

 

[murphythecat]

so the breeze is now the unit to buy over Gustard?
 
http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/Breeze-audio-Best-pure-USB-decoder-XMOS-U8-DU-U8-DAC-Asynchronous-USB-coax-fiber-XMOS/331129_32499738639.html
so I can ask this seller to add the Talema transformer upgrade?
So I need to ask for this option?
version  3: Using ultra high precision 0.1PPM gold plated low phase noise oscillator . Imported TAEMA transformer ???

 

[Rhamnetin]

Heh, I feel cheated, having gotten the U12 very recently.  $100 for the v3, I'll definitely give it a try.

 

[rb2013]

Whoa!  Just re-read that CA USB shootout - looks like the BADA USB has been dethoned!
 
A fully tricked out OR5 with $700 dual turbo clock upgrade and Hynes SPDIF upgrade ($3000 total) is ahead.
 
and a new one Solution 590 USB converter - $3000:
http://www.soulution-audio.com/en/serie5/590/
 
No i2s only SPDIF:

A powerful Digital Signal Processor manages communication with the computer. Received data is buffered in a large RAM memory. 

Anyone get a board photo - would love to see the clocks they are using
 
And the current numero uno - DCS Puccini U-Clock Mk1 - $4990

 
http://www.hifiplus.com/articles/dcs-puccini-u-clock-hi-fi-73/

 
Oh and folks here will not like this - no 384K!  or 352K! or 192K! or 176k! - highest 96K.  LOL!

And heresy of heresy's - no i2s outputs.  Just SPDIF - sacrilege!  blasphemy!  Don't these idiots at DCS know you have to have i2s for good sound!!!
I mean DCS who are they???? (all sarc).

 

[m usicguy]

I bought a U12.    I dont plan on moding it.   Has anyone bought better power cords.  I know most might say it doesnt make a difference.   I do.  I made my dealer prove to me power cords do make a difference.    I went through 20 power cords slowy up stepping.  So U12 with a good power cord againist straight power cord?
musicguy

 

[prot]

Did some cheap usb cable comparison tonight: straightwire usb-link (i got it from Schiit audio for 20$) vs a-b systems mkII 6n (45$ from a website in hk that does not process my orders anymore).

To make the story short, the mkII washed the floor with the straightwire. I admit i did not burn the latter (brand-new). But the the difference is so big. The straightwire, although not bad, is so far behind that i doubt it stands any chance in the future. The second i reInstalled the mkII, the magic was back. I might give another chance to the straightwire after i brake it in my spartan office setup. The bass it so huge with the mkii. The stereo image is more accurate as well. The sound is fuller. Looking at the 2 cables, it is obviously not the same built quality, the mkII is way better. Beefier, separate legs for power and signal, better connectors, better jacket. I realize now it's a steal. I should have ordered more than one...

Did not imagine there could such a big difference between 2 usb cables. It makes more a difference than a power cord swap on the breeze to give you an idea.

Tomorrow, i will get the network isolator i have ordered 2 weeks ago and check if it improves the rj45 i2s connection between the breeze and the master-7. I will do a quick review within the following days.

I also tested about 10 usb cables. From the usual printer cable to a pure silver one. Never heard a single difference.
Currently using a Viablue cable .. mainly because it's very well built and it looks nice
Go figure.

 

[rb2013]

  I bought a U12.    I dont plan on moding it.   Has anyone bought better power cords.  I know most might say it doesnt make a difference.   I do.  I made my dealer prove to me power cords do make a difference.    I went through 20 power cords slowy up stepping.  So U12 with a good power cord againist straight power cord?
musicguy

I tried a few on the Breeze and the Cerious Graphene Xtreme are stupendous.  Bettered the stock by miles, beat my next best - the Synergistic Research X2 Ref by a good measure.  They're not cheap - bought mine on a Black Friday Audiogon special for $250 - reg $500.  This is their newest design