[doitttt]

all the tweaks available with gustard u18
must be fully utilized
with without 10mhz master clock and with
I think it's optimal
if to do more is gustard u18 hardware
finally with fuse
gustard fuse is fine
money out window by upgrade

 

[doitttt]

gold on the poles of the fuse provides better contact
if I were to build gustard u20
will start with ac inlet they should be gold, much better contact.
then will see low dropout linear regulator, better lt3045 if available.
capacitor in smd, better tolerance. best in sound best brand
Vishay Film caps 0.1% smd
grounding isolation, is with isolator, to eliminate all interference from your PC. use better isolator, end gustard u18.
and better CPLD.
and 2nd generation clock Synthesizer with ultra-Low noise.
Support external oCxO.
K2 can generate the audio-specific frequency using a 10Mhz clock source with extremely low loss
will cost 100 dollars more than gustard u18

 

[Jake2]

I understand at least some I2S HDMI cables (e.g. Tubulus) omit certain of the HDMI conductors that are never used for I2S which could potentially otherwise act as aerials for RFI etc. (Though I expect choosing which ones to omit is tricky given the lack of an I2S standard) Anyway, this is why - I presume - makers of certain I2S cables state they can’t be used for video. That’s not to say there’s not a little bit of marketing in the mix too.

The BJC FE cable I use is an HDMI cable that can be used for video too, so must have all its conductors.

https://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/hdmi-cables/hdmi-cable.htm

But then as you’ll (EDIT - you’ve / past tense as I see you’re aware of ‘em) read upthread, although the $10 FE is a very good sounding cable for I2S recommended by many, from the experience of several experienced folk on this thread it is far from the last word in I2S/HDMI cable sound quality - search for keywords Tubulus and ‘AfterDark Black Magic’.

So last night after a few beers I somehow ended up making an impulse buy of a Harmonic Tech Magic Audio HDMI cable that I thought* used the same OCC copper as their Digital Copper III 50 ohm clock cable that I and many others have had such success connecting our master clocks with.

Alas on closer inspection with a clearer head today I see it uses OFC copper not the single crystal OCC copper employed in the DCIII. Doh. Ah well. Hopefully still good.

At ~USD160 with free shipping from a vendor in HK it works out a little over half the landed cost of an AfterDark Black Magic. Will let you know how it compares to the BJC FE in due course.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

Does anyone here have any recommendations for an I2S cable for use with the C18 and R26? I notice there's Gustard, and then modes 1-4 in the U18 settings, and with the standard HDMI cable I purchased from Amazon, every one of these settings sound differently. After looking in the U18 manual, apparently this is due to cables having different pin outs. Any suggestions?

Any standard HDMI cable will work. When you start with custom cables you need to specify the exact pinout.

Some good, well-made and reasonably priced cables are Wireworld Chroma 8 (OFC copper) and Ultraviolet 7 (silver plated OFC).

 

[milkdudd]

Any standard HDMI cable will work. When you start with custom cables you need to specify the exact pinout.

Some good, well-made and reasonably priced cables are Wireworld Chroma 8 (OFC copper) and Ultraviolet 7 (silver plated OFC).

As many have stated here (including me) the Blue Jeans FE is great bang for the buck. I do want to upgrade at some point and I'm thinking the Tubulas. At $10 or less for the Blue Jeans I would start with that so you have something to compare to when you upgrade. Whereworld would likely be a good step between real cheap and real expensive

 

[milkdudd]

So last night after a few beers I somehow ended up making an impulse buy of a Harmonic Tech Magic Audio HDMI cable that I thought* used the same OCC copper as their Digital Copper III 50 ohm clock cable that I and many others have had such success connecting our master clocks with.

Alas on closer inspection with a clearer head today I see it uses OFC copper not the single crystal OCC copper employed in the DCIII. Doh. Ah well. Hopefully still good.

At ~USD160 with free shipping from a vendor in HK it works out a little over half the landed cost of an AfterDark Black Magic. Will let you know how it compares to the BJC FE in due course.

