Review of Audioquest JitterBug - USB Data & Power Noise Filter.

[twister6]

 

 
For that, they mean buying 2 and setting it up like this:
 
 

So  one merely inserts the 2nd JB into an adjacent USB port(with no device etc inserted into it) and just by virtue of being connected there will clean up noise even further. Am I understanding this correctly? If so, does anyone feel that the improvement would be audible enough to warrant purchasing another unit and doing this?  Did you (twister6) have a chance to utilize this combo during your testing/review?

 
My usb ports are too close to each other, couldn't try it.  But I will contact AQ to find out more about it.  In theory it should work because any exposed port is like an antenna radiating noise.  The same way how your device picks up noise.  So if you have one port transmitting data, you can in theory attenuate emitting noise from another adjacent port.

 

[Joeybgood]

   
My usb ports are too close to each other, couldn't try it.  But I will contact AQ to find out more about it.  In theory it should work because any exposed port is like an antenna radiating noise.  The same way how your device picks up noise.  So if you have one port transmitting data, you can in theory attenuate emitting noise from another adjacent port.

That does make sense. I look forward to AQs response. Tks Twister!

 

[vapman]

  Before I go any further, I can imagine that some of you might have a question: isn’t digital signal just 0s and 1s?  How can a wire or a filter make a difference in this case?  From my previous cable reviews, I’m well aware that some people strongly believe it’s a snake oil because they “read” about it somewhere on-line, mostly referencing a single source of some old sound engineer who ran a debunking seminar.

I stopped reading here. I have designed several reliable and efficient USB based devices. What they are doesn't matter (unless you're into very niche video games) but the point is this sentence right here proves your entire review is meaningless to me. Yes, sorry to tell you, but USB signals are just 1's and 0's. Trust your ears all you want, but it's not like I just "read somewhere" how USB works or what exactly the signals that flow thru a USB cable are.
 
I'm sorry, but just because you believe a separate device can reduce USB jitter or packet errors indicates to me you have no idea how USB works and you took it on complete faith that this device does what it says it does, and on top of that you've convinced yourself it works. Let me just tell you that unless it's an uninterrupted passthru it could only increase jitter or packet errors.
 
If you have a device that's noisier on one machine or port than another, that's an issue with your computer. Lots of computers are not designed with audio clarity in mind and will let interference get thru. But if you have a noisy machine, a little USB dongle isn't gonna magically make all that noise go away. Your computer is still just as noisy. Your concern should be finding a more well-built motherboard that gives off less interference if USB port noise is that big of a deal to you.
 
If you care that much, power it from a USB wall charger or better yet cut the cable open and wire your device to a 5V regulated linear PSU. That'll get rid of your noise way better than... whatever this is.
 
It also should be a bad sign that upon linking this to a bunch of fellow hardware engineers, every single one couldn't figure out what this unit actually could possibly do.
 
But, believe your ears above all else, including how computers work!

 

[Bansaku]

$50?! I am sold!
 
While I am sure it does nothing more than what a high quality shielded USB cable with a large ferrite-core choke does, it's size and price point make it incredibly attractive. Not to mention that it fits seamlessly with any stick-style USB DAC!
 
This will be my next purchase!
 

 

[Mediahound]

  I stopped reading here. I have designed several reliable and efficient USB based devices. What they are doesn't matter (unless you're into very niche video games) but the point is this sentence right here proves your entire review is meaningless to me. Yes, sorry to tell you, but USB signals are just 1's and 0's. Trust your ears all you want, but it's not like I just "read somewhere" how USB works or what exactly the signals that flow thru a USB cable are.
 
I'm sorry, but just because you believe a separate device can reduce USB jitter or packet errors indicates to me you have no idea how USB works and you took it on complete faith that this device does what it says it does, and on top of that you've convinced yourself it works. Let me just tell you that unless it's an uninterrupted passthru it could only increase jitter or packet errors.
 
If you have a device that's noisier on one machine or port than another, that's an issue with your computer. Lots of computers are not designed with audio clarity in mind and will let interference get thru. But if you have a noisy machine, a little USB dongle isn't gonna magically make all that noise go away. Your computer is still just as noisy. Your concern should be finding a more well-built motherboard that gives off less interference if USB port noise is that big of a deal to you.
 
If you care that much, power it from a USB wall charger or better yet cut the cable open and wire your device to a 5V regulated linear PSU. That'll get rid of your noise way better than... whatever this is.
 
