AudioQuest - Jitterbug USB Filter

Foreword:
In the audiophile world, there is a lot of "Snake Oil". Buy this and it improves audio, buy this and blah blah blah blah blah blah. Some people will get disappointed because sometimes they pay for something that doesn't feel like the performance of the item is worth the price.

When using USB DAC/Amps, the Port MATTERS. I plugged my FiiO K1 to my Dell E6400 and I thought it would sound like that ALL THROUGHOUT. Plugged my FiiO K1 in my new Dell XPS L702x and the sound became different, the Sub-bass become more impactful. I plugged it into the USB 3.0 port, and the treble got recessed to where I expected the treble will get into.

Now, to the Review:
I bought the AudioQuest Jitterbug for about $40. Just about the same as my trusty FiiO K1 DAC/Amp.

I tested this Audioquest Jittterbug using my FiiO K1 with my both my Superlux HD661 and Audio Technica ATH-CLR100 In-ear Monitors as output devices.

Here are my Test Tracks:

Catching the Moment-Lisa:
This is the very first track I tested. FiiO K1 by itself, and with this track, the sound is just so thin and congested. I plugged Jitterbug and the FiiO K1 did Justice to the recording. The first thing I noticed is that the Electric guitar got the resolving thickness that the electric guitars got more Engaging. Without the jitterbug, the sound is still clean, but the resolution is not there, and it is real boring.

Waruineko-Ai Shinozaki:
With the Jitterbug, The snap for the song intro feels natural, Ai Shinozaki's Shrill Sibilant vocals sounds natural. The reverb sounds natural. The piano sounds the natural. The bass notes become more noticeable. The piercing highs with this track is unbearable when using the FiiO K1 by itself with the Superlux HD661s but when I use the Jitterbug, the sound is still quite listenable, but still, you still feel "the treble cannon" nature of the headphones on this track.

Deja Vu-Dave Rodgers:
Without the Jitterbug, this Eurobeat track sounds boring, flat, and congested. With the jitterbug, the Separation of Vocals and the Synth did shine that makes them engaging to listen into. The track sounds layered with the Jitterbug, and without the jitterbug, the track feels analytical, but not bright enough either.

Summary and Conclusion:
The sense of separation, and the sound becoming more natural and transparent is the reason why I am in favor of this Jitterbug. For me it became the essential device for further improving audio, especially when using USB DAC/Amps. Overall, It is worth the price. This device is no Snake Oil at all, and this device is worth the price. This may be an odd product because at the Average Consumer's point of view, you could have just spent money on a USB Extension hub. But hey, even if some things are impractical on this modern day, like Vacuum tubes and earspeaker systems like Stax, we audiophiles just don't care(minus the budget). But for this $40 product, to some it is a no-brainer, but for me who is a budget-fi that wants to ensure Price to Performance, I think this is a no-brainer as well.

AudioQuest has been on a personal audio tear lately - from the DragonFly (USB DAC) to the NightHawk (headphones) and now the Beetle (optical / Bluetooth / USB DAC) and JitterBug (USB power / signal filter), the last of which is the focus of this review. AudioQuest's entry is not the first - Schiit offers the Wyrd USB decrapifier and UpTone Audio has their USB REGEN signal regenerator. However, the JitterBug has the distinction of being both the cheapest and the most portable of the three. Not a bad spot to find yourself in.
 
Description
 
The JitterBug is simple enough. It's about the size of your garden variety flash drive, though probably approaching twice the thickness. The shell is a hard black plastic which seems to be fairly sturdy. One end has the ubiquitous USB type A male connector. The other end sports the female version. It's strictly plug and play.
 
Note that AudioQuest claims that placing two JitterBugs in parallel on the same USB bus will enhance the filtering capabilities even further. If one's good, two must be that much better, right? Well, the proof is in the listening...
 
Listening
 
I've found that the effects that power-related tweaks can be subtle and vary from equipment to equipment. Sometimes it's easier to listen to the system with the tweak in place for a while and then remove it to see what changes, if anything. For this review, I used two portable DACs - AudioQuest's own DragonFly v1.2 and the Meridian Explorer 2. Both draw power from the USB bus which makes them prime candidates for the JitterBug. I started with the Meridian.
 
I have to admit, it was a challenge at first to nail down just what the JitterBug was doing to the sound. After listening to a few of my usual test tracks, I finally hit on one that really spotlighted the differences. Leslie Feist's performance on "1234" from The Reminder (Cherrytree/Interscope Records, B0008819-02), especially the introduction, can take on new dimensions depending on the DAC in use. The Explorer 2 sans JitterBug has a relaxed presentation - Leslie Feist's voice sounding airy and delicate and the backing band portrayed with a British politeness that some might find too reserved. Injecting the JitterBug into the chain brought a warmth to the midrange that fleshed out Feist's voice, and brought her a bit forward in the soundstage. The strummed guitar now had equal parts tone and attack. Bass firmed up, lending more rhythmic drive to the track. Yet all this didn't come at the expense of the details. The little smacking sounds as Feist's lips moved and the dynamic shading she imparted within each verse as well as the brassiness of the trumpet solo and spatial resolution were all preserved.
 
Now onto the DragonFly. Here it was a bit easier listening with the JitterBug connected first and then removing it from the playback chain. The effect the JitterBug had was somewhat muted, probably by the DragonFly's already warmer tonal balance. Feist's vocals again had more body but what the non-JitterBug setup lacked most was the rhythmic drive and bass impact that came with ostensibly cleaner power. Detail and clarity remained largely unchanged - a testament to Gordon Rankin's circuit design prowess.
 
In both instances I also noted that the JitterBug seemed to remove a tiny degree of edginess or grain from the treble, perhaps as a result of the warmer midrange and dynamic bass, resulting in a more natural presentation.
 
Fortunately, a co-worker of mine also had a JitterBug so we were able to double-up on the USB bus to find out if more really is better. In this case, neither of us could really hear a difference. I tried listening to a track while it was playing and inserting / removing the JitterBug - no changes were detected. I also A/B'd entire tracks much to the same result.
 
Finally, I tried the JitterBug with the Aune X1S desktop headphone amp / DAC while it was in residence on its North American tour, but I couldn't detect whether or not there was a real sonic benefit. The X1S has an outboard power supply so perhaps the power filtering capabilities of the JitterBug are more important than the data line filters.
 
Conclusions
 
In the end, the best kind of tweak is the one that works and in this regard, the AudioQuest JitterBug fulfills its promise, at least for USB-powered DACs. At it's current price of about $50, it's a phenomenal value to boot and easy to recommend. If you have a USB-powered DAC, you owe it to yourself to try the JitterBug in your system. If your experience is anywhere near the same as mine, you'll soon find it indispensable.
 
Associated Equipment
 
Headphones - Etymotic ER-4S, NAD Viso HP50, Sennheiser HD 600
 
Amps / Sources - AudioQuest DragonFly v1.2, Meridian Explorer 2

This made the mids a bit more 'present' in my system and does seem to reduce any perceived digital noise.  I'm using it in conjunction with the Uptone Audio Regen.
 
Note, you will likely only notice a benefit if you system is already quite resolving since any improvement with this is quite subtle. 
 
This was designed by Gordon Rankin of Wavelength Audio and Garth Powell formerly with Furman, now at Audioquest.
 
It does improve things and can be used in conjunction with other USB devices such as the Schiit Wyrd or Uptone Regen. 
 
I wouldn't go crazy and install this in every single open USB port as Audioquest would have you do, but the one in my Mac to USB DAC chain does improve the audio for me. For the price of one unit, I'm happy with the device.