[korzena]

Quote:

Here is a few USB cable reviews from what HIFI.....
 
Seriously how is this magazine legal? Surely this is fraud? I found it funny initially but really it is quite annoying.
 
Its almost like they enter the product name into a "random audiophile speil" generator LOL.
 
Audioquest Forest USB 1.5

Detail levels are markedly improved, there's greater precision and punch, and a general upgrade in musical expressiveness.
 
 
Silverline USB

Its performance is energetic and lively. It’s rhythmic, and does a good job of handling timing. Overall, it’s an entertaining listen. So far so good.

Unfortunately, the detail and texture isn’t all there. The Silver-line robs instruments of their characteristic textures, resulting in a less faithful reproduction.
 
 
Kimber USB
 
ts sound is well organised, providing a good sense of space. Its details are clearly conveyed and it has good timing.

It keeps up with the frantic, metallic tapping at the beginning of Little Dragon’s Ritual Union.

But the music suffers from a restrained and downbeat presentation, which makes the experience less lively. It also struggles a little with bass, which isn’t as well defined as its treble.

The Kimber USB is worth an audition, if you’re after something a bit laidback.
 
What HIFI FTW

Amazing At least I know "What Hifi" is something I do NOT want to waste my time on. Thank you!

 

[korzena]

Quote:

...
What is the benifit of an audiophillio over a M2tech hiface?

http://www.digitalaudioreview.net/2011/09/audiophilleo1-2-usb-spdif-convertor/

 

[CB3874]

I have a Rega Brio-R that I'm very happy with. I'm currently using the Fiio e17 as a DAC for the time being until I can upgrade. I've read the Rega DAC is very simpatico with the Brio-R but I don't dig that the USB can only do max 16/48. Is my concern unwarranted? I have a growing library of 24/96 & 24/192 tunes would like to hear them in all their glory. My source for music is my late 2009 27" iMac and it's digital out maxes out @ 24/96. Is there anyway to play bitperfect tunes on the Rega DAC?
 
Thanks!

 

[nicholars]

Deleted - Sorry I misread your post did not realise you had 24/192 source material.

 

[WarrenR]

Hey Nicholars.
 
The best VFM converter for the Rega DAC is a HiFace2.  There is better but it costs money.  
 
I'm currently using an Audiophilleo 2 with my Rega DAC.  Is it 3x better than a HiFace 2 - no, but there is a subtle difference for the better.
 
I originally had a VLink, but when I moved up to the HiFace 2 I realised that it was an awful bit of gear.  
 
Cheers,

 

[nicholars]

It does seem to be quite a common trend that musical fidelity gear is not very good lol.
 
I am not sure I will even bother upgrading from my dacmagic at the moment because the differences between good dacs are so subtle, I may get the rega dac and hiface at some point to try out. Thanks for the info.

 

[No Disc]

The only way I will be able to do a blind test is to involve my wife. (easier said than done) The only comparisons would be only 16/44 files, since the USB connection on the Rega limited. If I get around to it, I'll let you know.

Did you notice any difference with the USB > Spdif converter?

Did you try it blind by any chance?

Would be interested to hear the results of a blind A/B test. Would be quite easy to setup as USB/spdif converter VS optical blind A/B test using foobar and just switching the inputs.

 

[nick_charles]

Quote:

Here is an interesting quote I read on another forum :
 
"if you can actually hear jitter something is very seriously wrong with the device."
 
http://amorgignitamorem.nl/Audio/Jitter/Detection%20threshold%20for%20distortions%20due%20to%20jitter%20on%20digital%20audio%2026_50.pdf
 

 
No reputable audio body (AES,BBC, NHK etc) has ever published any peer reviewed paper with evidence to suggest that jitter as found in normal competent digital audio kit is even close to audibility, audible thresholds vary from several 10s of ns to several 100s of ns which are very large quantities. There are of course plenty of dog and pony show demos of anti jitter devices but no single reputable and credible suggestion of low ns jitter audibility

 

[MoonUnit]

Quote:

 
No reputable audio body (AES,BBC, NHK etc) has ever published any peer reviewed paper with evidence to suggest that jitter as found in normal competent digital audio kit is even close to audibility, audible thresholds vary from several 10s of ns to several 100s of ns which are very large quantities. There are of course plenty of dog and pony show demos of anti jitter devices but no single reputable and credible suggestion of low ns jitter audibility

 
Huh? Even a very quick search turns up JAES papers with jitter audibility thresholds orders of magnitude lower. See, e.g., https://secure.aes.org/forum/pubs/conventions/?elib=6772, section 3.3 ("The audibility of sampling jitter"), where they indicate the audibility threshold of sampling jitter for 20 kHz signals is ~20 ps.

