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A novel way to massively improve the SQ of computer audio streaming


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Most important: please realize this thread is about bleeding edge experimentation and discovery. No one has The Answer™. If you are not into tweaking, just know that you can have a musically satisfying system without doing any of the nutty things we do here.

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Does anyone looking to sell Finisar FTLF1318P3BTL, FTLF1324P3BTL or Planet Tech MGB-TLX SFPs, PM me. I want try these in place of Finisar 1321. 

1321 brings a change in terms of depth and space. But I am losing the realism & lushness I get from ethernet only  connection. Want to see if other SFPs are a better match in my setup.
 

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  • 3 weeks later...

My limited experiments so far is that single mode is sounding very hot in the treble compared to multimode. Can anyone recommend an in-line single mode LC attenuator to use on the end of duplex OS2 cable. I will be running 10 metres from an OM to a Melco S100 and 1 metre from another OM to an OR.

They all seem to be simplex attenuator modules, so presumably they are narrow enough to sit side-by-side and fit a Finisar SFP module? I am guessing I’d need at least 5dB?
 

Sorry about the ‘novice’ questions here!

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On 4/11/2021 at 8:26 PM, lake_eleven said:

Does anyone looking to sell Finisar FTLF1318P3BTL, FTLF1324P3BTL or Planet Tech MGB-TLX SFPs,

 

I did some tests and as I recall:

1.      Finisar 1321P1 – between 2 and 3

2.      Finisar 1324P2 - brightest

3.      Planet MGB-TLX - darkest

4.      Startech 1000ZXST – between 2 and 3 but gives more dynamic – let say, it’s 1 on steroids.

 

Personally I prefer a pair of Finisar 1321P1 plus Finisar 1318P3. I have only one 1318, so no real impression of this one.

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1 hour ago, austinpop said:
USB Improvements Continue, Part 2: Bypassing Amanero with the AudioWise SRC-DX bridge
 
One area where we DAVE users have not benefited has been the work the Taiko team has been doing in developing their own Taiko USB device driver. This began during the development of TAS, first paying attention to the buffers and bit depths that optimized the USB controllers in individual DACs. Emile then realized that even further gains were possible by implementing his own device driver to more precisely control the end-to-end latency of the USB controller. Unfortunately, this was only possible and implemented on XMOS2 controllers. Emile had been telling us for a while that the Achilles heel of the Amanero USB chipset, as found in the DAVE, is its excessive latency (over 20x higher than XMOS2). His assertion was that this was hurting transient response. It also explained why DAVE owners were preferring tiny buffer sizes (64/128) with TAS, since there was this existing latency baked into the Amanero controller.
 
All credit to @romaz for finding a way to bypass the Amanero USB controller using the AudioWise SRC-DX USB-dual SPDIF bridge, as he described in this post:
 
 
As Roy describes, you only have to listen to this bridge for a few seconds to realize how true Emile’s assertion is. Ironic, isn’t it, since DAVE is all about transient accuracy. But what this has taught me is that transient accuracy is actually a collection of things. Coherence, pinpoint soundstage, and accurate timbre are all evident even over Amanero. What you hear with a lower latency interface is leading edges and even more micro-detail. Listen to plucked strings and percussive strikes, and you’ll hear it right away.
 
Whether or not the USB controller in the bridge (CMedia) can be brought into the pantheon of devices supported by the Taiko ASIO device driver remains to be seen. Even as is, using CMedia's own ASIO driver, this bridge enhances the SQ of my chain beyond the USB path, and represents yet another advance in my system.
 
BNC cable quality still matters (sigh!)
 
Sadly, what the bridge does open, with a resounding bang, is the Pandora's box of BNC cables I'd managed to wrestle shut just under a year ago! I should have known it would not last. Sigh. Any illusions I had that BNC cable quality would not matter as much in this application (bridge to DAVE), as opposed to my previous application (MScaler to DAVE), were dashed once I started experiments. I tried a collection of BNC cable pairs, of increasing price, and SQ improved at each step:
  • VH Audio Pulsar OCC Silver
  • SOtM dCBL-BNC75
  • Habst Digital Silver
  • WAVE Storm
  • HFC CT-2
  • HFC CT-2 (JSSG360 shielded)
  • HFS CT-2 (Schroeder, JSSG360).
I put the Habst and the WAVE Storm in italics because I didn't have them on hand this time, but this is where they placed in past evaluations.
 
