[JaZZ]

Another, very wallet-friendly solution is optical connection. It also saves you a lot of time (in the quest for further minute improvements) that you can invest in listening to music. That's my current solution with a desktop computer as source. I can easily renounce DSD. I could also live with a USB cable full of ferrite cores if it would offer a sonic advantage (my cables usually aren't visible from my listening place anyway).

 

[musickid]

don't you negate the superior asynchrous master clock inside dave by going optical? for a cheap dac maybe but for a 8k dac?

 

[Whazzzup]

Go USB to HD port

 

[JaZZ]

don't you negate the superior asynchrous master clock inside dave by going optical? for a cheap dac maybe but for a 8k dac?

Well, Rob himself recommends optical, saying the audible difference to an optimal USB connection be negligible to nonexistent, only noticeable in direct comparison if at all. In any event it's simple, cheap and relaxing.

 

[Whazzzup]

From my server usb is preferred I don't use ferrits i equate that to using more cow bell.

 

[musickid]

i understand rob as saying a variety of different usb cables all sounded identical to him. also the difference between optical/usb was minute as to be inconsequential. he also stated a battery powered laptop offered a higher degree of isolation than using a desktop optical out mains powered. if i can afford a dave next year i want to satisfy the designers tested outcomes whilst spending my money on the real hardware and the minimal amount on tweaks.

 

[Kamil21]

Apologies if this has been posted before, but this reviewer thinks that the dCS Network Bridge is a good match for Dave. Best money spent on that than exotic cables!

https://www.dcsltd.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/HiFiPlus_Network_Bridge_review_Oct17.pdf

 

[musickid]

why not just use a battery powered laptop with ssd drive. rob has clearly stated this in conjunction with dave's galv.isol. usb offers total isolation better than optical. the money saved could go towards 4K abyss headphones where a massive night/day improvement is instantly noticed?

 

[statfi]

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.

CAUTION: what follows is a long plea of ignorance and request for more knowledge

I had to deal with magnetic interference at 9kHz for scanning electron microscopes in semiconductor wafer fabs, and looked into generic shielding enough to have a glimmer of *how much I did not know or understand*. This was a "nice battle" to fight because the magnetic field caused the electron beam to wiggle to give wavy images: you could see, measure and document the bottom-line problem. Parameters of interest are frequency of interference, electric vs. magnetic fields, etc. In some cases a "faraday cage" will be an effective shield, i.e., a conductive surface completely surrounding the shielded area. I *think* this is what Enklein does for http://www.enklein.com/usb.htm. I would love for the TheAttorney to purchase one and report back !-) *I think* that Faraday cages are good for really high frequency electric fields. For my 9kHz magnetic interference, a Faraday shield would not work, so, in addition to making the cover of high permeability metal, we used active cancellation: a Spicer system with a triaxial magnetometer, three huge coils surrounding the ~8'x8'x12' SEM, and a powerful feedback system. Talk about not so "elegant"!

I have found empirically that on the order of 10 ferrite cores on power cables are efficacious. Different ferrites are most effective at different frequencies. However, I do not know what frequency we are fighting, so I used 2 "flavors" of ferrites in some cases: shots in the dark.

(I am an analog guy, and have not cared enough about USB to play in that sand box, yet !-)

So, if someone out there knows either what we are fighting or the best way of doing it, please let us know. References to publications would be nice. Maybe Chord knows?

 

[musickid]

maybe trusting the designer who clearly states he heard no difference with different usb cables is enough? it is akin to trying to contain an epidemic that appears to be out of control with no boundaries? rfi/emi can never be totally eliminated only minimised to a level by which its impact on the sound quality of a high performance dac goes unnoticed to the ear. the analogy here being that emi/rfi is the virus causing epidemic. by introducing concepts concerning solid state physics this seems totally absurd to me when the final goal is musical enjoyment. with regards to ferrite cores if they help then good. i for one will not be troubling myself with such approaches. what about custom faraday cages designed for dave which decode mqa at the same time?

 

[Whazzzup]

why not just use a battery powered laptop with ssd drive. rob has clearly stated this in conjunction with dave's galv.isol. usb offers total isolation better than optical. the money saved could go towards 4K abyss headphones where a massive night/day improvement is instantly noticed?

because its better sq through an external server, for a variety of reasons although listening will confirm that.

 

[Whazzzup]

maybe trusting the designer who clearly states he heard no difference with different usb cables is enough? it is akin to trying to contain an epidemic that appears to be out of control with no boundaries? rfi/emi can never be totally eliminated only minimised to a level by which its impact on the sound quality of a high performance dac goes unnoticed to the ear. the analogy here being that emi/rfi is the virus causing epidemic. by introducing concepts concerning solid state physics this seems totally absurd to me when the final goal is musical enjoyment. with regards to ferrite cores if they help then good. i for one will not be troubling myself with such approaches. what about custom faraday cages designed for dave which decode mqa at the same time?

Im unsure of sonic differences but i use top quality usb for insurance purposes although some posters swear by them, i swear by my server tho.

 

[Jawed]

I find the idea of 16 ferrites per cable rather disturbing - there really has to be a more elegant solution out there,

It appears you mean that 16 ferrites are "ugly and cumbersome looking"

Well think of it like this: ferrite cores are a filter for the problems caused by all the equipment that processes the digital signal, transmitted along the cable that plugs into DAVE and for the tendency of the cable, itself, to act as an antenna.

We already know that each piece of equipment that processes the digital signal is failing to do so cleanly, otherwise you wouldn't hear improvements from filtering closer to DAVE. Ferrites are actually the strongest filter you can use (if you use enough).

They are also extremely easy to buy, easy to use and cheap. So the best filtering is the simplest and cheapest. That sounds like the elegant solution to me...

I suppose you could find a cloth braid type cover to wrap the entire cable if you thought it would look better as an "audiophile hose"! And it would be heavy, too.

speaking of which it's quite likely that IR's and mR's own filtering functions will skew the outcome of any such comparisons.

At worst, it just means you'll need to use more ferrites than expected to hear any change. When you hear a change, it is by definition an improvement and proof that the other equipment has failed at being "clean".

Now playing: Anouar Brahem - Uns

 

[Jawed]

So, if someone out there knows either what we are fighting or the best way of doing it, please let us know.

http://www.audiosystemsgroup.com/RFI-Ham.pdf

http://www.bennettprescott.com/downloads/grounding_tutorial.pdf

 

[statfi]

Jawed, Nice references! Thx.