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

[twister6]

  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).

 
I'm a portable audio user, so can see an advantage.  Plus, at home when I listen to music or work on some music production on my laptop, I'm usually on a couch anyway.  I hate stack ups as well.  Btw, just remember that I was able to get DragonFly to work with Note 4, though only using USB Audio Player Pro app.  That would be another interesting pair up for comparison.
 

 
The pic is from my DF review, 4 months ago.  So if I use usb otg adapter with a right angle micro-usb connector (to cut down on cable bulge) and just extend this chain with another "usb stick" link for JB, it would be a very compact setup to keep it in your pocket to drive planar magnetic cans (EL-8C or PM-3) to their full potential
 
Got a queue with about half a dozen of headphone/amp reviews I'm working on now, so once I'm done - will update this post with my impressions about smartphone use.
 

 

[conquerator2]

So a mini Wyrd?

 

[XLR8]

Thnx op for the review.
Any chance you can open it up and let us see what's on the inside? Photos, etc.

I feel devices like this take away the top end of music but claim to offer a better sound.

Also if you can get access to a cro we can compare the 5v output Sinewave from usb port with and without this device attached.

 

[thomascrown]

  The entire reason the Wyrd works is because it's insanely heavily buffered AND externally powered.
 

 

[XLR8]

 
The entire reason the Wyrd works is because it's insanely heavily buffered AND externally powered.




The funny thing is that schitt say Schiit specifically says they make no claims this will improve the sound of your system yet this jitterbug says it will.
Who do you believe?

 

[Mediahound]

The funny thing is that schitt say Schiit specifically says they make no claims this will improve the sound of your system yet this jitterbug says it will.
Who do you believe?

 
Schiit for sure. They rather let you decide if you hear improvements with their stuff rather than try to convince you that you will when it can really depend on a number of factors including things like ones setup, and ones own ears/hearing. 
 
Bill Low, the owner of Audioquest even states that simply making a change in your system, even if it makes it sound worse, is something he likes in this video:
 
https://youtu.be/mo-MjUuxTUI?t=4m23s

 

[twister6]

Thnx op for the review.
Any chance you can open it up and let us see what's on the inside? Photos, etc.

I feel devices like this take away the top end of music but claim to offer a better sound.

Also if you can get access to a cro we can compare the 5v output Sinewave from usb port with and without this device attached.

 
Very tempting to crack it open
 
I might take some measurements soon, at my work in the lab (I have access to a number of different high speed Agilent oscilloscopes).  I'm curios to see if there is any noise ripple on usb power bus before and after JB.
 
Btw, just tested GO450 and DragonFly with USB Audio Player Pro app on my Note 4 with and w/o JB, and the effect is the same as when tested with my laptop.  As I said before, you get a much darker background with a sharper note transition, definitely improved SNR.  Just using my ears and PM-3 cans.  I can't say sound is better, this is a very subjective matter.  Sound is more refined would be more like it.  Improvement is definitely there, I can hear it.  But I can't guarantee everyone will hear the same level of improvement.  Just like some people don't hear a difference using stock ofc cable and pure silver IEM/CIEM cables...

 

[Wyd4]

Trying to find a price amongst all teh rage
 
I currently have the Cozoy Aegis and I am picking up some noise from the USB ports on my work laptop.
If I can clean that up I would be stoked.

Funnily enough it is quiet from my Note 4, just my laptop introducing noise.

 

[DeeKay10]

 

on the website I read

Improves dynamic contrast, warmth and resolution

and can't help but facepalm.

let's pretend the noise floor goes down or something(maybe that stuff is a 50$ ferrite bead, it's been seen to improve specs in some cases). so I might admit the dynamic and resolution claim on the basis that if the noise floor goes even 0.000001db down, technically it's true. ok for that part.
but warmth thanks to a usb plug???????????????????? what the frog?????? now it's changing the digital signal so that after the DAC has converted it to analog, it's warmer? the nonsense marketing claim is over 9000.
 my opinion is done on the product and the marketing thanks to one sentence.
 
 
Quote:

I don’t expect everybody to hear the same results using this little device, but the difference will be more apparent using higher end audio equipment (quality usb DAC or standalone DAC and less colored high res headphones) playing higher resolution lossless audio.

sorry but that too makes zero sense. sure I read the usual "if you don't hear it it's because you don't have a good enough system or good enough ears, lol you poor 99%", that is over used in audio but doesn't actually apply as often as you'd think. but let's pretend the little gizmo lowers the noise and stuff. then shouldn't common sense make you say the exact opposite?
it's going to benefit the bad gears a lot more than the good one no? if I have a high end system and it doesn't already deal very well with jitter and noise, then how is it a high end system? any improbable improvement from the jitterbug would be minimalistic and thus hard to notice.
 
so how about removing that claim?

