[manpowre]

   
Only if you have a ground loop problem to begin with...

Right, well I wish you one day listen to a dac that doesnt have galvanic usb isolation and then try A/B test with and without a galvanized module like the Intona USB Isolator.
 
Look at Briscati M1 renewed dac, it got galvanized isolated usb in the latest release.
Hegel HD25 and HD30 got galvanized USB.

 

[hodgjy]

  Theres a reason why Berkeley usb to spdif converter is in business.
 
Just wondering, what do you think of USB galvanized isolation, is it hearable by human ears with or without it ?

The $30,000 speaker cable companies exist for a reason, too--because people will pay for it.
 
Galvanic isolation is great when you have ground loops. That's one reason they are in business. Another is people believe it sounds better, even if they don't have ground loop problems. The key word there is "believe." To each his own.

 

[Letmebefrank]

  Theres a reason why Berkeley usb to spdif converter is in business.
 
Just wondering, what do you think of USB galvanized isolation, is it hearable by human ears with or without it ?

 
People buy $10,000 products that electrically charge speaker wires, and they buy $200,000 speakers with $100,000 amplifiers. Just because there's a market and someone buys it doesn't mean it actually makes a difference.

 

[madwolfa]

  Right, well I wish you one day listen to a dac that doesnt have galvanic usb isolation and then try A/B test with and without a galvanized module like the Intona USB Isolator.
 
Look at Briscati M1 renewed dac, it got galvanized isolated usb in the latest release.
Hegel HD25 and HD30 got galvanized USB.

 
Sorry, I'm just not a snake oil believer. I'm not trying to find solutions for non-existing problems.

 

[manpowre]

   
People buy $10,000 products that electrically charge speaker wires, and they buy $200,000 speakers with $100,000 amplifiers. Just because there's a market and someone buys it doesn't mean it actually makes a difference.

Well the Intona cost 230 dollars from germany, and it does help eg. the Yggdrasil. I have A/B tested this, and it does make a difference both on Yggdrasil and on my Oppo HA-1. Im aware of the psychological part, the wish to be better with it.
 
But, I can not hear the difference on both HD25 and HD30 with the isolator as those units actually have galvanic isolation on the usb port itself.
 
on a general side note, I dont believe in 1000 dollars usb cables. the impedance difference on the 2 power chords and the 2 digital chords from so called audophile usb cables compared to normal usb cables thats certified for USB2 or 3 is not attacking the issue, rather reducing it slightly. But galvanic isolation and a good oscillator on the dac side of the galvanic isolation to time the packets is the main challenge as a general purpose unit as a laptop or a PC has alot of different modules that create noise on the power lines and also on the digital circuits of a usb interface.

 

[madwolfa]

All you're saying is correct, but whether it actually makes any perceptible difference is a moot (unless you really have some very obvious issues such as ground loop hum).

 

[manpowre]

  All you're saying is correct, but whether it actually makes any perceptible difference is a moot (unless you really have some very obvious issues such as ground loop hum).

On my Oppo HA-1 I can measure the difference with an ADC doing spectrum. I just got the Yggdrasil, and havent got the time to do the measurements yet, but its qued for what Ill do anytime soon.

 

[ryry1]

To those running a Bifrost, I'm currently using Tidal Premium with JRiver in the background using ASIO via the Sound Blaster card.  Once my Bifrost arrives, is it recommended to get the ASIO drivers off the Schiit website or use WASAPI or DirectSound or what are people mostly using?  I prefer ASIO and swear I can still hear a difference over Windows DirectSound,  so that's what I've been using to this date for music.

 

[theveterans]

Spotify ASIO sounds better than Tidal WASAPI to me. Jriver bluescreens my computer so I cancelled my Tidal subscription due to it sounding noticeably inferior than Spotify ASIO

 

[manpowre]

 
Spotify ASIO sounds better than Tidal WASAPI to me. Jriver bluescreens my computer so I cancelled my Tidal subscription due to it sounding noticeably inferior than Spotify ASIO

Did you try Tidal HIFI subscription ?

 

[ryry1]

 
Spotify ASIO sounds better than Tidal WASAPI to me. Jriver bluescreens my computer so I cancelled my Tidal subscription due to it sounding noticeably inferior than Spotify ASIO

Hm, I'm really surprised, and I have to disagree personally.  I think even the Tidal 320 AAC is better than Spotify Premium, and the Tidal HIFI Lossless is noticeable.  Even my girlfriend who knows jack **** about anything audio could tell a slight difference between the two when I played them for her.  I actually haven't tried the Tidal WASAPI exclusive mode because I've just always preferred ASIO, and it runs pretty well through JRiver.

 

[theveterans]

Yep. Spotify Premium on ASIO sounds better than Tidal HiFi exclusive mode on my Bifrost Multibit and Asgard 2 setup.

 

[ryry1]

 
Yep. Spotify Premium on ASIO sounds better than Tidal HiFi exclusive mode on my Bifrost Multibit and Asgard 2 setup.

Interesting.  I plan on testing them again when my Bifrost comes in, but I would be extremely surprised.  That being said, it would be a nice surprise because it would save me $9.99 a month from the jump up to Tidal HIFI, $19.99 is pretty steep for a streaming audio service. 
 
PS - are you using the Fidelify app or how are you doing ASIO through Spotify.  I don't like not using the native Spotify client, Fidelify makes it annoying by having to look things up manually.

 

[manpowre]

 
Yep. Spotify Premium on ASIO sounds better than Tidal HiFi exclusive mode on my Bifrost Multibit and Asgard 2 setup.

Well it just might be that Bitfrost Multibit doesnt support Tidal Hifi ? Im not exactly sure how you run your setup though. But I can hear very clear differenfe between spotify and tidal hifi from a PC to yggdrasil dac. Being tidal hifi the best option Though HDtracks albums are the best with foobar player.

 

[theveterans]

Tr

 PS - are you using the Fidelify app or how are you doing ASIO through Spotify.  I don't like not using the native Spotify client, Fidelify makes it annoying by having to look things up manually.

 
Through Fidelify. Somehow, the sound Fidelify ASIO makes is much more natural sounding than the strident (hyped unnatural sounding treble to my ears) Tidal HiFi exclusive mode. Spotify program/app is akin to Tidal HiFi or 320 kbps. In addition, Foobar ASIO 320 kbps mp3 also sounds very natural (lacking mid-treble harshness and digititis) just like Fidelify. Also Fidelify comes very close to Foobar ASIO CD redbook sound.
 
FYI, I make playlist through the spotify app (or Web app) then refresh Fidelify to update it.