[Maxx134]

Here are my experiences with this jitterbug device :

At first, I was hearing a seeming more low level depth or quieter background,
But I was also not hearing my piano track harmonics as lively...

It seems smoother and natural with the jitterbug, yet not as lively...
Low level resolution was more noticably there but darker and bass seemed stronger.

It is very strange that the jitterbug not as I expected to sound.
I expected overall clarity, but not changes in tonality...

Without the jitterbug in place,
I felt it was more lively,
so I was sad that the jitterbug may be doing good,
But the end result is duller sound for me.
It had to go...

Then...
Something happened...
I listened more :

The end result?

I have to take all I said back...(!)

The "liveliness" of the harmonics on my piano track,
I realized was actually some kind of like "ringing" that was gone with the jitterbug(!),
and I attained more "depth of field" location of my track's bass player,
and more overall comprehension of the low level detailing...

Wow I didn't realize I could have a more natural piano tone and more low level depth.

So "about face", I am keeping the jitterbug in!

Then, I decided to take a look at the fine print of the box
To see what the box says:

What!
That's "almost" what I just experienced!
Lol

 

[macdevign]

I actually prefer the system without jitterbug as I find that it dulls the system sound. It might be somehow that Jitterbug reduces ringing or makes the sound more natural, but ultimately this hobby about finding the sound you like and enjoy and that may not necessary be realistic sound .
 
but for those who really want to up the performance, it is worth trying ground tweak like Acoustic Revive RGC24 and entreq ground conditioner (I avoid Akiko Triple AC Enhancer as it reduces the liveliness). To me those are amazing as they make you want to listen to music more as they didn't warm the sound but make everything sound so convincing and real, though they are pretty expensive.

 

[Maxx134]

I must agree with tweaks in general.

I read a few posts of the first page here and stopped.

There is a major, major misconception here with members thinking very naively about these "ones and zeros"

It's not about the data, but how it is handled and interpreted.

Nothing in real life is so simple..
Especially in electronics.

We are basically talking about a "live" stream of data, which does not have the luxury of being held in cache and error corection computing.

Even if the data was correctly transferred,
We are subject t to all the "additions" along the way...

All types of interference, noise and jitter being introduced and assimulated into the live data stream...

To think it's just "ones and zeros" is true, yet it is too simplistic , and only half the story.

It's about how faithfully those "ones and zeros" are finally "interpreted" by your dac...

Another very knowledgeable member mentioned to me that there is opinion ,
That even the presence of usb with its inherent noise inside your dac can influence a change on the dac clocks.
Edit*:
And no, it's not power line noise, but more complex types like "packet noise"..

So I have pretty much given up on usb, and found much better solution avoiding USB (almost)altogether,
And using external USB to spdif solutions.

Even the top usb solutions, like the Gen3 inside my yggy is not enough, as my yggy benifit from NOT using the USB..!!

I am using an usb to spdif converter, and gained more soundstage than before.
This is the first time I have publicly mentioned this in any thread.

There you have it.

 

[music_man]

i feel i have the same sound if not better from usb then toslink. with a lot of stuff ahead of the cable. plus the dacs i am using completely isolate it anyways. the highest end dacs prefer usb as the connection. i am plenty happy with the sound. in fact it is so good i can even enjoy 128kbps mp3!

 

[canali]

  well you have my general opinion in my last post. people who have problems should look for the best solution to their problem. people who don't even know if they have a problem shouldn't aimlessly look for an imaginary one hoping to get lucky.
if you have a nice soundcard you can RMAA your system for starters to check if something is really wrong with the output signal. but more often than not the DAC will still be ay better than everything else in the chain.

btw, castlefargh, i sent audioquest this thread about a month or so ago..got a reply they'd forward it to the right party to reply to this.
nothing yet so far. but hope they do...they're a reputable company after all.
 
i have no problem supporting companies coming out with new products to help us enhance our audio enjoyment.
just that in this area, it's tough for a layperson with little or no electronics knowledge to truly engage in educated debate
over the merits, design, approaches and affects.
 
as a result i started a thread on this, too...hope people will give their insights, engage in civil discussion ..esp hope to hear from the manufacturers of many usb conditioners...iFi, uptone, audioquest, wyred etc.
http://www.head-fi.org/t/802190/usb-conditioners-a-growing-field-anyone-else-get-confused-by-terms-and-claims
 
the more educated us consumers are the more we can buy with confidence, is my motto.

 

[leaky74]

  I've been playing with one of these all weekend & I still can't make my mind up whether I like the changes it introduces to my setup (Macbook Air, Chord Mojo & HD600's).
 
I actually find the sound a bit harder/edgier and more digital with the device - separation is greater & decay on bass notes seems a bit tighter & more controlled; they don't 'bleed' as much. The most noticeable changes are in the mids which are brought very much front and centre. This is probably more noticeable with the HD600s as they're pretty much pan flat neutral? Details in the mids also seems a little improved but all this seems to be at the expense of the staging (which seems to be narrowed a pinch) & general 'airiness'.
 