Don't feel bad about ordering something at less than full mental acuity. My doctor told me of a patient of his who said she never ordered a treadmill when it arrived. Then they played the recording of her when she ordered it. Chalk another one up to Ambien inebriation in her case

 

[Thetaburn]

Depends how resolving your system is. If the reviewer only gets 'slight improvement', that means his system is not very resolving, period.

To me, it is a 'must-have'. The improvement will be even bigger when you improve your system further. Bear in mind though that once your system is improved, the importance of components becomes more evident, your USB cable will affect the sound even more than before.

I started with just U18 and the improvement is already quite big. Later on, with addition of clock, the U18 becomes even more a 'must-have' component. Without U18, the soundstage just collapses to being flat. With U18, it is a hologrphic 3D soundstage. Also, do try to use some spikes on U18 at the bottom, the improvement on U18 with the right spikes is quite big, soundstage opens up further.

With U18 and a good clock on X26 Pro, working with proper tweaks on PC as streamer, I can tell you the sound is high end level. I am not comparing to similarly priced components any more, just this weekend I listen to T+A DAC 200, and I think my system has more resolution and sounds just about the same analogue like sound, although of course the owner may not have set up the sound of T+A to top level (he may not know much). I think Esoteric N05X (without clock) sounds worse than my system, that gives an idea the level of sound it can achieve.

Must have used the U18 for over 100 hours now.
U18 improved the soundstage (especially depth). Without the U18, the soundstage is noticeably more 2D. It is a keeper.

Would the LHY Ock-1 be considered a 'good clock'?

 

[doitttt]

I very thick hdmi from lindy
https://www.lindy-international.com...e.htm?websale8=ld0101.ld021102&pi=37861&ci=80
with 24awg in core in the cable
the fantastic sound the best of the best
search lindy No. 37861 1m
37860 0.5m
cost 38 euro

 

[Jake2]

I very thick hdmi from lindy
https://www.lindy-international.com...e.htm?websale8=ld0101.ld021102&pi=37861&ci=80
with 24awg in core in the cable
the fantastic sound the best of the best
search lindy No. 37861 1m
37860 0.5m
cost 38 euro

Looks good, thanks for sharing. What other HDMI/I2S cables have you listened to / compared it to?

 

[doitttt]

lindy hdmi
have not tried other hdmi cable
you get some silver in hdmi but costs from 200 dollars and up
but 1 meter hdmi is great, no difference in the sound, digital.
if hdmi is 10 meters, there can be a big difference in the sound.
24 awg in core and it is digtial

 

[gimmeheadroom]

Don't feel bad about ordering something at less than full mental acuity. My doctor told me of a patient of his who said she never ordered a treadmill when it arrived. Then they played the recording of her when she ordered it.

Typical insurance company run around

 

[jgwtriode]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B3D9C862?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

Using this at the moment, while I wait for something better. Works fine, but who knows how good it really is.

After Dark Black Magic II on the After Dark site is pretty damn good. It's $232.00. It's quite a bit better than the Blue Jeans. I have both. The Blue Jeans is great, very neutral. But the AD is more dimensional, liquid and has a bit more detail across the board. It sounds both more organic and just a hint sweeter tonally. Also has slightly better PRAT. Had I bought the Blue Jeans first I may not have bought this. I liked the description of the cable and the fact that much like although not to nearly the same degree as my favorite Wywires Platinum cables, it uses carbon in the shielding. For me it's worth the difference in my system. Not ready to spring for Tubulus!

Happy listening,

jgwtriode

 

[LowBeat91]

Could someone tell which of the i2s modes are the best of Holo Audio Dacs?

 

[duas2noites]

I'm thinking about buying a i2s cable, Wireworld Platinum Starlight 48 HDMI Cable, this is a good choice?

 

[gimmeheadroom]

I'm thinking about buying a i2s cable, Wireworld Platinum Starlight 48 HDMI Cable, this is a good choice?

That's a lot of money, have you considered the Ultraviolet?