[mbyrnes]

@mbyrnes I had a vinyl based system for 35 years with several high rated tables. My last was a Basis 2500 with Graham tonearm. I had so many cartridges I don't remember what my last one was. In my opinion, vinyl is not for the faint of heart or those with limited budgets.It can be a very slippery slope. If you want to try vinyl then more power to you. But digital has many technical advantages over vinyl, especially multibit DACs. I wouldn't necessarily expect vinyl to be a significant improvement to Gumby, which is what I'm planning to buy soon.

If I were starting fresh with vinyl, I would exercise the patience to wait for Mike's new table. I think it will be a real killer.

It's not that I have a limited budget, fortunately. I have been upgrading my entire A/V system the past 8 months, spending on average about $1,500/month. Now I am single, no children, and being disabled I am home 90% of the time, so this is my hobby and largest time consumer. I sold off my house and moved into a very nice and CHEAP apartment in Philly. My monthly bills dropped a few thousand dollars a month. Plus I don't have to clean a 2,600 square foot house I lived in by myself. Sold off the luxury car and bought a super cheap used car in great mechanical condition. I literally went from having nice everything to minimal possessions. Not a change many could do, but it does give me far more financial freedom.

I will no doubt buy a Schiit Sol. My patience is running out and I really want a TT soon.

 

[pctazhp]

It's not that I have a limited budget, fortunately. I have been upgrading my entire A/V system the past 8 months, spending on average about $1,500/month. Now I am single, no children, and being disabled I am home 90% of the time, so this is my hobby and largest time consumer. I sold off my house and moved into a very nice and CHEAP apartment in Philly. My monthly bills dropped a few thousand dollars a month. Plus I don't have to clean a 2,600 square foot house I lived in by myself. Sold off the luxury car and bought a super cheap used car in great mechanical condition. I literally went from having nice everything to minimal possessions. Not a change many could do, but it does give me far more financial freedom.

I will no doubt buy a Schiit Sol. My patience is running out and I really want a TT soon.

Got it. My own situation is not totally unlike yours. I'm not disabled, but I'm awfully damn old!!! Happy spinning

 

[RCBinTN]

Why is USB 'bit perfect'?

I bet we don't get an answer.

 

[Clemmaster]

Why is USB 'bit perfect'?

Why wouldn't it be?
It's a communication interface. It's designed to transmit messages, not guesstimates or send editorialized versions.

Unless something goes terribly wrong in the transmission, the message recovered is exactly the one that was transmitted.
Bit errors may occur, but they are extremely rare and do not constitute a violation to "bit-perfectness", in an audiophile sense*.
In the case of isochronous USB transfers (which USB Audio uses), it may result in a "glitch" that is easily perceivable. Beyond those rare and isolated events, the message received is exactly as transmitted.

(*) "Bit perfect" - in the general computer audio sense - refers to the potential alteration of the audio signal as it goes through the software layers that exist between the audio player and the audio output (here, an USB DAC). Said alterations can be the following: resampling, change of bit depth and digital scaling (digital volume control).
Things like ASIO, WASAPI or "exclusive mode" are means to prevent the software stack from altering the audio signal, by providing a direct path between the player and the output and preventing the operating system from messing around.

 

[RCBinTN]

Thanx for the info.

 

[pctazhp]

Why wouldn't it be?
It's a communication interface. It's designed to transmit messages, not guesstimates or send editorialized versions.

Unless something goes terribly wrong in the transmission, the message received is exactly the one that was transmitted.
Bit errors may occur, but they are extremely rare and do not constitute a violation to "bit-perfectness", in an audiophile sense*.
In the case of isochronous USB transfers (which USB Audio uses), it may result in a "glitch" that is easily perceivable. Beyond those rare and isolated events, the message received is exactly as transmitted.

