[SoFGR]

ok got some spare cash, here's my current setup

media monkey > otachan asio + shibatch mpg123 decoder -> x-fi titanium champion series -> stock toslink cable -> dacm 19mk3 (mode B -> sharkwire RCA -> C2C (upgrade version) -> AKG K601, i also plan to use my M-audio Q40s as soon as i get my hands on that bluedragon V3 cable some leather earpads

I'm thinking of doing some mini-upgrades, which of them you think it should be done first ? which would be the most subtle ?

1) get 2x audio-gd power cables now that make ones with EU plugs
2) get a M2 hi2face + blue jeans coaxial cable, keep my x-fi + toslinik only for gaming ( cmss3d and hardware audio acceleration still help in most of my games )
3) get a power conditioner, (which one ? ) most of my appliances are connected to this generic power surge APC Home/Office SurgeArrest 6 outlets with Phone Protection 230V France along with my audio setup
4) get better RCA interconnects ?

 

[SoupRKnowva]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SoFGR /img/forum/go_quote.gif ok got some spare cash, here's my current setup media monkey > otachan asio + shibatch mpg123 decoder -> x-fi titanium champion series -> stock toslink cable -> dacm 19mk3 (mode B -> sharkwire RCA -> C2C (upgrade version) -> AKG K601, i also plan to use my M-audio Q40s as soon as i get my hands on that bluedragon V3 cable some leather earpads I'm thinking of doing some mini-upgrades, which of them you think it should be done first ? which would be the most subtle ? 1) get 2x audio-gd power cables now that make ones with EU plugs 2) get a M2 hi2face + blue jeans coaxial cable, keep my x-fi + toslinik only for gaming ( cmss3d and hardware audio acceleration still help in most of my games ) 3) get a power conditioner, (which one ? ) most of my appliances are connected to this generic power surge APC Home/Office SurgeArrest 6 outlets with Phone Protection 230V France along with my audio setup 4) get better RCA interconnects ?

take what i say with a grain of salt since i dont have one, but i would say the hiface, im planning on getting one too pretty soon here. Upgrading cables while it may have an impact its not going to be very big, but upgrading your transport will have a larger effect.

 

[haloxt]

Have you tried usb to the dac19mk3? I don't think too highly of stock optical to the dac19mk3, seems to lack detail but does have a likable sound signature. I think 2 and 3 are most important, but maybe skip 3 if your area has clean power (I guess try listening after midnight and compare it to 6-10PM, if you think there's a BIG difference then consider a power conditioner). Only after you are certain your power is clean should audio-gd power cables be considered since they are a bit of an investment and I personally don't notice too much improvement unless I am using my power conditioner. And 4 can be rather expensive also, and you would want to be able to audition new RCA cables, if you can't you should just stay with the sharkwire.

 

[FauDrei]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SoFGR /img/forum/go_quote.gif 1) get 2x audio-gd power cables now that make ones with EU plugs 2) get a M2 hi2face + blue jeans coaxial cable, keep my x-fi + toslinik only for gaming ( cmss3d and hardware audio acceleration still help in most of my games ) 3) get a power conditioner, (which one ? ) most of my appliances are connected to this generic power surge APC Home/Office SurgeArrest 6 outlets with Phone Protection 230V France along with my audio setup 4) get better RCA interconnects ?

hiFace.

The rest is just tuning (if you do not have serious problem with 3rd point).

 

[regal]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SoFGR /img/forum/go_quote.gif ok got some spare cash, here's my current setup media monkey > otachan asio + shibatch mpg123 decoder -> x-fi titanium champion series -> stock toslink cable -> dacm 19mk3 (mode B -> sharkwire RCA -> C2C (upgrade version) -> AKG K601, i also plan to use my M-audio Q40s as soon as i get my hands on that bluedragon V3 cable some leather earpads I'm thinking of doing some mini-upgrades, which of them you think it should be done first ? which would be the most subtle ? 1) get 2x audio-gd power cables now that make ones with EU plugs 2) get a M2 hi2face + blue jeans coaxial cable, keep my x-fi + toslinik only for gaming ( cmss3d and hardware audio acceleration still help in most of my games ) 3) get a power conditioner, (which one ? ) most of my appliances are connected to this generic power surge APC Home/Office SurgeArrest 6 outlets with Phone Protection 230V France along with my audio setup 4) get better RCA interconnects ?

Save your money on the Hiface and get a TerraLinkX, the Hiface is a novelty item with poor power regulation which defeats any benefit that the asynochrous USB has. Unless you plan to mod it to battery power the clocks.