It also should be a bad sign that upon linking this to a bunch of fellow hardware engineers, every single one couldn't figure out what this unit actually could possibly do.
 
But, believe your ears above all else, including how computers work!

I don't believe any USB device could increase the sound quality either however, if there are dropouts or micro dropouts from things like power interference that may translate to noise and even noise that you can barely perceive,  then a device that cleans this up can yield an improvement in sound quality. 
 
I have the Schiit Wyrd (which seems like a better device in that it actively separates out the power from the usb signal), and it has definitely given a bit more clarity to my audio. But I'm also running  a long 10 ft USB cable from my Mac to the DAC. And, I did have some noise issues before getting the Wyrd. If my setup was optimal (like with a short USB cable), I probably would not have noticed any improvement.

 

[Krutsch]

  I stopped reading here. 
 
...
 
If you have a device that's noisier on one machine or port than another, that's an issue with your computer. Lots of computers are not designed with audio clarity in mind and will let interference get thru. But if you have a noisy machine, a little USB dongle isn't gonna magically make all that noise go away. Your computer is still just as noisy. Your concern should be finding a more well-built motherboard that gives off less interference if USB port noise is that big of a deal to you.
 
But, believe your ears above all else, including how computers work!

 
^^ This +1,000,000.
 
Take the time to find a USB port on your PC/Mac that isn't shared with any other devices and plug your DAC into that port. Then, you won't here any clicks/pops/drop-outs. Problem solved.
 
Your hard drives, SSD drives, thumb drives, et al. can go into the other ones - they are not sensitive to noise and are capable of handling way more than the 1.5 Mbps stream you are sending to your DAC, without errors or packet loss of any kind.

 

[vapman]

   
My usb ports are too close to each other, couldn't try it.  But I will contact AQ to find out more about it.  In theory it should work because any exposed port is like an antenna radiating noise.  The same way how your device picks up noise.  So if you have one port transmitting data, you can in theory attenuate emitting noise from another adjacent port.

This is not at all how any of this works. Please refer to my previous post, and then spend your money on something that will actually make your audio sound better.
 
Makes sense that the "but it's so pretty and might actually work" crowd is gonna go for it.
 
 
 
Quote:

 
I don't believe any USB device could increase the sound quality either however, if there are dropouts or micro dropouts from things like power interference that may translate to noise and even noise that you can barely perceive,  then a device that cleans this up can yield an improvement in sound quality. 
 
I have the Schiit Wyrd (which seems like a better device in that it actively separates out the power from the usb signal), and it has definitely given a bit more clarity to my audio.

 
IMO i am MUCH less wary of the Schlit Wyrd. Take a look at the PCB. Giant caps everywhere.
Take a look at this. What could you possibly fit in this tiny enclosure that would filter anything?
The entire reason the Wyrd works is because it's insanely heavily buffered AND externally powered.
If you're going to drop money on any sort of "USB signal cleaner" at least get the one with the specs to back up its asking price.
You could build a Wyrd for $15 in parts probably, but it'd at least do something.

 

[Mediahound]

   
IMO i am MUCH less wary of the Schlit Wyrd. Take a look at the PCB. Giant caps everywhere.
Take a look at this. What could you possibly fit in this tiny enclosure that would filter anything?
The entire reason the Wyrd works is because it's insanely heavily buffered AND externally powered.
If you're going to drop money on any sort of "USB signal cleaner" at least get the one with the specs to back up its asking price.
You could build a Wyrd for $15 in parts probably, but it'd at least do something.

Yeah, this is why I commented above that I thought the Wyrd was a better built and designed product. 

 

[twister6]

 

  Before I go any further, I can imagine that some of you might have a question: isn’t digital signal just 0s and 1s?  How can a wire or a filter make a difference in this case?  From my previous cable reviews, I’m well aware that some people strongly believe it’s a snake oil because they “read” about it somewhere on-line, mostly referencing a single source of some old sound engineer who ran a debunking seminar.

I stopped reading here. I have designed several reliable and efficient USB based devices. What they are doesn't matter (unless you're into very niche video games) but the point is this sentence right here proves your entire review is meaningless to me. Yes, sorry to tell you, but USB signals are just 1's and 0's. Trust your ears all you want, but it's not like I just "read somewhere" how USB works or what exactly the signals that flow thru a USB cable are.
 
