[leeperry]

A friend of mine also runs the Bravo/Supplier/self-powered ADUM4160 combo, and he told me that he hears more difference between the different USB ports of his mobo(half of them are powered by the chipset, and the other half by a NEC chip) than w/ or w/o the ADUM..but he's got a bad case of tinnitus, so YMMV.
 
There's also this company that sells a killer PCI USB host: http://www.sotm-audio.com/sotm/products/tX-USB.htm
 
They promise "tX-USB will change USB audio sound products. Include asynchronous mode products. Better resolution, Bigger sound stage, more realistic sound instrument texture"...for $300, it'd better sound AMAZING

 
I'll see if I can source a PCI-E NEC USB host, I don't have any PCI slot available anyway.
 
EDIT: this one uses a molex plug for the PSU, it cannot hurt to bypass the mobo: http://cgi.ebay.com/PCI-e-PCI-Express-USB3-0-Card-new-NEC-720200F1-chipset-/230549186787

 

[bauerpower]

I imagine it would have more benefit for those transports/dacs which don't have seperate power supply.

 

[leeperry]

depends...maybe the USB chip is also fed from the molex, for $15 shipped I'll get one

 

[leeperry]

this page is rather interesting as the CEO of PS AUDIO talks about the Hiface: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:X60Mty2bK_QJ:www.psaudio.com/ps/forum/viewthread/854/+m2tech%2BNEC%2BUSB&cd=6&hl=en&ct=clnk
 
I found it through an "audio dac nec usb" google search(this is no troll bait, nothing to see here), and it seems that the NEC chipsets are indeed renowned for their superior performance...and I guess USB3 does require a low jitter.
 
Many ppl state that m2tech recommends NEC chipsets for the Hiface, and that korean $300 card also uses one...eager to try it

 

[Ultratone]

 
Quote:

A friend of mine also runs the Bravo/Supplier/self-powered ADUM4160 combo, and he told me that he hears more difference between the different USB ports of his mobo(half of them are powered by the chipset, and the other half by a NEC chip) than w/ or w/o the ADUM..but he's got a bad case of tinnitus, so YMMV.

Interesting, I saw the NEC 720200F1 chipset mentioned in a previous post and checked the specs of the MB I purchased back in September and found that it, the ASUS M4A88TD-V EVO/USB3, has this NEC chipset. After instaling the MB and playing some saved music files I thought it was possibly my imagination that there was a very slight improvement in the sound. I will try the various usb ports for any differences. My configuration is pc>ADUM4160 w/external ps>musiland monitor usd01>Wolfson WM8804 receiver(sp-dif IN/I2C out)>ESS SABRE 9018 dac.
 
EDIT: I've also noticed a slight, very low in level, static like sound with music. It is not continuous or doesn't seem to be. I recall hearing it at times with the old MB also but it seems to occur more now. I've read somewhere that this could be digital clipping.

 

[leeperry]

that might be your problem: http://www.gearslutz.com/board/tips-techniques/334385-intersample-peaks.html
 
anyway, I've got a floppy PSU cable close to my PCI-E slot, and you can get this on ebay:

 

[leeperry]

ah well, you get what you pay for...there's several testimonials on dealextreme.com for those noname USB3 boards that don't look too engaging, and:
-I don't want to plug some noname stuff to my HDD power connector
-wait 3 months to get my board...apparently shipping from those chinese ebay sellers takes forever.
 
OTOH, this looks like the most bad-*ss USB3 PCI-E board: http://www.bonafidereviews.com/review-of-usb-3-0-gigabyte-ultra-durable-3-pci-express-card-ga-usb3-0/
 
but it's too darn pricey and not available anymore...only as NOS. I can get this for $35 locally: http://www.amazon.com/Asus-U3S6-True-Support-Motherboard/dp/B002VVQ58M
 
lotsa caps, serious board! I don't think I'd care for the sata part, but sata is said to be really wonky on my P5K Premium anyway..
 
I've read some ppl stating that their USB2 HDD was quite a bit faster off a USB3 controller...I guess this could only make the Tenor chip happier.

 

[leeperry]

ah well, the SATA chip used on that Asus card is junk: http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=413&Itemid=38
 
which brings me back to noname ebay boards..

 

[leeperry]

OK, order passed, I'm expecting a night and day...nothing less

 

[leeperry]

It's not even funny how much better the SQ has gotten when feeding the Bravo from the NEC USB3 chip instead of the mobo Intel chipset

 
I thought the Korean manufacturer of that killer PCI NEC controller was full of it when he promised "Better resolution, Bigger sound stage, more realistic sound instrument texture"...but that's exactly what I'm currently hearing

 
Shipping from China via registered mail only took 5 days, that's a record!

 

[leeperry]

One thing that remains vastly unexplained to me is that:
 
-when I went from the "circuit@home ADUM dongle > Intel chipset" to the "circuit@home ADUM dongle > NEC chip" w/o rebooting the Bravo, the sound was fine on the left channel...but the right one was very dim and barely audible?! Going back to the Intel chipset still exhibited the very same problem.
 
-when I went from the "USB2ISO ADUM dongle > Intel chipset" to the "circuit@home ADUM dongle > Intel chipset", I had a very dim center channel...the sound was only on the soundstage extremes

 
Each time I was forced to reboot the Bravo to get a proper stereo balance again....so much for digital signals only being a bunch of 0's and 1's

 

[leeperry]

hehe, only a matter of time before they'd embed ADUM4160 in transports: http://styleaudio.typepad.com/styleaudio_hifi_usb_mini_/2010/05/2010-new-caratt2.html
 
Tenor chip + ADUM4160 & ADUM5000 + coax & AES/EBU outputs

 
and a few ADUM4160+ADUM5000 dongles are starting to show up, sounds interesting

 

[Mad Max]

  Oh cool, how much is one of those  Carat-TII units?
That thing ain't cheap!
 
http://cgi.ebay.com/StyleAuodio-CARAT-T2-HI-END-USB-D-D-CONVERTOR-/320617689358?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4aa64db10e

 

[leeperry]

Yeah, but no linear regulated PSU and no WM8804 reclocking as far as I can tell?
 
Anyway, I've ordered a new USB Isolation dongle yet again

 

 
It's got both ADuM4160 and ADuM5000, and has been supervised by ADI. It's gonna be good! That's the only dongle I've seen so far that runs ADuM5000, ensuring a full galvanic isolation between the device and the host.
 
A friend of mine was going to order the USB2ISO, and this one was hardly more expensive...so wth, you only live once

 

[JulioCat2]

 
Quote:

Yeah, but no linear regulated PSU and no WM8804 reclocking as far as I can tell?
 
Anyway, I've ordered a new USB Isolation dongle yet again

 

 
It's got both ADuM4160 and ADuM5000, and has been supervised by ADI. It's gonna be good! That's the only dongle I've seen so far that runs ADuM5000, ensuring a full galvanic isolation between the device and the host.
 
A friend of mine was going to order the USB2ISO, and this one was hardly more expensive...so wth, you only live once

Where did you order that lee?????