[Jawed]

You should apply the ferrites to the digital signal cable that connects to DAVE, placing them on the cable close to DAVE. DAVE contains the analogue circuit that is affected by RF noise, so the filtering should be as close to DAVE as possible.

A clear indication it's better is that you'll hear metal, percussive, sounds such as cymbals, tambourines and bells sound faster and clearer. The reduction in distortion on those sounds will also make them less "spiky" sounding, which initially appears as if the treble has been rolled off. But it hasn't, it's simply a faster, cleaner sound. You'll hear the individual metallic sounds much more easily.

This is also the reason you'll hear less errant sibilance: speed and refinement in treble turns a "messy sibilant" into a cleaner sound that is more natural.

In general everything sounds faster and extra detail is revealed instead of being covered up by a smeary/spiky mess. You'll also notice an increase in bass power and groove in the music will be more obvious. etc. The effect is top-to-bottom sonically and musically.

The right place for ferrites is close to DAVE. Everything else you do to optimise noise within the digital components is irrelevant if you filter the input to DAVE correctly with ferrites. If you can hear changes because of tweaks to your digital components, you need to use more ferrites on the cable that connects to DAVE.

Now playing: Hazel O'Connor - Will You?

 

[Whazzzup]

More cowbell

 

[TheAttorney]

The right place for ferrites is close to DAVE.

Unfortunately, those 7.5mm ferrite cores are too small for fit around my fat-ish audiophile USB cable that goes into DAVE - otherwise I would have tried that.
What I can try though is to replace my audiophile USB cable with a stock (thin) cable with the ferrites. That will be an interesting test.

I bought my Tellurium Q Black Diamond USB cable ages ago, well before DAVE. At the time, the TQ absolutely trounced a stock cable on a previous DAC. That was the first time that I realized that cables still matter in the digital world. And as I already own the TQ, I've not seen any point in doing any further comparisons against stock.... until now!

 

[Triode User]

Unfortunately, those 7.5mm ferrite cores are too small for fit around my fat-ish audiophile USB cable that goes into DAVE - otherwise I would have tried that.
What I can try though is to replace my audiophile USB cable with a stock (thin) cable with the ferrites. That will be an interesting test.

I bought my Tellurium Q Black Diamond USB cable ages ago, well before DAVE. At the time, the TQ absolutely trounced a stock cable on a previous DAC. That was the first time that I realized that cables still matter in the digital world. And as I already own the TQ, I've not seen any point in doing any further comparisons against stock.... until now!

Get your knife out then and sort the fatty cables out. Make them thin. Make them ferrite compatible.

It's only a plastic casing. Some duct tape will soon repair the cable if you decide to take the ferrites off!

 

[TheAttorney]

Get your knife out then and sort the fatty cables out. Make them thin. Make them ferrite compatible.

It's only a plastic casing. Some duct tape will soon repair the cable if you decide to take the ferrites off!

Yeah, right, I'll just take a knife to that £650 cable - what harm could that possibly do to it's resale value? .
Actually, for the cable fatties, is bigger better in the ferrite core world? Does size matter? Could I just order a bigger ferrite, or do I have to be more scientific than that?

Anyway, I've had some spare time this afternoon, so I've done a really fast shootout to try to get a handle on the impact of the ferrites.
Firstly, none of the following is conclusive, parlly because my brain gets easily confused with too many variables changing too quickly, but nevertheless I did end up with a pecking order that will point me to further investigation.
This shootout was complicated by the fact that I have an ISORegen (with its short, hard USB connector) immediately before DAVE's USB input. Now, the IR's designer would claim that the IR is filtering USB noise in a far more sophisticated way than a lump of ferrite (mR's designer would say the same for his product), so I initially took the IR out of the equation.

So, start point = W10 laptop USB socket -> USB>ethernet dongle thingey -> Supra CAT8 cable -> mR v1.4 -> TQ USB cable -> IR -> hard connector -> DAVE USB socket.

No ferrites involved anywhere at this point. I then made changes as follows:

1. Replaced the IR & TQ with a stock cable with 4 ferrites at the DAVE end. So the last part of my chain was: mR v1.4 -> stock USB cable with 4Fs -> DAVE USB socket.
2. Replaced "stock USB cable with 4Fs" with TQ USB cable with no ferrites.
3. Put the IR back into the chain, so now we're back at the start point above.
4. Added the 4 ferrites to the middle of the Supra CAT8 ethernet cable.

The above order was also the order of SQ, i.e. (1) was worst sounding because of a slight edge/glare to the sound, with the next ones being progressively more natural sounding.
I repeat that this is not conclusive, and I'm not able to quantify the (objectively quite small) differences at each point - to get the full impact I'd need to test over a much longer period.

