2. pc-audio
  3. 1385145497

What is the missing element?

My pc audio setup currently is as follows

PC (Lossless audio through Jriver) > V-link (first model) > Rega Dac > Jolida JD1501 > KEF LS50s

The Rega was probably the first component I bought that completely transformed the sound of my system. The difference it made was simply huge.

I then added the v-link to support higher resolution audio through the s/pdif connection. Again, the sound noticeably improved. The soundstage was bigger, and the music just sounded fuller. Without the v-link the music sounds quite a bit smaller through the usb input.

The Kefs were the next big leap forward for my system. I simply cant believe how big a sound these tiny little speakers put out.

Now, originally most of my listening was through the setup listed above. However, the addition of a thorens TD-160 has gotten me into vinyl in a big way and now I really don't like the sound of digital. By comparison it sounds like congested chaos, has a rough texture (especially noticeable in voices)and overall is just very brash sounding. I simply can not stand it at loud volumes. Nothing like the polite orderly smoothness I hear on vinyl which constantly has me turning up the volume.

I had all but completely switched to listening to music on my turntable while the rega was relegated to streaming pandora or youtube as background music and always at low volumes. Then, some time spent with a naim cd player reminded me just how good a digital source can sound. So my question is how can I bridge the gap? I have been reading a lot about jitter and I am wondering if that is holding the rega back. I've read that the v-link measures at right around 400ps while other digital transports like the audiophilleo measure well below 100ps. Would replacing the v-link with an audiophilleo or another s/pdif converter give me the sound I am looking for? Is the problem with the nature of computer audio itself and I should just be looking for a good CD player? I am slowly driving myself crazy over this.
128x128megido
audioengr
3,282 posts
 
"Does anyone know if jitter can be introduced in the recording process? If so, is there a way to deal with it?"

Absolutely. No way to fix it once the recording is made.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio
audioengr
3,282 posts
 
USB stands for UNIVERSAL serial bus. There hundreds of DACs with USB input, some with USB output, lots of USB converters and more and more music servers with USB out. Get educated.
audioengr
3,282 posts
 
"I have to confess that Cerrot makes an interesting case, is this convenience/ universal use(USB) vs ultimate sound quality(SPDIF sound card)?"

Absolutely not. Nothing to do with convenience. Has more to do with choosing among the various protocols available. Only Firewire, Ethernet and USB were options. USB makes perfect sense. Nothing wrong with the protocol. In fact is is actually superior to Ethernet in some ways: the connection is isochronous. Ethernet is never isochronous. This means that the stream cannot be interrupted by other message traffic on USB, only on Ethernet.

You must understand here that Cerrot has not had a positive experience with USB and has had with PCI bus, so he believes that USB is inferior for this reason. There are no technical arguments that he has made that hold water.

On the other hand, I can make lots of technical arguments why PCI is a bad idea for music streaming. The first being that it is in close proximity to the CPU and clocks that all radiate emissions inside the computer chassis. IT is also sharing a DC power supply or transformer/switcher rather than having its own separate power subsystem. This is why even the best PCI based systems can get positive mentions at shows, but usually do not get best of show like the USB based systems do.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio
audioengr
3,282 posts
 
"I have to admit the Juli@ intrigues me because it has a clock input. As my DAC has a clock output it might be possible for me to slave the card to my DAC."

Another reason that this is not a good choice. In order to "slave" a clock like this, the clock must be a PLL, not a free-running clock. PLL clocks NEVER EVER have the low jitter that a free-running clock can achieve. The Lynx is another case. Used it. Been there, done that.

If you have a DAC with a good master clock in it or a way to get word-clock out of a USB converter, such as the Off-Ramp, then the clock in the PCI card is no longer of any consequence. The master clock can be in the converter or DAC, not the PCIU card. For these systems the cards can be useful.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio
grannyring's avatar
grannyring
6,479 posts
 
Thanks Steve
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