 

 
Exactly what I was going to say. The Schiit Wyrd has a more down to earth description.
The only thing both of them do is isolate bad current that might (or might not) create a little bit of noise while listening. Now, these days most hardware (motherboards, laptops) actually have pretty good isolation behind their USB ports and I can't recall having this problem since an old computer I owned in 2005. On top of that, a lot of DACs handle jumpy current as well (to a degree), so these "noise-reducing" USB isolators have a very situational use and they certainly won't make you music sound better if you didn't have noise, or had very little of it.

 

[Maelob]

You can probably connect it to the Wyrd too!!!

 Genius marketing, connect it to whatever you want, buy 5 of them and your system will sound better. Joking aside I will probably buy one LOL

 

[Ultrainferno]

Just read from post one to the last post: Oh I love Head-Fi

I should be getting this device pretty soon. I have no problem with my USB ports, I hardly believe this thing will improve my gear's sound but they insisted I'd give it a listen. So who knows

 

[ahendler]

 
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.
 
 
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.

Have you heard the Jitterbug. I have one in a pretty good system and it improved the sound for me. More overall clarity
I am streaming from a MacBook pro running Yosemite over a Light Harmonic lightspeed 10g USB cable into an Uptone Audio Regen feeding a metrum Hex dac or a Tereda Chamelion Dac. The device works. Learned long ago concerning audio, bits is bits is nonsense.  The USB signal over your usb cable is an analog cable subject to noise and rfi and impedance mismatching.
My Metrum Hex has its own 5v supply and the jitterbug still improved the sound
Alan

 

[vapman]

  Have you heard the Jitterbug. I have one in a pretty good system and it improved the sound for me. More overall clarity
I am streaming from a MacBook pro running Yosemite over a Light Harmonic lightspeed 10g USB cable into an Uptone Audio Regen feeding a metrum Hex dac or a Tereda Chamelion Dac. The device works. Learned long ago concerning audio, bits is bits is nonsense.  The USB signal over your usb cable is an analog cable subject to noise and rfi and impedance mismatching.
My Metrum Hex has its own 5v supply and the jitterbug still improved the sound
Alan

I have not heard it but you're exactly the target audience I was talking about - People with Apple gear as the center of their setup. I don't need to hear it to know what it is capable of doing though. I'm sure it does make some difference, but have you tried a Wyrd instead of the Jitterbug? You're not going to replace the PSU inside an Apple product with a less noisy one. Get a bench supply putting out regulated linear 5V, cut open the end of a cheapo USB cable (not your Light Harmonic) and wire the 5V and ground to the bench supply. Do not use the Jitterbug and tell me if the signal sounds better. I'll bet you real  money that it will sound better than the cable getting computer power and running thru the Jitterbug, but it would require you to hack up a cable. If you're up to the task, give it a shot and let me know which sounds better. Also, bits can still be bits if interference runs thru the power line, you know.

 

[ahendler]

 
I have not heard it but you're exactly the target audience I was talking about - People with Apple gear as the center of their setup. I don't need to hear it to know what it is capable of doing though. I'm sure it does make some difference, but have you tried a Wyrd instead of the Jitterbug? You're not going to replace the PSU inside an Apple product with a less noisy one. Get a bench supply putting out regulated linear 5V, cut open the end of a cheapo USB cable (not your Light Harmonic) and wire the 5V and ground to the bench supply. Do not use the Jitterbug and tell me if the signal sounds better. I'll bet you real  money that it will sound better than the cable getting computer power and running thru the Jitterbug, but it would require you to hack up a cable. If you're up to the task, give it a shot and let me know which sounds better. Also, bits can still be bits if interference runs thru the power line, you know.

I don't have to cut my cable. As I said my Metrum Hex draws only data from the computer. It has its own internal 5v supply for its USB input. The Jitterbug still improved the sound.
Also the Regen I amusing is being powered by an external linear power supply.
Alan

 

[twister6]

  Just read from post one to the last post: Oh I love Head-Fi

I should be getting this device pretty soon. I have no problem with my USB ports, I hardly believe this thing will improve my gear's sound but they insisted I'd give it a listen. So who knows

 
Looking forward to your impression, bud!