,....

 
and that is a point, you stopped reading and didn't get to the important part of power filtering.  If you have designed usb devices (anything related to audio, perhaps?), you would know that internal DAC of any device will use 5V power (or whatever derived voltage) as a reference source to convert digital to analog, whatever the bus is 8bit/16bit/32bit converted to analog voltage.  Of course you know this, right? the principle of any D/A conversion where your max bit resolution set to some high voltage value and analog value is converted relative to that.  So, if you have a noisy power source, your D/A conversion will be inaccurate.  I'm obviously not stating anything new you wouldn't know, right?  And, that is a reason why desktop amps cost so much money because they have dedicated clean power supplies with a main goal is to provide a clean voltage reference for D/A conversion...  Portable usb DAC doesn't have that luxury, they don't even have room for sufficient filtering caps and rely purely on voltage extracted from usb power.

 

[Bansaku]

  I stopped reading here. I have designed several reliable and efficient USB based devices. What they are doesn't matter (unless you're into very niche video games) but the point is this sentence right here proves your entire review is meaningless to me. Yes, sorry to tell you, but USB signals are just 1's and 0's. Trust your ears all you want, but it's not like I just "read somewhere" how USB works or what exactly the signals that flow thru a USB cable are.
 
I'm sorry, but just because you believe a separate device can reduce USB jitter or packet errors indicates to me you have no idea how USB works and you took it on complete faith that this device does what it says it does, and on top of that you've convinced yourself it works. Let me just tell you that unless it's an uninterrupted passthru it could only increase jitter or packet errors.
 
If you have a device that's noisier on one machine or port than another, that's an issue with your computer. Lots of computers are not designed with audio clarity in mind and will let interference get thru. But if you have a noisy machine, a little USB dongle isn't gonna magically make all that noise go away. Your computer is still just as noisy. Your concern should be finding a more well-built motherboard that gives off less interference if USB port noise is that big of a deal to you.
 
If you care that much, power it from a USB wall charger or better yet cut the cable open and wire your device to a 5V regulated linear PSU. That'll get rid of your noise way better than... whatever this is.
 
It also should be a bad sign that upon linking this to a bunch of fellow hardware engineers, every single one couldn't figure out what this unit actually could possibly do.
 
But, believe your ears above all else, including how computers work!

 
Have you ever compared a cheap Dollar Store USB cable to one that costs $100 that is (hyper) shielded? BIG difference! While you are correct in what you state, and I do not disagree with you, at the same time you over-analyzed the review.
 
Personally, while calling the device the 'Jitter Bug' is cute and punny, it is misleading. I agree, a cable or device will not get rid of jitter, but it is sure as hell able to filter out EMI and RFI which is quite prevalent in PCs, especially notebooks. A GOOD quality powered USB hub will do the exact same thing as the JitterBug, but you are looking at a greater cost. Using an external USB power supply is beneficial, but what can you do for say a Dragonfly, U3, or D3?
 
For less than the price of a quality cable and USB hub the JitterBug with it's small form factor and what I call disposable price, you can't go wrong!
 

 

[twister6]

 

   
My usb ports are too close to each other, couldn't try it.  But I will contact AQ to find out more about it.  In theory it should work because any exposed port is like an antenna radiating noise.  The same way how your device picks up noise.  So if you have one port transmitting data, you can in theory attenuate emitting noise from another adjacent port.

This is not at all how any of this works. Please refer to my previous post, and then spend your money on something that will actually make your audio sound better.
 
Makes sense that the "but it's so pretty and might actually work" crowd is gonna go for it.
 

 
Take it easy bud, I mean I can see that your profile says "you hate everything" except for playing predator vs alien games, and you're quite vocal that you know about everything.  Too bad that in 9 years of being a member of this fine audio community you didn't have a chance to share your knowledge with us, just your hate.  Peace and love my friend, peace and love!!!

 

[Mediahound]

   
For less than the price of a quality cable and USB hub the JitterBug with it's small form factor and what I call disposable price, you can't go wrong!
 

 
Well, they really expect that you will buy many of them and plug them in everywhere. Reading their site, they list all kinds of scenarios where you would want to plug these in everywhere, like connecting one to your router (seriously?). I'm surprised they don't tell you to put one inline with your printer too. 

