[jarnopp]

Objectively, I can’t understand why the cable or input matters - it’s carrying a digital signal that still has to be converted by the DAC, the dac should be able to compensate for any variance - that in theory should not be audible if the spdif and USB are carrying 0s and 1s

USB is an electrical connection so any noise generated in the source component could be transmitted and make its way into the analog section of the DAC. So in theory, optical would be electrically isolated and immune to that.

 

[538110]

hey guys, last post. i need to prepare for overseas since borders opening up soon so closing up shop on this site.

for optical, you need some clocks at the source and glass optical to do optical right. feeding optical from a mac is like feeding from a tv optical out, it's dry. i rather sandpaper my fingertips than to have to listen to optical without clocks. that's why i run military use clocks (missile guidance, satellites) for my optical out. i get precision, solidity, transparency, pRaT, layering and air. similar to dCS:

"The Rossini DAC may be a superb performer in its own right, but add the Master Clock and performance goes up a level or two. Given a suitably transparent system, there really is no doubting the increase in precision, solidity or transparency."
What Hi-Fi?

https://dcsaudio.com/clocking

i don't run clocks in realtime tho i run in an fpga buffer that buffers the whole track before sending the perfectly timed digitial optical source to the Chord DAC. I can see why people switch to dCS because of the power of clocking, but clocking + Chord works perfectly well if they are completely separate processes and don't intermingle.

Examples of streamers that use clocks:
Pi2AES - NDK clocks
HiFIBerry - WM8804
Allo - WM8805
Uptone - Crystek clocks, even ISOREGEN USB has a clock

the summit-fi USB PCIe cards have clocks. these examples are just basic HiFi clocks, but users report good results. Now imagine replacing HiFi clocks with State of the Art military use clocks...

the war against the terminators EMI/RFI is real. i ran across this video and if you skip to 14:17, you can hear that EMI/RFI is all around you.



you need some way to decouple via glass optical or usb optical. But to decouple with glass optical, you need clocks at the source otherwise it's a grind. I can't believe people use LPS, imagine putting the Elektrosluch on an LPS lol. GL ♫

 

[Ragnar-BY]

i run in an fpga buffer that buffers the whole track before sending the perfectly timed digitial optical source to the Chord DAC

It’s some kind of DIY transport?

 

[ZappaMan]

hey guys, last post. i need to prepare for overseas since borders opening up soon so closing up shop on this site.

for optical, you need some clocks at the source and glass optical to do optical right. feeding optical from a mac is like feeding from a tv optical out, it's dry. i rather sandpaper my fingertips than to have to listen to optical without clocks. that's why i run military use clocks (missile guidance, satellites) for my optical out. i get precision, solidity, transparency, pRaT, layering and air. similar to dCS:



https://dcsaudio.com/clocking

i don't run clocks in realtime tho i run in an fpga buffer that buffers the whole track before sending the perfectly timed digitial optical source to the Chord DAC. I can see why people switch to dCS because of the power of clocking, but clocking + Chord works perfectly well if they are completely separate processes and don't intermingle.

Examples of streamers that use clocks:
Pi2AES - NDK clocks
HiFIBerry - WM8804
Allo - WM8805
Uptone - Crystek clocks, even ISOREGEN USB has a clock

the summit-fi USB PCIe cards have clocks. these examples are just basic HiFi clocks, but users report good results. Now imagine replacing HiFi clocks with State of the Art military use clocks...

the war against the terminators EMI/RFI is real. i ran across this video and if you skip to 14:17, you can hear that EMI/RFI is all around you.



you need some way to decouple via glass optical or usb optical. But to decouple with glass optical, you need clocks at the source otherwise it's a grind. I can't believe people use LPS, imagine putting the Elektrosluch on an LPS lol. GL

It’s some kind of DIY transport?

Yes do elaborate plz

 

[teknorob23]

Objectively, I can’t understand why the cable or input matters - it’s carrying a digital signal that still has to be converted by the DAC, the dac should be able to compensate for any variance - that in theory should not be audible if the spdif and USB are carrying 0s and 1s

fair enough.

 

[Currawong]

@Currawong may like to see the post of rob watts.

Someone very kindly lent me their DAVE, so I'm rather distracted. I just wish the headphone amp was more like that of the TT2 in character.

 

[Arnold Schwartz]

hey guys, last post. i need to prepare for overseas since borders opening up soon so closing up shop on this site.

for optical, you need some clocks at the source and glass optical to do optical right. feeding optical from a mac is like feeding from a tv optical out, it's dry. i rather sandpaper my fingertips than to have to listen to optical without clocks. that's why i run military use clocks (missile guidance, satellites) for my optical out. i get precision, solidity, transparency, pRaT, layering and air. similar to dCS:



https://dcsaudio.com/clocking

i don't run clocks in realtime tho i run in an fpga buffer that buffers the whole track before sending the perfectly timed digitial optical source to the Chord DAC. I can see why people switch to dCS because of the power of clocking, but clocking + Chord works perfectly well if they are completely separate processes and don't intermingle.