Just to put this in context, even the $289 ea. Pulsar Ag cables elevated the SQ of the bridge well past the straight USB path. However, this appears to be one area where you get what you pay for. As I ascended up the price range, what I heard is:
  • a more expansive and open soundstage
  • Tighter, more articulate bass
  • instruments snapping into focus
  • and finally with the Schroeder HFC CT-2s, just a wonderful organic and natural sound.

 

 

Thanks for the update!  In your opinion, would the SRC-DX also be of benefit to DAVE owners who do not have an Extreme?

 

 

 

 

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10 minutes ago, auricgoldfinger said:

 

Thanks for the update!  In your opinion, would the SRC-DX also be of benefit to DAVE owners who do not have an Extreme?

 

 

Is the latency of the Amanero interface audible because it is coupled with an extremely low latency server like the Extreme? And conversely, in a chain with a different server, whose latency may be higher, would this effect dissipate? This is what remains to be seen.

 

BTW - the above hypothesis was articulated by @romaz on another channel you and I are on, and it's a very good one.

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3 minutes ago, austinpop said:

 

Is the latency of the Amanero interface audible because it is coupled with an extremely low latency server like the Extreme? And conversely, in a chain with a different server, whose latency may be higher, would this effect dissipate? This is what remains to be seen.

 

BTW - the above hypothesis was articulated by @romaz on another channel you and I are on, and it's a very good one.

 

My other DAC has an Amanero USB input and now I want to test the other inputs and see what I think. I have had an idea that I have been meaning to call Fred about regarding one of the other inputs. If the others sound better, I suppose this could be a worthwhile addition.

No electron left behind.

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1 minute ago, AudioDoctor said:

 

My other DAC has an Amanero USB input and now I want to test the other inputs and see what I think. I have had an idea that I have been meaning to call Fred about regarding one of the other inputs. If the others sound better, I suppose this could be a worthwhile addition.

 

It's worth a try. Of course, there are other considerations that come into play, since every input type has its quirks, and the quality can vary based on the DAC.

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6 hours ago, austinpop said:

System Update May 2021

 
I figured this was a good time for me to post a system update, since my last post on the topic was almost 6 months ago: 
 
Another reason to post is because I can now talk about PGGB, a topic that was confidential until a few weeks ago!
 
One of my goals with buying the Extreme was to get off the HW upgrade hamster wheel, and to a large extent, this has turned out to be the case. Yes, there have been some further accessory purchases, like SR Orange fuses, or Daiza isolation platforms, but I don't count those as major. My topology has held very steady, and continues to look like this.
 

 

Audio topology - Dec 2020.png

 

 

Thanks much for this great post and info!

 

I'm wondering if your system is primarily (or exclusively) a headphone based system or if your great front end also feeds a speaker system(s)?  I'm primarily a headphone user for "really focused listening" although I also have pretty good speaker-based systems I want to focus on improving soon, so many options to move forward with! 

 

I'll be moving forward to test PGGB as we've communicated in PMs, but haven't done that just yet. I've really appreciated your (and the original beta folks') perspectives on that SW.  Thanks again!

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3 hours ago, tedwoods said:

Or you can replace the Amanero interface with the new Lampizator/JL Sounds USB board, which also has integrated opto-isolators...

 

I'll let Lukasz open up the DAC to replace things inside it, no way in hell I am doing that myself.

No electron left behind.

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3 hours ago, tedwoods said:

Or you can replace the Amanero interface with the new Lampizator/JL Sounds USB board, which also has integrated opto-isolators...

 

2 hours ago, Nenon said:

Exactly! JLsounds has a one to one replacement for the Amanero with the same pinout and very similar footprint. It’s not listed on their web site, so you have to contact them.

It sounded much better than the Amanero on my DIY DAC. I also used their re-clocker board and powered the two with two separate LPS rails. 
This was the upgrade what made me switch from I2S to USB.

 

Very interesting, is there more info about this someplace? Has anyone been using this already in Lampizator DACs?

No electron left behind.

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