8 replies to this topic

[GAT474]

As a part of my long journey to audio nirvana I've decided to investigate playing music from something like a Mac Mini to my DEQX via a USB to Coax converter.

I already use a Squeezebox Touch via Coaxial to the DEQX connected wirelessly to my computer and playing flac files.

The Touch is pretty good but I have been led to believe that the set up with the Mac Mini and converter will yield a better result and it has alot to do with the DEQX not handling the jitter very well (asynchronous??) and the Touch not providing the best digital signal I could otherwise get.

I'm looking for some advice, in particular on the USB/Coaxial converter and also the music management tools people use.

I have a whole lot of music in the flac format and would prefer not to have to convert it to another format if I can avoid it.

[kdoot]

The Mac mini itself won't offer any improvement over the SBT. The benefit is just about all in the converter, and these days you have options for the SBT as well.

You could use an Audio-GD Digital Interface or an Empirical Audio SynchroMesh with coax in and coax out.

Some USB interfaces (generally those which work on Mac/PC without installing special drivers) can be plugged into the SBT with a particular software mod that John Darko wrote about on his site recently. These would probably include the HiFace 2, Audiophilleo, Musical Fidelity V-Link (various models), Stello U3, the older version of the Audio-GD DI (2nd hand) and others.

All of those would work with a Mac mini, and you'd also have the option of other products which require custom driver driver installation such as the original HiFace, the John Keny modified version of the same, and the new model of the Audio-GD via USB (not 100% sure about its driver requirements).

None of these would require you to convert your music from FLAC to any other format. You'd just have the challenge of choosing a software player that you liked on the Mac. For FLAC, with a remote control option, you'd probably be best looking at Audirvana Plus or Fidelia.

HTH

[holliswhy]

Hi gat

I had the misfortune of attending abx section with the audiophileo and the jk modded hiface. I concluded that the audiophileo was better, with more detail, esp with the Aldi battery pack.

The difference in terms of sound quality was obvious. I would not go without my jkspdif mk3 now.

According to jd, the audiophileo would work with the sbt. You just need the enhanced digital output mod installed.

[Dr X]

Hi Gat, I replaced my SBT with a Musical Fidelity V-Link using a PC and JRiver Media Center software. From just this I don't remeber hearing any improvement.

But I now use JRiver's 64bit internal digital volume control and disable the analog pre-amp on the DEQX running it flat out in digital volume control mode.
I think this setup\configuration has made a slight but worthwhile improvement.

Cheers.

[kdoot]

Hi Gat, I replaced my SBT with a Musical Fidelity V-Link using a PC and JRiver Media Center software. From just this I don't remeber hearing any improvement.

The original V-Link really wasn't anything special. It's sort of the minimum quality you'd want to put up with for computer-based audio. It doesn't even have a crystal oscillator for the 44.1kHz frequency family - just one for the 48kHz family and it uses a PLL to synthesise a clock suitable for 44.1. That means jitter, and it sounded pretty mediocre.

Always try and get an interface that has two clocks, one for 44.1/88.2/etc and a separate one for 48/96 etc.

[Dr X]

I believe any jitter coming from the original V-Link is below the theoretical threshold of human audibility. And there are no known proper practical experiments to show otherwise.

Edited by Dr X, 23 May 2012 - 12:53 PM.

[kdoot]

I believe any jitter coming from the original V-Link is below the theoretical threshold of human audibility. And there are no known proper practical experiments to show otherwise.

You're entitled to believe that, and you may be correct. On the other hand, I am convinced after many hours of careful listening and comparison that the V-Link is a mediocre product which gets soundly trounced by better units... though I could in reality be fooling myself.

What you can't argue against is that I, and many others, get much more enjoyment from systems using the "better" gear. So I encourage everybody to listen to as many different things as they can and choose the ones they like the best. If you are happy with your V-Link, that is an excellent thing.

Edit: Reading the last few posts again I realise I jumped in with a downer, imposing my own feelings about the V-Link over the top of your enjoyment of it. That was rude of me, and I apologise.

Edited by kdoot, 23 May 2012 - 01:52 PM.

[Dr X]

Edit: Reading the last few posts again I realise I jumped in with a downer, imposing my own feelings about the V-Link over the top of your enjoyment of it. That was rude of me, and I apologise.

Absolutley no reason to apologise, but very gentlemanly of you to do so.
You are freely entitled to voice your opinion here and I would never want to get in the way of that, so apology NOT accepted

Cheers.

Edited by Dr X, 23 May 2012 - 03:13 PM.

[empirical]

You have two choices:

1) reclock the output of the SB with a low-jitter reclocker and then feed the DEQX
2) Use a USB converter with a low jitter clock and accurate SPDIF output

Either of these will yield good results, better than the SB, but the USB interface will be significanty better if you choose the right one.

I used to do extensive mods to the DEQX, in fact many of these have been adopted by DEQX in their newest units. They gave me credit of course. Good guys. I formerly put I2S interface on theDEQX, but I dont do mods like this anymore. This was the best way to get low jitter out of it.


Steve N.