 

[PrTv]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SoFGR /img/forum/go_quote.gif ok got some spare cash, here's my current setup media monkey > otachan asio + shibatch mpg123 decoder -> x-fi titanium champion series -> stock toslink cable -> dacm 19mk3 (mode B -> sharkwire RCA -> C2C (upgrade version) -> AKG K601, i also plan to use my M-audio Q40s as soon as i get my hands on that bluedragon V3 cable some leather earpads I'm thinking of doing some mini-upgrades, which of them you think it should be done first ? which would be the most subtle ? 1) get 2x audio-gd power cables now that make ones with EU plugs 2) get a M2 hi2face + blue jeans coaxial cable, keep my x-fi + toslinik only for gaming ( cmss3d and hardware audio acceleration still help in most of my games ) 3) get a power conditioner, (which one ? ) most of my appliances are connected to this generic power surge APC Home/Office SurgeArrest 6 outlets with Phone Protection 230V France along with my audio setup 4) get better RCA interconnects ?

I can't comment much about all your options, but I don't really think Audio-gd's cord is that good.

I've just bought one, and found that whoever assembled this cord swapped the live and neutral pins, so I had to unscrew the female end to fix it. Inspecting both ends carefully I found that the plugs used are faked Wattgate, and made of low quality materials. Wattgate 320 (female) and 5266i (male) are by no means hi-end plugs, but these fake ones look even worse.

Unscrewing the plug, I found that the power cord is basically made of 5 separate groups of copper wires, each in its own rubble enclose, tied together with black vinyl tape.

The internal cables also look cheap and the cord has no shield whatsoever.

I don't know what makes them think it's justified to charge 75$ apiece.

When swapped this thing in, I couldn't tell any difference from my previous Supra Lorad + (genuine) Wattgate 320/5266i. If you can make a power cord yourself, I suggest Supra Lorad+budget Wattgate terminations, which will cost you less than Audio-gd's offering (and looks way, way better and more reliable).

To be fair, I must say that the power cord hasn't fully burnt in yet, so I can't say how good it will be after the burn-in. One thing however I can comment is the build quality and materials used.

That's my 2-cents.

 

[slim.a]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SoFGR /img/forum/go_quote.gif ok got some spare cash, here's my current setup media monkey > otachan asio + shibatch mpg123 decoder -> x-fi titanium champion series -> stock toslink cable -> dacm 19mk3 (mode B -> sharkwire RCA -> C2C (upgrade version) -> AKG K601, i also plan to use my M-audio Q40s as soon as i get my hands on that bluedragon V3 cable some leather earpads I'm thinking of doing some mini-upgrades, which of them you think it should be done first ? which would be the most subtle ? 1) get 2x audio-gd power cables now that make ones with EU plugs 2) get a M2 hi2face + blue jeans coaxial cable, keep my x-fi + toslinik only for gaming ( cmss3d and hardware audio acceleration still help in most of my games ) 3) get a power conditioner, (which one ? ) most of my appliances are connected to this generic power surge APC Home/Office SurgeArrest 6 outlets with Phone Protection 230V France along with my audio setup 4) get better RCA interconnects ?

I have the same set-up as yours and I found all 4 points brought improvements to the sound.

However, for number3 I would be careful in the choice. It is better sometimes to use a $10 power strip than a bad power filter (in my case Belkin PureAV). I have had good results with the BADA LB-5600 but there are probaly other affordable "audiophile" grade power filters (Xindak, supra, ...)

In my case, the most substantial improvement was brought by the use of 2 Hifi Cables & Cie PowerTrans Plus power cords. The improvement wasn't subtle but very noticeable, similar to a change in component.
By the way, I never listened to the Audio-gd Power cords so I can't make a comment on them.


Quote:

Originally Posted by regal /img/forum/go_quote.gif Save your money on the Hiface and get a TerraLinkX, the Hiface is a novelty item with poor power regulation which defeats any benefit that the asynochrous USB has. Unless you plan to mod it to battery power the clocks.

Regal,

Have you tried the Hiface ? Why do you feel the need to always bash about how bad it is compared to the Teralink-x?
I have had both units for months and I find the Hiface way superior.
Also, as far as I know, everyone that tried the unit find it excellent sonding.
Of course, the unit can be improved upon. But even in its stock form it is better than a fully "tweaked" Teralink-x (with a Wireworld ultraviolet USB cable, Ploytec USB Asio driver, external power supply).
By the way, if the power regulation was so "poor" as you stated many times, how can it be that it measures better than the LynxTwo (a professional PCI sound card), the Nagra DII, and a Marantz CDR620 ? You can see the measurements here

 

[Patu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by regal /img/forum/go_quote.gif Save your money on the Hiface and get a TerraLinkX, the Hiface is a novelty item with poor power regulation which defeats any benefit that the asynochrous USB has. Unless you plan to mod it to battery power the clocks.

