[514077]

I own the Woo Audio WA33, the Blu/Dave Combo, but my headphones are the Abyss Phi, even though I have owned the Blu/Dave for a couple of months now, I have yet to listen using them and the WA33. I usually listen using the PS DS dac, that sounded a lot better to me then using just the Dave. What I am doing now is hooking up a Hugo 2 with rca cables to the WA33 and then connecting it to an Ipad mini 4 for quick listening, it's fast and I don't have to fiddle with changing dacs or cables, just quick connect and listen. I also haven't listened with WA33 using the PS DS dac with the new Red Cloud software, I'm betting that is going to be the best. Oh yeah, I don't own the Blu/ Dave stand lol I have to draw the line somewhere.

Have you-or anyone else-tried the T+A M8 DSD DAC? Wondered where it fits in the realm of expensive D2A conversion.

 

[Sonic77]

Have you-or anyone else-tried the T+A M8 DSD DAC? Wondered where it fits in the realm of expensive D2A conversion.

Sorry, I have not.

 

[marcmccalmont]

I have not, mainly because they do t have the bass extension (I’m spoiled rotten by my B&W 802d3’s).

I have a JL Audio F112v2 in the mix, which is lovely and very musical and transparent with the BluDAVE (fast, low distortion, etc. I’m driving them from the XLR outputs of the DAVE)

I’m guessing a 10” JL Audio would be more that sufficient for almost all music, but have the same sub in my surround setup for movies, etc

I have a pair of 10” JL subs using Dave’s single ended outputs and the balanced for the Spectral amps the JL’s are just superb!

 

[musickid]

I use to own a yulong u100 usb/dac. similar family to smsl. it did the job but quite a flat response.

 

[marcmccalmont]

I have had a chance to experiment some more with ferrites
I've tried just 2 Clearer Audio Silver Line Optimus Reference .7m coax
with 17 Topnisus lower frequency Ferrites (per cable)
with 17 Wurth 2.5 GHz ferrites
with 16 Fair Rite 61 material ferrites.
The Clearer Audio cables sound really good, a step better with the Topnisus low frequency ferrites, An additional half step better with the Wurth's and an additional quarter step better with the Fair Rite's. The Blu2/Dave combo optimized with the Fair Rites is a noticeable improvement, more dynamic, more detailed, more focused, more bass detail, sweeter.
The Fair Rites are half the price, slightly longer so it takes one less, don't require a key, are cylindrical not square and sound just a tad better than the Wurth's in my system.
FAIR-RITE 0461164181 Split Core Ferrite, 12.7 mm, 200 MHz, 1 GHz, 205 ohm

Just put the ProJect CD box RS in the system, coax input into Blu2, initial impression a bit more detail than the Aurender N10 or the internal Philips CDM pro drive, I'm waiting on the upgraded DC power cord but in the mean time will let it break in.

 

[Triode User]

I have had a chance to experiment some more with ferrites
I've tried just 2 Clearer Audio Silver Line Optimus Reference .7m coax
with 17 Topnisus lower frequency Ferrites (per cable)
with 17 Wurth 2.5 GHz ferrites
with 16 Fair Rite 61 material ferrites.
The Clearer Audio cables sound really good, a step better with the Topnisus low frequency ferrites, An additional half step better with the Wurth's and an additional quarter step better with the Fair Rite's. The Blu2/Dave combo optimized with the Fair Rites is a noticeable improvement, more dynamic, more detailed, more focused, more bass detail, sweeter.
The Fair Rites are half the price, slightly longer so it takes one less, don't require a key, are cylindrical not square and sound just a tad better than the Wurth's in my system.
FAIR-RITE 0461164181 Split Core Ferrite, 12.7 mm, 200 MHz, 1 GHz, 205 ohm

Just put the ProJect CD box RS in the system, coax input into Blu2, initial impression a bit more detail than the Aurender N10 or the internal Philips CDM pro drive, I'm waiting on the upgraded DC power cord but in the mean time will let it break in.

Thanks for that experimentation.

I am assuming that I have got the cables you used identified correctly but perhaps you can look at the attached screen grab and see if I am right.

edit - is that already a ferrite on the cable?

