AC Filtering, Grounding Boxes, Linear PSU and Balanced Power.

[lmitche]

The shield does not need to be connected and are not used for DAC handshake. GND wire is used for handshake. Just think about it for a moment. Many USB cable have the shield connected at one end only and some USB cables are unshielded as well...but still works. If not the mocroiDSD is very strangely constructed (which I doubt) the handshake will work without the shield. That GND is used for handshake is confirmed by JS on the Sbooster VBus thread as well.

 

Lifting GND and keeping the shield connected to ground is a really bad idea. If your shield is connected to ground at both ends you cannot lift the GND since you are still connected to GND via the shield connection and you will end up without GND lift and decreased SQ.

 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Computer Audiophile mobile app

Cornan,

 

With ground and power coming from the LPS 1, the microIDSD sees the power as the power led changes color when connected as appropriate. Nevertheless, the device does not show up in the windows device manager without the lps1 ground connected to the shield.

 

So Cornan, as this is the behavior observed here, I guess by using your logic the IFI microIDSD is strangely constructed.

[lmitche]

Holy cow! I just covered all my outer USB barrels with electrical tape and it all works and sounds f***** amazing! The clarity was improved a lot by this simple tweak. My neck hair agrees with me! A must try!

 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Computer Audiophile mobile app

Hi Cornan, thanks for this, I forgot to tape the barrels in my latest cable iteration. Done now, and another nice SQ boost!

[lmitche]

So, basically, in the iDSD Nano, since the internal battery always powers the DAC and the Clock - great job, iFi! - the only thing which was actually powered by the Computer USB port was the USB Receiver.

 

Hi Yashn, last week Eurodriver and Jud were here and with 3 lps1s on hand we tested any number of configurations with the IFI microIDSD DACs.

 

After testing power injection via the Aqvox cable, we settled on the internal battery as the best way to power the IFI. It could not be beat.

 

We also tested any number of USB solutions, and in the end definitely found my hacked $6 Chinese split cable to be the best sounding that I own here. Jud has a custom Mapleshade USB cable that sounded even better, which unfortunately left with Jud.

 

I just added a thin layer of scotch tape to the barrel of the data end of my split cable for a very nice SQ bump.

 

Thanks to you and Cornan for the inspiration.

 

Larry

[lmitche]

You are welcome Larry!

I am a bit envious of Jud's Mapleshades cables. I find their AC cables extremely interesting...which I know Jud ownes as well. Many things that I personally believe in are incorporated into their design.

 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Computer Audiophile mobile app

Hi Cornan,

 

Jud is definitely on to something with the Mapleshade / Omega Mikro cables. My Omega Mikro interconnects arrive tomorrow!

 

I have spent some hours on the phone with the two principals this week. Stay tuned, we are just at the beginning of this story.

 

Larry

[lmitche]

I have three of these. They are very good, not great, but good. Voltage adjustment is a bit wobbly. They are low drop devices which is nice.

[lmitche]

Middy, congrats if true!

 

Also, the Noctua fan in my I7-6700k rig is always silent even when the CPU is rendering HQplayer filters. The Noctuas all come with a low noise adapters that work.

[lmitche]

Ted, wow that's a lot of fans. You must have one of those nuclear fission based power supplies!

[lmitche]

2 on the cpu cooler, 2 on the GPU card (not noctua), 2 in the front panel and one on the back. I would have thought it would sound like a vacuum cleaner, but instead sounds like a Rolex watch. Amazing.

Funny, I have the one Noctua cpu cooler and fan for everything. It's in a HTPC case, is pretty open, so the convection is good. I am powering the CPU, motherboard and ram drawing probably 120 watts at peak with a 1600 watt titanium ATX PSU so the PSU fan never turns on.

 

Happily the electrical noise from the fan does not seem to pollute the sound quality.

[lmitche]

2 hours ago, austinpop said:

 

I have a B&K 1604a arriving today, so after plugging it in, I will report how loud my "hmm" is!

I have 3, ones a Hummer, but not very loud. Good luck.

[lmitche]

18 hours ago, austinpop said:

 

I have a B&K 1604a arriving today, so after plugging it in, I will report how loud my "hmm" is!

Here is a relatively cheap DC blocker for 110 volts from Canada.

 

http://www.bluecircle.com/page152a.html

[lmitche]

2 hours ago, YashN said:

 

Pseudo-science crap: it is well-known that Amir doesn't know how to properly do measurements with the Audio Precision gear.

YashN, you're back!  We have you been?

[lmitche]

2 hours ago, wushuliu said:

You know here's a crazy idea: what if we all crowd-funded several rigorously conducted audiophile-related tests instead of bickering over the same stuff over and over again? Isn't that what real scientific inquiry is about?

One  example where we do this already is with our purchases from Uptone Audio and Sonore where the business owners hire John Swenson and fund his research activities.

 

John is currently building a test rig for clocking to better understand what happens from one end of the chain to another. Once done he plans to design the so called EtherRegen based on what he learns.

 

John has the best track record of researching and delivering results in the digital domain of audio engineer that I know. I'm grateful for his effort.

 

So not such a crazy idea after all.

[lmitche]

10 minutes ago, marce said:

There is a wealth of Ethernet information out there already! A network analyser is a good start, and EMC lab for noise measurements... Ethernet started of as a single cable with a GNC connector, when I fist started doing Ethernet boards, it has developed quite a bit since then and the amount of information available is wide spread and very comprehensive.

And as a digital information highway it works... It doesn't even care what data it is transmitting, it just transmits it.

Another tiresome vanity post. Marce please build something we can buy or tell us something that we can do ourselves to improve SQ. Otherwise your posts are wasting space. Having to read about your vast experience and brilliant thinking over and over is really annoying.

[lmitche]

1 hour ago, marce said:

NOT another true believer audiophile vanity post...

Oh by the way every switch is a regen...

Marce, let me make it simple, PUT UP or SHUT UP!

[lmitche]

40 minutes ago, marce said:

Sorry, your telling me what to do now...

Put up with what, care to explain...

You want to censor me because you don't agree with the responses I put that are based on known science and physic's, maybe you should open your eyes a little and instead of posting silly little comments to have a go at me put something up of substance. If you bothered to read my sensible posts ( unlike this one where I have to bicker with the children in the playground) like the one on the previous page where I gave some information for creating a low noise clock with the best signal integrity, they do tend to have some relevant information... Then the flac starts, its a joke...

So what should I put up with and why should I shut up and more importantly what gives you the right to tell me to shut up. Its an open forum and discussion, one which I was out off until my name kept being mentioned.

Marce,

 

I respond to a post from a new member that his suggested funding model for CA research and development is in indeed operative in a fashion right here on CA. I give him specific examples, names of the organizations, the people involved, current research and a description of the effort underway. 

 

You respond by making the post about yourself, your vast knowledge and belittle the effort.

 

So where are we now?  We are talking about you.

 

I believe you.  You clearly know what you are talking about, the physics,  grasp of the issues at hand, and years of experience. You are consistent about telling us how great you are at this stuff in post after post.  Yet when trying to find a single post with an idea or suggestion or discovery that you have shared that can be used by other members of the community, I can't find one instance. I may be wrong, but I don't see it. I'd even pay for something that executed on your ideas.

 

Does that answer your question? Just give us something we can use.  This is the wrong audience for another lecture on PCB construction, at least for the vast majority of us.