I haven't compared HiFace with any similar products but I can say that as a transport, it beats ESI Juli@ 6-0. Well I heard Bel Canto USBLink some time ago but it didn't impress me much. Back then I decided to stick with ESI Juli@.

 

[regal]

I have the Hiface and in stock form it isn't worth paying 2x the TerraLnX cost, plus the drivers are buggy as heck. I'm telling you that the idea that a decent transport can be powered off the USB +5V will be laughed at in a couple years. The Hiface is a stepping stone product, a step in the right direction but they left off the fundamentals. I am going to battery power the clocks and keep my fingers crossed that they make a decent driver before they go under.

 

[Patu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by regal /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have the Hiface and in stock form it isn't worth paying 2x the TerraLnX cost, plus the drivers are buggy as heck. I'm telling you that the idea that a decent transport can be powered off the USB +5V will be laughed at in a couple years. The Hiface is a stepping stone product, a step in the right direction but they left off the fundamentals. I am going to battery power the clocks and keep my fingers crossed that they make a decent driver before they go under.

According to Marco, new Windows driver should be released very soon. Maybe then I can consider upgrading to Windows 7.

 

[Pricklely Peete]

I have to second Regal's assessment of any unit that relies upon the USB bus for power as being a bad idea for high performance audio (no matter how much money you spent on your computer's power supply)....that 5V line is likely full of crap that a separate well made linear supply will have none of.

Peete.

 

[JulioCat2]

Regal what kind of power supply do you have in your terralink?

IHN12-5.1 - INTERNATIONAL POWER POWER SUPPLY, 12VDC, 5.1A, 1PH, 60W LINEAR, REGULATED, OPEN


What do you think about it??

 

[PrTv]

In my previous post, I said I've just bought the 19MkIII, and was satisfied with its performance.

I however am considering upgrading again to the critically acclaimed CDP/DAC, Cambridge C840, since selling this DAC and my CDP will almost cover the cost of a 2nd hand C840.

My question is, has anyone actually compared these two (I mean, head-to-head)? And is this option really an "upgrade"?

FYI, the transport is Rotel RCD-06. I'm not sure if the Cambridge has USB-In but I don't plan to use it anyway.

 

[somestranger26]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patu /img/forum/go_quote.gif According to Marco, new Windows driver should be released very soon. Maybe then I can consider upgrading to Windows 7.

They'd better... me and another here on Head-Fi have the same motherboard (ASUS M4A78T-E) and neither of us can get the device working; I've had it sitting here beckoning for a listen for about 3 weeks now...

 

[haloxt]

Quote:

I can't comment much about all your options, but I don't really think Audio-gd's cord is that good. I've just bought one, and found that whoever assembled this cord swapped the live and neutral pins, so I had to unscrew the female end to fix it. Inspecting both ends carefully I found that the plugs used are faked Wattgate, and made of low quality materials. Wattgate 320 (female) and 5266i (male) are by no means hi-end plugs, but these fake ones look even worse.

You should let Audio-gd know about the wires being swapped, they need to be testing their cables. Does your audio-gd power cable say "wattgate" on it? I have two different versions of audio-gd power cables, and both are different types of oyaide (or lookalike oyaides), the older one being the C-029 unplated, and the other one is the current one they show on their website http://www.audio-gd.com/Pro/line/powercable2.jpg . Would like to know if they have changed the power connectors once again.

Quote:

Unscrewing the plug, I found that the power cord is basically made of 5 separate groups of copper wires, each in its own rubble enclose, tied together with black vinyl tape. The internal cables also look cheap and the cord has no shield whatsoever.

Long ago I asked if it would be better if shielded, and Pricklely Pete replied that Kingwa didn't want to shield it because shielding imparts its own sound coloration. An aluminum foil wrap causes emf to become stronger inside the cable rather than radiating outwards, and a ferrite bead attenuates the field but many people say it sounds bad in audio application.

Quote:

I don't know what makes them think it's justified to charge 75$ apiece.

What it comes down to is the price of the 6 group cables then

. I'm curious how much the connectors cost as well, but I have no idea what constitutes a quality connector or how to tell counterfeits.

Quote:

When swapped this thing in, I couldn't tell any difference from my previous Supra Lorad + (genuine) Wattgate 320/5266i. If you can make a power cord yourself, I suggest Supra Lorad+budget Wattgate terminations, which will cost you less than Audio-gd's offering (and looks way, way better and more reliable).

You're the first person to get swapped wires, audio-gd just needs to be informed and test their cables from now on so it doesn't happen again. If someone wants to DIY, some people believe 6-10 awg $0.70/foot home depot cables are as good as high end cables. They're shielded and braided as well.