Hi Bob,
Thanks for sharing your experiments and findings.
I wish I had more time to do my own experiments...
I have some questions about your ratings of the Singxer :
1)
Is the main difference between
Singxer F-1 DC30W/Cerious/Recovery/DCiPur/ iPur2 145
and
Singxer F-1 DC30W/Cerious/Recovery/DCiPur/ iPur2/Startech GB LAN Iso USB 170
that the music is stored on isolated usb flash drives (instead of HDD)
The Startech is out of budget for me, did you try using your flash drives with a powered USB hub (data USB cable from the computer only)
Did you try an USB galvanic Isolator like this one ?
http://www.conrad-electronic.co.uk/ce/en/product/1165503/?insert=62&insertNoDeeplink&productname=CESYS-Cesys
2) What are the differences between
Singxer F-1 DC30W/Cerious/Recovery/DCiPur/ iPur2/Startech GB LAN Iso USB 170
and
Ultra USB chain (details to long to list) 370
SSD drive + cables + ... ?
I want to try to get the best from my NUC+ssd+LPS / Recovery + LPS / iPur2 / Singxer. My next try will be the USB flash drive. ( I dont believe in cables ...)
Cheers
David
Hi David - again thanks for the kind words.
Well the difference in your question #1 had nothing to do with the USB sticks - that discovery came much later. I have not tried a generic USB hub for storage - maybe powered by a LPS. That would be a good experiment. But would not have the benefit of the Startech USB/Ethenet galvanic isolation nor what I believe to be an inherent advantage to the USB packet to IP packet translations.
I have not tried the intona or any other USB GI isolator. I won't go into my criticisms of the Intona in detail here - I posted a great deal on the Gustard U12 thread (mainly the low quality SI Time CMEMS clocks used). It is not easy to make a true USB GI that can reliably handle the High Speed throughput for Hi Res. But really have no need to with the Startech providing this with inherent UTP CAT cabling. I will note I did try using a SMFC in between to very little effect -and in fact needed to power the two boxes with a pr of LPS's to not degrade the SQ.
I also tried a variety of CAT5e and CAT6 UTP cables - the best being the Blue Jean Cable CAT6 550Mhz. Very reasonable cost.
As for your second question - the evolution of the '170' chain to the '370' chain is described in detail in post #54.
The changes were more then just the addition of the USB sticks, it did include the changes in some of the cables. But also the use of Fidelizer Pro - now on my AOIP thread a few folks who had liked what FP did for their USB chain - found it had little benefit when using the Dante Rednet AOIP solution. So I kind of ignored it. Not smart - I should have at least given the free one a try. Anyway, once I moved back to focusing on the USB chain - I thought what the heck. Everything was running smoothly and reliably. Well it made a very significant difference! Increase in detail and even greater dynamics. I was a bit worried with the music files having to be read over the USB/Ethernet connection - then the processed music data stream back again - how Fidelizer Pro would possibly create problems. Not a worry. I will say the increase in musical intensity was almost too much at the 'Purist' setting, so I had set it to 'Audiophile' for a while.
I had moved the OS over to a PNY 128GB SSD from a HDD (to go completely spinnerless) right before installing FPro. This way I could always default back to my HDD, if issues would come up that could not be fixed. I mean what FPro does is very extensive. Anyway I think the PNY SSD needed a 100 hours to settle in - it did improve the SQ right out of the box - but the sound had gained a brightness - with FPro 'Purist'. That totally went away - and I was able to benefit from the more intense 'Purist' setting again with near perfect tonal balance.
Important note: The big leap in the rankings from '170' for the Uber USB chain to the best of AOIP Rednet/Muted/Antelope at 270 was a greater amount of detail, smoothness and deeper bass. But as I said before, after a few months a loss of some emotional connection. Hard to really put into words, and may just be my perception so YMMV, I would lose interest in the music after a short period. It reminds me of my 'Krell' days - oh God could those massive Krell amps just shake the rafters and where very impressive at the start - but I would lose that emotional conection. This was at the very start of my serious audio journey. Then I discovered Harry Pearson and 'The Absolute Sound' back when it took no advertising (it's a POS now). Harry espoused the sonic and emotive quality of analog and most important TUBE gear. Out went the big Krells (with the help of a forklift) and in came a very long series of tube amps and pre-amps.
So I equate this experience to that - AOIP (solid state amps) to Ultra USB (tube amps). Now many tube amps had major flaws! Bass was flabby and weak - but the midrange tonality was fantastic.
That lead to trying to solve this equation. Fast forward 15yr later I landed at the tube Hybrid integrated solution. Class A solid state for the output section, Class A true tube in the pre-amp section. Viola! Deep tight bass with thunderous extension and that mid-range magic! Better treble extension as well.
I equate this Ultra USB chain as the solving of this AOIP vs USB equation in a similar fashion. A Hybrid of USB and Ethernet IP.
Sorry for the long story but I'm trying to condense 30 yrs of very intense audio experience into a few paragraphs. My handle on Audiogon is Rb99 and I have over 200 transactions - much amp, pre-amp, cable, speaker rolling.