However, based on the results so far, I'm glad I didn't cut up my £650 cable . and will next investigate further whether change (4) is real or imaginary.

 

[statfi]

Unfortunately, those 7.5mm ferrite cores are too small for fit around my fat-ish audiophile USB cable that goes into DAVE - otherwise I would have tried that...

Get your knife out then and sort the fatty cables out. Make them thin. Make them ferrite compatible.

It's only a plastic casing. Some duct tape will soon repair the cable if you decide to take the ferrites off!

Tape and/or tie wraps work, or you can get pretty much anything you need from

http://www.fair-rite.com/product-category/suppression-components/round-cable-snap-its/

If you are using any mains power, I suggest you try applying ferrite to any power cables. Efficacy will vary depending on the quality of the house wiring, time of day, power company, etc.

 

[Triode User]

Actually, for the cable fatties, is bigger better in the ferrite core world? Does size matter? Could I just order a bigger ferrite, or do I have to be more scientific than that?

Yes it does matter, yes they are all different, yes you do need to be more scientific than just getting a bigger diameter one.

But all is not lost, just select one that is the same spec (impedance, min freq, max freq) as the ones we are using.

This is what we are using
http://uk.farnell.com/wurth-elektronik/74271131s/ferrite-core-split-7-5mm-246ohm/dp/2082472

This is the choice;
http://uk.farnell.com/c/passive-com...rites-ferrite-assortments/split-core-ferrites

Actually I have just edited my post as I notice you are talking about usb and these ferrite things started being used on the bnc from Blu2 to Dave and the usb might or might not have the same issues.

 

[musickid]

will davina be a better alternative to blu2 as a ddc into dave or is it still early days to know. also with a laptop feeding roon into dave have any tests been done which indicate wifi is superior to wired or vice versa. i would assume with a battery powered laptop the leaning would be towards wifi and no extra ethernet cable to keep things as pure as possible. what do most members do here on that one? cheers mk

 

[Whazzzup]

Wired over wifi. Especially if coming from a music server.

 

[Triode User]

Wired over wifi. Especially if coming from a music server.

Yes, there is a theory that using WiFi merely generates more emi / rf because the laptop generates a signal as well as receiving. I have heard several people say they prefer wired from the router to the streamer/laptop.

 

[Jawed]

1. Replaced the IR & TQ with a stock cable with 4 ferrites at the DAVE end. So the last part of my chain was: mR v1.4 -> stock USB cable with 4Fs -> DAVE USB socket.

It might have been interesting for you to try 0: with no ferrites applied to the stock USB cable, so that you could witness the difference at this step.

In my setup the biggest change came with adding six ferrites to go from 10 to 16 on the USB cable. I expect four isn't enough, but no-one knows what's enough and less noisy systems could get away with less. I know I need more, I just have to get round to ordering them...

Now playing: Arab Strap - Trippy

 

[paulchiu]

Getting rid of a computer is best. Besides WiFi, there are just too many processes that may affect the music.

Yes, there is a theory that using WiFi merely generates more emi / rf because the laptop generates a signal as well as receiving. I have heard several people say they prefer wired from the router to the streamer/laptop.

 

[musickid]

incredible website billy. i'm moved truly.

 

[TheAttorney]

It might have been interesting for you to try 0: with no ferrites applied to the stock USB cable, so that you could witness the difference at this step.

In my setup the biggest change came with adding six ferrites to go from 10 to 16 on the USB cable.

Yes, swapping ferrites on the stock USB cable would have given further info, but impatience and lack of unlock key made me stick to combinations that improved the sound. Nevertheless, I've now ordered some 7.5mm and 10.5mm ferrites and unlock key, so will report back with an update in a week or two.

I find the idea of 16 ferrites per cable rather disturbing - there really has to be a more elegant solution out there, speaking of which it's quite likely that IR's and mR's own filtering functions will skew the outcome of any such comparisons.

 

[Triode User]

Yes, swapping ferrites on the stock USB cable would have given further info, but impatience and lack of unlock key made me stick to combinations that improved the sound. Nevertheless, I've now ordered some 7.5mm and 10.5mm ferrites and unlock key, so will report back with an update in a week or two.

I find the idea of 16 ferrites per cable rather disturbing - there really has to be a more elegant solution out there, speaking of which it's quite likely that IR's and mR's own filtering functions will skew the outcome of any such comparisons.

There was a video of the RF measuring lab posted here or one of the other threads that had a 4 or 5m cable with a split core ferrite every 100mm or so.

Bulk buy is the answer.