iFi Audio iGalvanic3.0 - The Holy Grail of Computer Audio

[lmitche]

On 4/13/2017 at 3:43 PM, AMR/iFi audio said:

Ethernet is inherently galvanically isolated. So it does not need an isolator.

While theoretical true, the addition of isolation has been proven to enhance ethernet sound quality time and time again.  Just read the network isolation or fiber network threads here on CA.

 

I have two ethernet isolators in serial here.  The second one makes a huge difference in SQ. So much for theory!

[lmitche]

2 hours ago, agladstone said:

How do you have them in serial in your system ? One right after the other, or one before the router (or switch) and one after ? 

I have a total of 3 Ethernet isolators in my chain now (1 from cable modem to wireless router w/ Ethernet switch built in, 1 from router to my Aurender server, and one between my router and my desktop (I did not know where to best use the 3rd one and I thought perhaps this would help isolate any noise from my desktop???)

I have an Asus ean66 wired wireless adapter powered by a LPS to a three foot bjc cat 6a, an emosystems EN70HD, 1foot bjc cat6a, another emosystems EN70HD, and lastly another 1 foot bjc cat6a into an Intel server nic card pt100/1000.

[lmitche]

17 minutes ago, agladstone said:

Interesting, and you are saying that adding that second Ethernet Isolator in a series gives you a sonic / sound quality upgrade vs just one? I will have to try it!! I have the same BJC Cat 6a cables. Have you tried one before the asus adapter and one after to test differences? 

I will "pull" my third Ethernet isolator going to my desktop and experiment with two in a series prior to entering my Aurender N100H to see if it has any benefit! 

Yes 1+1 =3.  There is no before the wireless adapter, just air.

[lmitche]

7 hours ago, mozes said:

@lmitche I can confirm your results. After reading your post, I removed the Baaske that I have on my main router and plugged it in front of my , so the chain now looks like this:

TP-Link 802n bridge>1 foot BJC Cat6>Baaske>1 foot BJC Cat 6a>RLI-1>Nimitra

 

I got a nice boost in sound when streaming Tidal, It seems I was wasting the Baaske all this time on my main router, it was doing nothing over there

 

Thanks for sharing this tip!

Mozes,

 

Happy to hear you could duplicate my results there.  FYI, I have two more isolation transformers to cover the cable modem and TV tuner. I find the whole house network is much more reliable and fast with these in place. There must be a ton of noise on the cable feed.

 

Funny, when I moved to the local hard disk config from the NAS based config, I removed the NAS from the music network, leaving a gap, and I just snapped the second EN70HD on to the first with the one foot cable.  I never thought about it much as I mistakenly ascribed the SQ benefits of the local disk, to the move of the local disk alone.  Later testing a new Ethernet cable I removed one of the EN70HDs and then realized where at least part of the benefit was coming from.

[lmitche]

1 hour ago, Silly goose said:

One day in the near future, you'll be raving about the sound of your AOIP input DAC. Desperately trying to improve the sound, but unable to because the inputs are immune to any upstream noise. OMG that will be terrible when you will have nothing left to do but listen to music won't it be

Thanks John Barron!

[lmitche]

That's a giant tree rat. Will it be USB powered?

[lmitche]

IFI would rather spend money on inane marketing campaigns featuring gophers and skeletons than delivering a comprehensive user manual for customers of their beautifully engineered products. When a customer asks for some details on a product, the answer is withheld, usually behind some claim of the risk of sharing a trade secret or IP. It's sad to see a great engineering company lose their way by holding their customers in such contempt. They could be so much more successful if they could fix their attitude.

[lmitche]

2 hours ago, rickca said:

 

 

Still no answers to my questions here from iFi.  Maybe they don't like me.

Don't take it personally, they don't like any of us.

[lmitche]

41 minutes ago, One and a half said:

IIRC, the JCAT Femto USB Card needs 1500mA to work with the ifi Galvanic 3.0.

Hmm, so the iGV is a bit of a power hog? Looks like 1500mA rules out a LPS-1 as a power source.

[lmitche]

11 minutes ago, simonklp said:

 

I do not know where the information of 1500mA comes from. But I am using a LPS-1 to serve as the external power supply for the JCAT USB FEMTO Card which, in turn, is connected to iGalvanic3.0 and then the DAC for music playback without problem except the audio dropout at optimal isolation (centre position of the ground link switch) of the iGalvanic3.0.

That's good news about the lps-1, thanks.

[lmitche]

Really, I have an open ticket with IFI for over two months now, no follow-up and gross indifference from the customer service rep.

 

IFI customer service is appalling. It seems they hold their customers in high disdain.

[lmitche]

2 hours ago, AMR/iFi audio said:

 

Please send us a ticket number via PM and we'll see what has happened.

Ticket number  #946301

[lmitche]

51 minutes ago, AMR/iFi audio said:

 

You opened your ticket on the 9th of September. Our support have looked into it, yet your case is still on-going, we are awaiting a reply back since end of September. Please be sure to follow up with them via our Support Ticket Platform. It's much faster and better to handle your case there. Here we aren't able to do as much.

You are kidding.  The last question from your rep on his return from holiday was "Have you listened to dsd lately?" 

 

Are you suggesting that's a professional response to solving my issue of DAC disconnects after playing a track at dsd512 on the microIDSD? His response did not deserve an answer.

[lmitche]

37 minutes ago, AMR/iFi audio said:

 

We kindly ask to continue this conversation via your opened ticket on our support platform and to keep things here civilized. The iGalvanic3.0 thread is not a good place to solve issues related to other products.  

What would be civilized would be that your customer service rep tell me that he apologizes for the delay in handling my issue due to his holiday, and that now that he is back, present his plan to move forward with solving the problem.

