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ONIX Alpha XI1 - Smallest & Most Affordable ONIX DAC - High-Power Portable USB DAC/AMP

Aug 2, 2024 at 12:58 PM Post #886 of 1,675
Ben86 said:
I hear differences in sound with all my usb cables, each of them sound different. This is my experience from 5 years testing different usb cables with different gear. These differences are not huge, but very subtle in certain frequencies. I can also hear the difference when the power cord has incorrect phase connection with power socket. I can easely hear differences with headphone cables.

Talking about Ibasso CB19 usb c cable: when I connect it to power bank with 5V 3A output - Onix sounds the best. When I connect it to other power bank which has less power output 5V 1A - Onix sounds not as great as with 5V 3A power bank. I can hear that clearly each time.

And I can clearly hear that Shanling L3 silver usb-c cable has more impact in SQ than stock Onix usb-c cable. Also this L3 is better built than Onix stock cable.

That is my opinion and I trust my ears.
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L3 cable stiff?
 
Aug 2, 2024 at 1:08 PM Post #887 of 1,675
So if you are of the camp that a power cord that has the correct current amps ratings sound different, do you have a hospital grade power condition system. This is not a cheap system that you buy at an electronics store. This is an order made scientific industrial grade system that was used for controlling the radiation treatment for brain cancer. The phase, amplitude, and Hz are controlled to eliminate defects in microchip manufacturing, medical MRI imaging, NASA satellite communication amplifiers. Do you have something like this? You can not hope that a $200 power cord will make any difference if your electricity is all over the place.

https://sanups.sanyodenki.us/products/a11j/

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Aug 2, 2024 at 1:52 PM Post #889 of 1,675
NinjaGirayaZ said:
Just as there are people who doubt and don't hear any improvement even with analog cables, and say it's a total placebo. No two ears sound the same, perceptions differ. I feel differences in both in the same way, both digital and analog.
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People will believe what they want to believe, despite the evidence… once a digital transport cable has sufficient quality (build, materials, shielding) that it does not drop, add, or corrupt the 1s and zeroes between the source and destination, AND once it can supply the necessary current and voltage that the receiving dongle needs, there is no amount of BETTER to be applied that will make any difference to the sound.
 
Aug 2, 2024 at 2:15 PM Post #890 of 1,675
Lépine said:
So if you are of the camp that a power cord that has the correct current amps ratings sound different, do you have a hospital grade power condition system. This is not a cheap system that you buy at an electronics store. This is an order made scientific industrial grade system that was used for controlling the radiation treatment for brain cancer. The phase, amplitude, and Hz are controlled to eliminate defects in microchip manufacturing, medical MRI imaging, NASA satellite communication amplifiers. Do you have something like this?

https://sanups.sanyodenki.us/products/a11j/

IMG_9134.jpeg
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Ok,
Talking about 'medical grade' power conditioners is a bit overkill.

I do have power conditioners on my computers along w battery backups for my critical ones.

In terms of RFI, depending on where you live... it can be significant.
That said... a linear power supply would remove that noise and if there is any noise it would be not enough to make an audible difference.

Your source however can be an issue. You can feed clean power into a computer and depending on the quality of the components used, YMMV

If you look back and one of the recent posts, the comment that the dongle dac sounds better w more power... could be true and that is probably where the issue could be.
I agree that if you have a cable built to spec and is well shielded ... you shouldn't have any issues.

Consider ethernet cables. IIRC the main difference between CAT 5 thru CAT 7 is going to be shielding.
So the CAT 7 cable is going to be rated for higher data throughput.
 
Aug 2, 2024 at 2:41 PM Post #891 of 1,675
I know, its mainly for the Tube Amps. Modern solid state really doesn't amplify the line noise or have a problem with the home A/C kicking in.
There's enough capacitance and grounding going on that only the infamous "ground loop" is what you have to make sure is completely isolated.
Even if there was electrical polution, there are enviromental noises outside of my headphones that are greater than the internal electronic noises in the music amps. The computer GPU generates more noise than you can get from the power cords.

Tube Amps on the otherhand is a love/hate. EMF from just about everything can somehow affect the sound quality.
 
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Aug 2, 2024 at 3:36 PM Post #892 of 1,675
Ben86 said:
I hear differences in sound with all my usb cables, each of them sound different. This is my experience from 5 years testing different usb cables with different gear. These differences are not huge, but very subtle in certain frequencies. I can also hear the difference when the power cord has incorrect phase connection with power socket. I can easely hear differences with headphone cables.

Talking about Ibasso CB19 usb c cable: when I connect it to power bank with 5V 3A output - Onix sounds the best. When I connect it to other power bank which has less power output 5V 1A - Onix sounds not as great as with 5V 3A power bank. I can hear that clearly each time.

And I can clearly hear that Shanling L3 silver usb-c cable has more impact in SQ than stock Onix usb-c cable. Also this L3 is better built than Onix stock cable.

That is my opinion and I trust my ears.
Click to expand...
If you hear changes that you describe as subtle you should probably consider placebo affect or confirmation bias as being at play. I am not saying that is what it is, but that you should at least suspect them.
 
Aug 2, 2024 at 6:21 PM Post #893 of 1,675
jsmiller58 said:
People will believe what they want to believe, despite the evidence… once a digital transport cable has sufficient quality (build, materials, shielding) that it does not drop, add, or corrupt the 1s and zeroes between the source and destination, AND once it can supply the necessary current and voltage that the receiving dongle needs, there is no amount of BETTER to be applied that will make any difference to the sound.
Click to expand...
Even if you rely on technical terms to affirm this, it is not the absolute truth. Science constantly changes its theories, just because an experiment is not scientifically proven does not mean that it does not exist. The only way to be certain, independent of scientific and technical data, is to do a blind test with the help of another person, to be sure that it is not a placebo. I have done this, and I know that for me, my copper and silver equipment influences the sound in one way or another.
 
Aug 2, 2024 at 6:43 PM Post #895 of 1,675
NinjaGirayaZ said:
Even if you rely on technical terms to affirm this, it is not the absolute truth. Science constantly changes its theories, just because an experiment is not scientifically proven does not mean that it does not exist. The only way to be certain, independent of scientific and technical data, is to do a blind test with the help of another person, to be sure that it is not a placebo. I have done this, and I know that for me, my copper and silver equipment influences the sound in one way or another.
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Yeah, don't trust the science!

The only way the cable could affect the sound is in how well it carries the power from the source device since the Dongle is powered via that USB-C connection.
(As well as how much power is coming from the device itself ... but that's not the cable, now is it?)

If we look at different cables... can we see a measurable difference? Sure.
But that measurable difference... if its minimal and at a low enough decibel rating... can we hear it? Or even notice it?

But hey! If you want to believe you can hear the difference... sure.
 
Aug 2, 2024 at 7:14 PM Post #896 of 1,675
Guys, this is a thread for the ONIX Alpha XI1...
Whether or not "psycho"acoustics (and I don't mean the actual 'psychoacoustics' like used in ATRAC or MP3 encoding) is a thing, is not for anyone to dictate for you. Yes indeed, trust your own ears. Afterall, we have people who claim to see colours when hearing certain sounds. But unlike synesthesia, cable performance and specification can be tested and quantified (and repeated) in a human-comprehendable form.

I guess this is what "psycho"acoustics and synesthesia have in common. Highly personalised quirks, and not everyone has it.

But for me, as long as the cable (or wires within) is thick and conductive enough for the task, continuity isn't broken, and shielded adequately for the job, it will work as intended. Especially when it comes to digital signal transmission, like USB. It's either LOW or HIGH, or re-transmit.
 
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