 

[vapman]

   
and that is a point, you stopped reading and didn't get to the important part of power filtering.  If you have designed usb devices (anything related to audio, perhaps?), you would know that internal DAC of any device will use 5V power (or whatever derived voltage) as a reference source to convert digital to analog, whatever the bus is 8bit/16bit/32bit converted to analog voltage.  Of course you know this, right? the principle of any D/A conversion where your max bit resolution set to some high voltage value and analog value is converted relative to that.  So, if you have a noisy power source, your D/A conversion will be inaccurate.  I'm obviously not stating anything new you wouldn't know, right?  And, that is a reason why desktop amps cost so much money because they have dedicated clean power supplies with a main goal is to provide a clean voltage reference for D/A conversion...  Portable usb DAC doesn't have that luxury, they don't even have room for sufficient filtering caps and rely purely on voltage extracted from usb power.

Great, but that doesn't answer how this little Jitterbug guy does anything of worth at all. Yes, I know any DAC will use 5V, that's why I said if you want the cleanest signal you should have it isolated from your computer and run regulated, linear 5V into it, instead of taking 5V from your computer's PSU.
 
No, you're not stating anything new I don't already know. Yes, you're correct that dirty USB power will make a portable USB DAC sound worse. No, you are wrong in thinking that a non-externally powered solution could improve anything. Perhaps it could act as a slight filter to roll off some of the more egregious interference that's easier to catch but That is why if you have a high-end enough setup where dirty USB power can factor into your overall setup's sound quality. you should invest in something like the Wyrd instead of this.
 
If you are a Macbook user who absolutely MUST have your portable DAC and can't be bothered to find an outlet for it at all times, then fine, go ahead and Jitterbug your way to happiness. Personally, if I need to clean up my USB's power source, I'd just use a DAC that already is powered externally (eliminating the need for this) or a Wyrd (if I for some reason needed to power something that took bus power cleanly) but IMO the Jitterbug is the worst of both worlds. Anyone who actually wants or needs to clean up their USB power signal has better options than this or should consider staying closer to a power outlet.
 

   
Take it easy bud, I mean I can see that your profile says "you hate everything" except for playing predator vs alien games, and you're quite vocal that you know about everything.  Too bad that in 9 years of being a member of this fine audio community you didn't have a chance to share your knowledge with us, just your hate.  Peace and love my friend, peace and love!!!

 
Sorry bud, maybe I have more negative posts than positive ones, but I hope if you comb thru my post history there's a lot of quite positive material in there. I'm sorry you think I stormed into your thread bringing hate, but you implied that there's more to USB audio than 1's and 0's and 5V power in your OP, which is what I referred to in my initial post in this thread. In fact, I hope my posting in this thread was positive because I perhaps made some people who would have thought this was a good idea for their setup realize the Wyrd was better or maybe they just need a new motherboard. No hate at all, just peace and love and truth and honesty. Sorry, but I've been called "brutally honest" a lot, I try to be honest with people but I try to be clear too! This is a review thread where you're posting your opinions about a new product, so I'm posting my reaction to it. If the company themselves posted what you said I would have posted just the same things I did.

 

 

[twister6]

^ not a MAC user, I have apple-free household, but I do agree with your point that it's a perfect solution for a portable application.  I didn't get a chance to try it, but will definitely test it next with my Galaxy Note 4, usb otg adapter, JB, and GO450.  GO450 takes a toll on your phone battery, but it would be an interesting experiment because phones are noisy as hell due to all the radios, no filtering, cramped layout of components, etc...  I would have tried it with HA-2, but it has micro-usb to micro-usb otg cable, just didn't feel like going through all those cable links.
 
Wyrd looks cool too for a desktop setup.  I might ask Jason to send me a review sample.
 
The whole point of this thread is to bring up to people's attention about a new product.  It worked for me, I'm happy with the results, and wanted to share with all of you (just like I do with hundreds of my other reviews)..  If it would be a crap, I wouldn't even waste my time writing about it.  And apparently Head-fi admins chose to feature this review on the front of their page.  I know, cables and jitter talk is highly controversial on head-fi, so I'm not surprised to read these replies.  What I would have loved to see is someone else chiming in, sharing their experience about this device or other similar devices.

 

[vapman]

I just think that if you're an at-home user, why would you get this over the Wyrd, when it's not that much more money and has so many advantages over this I assumed audiophiles would be very excited over. I'll be interested to hear how the Jitterbug fares with your phone - although I figure the type of person who is willing to go outside on a walk with a separate source, DAC and amp in their pocket is willing to add something like this to their portable setup too (as opposed to say, PortaPros driven straight out of your phone's headphone jack).