andrewinukm
Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jan 30, 2010
- Posts
- 50
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- 20
Personally, i take ASR's reviews and measurements with a large grain of salt (make that a packet), though i must admit I bought it partly due to the hype there... and hoping that it would sound all right when it arrives. Those guys there are only concerned about measurements and being "objective" until they are no longer objective anymore. And they don't correlate measurements to listening results, which i find it useless. Might as well buy a lab equipment to admire the perfect graphs instead of being in audio hobby.
wushuliu on AudioCircle has made some comparisons between HifimeDIY's UDA38 vs D50.
D50 doesn't need the 5V power from USB cable. Taping the power pins would solve the ground noise, no?
wushuliu on AudioCircle has made some comparisons between HifimeDIY's UDA38 vs D50.
Yup, power quality does influence D50. Even a power filter/conditioner before iFi iPower improved the sound. Which one was better for you: iFi or the expensive power outlet?Having used the D50 for a while now, I can say a quality external power supply did make a difference in audio quality. A USB - barrel cable comes in the box to allow you to plug the unit into any USB power supply. I used one built into my expensive power outlet. After a week or so, I tried an ifi low-noise power supply I had sitting around which I generally used for my Hugo 2 (this one on amazon: https://www.amazon.com/iPower-Supply-International-Travel-Adapters/dp/B01GNNXP0Y) . I definitely heard a difference, had to A/B test it like 10 times to make sure I wasn't "inventing" quality.
I also had a USB cable issue, but it turned out not to be the cable, but a grounding problem on the USB port of my computer. on a USB cable it doesn't manifest itself as a hum, like in audio cables, but in static. When I moved my mouse around (also plugged into a USB port) I could hear static output from the dac) First step was to use a ground-loop isolator (something like this - https://www.amazon.com/Audio-iDefender3-0-Ground-Loop-Eliminator/dp/B01N3XKOLG, although I use a different brand), which masked it. Over the weekend I plugged in two new USB ports into my motherboard, and hand-soldered a ground wire onto the expansion bracket which fixed the issue. I can take a photo if you don't know what I am talking about :>
D50 doesn't need the 5V power from USB cable. Taping the power pins would solve the ground noise, no?