However, my main question is how all of this compares to a reasonably priced cables of the same length and with the same ferrites (I don't regard the Clearer Audio as reasonably priced). Have you tried this?

 

[onsionsi]

Curious to know if @Rob Watts met @romaz at his house to listen and discuss with him his approaches in the sources.

 

[Jawed]

I have had a chance to experiment some more with ferrites
I've tried just 2 Clearer Audio Silver Line Optimus Reference .7m coax
with 17 Topnisus lower frequency Ferrites (per cable)
with 17 Wurth 2.5 GHz ferrites
with 16 Fair Rite 61 material ferrites.
The Clearer Audio cables sound really good, a step better with the Topnisus low frequency ferrites, An additional half step better with the Wurth's and an additional quarter step better with the Fair Rite's. The Blu2/Dave combo optimized with the Fair Rites is a noticeable improvement, more dynamic, more detailed, more focused, more bass detail, sweeter.
The Fair Rites are half the price, slightly longer so it takes one less, don't require a key, are cylindrical not square and sound just a tad better than the Wurth's in my system.
FAIR-RITE 0461164181 Split Core Ferrite, 12.7 mm, 200 MHz, 1 GHz, 205 ohm

Just put the ProJect CD box RS in the system, coax input into Blu2, initial impression a bit more detail than the Aurender N10 or the internal Philips CDM pro drive, I'm waiting on the upgraded DC power cord but in the mean time will let it break in.

The consensus is, "more detail" is normally indicative of worse RF. It's normally a bad sign, especially if it's revealed by an "initial impression".

More fundamentally, if you can hear a difference amongst the 3 sources (Blu 2 itself, Aurender, Project) then it means that you're hearing the effect of excessive RF noise affecting DAVE. In other words the cable/ferrites combination is not doing enough filtering.

It appears you have compared 3 distinct types of ferrites on your cables, and all 3 types fill the entire length of each cable. It might be worth reverting to longer BNC cables and putting more total count of ferrites on the cables (in order of sound quality: all Fair Rite ferrites, then all Wurth/Topnisus ferrites that fit).

Now playing: Márta Sebestyén - Devoiko Mome

 

[adyc]

I have had a chance to experiment some more with ferrites
I've tried just 2 Clearer Audio Silver Line Optimus Reference .7m coax
with 17 Topnisus lower frequency Ferrites (per cable)
with 17 Wurth 2.5 GHz ferrites
with 16 Fair Rite 61 material ferrites.
The Clearer Audio cables sound really good, a step better with the Topnisus low frequency ferrites, An additional half step better with the Wurth's and an additional quarter step better with the Fair Rite's. The Blu2/Dave combo optimized with the Fair Rites is a noticeable improvement, more dynamic, more detailed, more focused, more bass detail, sweeter.
The Fair Rites are half the price, slightly longer so it takes one less, don't require a key, are cylindrical not square and sound just a tad better than the Wurth's in my system.
FAIR-RITE 0461164181 Split Core Ferrite, 12.7 mm, 200 MHz, 1 GHz, 205 ohm

Just put the ProJect CD box RS in the system, coax input into Blu2, initial impression a bit more detail than the Aurender N10 or the internal Philips CDM pro drive, I'm waiting on the upgraded DC power cord but in the mean time will let it break in.

Looking at the spec of this cable, they have 2 built in ferrites with
Impedance @ 25MHz = 71 Ω
Impedance @ 100MHz = 125 Ω

It seems that they also think ferrites will improve the sound quality although they don’t specify the impedance at higher frequency.

 

[Triode User]

The consensus is, "more detail" is normally indicative of worse RF. It's normally a bad sign, especially if it's revealed by an "initial impression".

More fundamentally, if you can hear a difference amongst the 3 sources (Blu 2 itself, Aurender, Project) then it means that you're hearing the effect of excessive RF noise affecting DAVE. In other words the cable/ferrites combination is not doing enough filtering.

It appears you have compared 3 distinct types of ferrites on your cables, and all 3 types fill the entire length of each cable. It might be worth reverting to longer BNC cables and putting more total count of ferrites on the cables (in order of sound quality: all Fair Rite ferrites, then all Wurth/Topnisus ferrites that fit).