 

[nick_charles]

Quote:

 
Huh? Even a very quick search turns up JAES papers with jitter audibility thresholds orders of magnitude lower. See, e.g., https://secure.aes.org/forum/pubs/conventions/?elib=6772, section 3.3 ("The audibility of sampling jitter"), where they indicate the audibility threshold of sampling jitter for 20 kHz signals is ~20 ps.

did you read the full papers or just the abstracts?  
 
You have to read the full text of these papers.. all the thresholds in Dunn /Hawksford etc are models not empirically tested !
 
Even Dunn points to Benjamin and Gannon as suggesting that his model is not supported by empirical  evidence. Dunn's model by the way is predicated on sound levels 120db above noise ! i.e very very very loud 

 

[korzena]

Quote:

Hey Nicholars.
 
The best VFM converter for the Rega DAC is a HiFace2.  There is better but it costs money.  
 
I'm currently using an Audiophilleo 2 with my Rega DAC.  Is it 3x better than a HiFace 2 - no, but there is a subtle difference for the better.
 
I originally had a VLink, but when I moved up to the HiFace 2 I realised that it was an awful bit of gear.  
 
Cheers,

Have you ever tried John Kenny's Hiface mod - JKSPDIF MK3? I wonder how it compared to Audiophilleo 2.

 

[dura]

I've no first hand experience with USB cables since I use a squeezebox to feed my beloved Rega DAC.
But I was wondering, there are two kinds of possible distortion; one is jitter, that tends to make the sound more dull because information is lost randomly afaik.
But the other is noise; generated in the source (and PCs seems to be very polluted) or picked up by the cable by air, RFI.
This kind of noise seems to distort feedback loops in amplifier stages, generally resulting in an unpleasantly bright sound. 
Couldn't audible differences in USB cables be attributed to sensitivity to differnt kinds of polution? F.i., an unshielded cable might pick up more then a shielded cable, a twisted or braided cable might reject more then a straight cable? 
If this was true I still think it must be possible to construct a good-for-audio USB-cable for not much more then the price of a standard cable, but I'm willing to believe USB cables can sound different.

 

[korzena]

Quote:

I've no first hand experience with USB cables since I use a squeezebox to feed my beloved Rega DAC.
But I was wondering, there are two kinds of possible distortion; one is jitter, that tends to make the sound more dull because information is lost randomly afaik.
But the other is noise; generated in the source (and PCs seems to be very polluted) or picked up by the cable by air, RFI.
This kind of noise seems to distort feedback loops in amplifier stages, generally resulting in an unpleasantly bright sound. 
Couldn't audible differences in USB cables be attributed to sensitivity to differnt kinds of polution? F.i., an unshielded cable might pick up more then a shielded cable, a twisted or braided cable might reject more then a straight cable? 
If this was true I still think it must be possible to construct a good-for-audio USB-cable for not much more then the price of a standard cable, but I'm willing to believe USB cables can sound different.

Just get a dark sounding headphone, like LCD-2 or Hifiman HE-400! Then you won't be hurt by the 'extra' brightness that is supposed to come from the noise you are talked about.
Another solution, maybe more practical is to get USB/SPDIF converter, like JKSPDIF MK3, Audiophilleo 2 or other and hopefully it will solve most of the problem. Although to be honest I am not sure how much it solves it, but I know the sound is better if it goes through it (vs direct USB connection).

 

[korzena]

By the way, is there a consensus that Rega is a bright sounding DAC?

 

[MoonUnit]

Quote:

By the way, is there a consensus that Rega is a bright sounding DAC?

No, not at all. If anything, it's on the darker/warmer side of neutral (in comparison to other DACs). If you're looking for something much darker than the Rega DAC on filter 4 or 5, you pretty much have to go to something tubed, something vintage (e.g., R2R), or something with a relatively high amount of distortion (e.g., D18).