[petemac110]

After being overwhelmed with the number of replies to my question above (hehe   ) I've decided to play it safe and go for a Tentlabs XO. Looking forward to trying this in conjunction with the two different types of high-speed hex inverters that I've ordered - one buffered, one unbuffered. I'd absolutely LOVE if these tweaks can elevate the performance of the DI to within spitting-distance of the Audiophileo etc. Time will tell!

 

[punk_guy182]

Is there anything considerably better out there than the TCXO upgrade module from Audio-GD?

 

[somestranger26]

No TCXO is best TCXO .

 

[petemac110]

Quote:

No TCXO is best TCXO

.

Not in my experience... removing the standard XO (pretty sure it's not a TCXO  - the temperature controlled oscillators are the larger rectangular form-factor units like the audio-gd upgrade, the Valab, the Vanguard etc) was a backwards step in terms of imaging in my setup (speakers, not headphones). The strong central vocal image disappeared. Reinserting the standard XO fixed things up.
 
Looking forward to hearing the Tentlabs XO soon! 

 

[petemac110]

Well, the hex inverters have arrived!
 
I've currently installed the 74AHC04N buffered unit, and will try the 74AHCU04N unbuffered unit soon. First impressions are that there is slightly improved resolution and detail, and a less warm sound. I really need some extended listening time, then I will refit the original unit to gauge the difference.
 
Still waiting to hear back from TentLabs regarding my XOs. They were prompt to reply to my initial queries, but I have received no replies to my emails since paying for the order, nor any status updates. Hopefully I will hear something soon.

 

[hawkhead]

I doubt you will - they were shockingly bad when I placed my order - I had to chase them several times
Quote:

Still waiting to hear back from TentLabs regarding my XOs. They were prompt to reply to my initial queries, but I have received no replies to my emails since paying for the order, nor any status updates. Hopefully I will hear something soon.

 

 

[petemac110]

Guido has been in conctact with me, indicating that the XOs were sent earlier this week, and apologising as he's been busy preparing for an audio show tomorrow. Hopefully they arrive soon!

 

[elwappo99]

Anyone have links to the drivers mentioned in this thread?

 

[Tini]

Hi Borrego,
 
I have read your post about your DI and the 4310s, 4 dropouts every once and again.
I have the same problem using KS, Wasapi or Asio with Foobar and I'm curious if you already had solved the problem. Do you use the power suply or the USB power?
 
Because I know a little off computers I already did a lot to solve the problem:

1. New clean W7 X64 install with only Foobar and plugins
2. Settings W7 on high performance
3. All automatic updates off, automatic play on devices off
4. Energy saving off (also on all USB ports)
5. Camera, fingerprint etc. off in Bios
6. Bios upgrade
7. Al not important task in sceduler disabled
8. Tried all settings in Foobar with different drivers

 
I'm very happy with the sound so I want to keep using the DI.
 
Regards,
Tini
 
 
 
Quote:

If you are using foobar or J. River MC, another thing you can try is to increase the loading of the player such that the computer spend more time on it. How? Install the VST plug-in component in foobar (or J. RIver MC) and load at least 1 VST DSP plug in. If you want to remain neutral, just pick an EQ plugin and set a flat EQ curve.
 
Although I experience dropout using foobar playing 16/44 audio using the DI, I have never, (repeat) NEVER experienced drop out ever once when using foorbar + DVD audio plug-in to play 24/96 DVD audio through the DI. And you should know playing high resolution DVD audio is supposedly more demanding on the computer and DI. In my case the DVD is a 4.7GB file virtually mounted as a drive using PowerISO shareware.
 
I think it is part of the fun using computer as source component.
 
 

 

 

[borrego]

Quote:

Hi Borrego,
 
I have read your post about your DI and the 4310s, 4 dropouts every once and again.
I have the same problem using KS, Wasapi or Asio with Foobar and I'm curious if you already had solved the problem. Do you use the power suply or the USB power?
 
Because I know a little off computers I already did a lot to solve the problem:

1. New clean W7 X64 install with only Foobar and plugins
2. Settings W7 on high performance
3. All automatic updates off, automatic play on devices off
4. Energy saving off (also on all USB ports)
5. Camera, fingerprint etc. off in Bios
6. Bios upgrade
7. Al not important task in sceduler disabled
8. Tried all settings in Foobar with different drivers

 
I'm very happy with the sound so I want to keep using the DI.
 
Regards,
Tini
 
 

Recently I have been experiencing much less drop out with the DI (i.e. 1 every 2-3 hours of listening). I don't know if it is because of any new Windows 7 updates, or I have uninstalled the Motorola Android Phone USB driver and switched to LG Android Phone USB Driver, or because I have installed the Android SDK ADB driver, or whatever things I have done over the period.
 
The fact that I don't use my notebook purely for music replay makes it difficult if not impossible for troubleshooting. Just say I am satisfied with the performance of the DI now.
 

 

[elwappo99]

Quote:

Anyone have links to the drivers mentioned in this thread?

anyone help me out ?

 

[borrego]

anyone help me out ?

The DI works with Windows 7/Vista, Mac OS built-in driver. If you are looking for Windows XP ASIO driver, do a google search on "teradak x2 asio".

 

[petemac110]

Quote:

Guido has been in conctact with me, indicating that the XOs were sent earlier this week, and apologising as he's been busy preparing for an audio show tomorrow. Hopefully they arrive soon!

The Tentlabs XOs have finally arrived!
 
I've only had a brief listen so far, but first impressions vs the standard XO are quite positive. There seems to be noticeably better depth and separation in the music, and it just 'flows' better.
 
I'll need to rack up many more hours and then perform some further comparisons against the standard XO and also with upsampling disabled. 

 

[somestranger26]

For anyone that is using the USB isolator with the DI, I'd recommend you use this adapter http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003D3NFDK which is far higher quality than the only other one I've found http://www.amazon.com/USB-Type-Male-Adapter/dp/B002B9AR8I/ -- these are all over but suck. The former has gold plated pins and much more solid build quality (also a lifetime warranty) while the latter has horrible build quality (mine broke after a couple months) and uses nickel plated pins and the cheapest internal solder one could imagine.
 
Not only do the USB connections have less strain with this adapter, but the sound quality also seems marginally improved.

 

[Tini]

Hi Borrego,
 
I ordered the PSU for the DI and I bought a new pc because I'm so sick of listening to dropouts.......
I'll let you know if I have still dropouts with my new pc when it arrives.
I'm convinced the problem is the 4310S and I suspect it's the power on the USB. Have you tried external power on the DI?
 
Regards,
Tini
 
 
 
Quote:

Recently I have been experiencing much less drop out with the DI (i.e. 1 every 2-3 hours of listening). I don't know if it is because of any new Windows 7 updates, or I have uninstalled the Motorola Android Phone USB driver and switched to LG Android Phone USB Driver, or because I have installed the Android SDK ADB driver, or whatever things I have done over the period.
 
The fact that I don't use my notebook purely for music replay makes it difficult if not impossible for troubleshooting. Just say I am satisfied with the performance of the DI now.