Now playing: Márta Sebestyén - Devoiko Mome

Also, I wonder whether a mixture of ferrites could be more beneficial to give a broader overlap of frequencies rather than just sticking with the same sort.

 

[adyc]

Also, I wonder whether a mixture of ferrites could be more beneficial to give a broader overlap of frequencies rather than just sticking with the same sort.

I think 2.5GHz ferrites are good enough. If you look at the spec, 2.5GHz ferrites will work with frequency up to 2.5GHz. There is no need to use 1GHz ferrites unless one does not want to have any impedance beyond 1GHz.

 

[marcmccalmont]

Thanks for that experimentation.

I am assuming that I have got the cables you used identified correctly but perhaps you can look at the attached screen grab and see if I am right.

edit - is that already a ferrite on the cable?

However, my main question is how all of this compares to a reasonably priced cables of the same length and with the same ferrites (I don't regard the Clearer Audio as reasonably priced). Have you tried this?

These are the ones and they are expensive but so is Blu2/Dave. Previously I experimented with the supplied coax, Black Kat coax and home made rg59 coax. without ferrites there was a large gap between those and the Clearer Audio. Once I added Topnisus ferrites (about 8) the gap narrowed a bit, the Clearer Audio cable remained superior. The Clearer Audio Cables are 1/2" diameter and the other cables are thinner so it would be costly to order other size Wurths and Fair Rites to rerun the experiment.

 

[Triode User]

These are the ones and they are expensive but so is Blu2/Dave. Previously I experimented with the supplied coax, Black Kat coax and home made rg59 coax. without ferrites there was a large gap between those and the Clearer Audio. Once I added Topnisus ferrites (about 8) the gap narrowed a bit, the Clearer Audio cable remained superior. The Clearer Audio Cables are 1/2" diameter and the other cables are thinner so it would be costly to order other size Wurths and Fair Rites to rerun the experiment.

Thanks for the reply. Looking at the spec of the ferrites you have, they are also ok with thinner cables so no need to buy any different ferrites.

It may well be that the Clearer Audio cable owes its performance to the factory ferrites in which case that is an expensive way to buy ferrites.

 

[marcmccalmont]

The consensus is, "more detail" is normally indicative of worse RF. It's normally a bad sign, especially if it's revealed by an "initial impression".

More fundamentally, if you can hear a difference amongst the 3 sources (Blu 2 itself, Aurender, Project) then it means that you're hearing the effect of excessive RF noise affecting DAVE. In other words the cable/ferrites combination is not doing enough filtering.

It appears you have compared 3 distinct types of ferrites on your cables, and all 3 types fill the entire length of each cable. It might be worth reverting to longer BNC cables and putting more total count of ferrites on the cables (in order of sound quality: all Fair Rite ferrites, then all Wurth/Topnisus ferrites that fit).

Now playing: Márta Sebestyén - Devoiko Mome

Too expensive and unwieldy to do longer cables
This is more low level detail not more HF energy or noise due to RF I actually hear more room ambiance, small sounds not noticed in the recordings and more definition in stringed instruments. Tonality does not change. If lack of detail was our metric in a Hi End system we would all be listening to Bose!
I've gone back and forth with sources and between Spectral amps/DM10 sig speakers and Focal Utopia headphones.

Unit Jitter Phase Noise S/N Noise Modulation
Aurender N10 5ps -150db 161db - 150db
Project RS 60ps -160db 165db None at -165db!
MSB DATA IV 122ps -142db 147db -133db
CDM Pro2 254ps -121db 128db -118db

 

[marcmccalmont]

Thanks for the reply. Looking at the spec of the ferrites you have, they are also ok with thinner cables so no need to buy any different ferrites.

It may well be that the Clearer Audio cable owes its performance to the factory ferrites in which case that is an expensive way to buy ferrites.

They are still superior once equalized with ferrites. Sometimes you get what you pay for, these cables have 6 layers of shielding and I wanted my home made cable to be as good but it's not. At any rate you are happy with your system and I'm happy with mine that's all that counts. I did these experiments with both my wifi and plasma TV on! The Topnisus have the least amount of ferrite material the Fair Rites the most. It appears all ferrites are relativly low q broad band filters with some materials/configurations favoring either lower or higher frequencies but all fairly broadband