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Post by MartinT on Oct 14, 2019 16:05:30 GMT
I'm not sure how you can galvanically isolate power? You can certainly isolate signals like ethernet or USB, but power rails must go through to the device being powered. All you can do is filter the noise.
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Post by Slinger on Oct 14, 2019 16:17:04 GMT
I'm not sure how you can galvanically isolate power? You can certainly isolate signals like ethernet or USB, but power rails must go through to the device being powered. All you can do is filter the noise. I'm thinking it would work along the lines of a DC to DC converter and act as an isolator for the power. Something like this... As I say, I was just brainstorming. These things exist, as I've now found out, but I don't know enough theory to understand if they would be fit for the purpose I'm thinking of and whether one might make any difference to the sound. I've also considered blanking off the power pins inside of a standard adaptor to see if the USB input on my DAC will still work.
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Post by MartinT on Oct 14, 2019 16:58:24 GMT
Yes, you can do it that way but you're causing more problems than you cure, most likely. Better to clean the power rails than to chop it up in a buck converter.
Mind you, let's not forget that the battery powerpacks we're both using do exactly that to reduce the battery voltage, typically 7.2V, down to 5V. That's why they're not perfect for the job.
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Post by Slinger on Oct 15, 2019 12:40:19 GMT
I'll be interested in how your setup sounds with the AQ Carbon, Martin. I wish I could justify buying one to myself.
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Post by MartinT on Oct 15, 2019 13:04:32 GMT
I'll let you know later although my power lash-up may disguise true performance until I get my QP-1 back.
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Post by julesd68 on Oct 15, 2019 14:30:55 GMT
Martin, I know there is more to come, but are you at the point yet where you can say that you consider this streamer to be superior to the Audiophonics / pi?
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Post by MartinT on Oct 15, 2019 17:04:42 GMT
Oh yes, sorry if I hadn't made it clear. The Asus Tinker Board S for me is definitely superior as a USB streamer over the Pi 3. It clearly benefits from having separate controller lanes for USB, ethernet and microSD. It is also considerably faster in boot-up time and overall searching and responsiveness. There are two clear audio benefits that I can hear:
1. The USB output to a reclocker is more confident, vibrant and exciting sounding. The air and space of the venue are better defined giving even more perceived depth to the performance and the bass to treble balance is excellent with both frequency extremes pushed further out. Noise floor is very low and dynamics are natural and sometimes explosive.
2. There is bandwidth available to cope with 24/192 streaming (where incoming ethernet and outgoing USB are being processed at high speed) without any of the occasional tics or dropouts evident in the Pi, even while simultaneously handling microSD I/O and updating the GUI interface.
I don't want to say more at this point as I'll evaluate it fully when I have my supercap power supply back. However, even at this point, it has considerably eased past the Pi in aural excellence.
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Post by MartinT on Oct 15, 2019 18:57:43 GMT
I'll be interested in how your setup sounds with the AQ Carbon, Martin. Swapping the AQ Carbon USB in place of the JuiceBitz (Asus to Mutec) was interesting. It gives a little more focus, a little more detail, some more immediacy and a tiny bit more air in spacious presentations like the wonderfully atmospheric opening to Engineers' album In Praise of More. The more I listen the more tiny bits of improvement become apparent. It's not make or break, in fact the JuiceBitz acquits itself well at the price, but since the Asus streamer does so very well it's worth raising the link quality to its best, too. I meant to add, this is straight out of the box. It's bound to settle some more with burn-in.
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Post by Slinger on Oct 15, 2019 19:09:10 GMT
I didn't realise you were "only" using the JuicEBitz lead. Going to the AQ Carbon is quite a step up, and I'm surprised that it doesn't make an even bigger difference. It possibly says quite a lot about the quality of the JuicEBitz cable.
On a personal note I'm still not convinced by my Oyaide lead, and will be keeping an eye out for a used Cinnamon USB A to USB B lead or similar to go between ATB and DAC.
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Post by MartinT on Oct 15, 2019 19:31:09 GMT
Do you have any other USB cable to swap in, Paul, if only to ascertain whether the Oyaide is imparting too much character of its own?
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Post by Slinger on Oct 15, 2019 20:05:04 GMT
Do you have any other USB cable to swap in, Paul, if only to ascertain whether the Oyaide is imparting too much character of its own? Nothing "decent" but I shall probably remedy that shortly.
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Post by Slinger on Oct 15, 2019 22:26:20 GMT
I thought the sensible thing to do was order a "JuicEBitz® Premium Shielded USB A 2.0 to USB 2.0 Type B Male Printer Cable (0.5m)" for the princely sum of £3.49 to give me some sort of baseline. It should arrive by the weekend.
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Post by MartinT on Oct 16, 2019 5:26:55 GMT
That's what I was using - pictured here.
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Post by julesd68 on Oct 16, 2019 13:16:30 GMT
I don't want to say more at this point as I'll evaluate it fully when I have my supercap power supply back. However, even at this point, it has considerably eased past the Pi in aural excellence. Excellent, thanks Martin. Would you also consider it superior to pi before you added the Mutec into the equation?
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Post by Slinger on Oct 16, 2019 13:18:44 GMT
That's what I was using - pictured here. I thought that was the one. At least it'll (hopefully) give me something to build on, especially if it's in the same ballpark, sound-wise, as the Oyaide. It's not that the Oyaide is even "bad" but for some reason the sound is a bit... hit and miss is the best way I can describe it. Some tracks sound great, others have bits of the musical jigsaw missing. At least the top end seems to have settled down now, and it's not so brittle all the time.
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Post by MartinT on Oct 16, 2019 13:21:40 GMT
That depends on what you're comparing. Asus USB versus Pi USB? No contest, the Pi is seriously poor without a USB reclocker.
Asus with add-on board versus Pi with add-on board is going to largely depend on what board, whether it works on the Asus and where the (S/PDIF, USB or I2S) is going next.
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Post by MartinT on Oct 16, 2019 13:23:38 GMT
At least it'll (hopefully) give me something to build on, especially if it's in the same ballpark, sound-wise, as the Oyaide. I found the JuiceBitz cable very capable all-round with no bad characteristics. Your comparison is going to be interesting.
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Post by Slinger on Oct 16, 2019 15:51:21 GMT
I thought that this might prove an interesting experiment. I've just ordered... This, this, and this. I've read conflicting reports on the quality of cables sourced via AliExpress which range from "total cr*p, not with a barge-pole" to "I took mine to a friend who is a dealer and in a blind test he couldn't tell the difference." There's only one way to find out. I'm not expecting much, but I'm prepared to be amazed, amused, or just plain thirty-quid-plus down. I do understand the copyright issues with the first two, but neither of them look much like what they pretend to be. and trust me, at more than three-grand a pair #1 is not doing Nordost out of a purchase I would otherwise have made. #3 looks like it might just be a decently constructed cable, unless it turns out to be fake Canare cable of course. Delivery is quoted at between 20 and 40 days.
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Post by MartinT on Oct 16, 2019 15:57:09 GMT
Nordost Valhalla, LOL! Feeling the way I do about Nordost cables, I sincerely hope it doesn't sound like the real thing.
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Post by Slinger on Oct 18, 2019 14:16:24 GMT
I've just fired the system up with the new JuicEBitz USB lead installed and somebody appears to have stolen my bass. The sound is not bad, just very one-dimensional. I'll give it a couple of days, and if things don't improve then it's back to the Oyaide until my Chinese leas arrive.
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