[acguitar84]

No, but I have gone from USB to AES on both my Yggdrasils after testing it out on one of them
AES gives best quality. USB on Yggdrasil is good, but not compared to USB interface of AudioByte Hydra-Z with Hydra-ZPM (and others like that). AES is the best, then BNC, Coax SPDIF, USB then optical. The difference is not extreme, but the sound with AES gets a bit more focused and clean. Easier to position the different instruments in the room and more details in the instruments.

The owner of Audiobyte and Rockna also recommended me to use AES if I2S was not available as a general rule. I have also done extensive listening while switching between the different inputs. Always end up with the same list (mentioned previously in post).

Very cool. I agree. I did a lot of listening Saturday night, comparing USB to AES, and I came to the same conclusion, AES is better. It's not night and day like you said, more of a subtle difference, but it was noticeable. Made me happy, since I just got done upgrading soundcards to use AES.

 

[TGBerland]

The argument over expensive cables goes all the way back to 1979 when Noel Lee first introduced Monster Cables. It has been raging ever since. The argument is always the same. If you can't hear a difference there is something wrong with you or your system. And, of course, that usually quickly degenerates into a food fight. I have spent thousands and thousands of dollars on cables, but that was when I was young and foolish. Not so much these days.

I don't think cables is the magic bullet to fix everything. Different material (silver etc), design of cable, shielding from external interference and often the more expensive are more dead on according to specification (bigger variations in the cheaper). I'm still thinking if you can not hear any difference, buy the cheapest. If you can not hear the difference, there is nothing wrong with you - but you can train your hearing to notice things your brain did not record before you knew what to listen for. This is just like a trained eye can see the kelvin value of a scene just by looking, others need to measure this.Same with headsets; 10 years ago I had trouble hearing the difference - or at least be able to describe the difference in sound - the more you keep doing something, the better you become. And the last part; all elements in your audio-chain makes an effect on sound. This is just for the same reason the same audio-file on different audio players (software) sound different on exactly the same hardware (computer, DAC, headphone amplifier and headphone). There are more to sound than 0 and 1s.

And this was not an attempt to start a big discussion. If you disagree, let's agree to disagree

 

[pctazhp]

And this was not an attempt to start a big discussion. If you disagree, let's agree to disagree

I'm definitely not into arguing, and we don't even have to agree to disagree because I don't necessarily disagree with you. It's just that cables aren't a big priority for me now. I have a pair of Morrow MA3 interconnects between my Bimby and amp which I like. They have a pretty liberal upgrade policy and from time to time I think about upgrading, but somehow never seem to get around to it.

I understand the "objective" side - placebo effect and all that. But my desktop is a pleasure center, not a test lab. And I make my decisions on whatever brings me pleasure

 

[johnjen]

And of course the compliment to buying the high priced cables is to make them yourself.

And generally speaking, well made and tweaked DIY cables can rival many of the $$$,$ cables and in some cases be superior to them.
But there do seem to be several 'key factors' that can really influence/help ANY cable.

Some of these 'key factors' can be 'retro-fitted' to any existing cable, which is usually enough to significantly increase the SQ, and obviously so.

JJ

 

[johnjen]

snip
- but you can train your hearing to notice things your brain did not record before you knew what to listen for. This is just like a trained eye can see the kelvin value of a scene just by looking, others need to measure this. Same with headsets; 10 years ago I had trouble hearing the difference - or at least be able to describe the difference in sound - the more you keep doing something, the better you become. And the last part; all elements in your audio-chain makes an effect on sound. This is just for the same reason the same audio-file on different audio players (software) sound different on exactly the same hardware (computer, DAC, headphone amplifier and headphone). There are more to sound than 0 and 1s.

And this was not an attempt to start a big discussion. If you disagree, let's agree to disagree

I call this process as being, or getting, calibrated.
As we are exposed to and can then identify with 'better' (whatever that may be) we can then 'spot' it (or its lack there of) that much easier.
But until these cues become apparent (we get calibrated) they may go unnoticed.

edit: sorta like saying 'you didn't know you had a veil until After it was removed'.

JJ

 

[pctazhp]

And of course the compliment to buying the high priced cables is to make them yourself.

This is not meant in any personal way. But I have to laugh whenever I see a comment like this. It just reminds me there are people like you who walk this planet who have no idea what it is like to live trapped in my body which finds plugging cables in difficult enough, let alone making my own

 

[Topspin70]

That's the beauty of our hobby isn't it. So many ways to derive joy from it: listening, buying, upgrading, downgrading gear, and for the more capable among us—building their own.

 

[johnjen]

This is not meant in any personal way. But I have to laugh whenever I see a comment like this. It just reminds me there are people like you who walk this planet who have no idea what it is like to live trapped in my body which finds plugging cables in difficult enough, let alone making my own

Yeah I understand.
For some the technical/hardware aspect of all of this is completely foreign.

