Pulse X∞ 700+ hour check-in.
I think that the Pulse has pretty much settled in. I can't say that there have been any noticeable changes in sound from the last report. Maybe the sound is subtly cleaner, maybe the bass is ever so slightly richer. At this point any differences are not that important, I am just enjoying listening to the music through this very nice DAC. Yes, still a clear improvement over the also very nice PS Audio NuWave DAC that the infinity has replaced. Now I have to figure out what to do with the NuWave.
The LightSpeed 2G USB cable has been moved from the NuWave to the infinity. In my system and to my ears, the 2G cable makes only a very small difference. With the 2G power leg plugged in to a USB hub that I have on top of my computer desk, I am not sure that I could tell the difference between the 1G and 2G cables. Unplugging the power leg makes only a very subtle difference. The imaging
may be ever so slightly tigter, the sound
may be ever so slightly cleaner, the background
may be ever so slightly darker. I will have to spend some time doing some very critical listening to see if I can further define and clarify the differences... not exactly my favorite task - I prefer just listening to the music.
This actually speaks well for the USB input of the Pulse DAC. With the PS Audio NuWave DAC, unplugging the power leg of the 2G cable made a small but
easily detectable difference - everything was slightly tighter, cleaner, darker. It didn't take any significant effort to hear the difference and I think that I might be able to tell which is which in a blind test. With the Pulse DAC, I have to listen carefully to hear any difference. For now, I'll keep the 2G on the Pulse. If I change a setup in another system and it clearly benefits from the 2G cable, then I will have to consider carefully where to employ the 2G. Then again, I have two of them - a 1M still in the box and the 2M in use in the computer workstation system, so there may not be a conflict.
J.P.
