[musickid]

for full scale orchestral there's only way folks.

 

[474194]

for full scale orchestral there's only way folks.

Beautiful. Just put some Paul Pang stickers with some "audiophile" words mixed in and mark it up a 1000%.

How's the DAVE upgrade progressing?

I was going to suggest these speakers for your computer desktop, but they are 'sold out'. They are 4 ohm so a no go for H2, but should pair well with TT2/DAVE.

These things have won numerous car audio competitions, but seems too late to acquire.

 

[musickid]

current state of affairs sticking to TT2/Mscaler (no matter the pull of dave i can't let go of those million taps and i wouldn't have the cash to add an mscaler to a new dave later). Currently trying to arrange some new wooden audio technica ear horns to demo at home. wave cables demo en route. approaching end game soon i feel it in my soul. winding down the evening with some:

 

[hmartin]

A question for @Rob Watts if you have time.

There is a lot of talk about GaN transistors and how these will greatly improve class-d. Any thoughts about GaN and if they have the same potential in e.g. pulse array as for class-D?

 

[Rob Watts]

I have used GaN transistors in the past, and they do offer benefits for Class D. But they won't solve the innate transient timing problems that Class D has.

They have not been used for logic devices though, so no possibilities for improvements with Pulse Array on the horizon though. Actually, the discrete flip-flops I use have seen no improvements in the past twenty years! I had tested some more modern devices recently, and they were actually worse than the 20 year old types...

 

[hmartin]

I have used GaN transistors in the past, and they do offer benefits for Class D. But they won't solve the innate transient timing problems that Class D has.

They have not been used for logic devices though, so no possibilities for improvements with Pulse Array on the horizon though. Actually, the discrete flip-flops I use have seen no improvements in the past twenty years! I had tested some more modern devices recently, and they were actually worse than the 20 year old types...

Thanks, always fun thinking on what is next in audio.

Hopping for better ADCs and something that can replace heavy and power hungry class-A amps.

 

[474194]

I extracted the CD layer of some audiophile label SACDs. Good stuff, they sound good.

These are uncompressed close to master sources. Not the remastered compressed stuff you see posted day in day out on this site. GIGO.

I did some digging and found this comment:

So for audiophile label SACDs, there has never been the existence of a separate mastering for SACD Layer and CD Layer. They are the same.

It was an anomaly in the early SACD days for non-audiophile label SACDs.

So it should be safe to procure audiophile label SACDs like Analogue Productions, Mobile Fidelity, Esoteric, etc. and extract the redbook layer.

Hirez is so hit and miss. They are either upsampled CDs, DSD2Hirez or have the mastering of modern day CDs. Although they sneak in some good ones now and then. With the super quiet SACD hybrids, you have the top mastering engineers in the game dedicated to it's SQ.

I'm moving away from hirez and going to focus on redbook going forward now that I'm woke that the SACD layer and CD layer are the same mastering. I will complement with some Hirez, but that's not the core of the system.

Because of your teachings, will not touch DSD at all. Just the Redbook layer. I would of never considered doing this in the past.

Battery, glass optical and master source redbook are a lethal combo with Chord gear. Although standard Redbook sounds great too once you fine tune your gear. I'm not into half measure solutions so thanks again RW for helping me find my way in this hobby and fine tuning the system. Without your teachings and awesome DACs, I would of never been a devoted Redbook believer and stuck in Hirez limbo.

 

[474194]

Hi Sir Rob @Rob Watts ,

Final question for you before I go on a few year's hiatus.

I decided to standardise on A123 LiFePO4 batteries going forward as I believe IMO they are the best solution for audio. They are low impedance and have the fast twitch power of a car battery. There are commercial and DIY projects that have used them successfully for audio. Some even use to power Intel NUCs so their PC is off mains. If they can power Tesla vehicles, they can power audio.

I was fortunate to find pre-made A123 battery packs here domestically in the States as they are popular with the Ham Radio crowd (Durable double heat strink outdoorsy HQ stuff):

They should be less than 100 Watt hours so should be able to carry-on a plane.

I just use an Anderson PowerPole adapter:

I plan to invest in some of these A123 battery packs ($95-$285) + charger in the next few years, so it brings up the question.

Since these are 3.3V x 4 = 13.2V, I've read the HMS can use anywhere from 12V-15V as it down converts to 5V internally so it doesn't matter what you feed it as long as it's within range. Is this correct? Does the TT2 work the exact same way?

13.2V not an issue for either HMS or TT2?

I plan to use A123 for my digital source and not necessarily Chord devices ATM, but just future planning for the next few years as I like buying HQ goods to repurpose for future use. These batteries should be good for 5-10 years.

Thanks! And again, cheers for turning my audio world upside down.

 

[474194]

I just noticed 9V - 15V range, nice.