Examples of streamers that use clocks:
Pi2AES - NDK clocks
HiFIBerry - WM8804
Allo - WM8805
Uptone - Crystek clocks, even ISOREGEN USB has a clock

the summit-fi USB PCIe cards have clocks. these examples are just basic HiFi clocks, but users report good results. Now imagine replacing HiFi clocks with State of the Art military use clocks...

the war against the terminators EMI/RFI is real. i ran across this video and if you skip to 14:17, you can hear that EMI/RFI is all around you.



you need some way to decouple via glass optical or usb optical. But to decouple with glass optical, you need clocks at the source otherwise it's a grind. I can't believe people use LPS, imagine putting the Elektrosluch on an LPS lol. GL ♫

Pardon me while I challenge you on this. The WM8804 is an $8 volume part and the Cystek is $22 - I’m talking order quantities of 1000.

I paid five grand for the TT2 and I trust that @Rob Watts the designer didn’t over look a measly $22 part that other companies are trying to sell me for $70-$200 as an RPi addon board or 2K streamer but that Rob felt either it wasn’t necessary or he has a better design.

My bias is that some company is trying to reinvent the wheel and sow some doubt into the minds of hobbyists that can easily afford the “upgrade” and likely have a predisposition to be OCD to get the last 10% out of the system - which is more likely?

I usually try to apply some common sense if I don’t have perfect information and something is not checking out.

 

[jarnopp]

Pardon me while I challenge you on this. The WM8804 is an $8 volume part and the Cystek is $22 - I’m talking order quantities of 1000.

I paid five grand for the TT2 and I trust that @Rob Watts the designer didn’t over look a measly $22 part that other companies are trying to sell me for $70-$200 as an RPi addon board or 2K streamer but that Rob felt either it wasn’t necessary or he has a better design.

My bias is that some company is trying to reinvent the wheel and sow some doubt into the minds of hobbyists that can easily afford the “upgrade” and likely have a predisposition to be OCD to get the last 10% out of the system - which is more likely?

I usually try to apply some common sense if I don’t have perfect information and something is not checking out.

I don’t know, I really like the RPi with HiFiBerry Digi+ hat feeding optical to the mScaler/TT2. In fact, for some reason today music was sounding great all day - really great - starting with In Utero on Mojo/Poly in the morning and continuing in the afternoon with more Nirvana, The The and Chameleons. I was in a grunge and post-punk mood today, I guess.

 

[CaptainFantastic]

Someone very kindly lent me their DAVE, so I'm rather distracted. I just wish the headphone amp was more like that of the TT2 in character.

Oh no, I had been hoping for your unbiased TT2 review. Now it's going to be in the context of "...whereas the Dave..."

 

[Vyyy]

hi,

Knowing hat ATC require some power, i wonder has any of you tried TT2 driving SE ATC SCM7 which is 8ohm and 84dB 1w/1m sensitivity? Can it play at acceptable low levels?

 

[alekc]

I don’t know, I really like the RPi with HiFiBerry Digi+ hat feeding optical to the mScaler/TT2. In fact, for some reason today music was sounding great all day - really great - starting with In Utero on Mojo/Poly in the morning and continuing in the afternoon with more Nirvana, The The and Chameleons. I was in a grunge and post-punk mood today, I guess.

@jarnopp This made me to plan some Nirvana listening using Mojo later today. As a side note: I wounder about Kurt Cobain reaction to learn that people are using so expensive audio equipment to listen to his simple, yet beautiful music. Generation X paying some serious money for audio... not bad at all

BTW: In Utero is a brilliant album.

 

[ZappaMan]

hi,

Knowing hat ATC require some power, i wonder has any of you tried TT2 driving SE ATC SCM7 which is 8ohm and 84dB 1w/1m sensitivity? Can it play at acceptable low levels?

I saw a review on YouTube by “the British audiophile” and I think he was saying the speakers are great but only in the perfect circumstances, placement, power supply, loudness levels, and I concluded there would not be good synergy with low volume listening from tt2.

 

[Slim1970]

Someone very kindly lent me their DAVE, so I'm rather distracted. I just wish the headphone amp was more like that of the TT2 in character.

If I had to nick pick anything with the Dave it would be it’s headphone output. I like it more than the TT2’s SE output. Although it does lack a bit of the TT2’s sound character. Also adding a bit more power to the Dave would be nice. Right now I’m limited on headphone options that will work directly out of the Dave.

 

[RCC HD Sound]

At the earlier suggestion of @jarnopp, @RCC HD and @Gadget67 I tried connecting my MacBook via optical to the TT2. For the $10 investment in a cable I figured it's worth a shot. I should note, I try to be as objective as possible, if anything my bias is that there should be no audible change.

It wasn't difficult for me to hear a difference.

On the track, all or nothing at all by Frank Sinatra, I could easily hear the reverb from Frank's voice creating a slightly better impression of space. The same reverb could be heard via USB, but it sounded somewhat distant with less texture before fading out completely. Optical sounded a bit clearer as if you could more easily hear the layers or texture of the sounds. Some might prefer the slightly smoother USB because there's a slight (and I'm really splitting hairs here) reduction in clarity. Some people may not notice a change at all, but I found that focusing on nuanced details in the recording makes for easier comparisons. Also, I could quickly and easily switch back and forth between USB and optical to compare.

It was a pleasant experiment and happy to notice a change as it got me excited to listen to some albums this evening.

Thanks for sharing this test, can you imagine an even greater change in hearing quality, using a fiberglass optical cable ..... like the ones mentioned earlier in this thread: Wireworld supernova7 or the LIFATEC cable ???
I think it would be great

 

[alxw0w]

The only thing that Dave output lacks is power. Not the character.