I've owned a Dragonfly in the past and the changes to my set up with the Jitterbug in place very much remind me of that.
 
Still undecided, but gut feel at the moment is that I'll probably send it back....  

I take it back; spent more time with it now - I kinda like it!

 

[leaky74]

Out of sheer curiosity I bought a second for the other port on my MacBook Air (same bus), and whilst the difference isn't as noticeable as it is with the addition of the first, it definitely builds on the presence of the initial one..... 

 

[music_man]

i cannot fit two on the same buss unfortunately.

 

[retwisted]

I've been using the jitterbug for a long time now with the dragonfly 1.2, and I've been satisfied with it when I plug my IEMs, and some headphones in it. The sound gets a bit cleaner with the jitterbug. However, my HD600 requires a bit more power. The bass sounds a bit loose directly from the Dragonfly. So I added my O2 amp to the chain, and somehow the soundstage sounds a lot smaller than direcly from the dragonfly 1.2. I've noticed the same thing happening with all my other headphones. But those can be driven fine without an additional amp, so I would just plug it straght into the dragonfly. But since the sound is more clear, with a more controlled bass on the HD600 when amped by the O2, I prefered to use my Hd600 with the O2 rather than straight from the dragonfly, even though the soundstage is smaller in this setup.
Now, I always thought that it was a problem with the dragonfly itself, since my hifimediy u2 with the hifimediy usb isolator with the O2 didn't have this problem, and had a noticebly bigger soundstage than the dragonfly with jitterbug and O2. But the dac didn't sound as clean as the dragonfly, so I would still use the dragonfly with jitterbug and O2. But a few days ago I used the dragonfly in combination with the hifimediy usb isolator and O2, and suddenly I actually heard the soundstage the dragonfly was supposed to have! Now the bass gets more controlled without sacrificing the  soundstage. Now, with the hifimediy u2 with the jitterbug and the O2, the sound is distorted all the time with noises popping up like crazy. The jitterbug didn't work at all with that dac. It does work for the dragonfly, but I don't know why the jitterbug makes the soundstage smaller in combination with the O2. I won't use the jitterbug anymore, that's for sure.

 

[leaky74]

I noticed the same thing with staging using HD600s and a Chord Mojo. Interestingly, the designer of the Mojo (if my understanding is correct), reckons what we might perceive as a narrowing in staging is actually a reduction in RF interference i.e. the Jitterbug is doing its job. I might be wrong but that's certainly how I read it.

 

[leaky74]

P.S. I've also noticed the 'main'  Jitterbug (i.e. between source & DAC), sounds better with an extender (I'm using the dragontail), between the port & the Jitterbug.
 
Given what I've gained from these, it's made me seriously consider investigating the Schiit Wyrd. 

 

[Sanlitun]

I received one of these last Christmas and it sat on my desk all of this time until today when I tried it out on a whim. Generally I use an Audiophilleo into a NAD M51. I have the Audiophilleo powered ether through an iFi iUSB Power or through a home made battery pack. 
 
A year or so ago I invested quite a bit of time into improving my USB connectivity. I found that different USB setups did result in different sounds and I had attributed this to common mode interference that I have on the AC circuit here in the room. Take a look at this video if you want to see more about CMI: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFLZm4LbzQU
 
So I connected the Jitterbug directly into my PC and then a short Wireworld Starlight cable into the Audiophilleo. As others have described I am hearing a smoother, stark and warmer sound with a lot of treble "inertia" gone. My system as I have it right now is extremely resolving through either HD800 or HD800S and I can hear the difference easily. I think if I was perhaps using something like LCD-X I may not hear the difference at all or so clearly.
 
Anyways I am quite liking this sound as it is very compatible with the HD800 and I could actually recommend it, especially for $50. Whatever the Jitterbug is doing it is different than just a clean +5V or impedance matching as I have tried all of that and it is not as dramatic a change. 
 
So does anyone know what this thing does? I have a bit of a paranoid concern that some devices and fancy cables actually introduce a sympathetic distortion to produce an audible difference. 

 

[Cristi6983]

How do i find out how many USB buses do i have ? My laptop have 2 usb ports on each side , also one of the USB ports is Asus charger+ which use 5v-1000mA instead of 5v-500mA . Should i use Jitterbug on this one ?

 

[darkforce]

In my system, connect DAC to Jitterbug will get more detail sound, but darker and not so smooth. So I try to install on USB Keyboard/Mouse and works great, it eliminate noise but does not change the sound characteristics.

 

[leaky74]

How do i find out how many USB buses do i have ? My laptop have 2 usb ports on each side , also one of the USB ports is Asus charger+ which use 5v-1000mA instead of 5v-500mA . Should i use Jitterbug on this one ?

On PC; buses are referred to as hubs. Check Device Manager & under UNiversal Serial Bus (USB) Controller, see how many hubs are there.