I can consider the 3 x 3.3V = 9.9V now since it's more "portable" for my current day use and repurpose later on.

So please let me know if you think 13.2V will work when you find the time. This will help me consider future Chord products during my hiatus as I need pure RF-noise free clean, not half measure solutions if I go the HMS or TT2 route. I'm not interested in regular battery banks anymore as it's not much more to just get high-performing modern A123 LiFePo4 batteries. This will ensure I have dynamic power and low impedence which regular USB battery banks likely don't have these attributes plus the possibility of higher latency. FPGA is also used in ultra low latency stock trading systems, so I want to provide FPGA the highest performing powerful lowest latency battery possible to have the peace of mind there is not a bottleneck somewhere in the chain. Cheers.

 

[Rob Watts]

13.2V will work fine with the M scaler and TT2. But you must have separate supplies for M scaler and the DAC; TT2 is not sensitive at all (just use stock) because of the RF and super-cap PSU arrangements though. Using a battery on the M scaler means that there is no ground loop into the DAC, so no sensitivity with the BNC cables.

 

[474194]

13.2V will work fine with the M scaler and TT2. But you must have separate supplies for M scaler and the DAC; TT2 is not sensitive at all (just use stock) because of the RF and super-cap PSU arrangements though. Using a battery on the M scaler means that there is no ground loop into the DAC, so no sensitivity with the BNC cables.

Yes, separate supplies should be no problem as I will likely accumulate a handful of these battery packs over time. The TT2 would be for car audio (removable) so will need to go the battery route. Fortunately there have been reports of successfully running a TT2 w/ battery with good results. Car audio amps can run up to $2k, so driving directly from the TT2 makes better and cleaner sense. I was planning to pair with the speakers below.

Perfect. I ruled out HMS because I thought it was a hopeless situation. Now will consider again if I can eliminate the issues going battery.

Many Thanks! Amazing news that 13.2V will likely work fine....

 

[Mediahound]

@Rob Watts Do you use your Poweradd on the M Scaler also whilst at home? Or maybe it doesn't make sense while at home?

 

[474194]

Okay, Audi 5k from here for a few years with the exception of completing notes on personal thread.

Special shoutout to @musickid for asking the tough questions here that "woke" me to keep things simple and battery and to inspire me to ask my own questions here.

Also shoutout to Phuca @Amberlamps for inspiring me to pursue my digital battery-powered optical source. Without that I would be in USB Frankenstein purgatory hell. Now I have a completely neutral uncolored unflavored glass optical. I cringe every time someone does a USB cable shootout because each USB cable adds it's own flavor into the mix. I want completely unbiased what the Chord DAC has to offer, not what the USB cable has to offer.

Shoutout too to @ZappaMan for supporting some of my crazy ideas and "woke" me that bit-perfect is just about error correction, not SQ. It's GIGO, if you feed in RF noise or static, it's still going to be bit-perfect. I think it's often confused with bit-perfect CD ripping. Digital source to DAC bit-perfect is just error correction, nothing to do with SQ.

So you guys can ponder the below table. I'm completely off the grid, so have not interest to pursue further:

Digital Source	HMS	TT2	Opinion
Battery	Battery	Battery	Optimal
Battery	Battery	Mains	Still Optimal?
Battery	Mains	Mains	Ground Loop issue, etc.
Mains	Battery	Mains	RF Noise from Mains Digital Source?

@Rob Watts , if you happen to be in Tokyo and need some new CIEMs you may want to check out SONY. You can meticulously custom tune to your liking. Please share your tuning specs if you ever get a pair as it would be interesting to have a pair of CIEMs exactly how you intend things should be. They have a few models in which Japanese music celebs share their tuning. My 2004 CIEMs (700 hours usage as they mostly been in storage due to cracking the shell in 2004) have near perfect neutral tuning (Jerry Harvey tuned in his prime) with the best balanced bass ever achieved so the only way I can replicate is through this custom tuning route since everything is about exaggerations these days and not perfect neutrality. Although all the info is in Japanese, the lead engineer's English is good so should have no worries during the 6 hour tuning session. Cheers M8.

Translated:

 

[Rob Watts]

@Rob Watts Do you use your Poweradd on the M Scaler also whilst at home? Or maybe it doesn't make sense while at home?

It's not needed at home, as I use the Wave BNC cables and these provide enough isolation so that the battery usage gives negligible improvements.

 

[audio_1]

Hi Rob

I am upgrading the USB cable from my Intel NUC running Roon Rock to my Blu2. Is there a recommended optimum or minimum USB cable length? Are signal reflections reduced with longer USB cables? I can get the USB cable in 0.6, 1.2 and 1.8 metre lengths. Thanks for your advice. I have learnt so much from your posts on this forum and really appreciate how the Dave and Blu2 have allowed me really enjoy digital playback.