(*) "Bit perfect" - in the general computer audio sense - refers to the potential alteration of the audio signal as it goes through the software layers that exist between the audio player and the audio output (here, an USB DAC). Said alterations are can be the following: resampling, change of bit depth and digital scaling (digital volume control).
Things like ASIO or WASAPI, "exclusive mode" are means to prevent the software stack from altering the audio signal, by providing a direct path between the player and the output and preventing the operating system from altering it.

Candidly, that's all "Greek" to me, but I think I sort of follow what you are saying. Assuming all that is true (and I have no reason to doubt that it is) what did USB Gen 5 need to fix?

 

[Ableza]

I like my bits being slightly imperfect, just to remind me that I'm human.

 

[Clemmaster]

Candidly, that's all "Greek" to me, but I think I sort of follow what you are saying. Assuming all that is true (and I have no reason to doubt that it is) what did USB Gen 5 need to fix?

Electrical noise issues that result from the physical connection of the USB source (e.g. Computer) to the USB DAC.
The computer is more often than not very noisy, electrically, and - while it may not jeopardize the recovery of the message in the receiver - this noise will propagate to the downstream device and pollute its circuits, which can (and usually does) deteriorate the sound.

The Gen5 features dedicated electromagnetic and electrostatic isolation, which break the electrical path between the source and the DAC for noise to propagate and realizes what some electrical engineers call "galvanic isolation" (which comes from the Italian Physicist Luigi Galvani, NOT to be confused with tin can platting...).

Such isolation has been used for decades in Ethernet networks (it is required by the standard - or at least some variants - and is a necessity due to the way Ethernet is used) and Schiit cleverly implemented it in their new USB receiver, with GREAT benefits.

If you've seen devices like the PS Audio LANRover (which converts USB to Ethernet and vice-versa, thus benefiting from the aforementioned isolation), well the Eitr has something similar built-in. Saves you ~$500.

 

[artur9]

I am waiting for my set to arrive. They say Friday....I can't wait!

I got mine yesterday (vol 1 & II)! Trying to work up the energy to start ripping as none of online databases work very well for classical.

My daughter was almost as excited as I to see the Lucia di Lammermoor arias on there. She's been fascinated by it since seeing it mentioned in Young Victoria.

 

[tjl5709]

↑
Why is USB 'bit perfect'?
I bet we don't get an answer.

OK, I'll bite. From my perspective, nothing is. It's just another step in the ever constant pursuit to duplicate a "live" performance via a compromised protocol.

You want bit perfect. Go to a concert. About as close as you're going to get.

 

[winders]

↑
Why is USB 'bit perfect'?
I bet we don't get an answer.

OK, I'll bite. From my perspective, nothing is. It's just another step in the ever constant pursuit to duplicate a "live" performance via a compromised protocol.

You want bit perfect. Go to a concert. About as close as you're going to get.

Bit perfect in reference to the data getting from point A to point B without change. While the USB 2.0 audio protocol does not allow for retransmission of data, so it doesn't guarantee data is delivered without bits getting flipped or data being lost, it is bit perfect 99.99% of the time.

 

[pctazhp]

From this discussion of USB bit perfect, it seems like expensive USB cables might be a bunch of hocus pocus??

 

[winders]

From this discussion of USB bit perfect, it seems like expensive USB cables might be a bunch of hocus pocus??

If only....

See Clemmmaster's post 5 posts above this one. Here is the link:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/wha...n-robert-hunter.784471/page-286#post-13662448

 

[kstuart]

@Baldr - I concur with other reviewers on various Forums on the web, that Gen 5 improves the bass quality of the Bimby (cleaner and less woolly, which makes it seem more solid). I would be interested if you happen to have a guess as to why the bass quality is improved?

 

[HumanFly]

As long as you enjoy your music and you dont have your bits hanging out when you walk out.....your fine.
I don`t have multibit, I (at the moment) use USB, straight out of a raspberry(for gods sake!) and I still love it.(granted it has an LPS and a Wyrd stuck to it)
It could just stop here really. It`s good enough.
I certainly will not...but I could.