 

It is apparent that Hqplayer is an unsupported player on the microIDSD. Indeed it seems that only Jriver is supported for DSD512 playback on the microIDSD.  Had I known that, I would not have bought the microIDSD, nor would I have recommended it to so many others here on CA.

 

I ask that you consider changing that position, as many of us here use the microIDSD with Hqplayer. It is likely that embracing the needs of your customers will be rewarded.

 

We look forward to your answer. If the answer is no, then it would make sense to put a label on the box saying that the Jriver player is the only player supported at DSD512 speeds. Thank you for your consideration.

[lmitche]

20 minutes ago, Nikon Nutter said:

 

The support guys have always been patient and understanding to me. I am a mac guy and os x screws up and they still answer on mac updates issues. I always get my friends  to ask and they get top quality service. Most manufacturers don't even have computer support! Don't worry ifi audio. a holes. everyone has one.

 

I am happy to hear you have good service from IFI.  I have not had that experience nor another friend who just read this thread and wrote : "I would never buy another iFi product.  I'm sure the iDSD Pro is going to be exciting, but I don't trust this company anymore."

 

Too bad, IFI makes great innovative products with terrific value. Unfortunately it seems many experience that one is on your own if there are any issues.  Let's see what they decide to do in the Hqplayer case. That will tell the story.

[lmitche]

2 hours ago, Nikon Nutter said:

What exactly is the issue with signanlyst hq player? You want them to diagnose? I'm confused.

The DAC randomly disconnects after playing at dsd512, so if there is time period greater then 5 to 6 seconds between tracks, when you next hit play it is possible that nothing happens. Disconnecting and reconnecting the DAC's USB connection and restarting Hqplayer fixes the problem.

 

 

[lmitche]

2 hours ago, Em2016 said:

This is the wrong thread for sure but Roon works fine with DSD512 with the iDSD.

Thanks, but unfortunately it seems that Jriver is the only supported player at dsd512.

[lmitche]

9 minutes ago, Em2016 said:

Hi, when you say "supported" what do you mean? Roon is playing fine with DSD512 to the iDSD...

IFI is saying they won't offer support for solving my issue with Hqplayer.  They say they don't use it. I have to use Jriver or I am on my own. Therefore I am asking them to reconsider using Hqplayer or make it clear which players are supported. There are many of us on CA using Hqplayer with the microIDSD so this decision affects many people, not just me.

[lmitche]

4 minutes ago, Em2016 said:

 

Noted, thanks for clarifying. I thought you meant that JRiver was the only player that works with the DSD512 and the iDSD.

 

Quite a few Roon users are sending DSD512 to the iDSD. But I now understand you mean support in terms of troubleshooting an issue.

 

I actually got an iDSD (and then iDAC2 for my old man - my dad) based on your very strong recommendations on these forums and have been really happy with it. So I hope your issue gets solved! 

Thanks! I'll let you know what happens.

[lmitche]

No, you chose to discuss the problem here when you asked for my ticket number. You could have used the ticketing system.  You did not.

 

DSD512 playback from Hqplayer is not supported by the IFI microIDSD.  Good to know!

 

What a shame! I was an early adopter of the black label and recommended it highly as a great product to combine with Hqplayer. Many others here bought it on my recommendation and don't have this issue. My guess is that I have a bad DAC, but I guess I'll never know the truth.

 

Is there any other solution? This dac is still under warranty.

 

Otherwise, feel free to put a tick in your beloved closed ticket box.

[lmitche]

2 minutes ago, Miska said:

 

Can you send me more details over email or something? I have two micro iDSD's, the original and BL to test...

 

Jussi, thanks for reaching out.  I have both as well, and the behavior is the same. I'll email you in the am with the details, perhaps with some audio so you can hear what happens.

[lmitche]

20 minutes ago, Nikon Nutter said:

I have both as well, and the behavior is the same. If two micro machines have the same symptom then my bet is hqplayer - software setting. This makes the most logical sense to me I think.

Yes, that is logical, but remember these machines share Windows Asio drivers and firmware so there is more that is in common here than just Hqplayer.

[lmitche]

On 10/27/2017 at 5:32 PM, Miska said:

Regarding DSD512 playback (from RedBook source) with iFi micro iDSD BL from HQPlayer, just tested (again) with following settings, on Windows 10 Fall Creators Update and latest 3.20 driver:

 

Playing back fine on my Z170 + i7-7700K machine:

 

DAC connected to USB3 port of the computer using the blue cable provided with the DAC...

 

Hi Jussi,

 

Thanks for trying this.

 

I duplicated your setup here, same Hqplayer parameters, ASIO driver, cabling, DAC. The only difference is the Windows version, I'm on build 1511. Anyway, I am still getting the tick and random disconnect at the end of a track.

 

Argggh!!

[lmitche]

14 hours ago, Miska said:

 

Are you on USB3? One thing to check too is what else do you have connected to nearby USB sockets? Frequently at least two or more of the ports are under same power domain. iDSD can pull quite a bit of current at times, and so do bus powered USB HDDs.

 

Another thing to try is if you happen to have a USB2 hub... Try connecting such between USB3 port and the DAC.

 

Hi Jussi,

 

For the longest time the ifi microIDSD was the only USB device on my machine and exhibited this behavior connected to either USB 2 or USB 3 motherboard ports. It also happens with or without my Amber USB Regen and ISO Regen both of which are USB 2 hubs. As you know the DAC runs in battery or USB powers mode and the problem happens in both modes. Different USB cables, from simple belkin, the in-box cables, lush cable and lightspeed 2g all behave in a similar fashion with the biggest difference being the loudness level of the pop which varies across cables. Unfortunately the frequency not disconnects seems to be independent of the cable choice.