I knew a guy who had trouble with a can opener, of any kind, so I do understand.

And yeah sometimes you wind up with a spaghetti mess of wires going every which a way.
This can lead to anxiety of a type only known to audio crazies, where you don't dare to even think about unplugging stuff, 'cause you'll never back to the way it is now.
And it WORKS now…!

IOW Don't fix it, if'n it ain't broke…

JJ

 

[mttbsh]

For some reason this brought my mind back the cassette days... I remember when a beloved, irreplaceable tape would stretch or break and having to take the cover off, pull the tape out to splice it and then try to meticulously rewind the spaghetti mess back into the reel. It actually brought me close to going out of my mind a couple of times.

 

[pctazhp]

For some reason this brought my mind back the cassette days... I remember when a beloved, irreplaceable tape would stretch or break and having to take the cover off, pull the tape out to splice it and then try to meticulously rewind the spaghetti mess back into the reel. It actually brought me close to going out of my mind a couple of times.

I had to be institutionalized twice due to spaghetti cassette tape. Then I decided it would be cheaper to buy a Nakamichi 1000 that would treat the tape with respect

 

[acguitar84]

I got my yggy back from repair, and can't get it to work with the PCI version of the Lynx AES16 soundcard I have on my work computer. Both yggys work with the AES on my home computer which is using the PCIe version of the Lynx soundcard. The older soundcard doesn't come with the updated mixer evidently. I get sound to the windows audio Playback. Speakers Lynx AES16 SRC Default Device. However, no sound to the older Lynx Mixer. I reselected "reset default" on the mixer, and nothing happened. On the yggy, The lights are on, and proper input selected, but no go. Then again, if there isn't sound going through the lynx mixer in the computer, that's probably why the yggy isn't outputting sound. Again, both yggy's won't work out here, but both do work on the home machine with the AES16e card. Dang, I wonder if I have a bad card, or just missing something with the mixer itself.

 

[bearFNF]

I got my yggy back from repair, and can't get it to work with the PCI version of the Lynx AES16 soundcard I have on my work computer. Both yggys work with the AES on my home computer which is using the PCIe version of the Lynx soundcard. The older soundcard doesn't come with the updated mixer evidently. I get sound to the windows audio Playback. Speakers Lynx AES16 SRC Default Device. However, no sound to the older Lynx Mixer. I reselected "reset default" on the mixer, and nothing happened. On the yggy, The lights are on, and proper input selected, but no go. Then again, if there isn't sound going through the lynx mixer in the computer, that's probably why the yggy isn't outputting sound. Again, both yggy's won't work out here, but both do work on the home machine with the AES16e card. Dang, I wonder if I have a bad card, or just missing something with the mixer itself.

Silly questions but, the Engineer in me asks, do you have the newest drivers on the computer with the issue (v2.0 build 23e June2nd 2017)? looks like the last firmware was from 2015...got that one. too?
https://www.lynxstudio.com/downloads/aes16/

 

[LarryMagoo]

I had to be institutionalized twice due to spaghetti cassette tape. Then I decided it would be cheaper to buy a Nakamichi 1000 that would treat the tape with respect

I had a Nakamichi 700 that I was absolutely crazy about! My first high-end Cassette player!! For an Inch & 3/4 IPS is sure sounded better than anything other than an expensive TT set up!

 

[acguitar84]

Silly questions but, the Engineer in me asks, do you have the newest drivers on the computer with the issue (v2.0 build 23e June2nd 2017)? looks like the last firmware was from 2015...got that one. too?
https://www.lynxstudio.com/downloads/aes16/

Yeah, I downloaded both of those. Since I posted, I called Lynx Support and talked to a very helpful guy there. He actually had me uninstall the new driver and load an older one, but it still didn't solve the issue. He told me the PCI cards can have issues with intel motherboards (My computer is from 2012 I think, it's an i7 3770 processor with 8gb RAM) and such. I think I'm just going to bite the bullet and order a PCIe(I have an available PCIe slot on the motherboard too) card. My other computer doesn't have a PCI slot at all, or I'd swap them out. I wish I would have just ordered two of the PCIe cards from the outset. Thanks for your help though!!

 

[bearFNF]

Yeah, I downloaded both of those. Since I posted, I called Lynx Support and talked to a very helpful guy there. He actually had me uninstall the new driver and load an older one, but it still didn't solve the issue. He told me the PCI cards can have issues with intel motherboards (My computer is from 2012 I think, it's an i7 3770 processor with 8gb RAM) and such. I think I'm just going to bite the bullet and order a PCIe(I have an available PCIe slot on the motherboard too) card. My other computer doesn't have a PCI slot at all, or I'd swap them out. I wish I would have just ordered two of the PCIe cards from the outset. Thanks for your help though!!

Would it make sense to try the PCIe card in your older box before buying a new card to make sure it will work? Or is the likely hood of it working high enough not to bother?