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  3. 181426-149317

USB yet again

For a few years I have had an Intona Isolator with Oyaide Continental 5S upstream and Intona Reference downstream connecting Streamer and DAC. Given the Strong benefit of filters on the upstream Ethernet connection I added a LHY Audio USB 3.0 purifier with a Grey Knights power cable. The tightening of the transfer and resultant SQ was remarkable despite having used superior cables before.

While USB remains a compromised transfer format, asynchronous USB is the only protocol synchronising the server’s and dac’s clocks unless both have master clock connections. AES/EBU may have better noise rejection but has imbedded clock signal,SPDif is outdated as well as speed constrained and I2S not standardised. Hopefully the industry comes up with a better solution. It is interesting that there seems to emerge a trend to combine server and dac: one wonders why?

antigrunge2
vthokie83
886 posts
 

Anitgrunge,

Yes I know the Iris reclocks and isolates (galvanically and optically) the signal, and I am sure this is the majority of the sound improvement. I have compared the digital coax versus the I2S, and found the I2S to be superior.....as have others. Is it a false sense of improvement? I don't know, but I'm sticking with the I2S

lalitk's avatar
lalitk
5,552 posts
 

@vthokie83

I am not disputing what you’re hearing from the inclusion of DDC in your setup. But I believe the effectiveness or need for a device like DDC is largely depends on quality of your source and downstream components. If you use high quality components then a device like DDC is redundant. For example, It would be interesting to compare Node + Iris with Aurender N100 or N150 feeding your Pontus DAC.

vthokie83
886 posts
 

Laltik, certianly not thinking you are, I've found your posts helpful and objective in the past.

That comparison would be interesting, and my hope is to one day own a Aurender N200 or whatever replaces it when I have the funds available. I would also like to upgrade my DAC someday, something like a Holo Audio May DAC KTE or Denafrips Terminator Plus; or whatever is best at that time of affordability. I do have access to an Aurender N10, but I won't test it lest I start lusting after something I cannot yet afford to add

lalitk's avatar
lalitk
5,552 posts
 

@vthokie83

Thanks for your kind words. As others have reported, N200 with May or Terminator + DAC would be a formidable pairing and substantial jump in SQ over your existing setup. You’re wise man, I wouldn’t recommend N10 audition either unless you’re prepare to write a check. N10 is a remarkable player and if I may say so, a steal on used market. It has a very effortless, relaxed and detail presentation whereas N200 leaned towards more energy, livelier and detailed presentation.
Good luck in your journey and happy new year!

j_andrews
146 posts
 

Thanks to all on this and various other threads who have been so helpful and illuminating in my search for information to level-up my streaming situation.

I’m definitely pretty budget constrained but am looking at either the Aurender N100 or Innuos Pulse on the high-end of the spectrum (for me) or the Innuos Pulse Mini on the lower end.

regarding USB, both the N100 and the Pulse are USB out only streamers.

Some here have said that finding the right DAC with a great USB implementation would be key in terms of getting the most out of such a streamer.

What are some of these DACs with a good USB input.

Neither of my DACs have USB…Border Patrol SE-I and Denafrips Ares ii.  I do have the Denafrips Iris DDC however which I could feed from one of the aforementioned streamers before the DAC, but I’m not sure of that would be extraneous on such a quality unit. 
 

Would love to get some feedback on that potential situation

thanks

JS

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