Best Audiophile USB Card ?

[StreamFidelity]

1 hour ago, flkin said:

Strange to design a card to fit only their latest Ultra streamer

That looks like half height. The width is not a problem for me either.

Pink Faun Streamer 2.16, streamer high end - Pink Faun

[Gavin1977]

11 hours ago, StreamFidelity said:

That looks like half height. The width is not a problem for me either.

Pink Faun Streamer 2.16, streamer high end - Pink Faun

Super

[davide256]

I think this is a worthwhile topic but right now its too long to read through. Is there a summary somewhere of good audiophile USB cards or failing that

would it be agreeable to @Dean Shias to curate/update the original post  with links to the relevant USB cards where best discussed in this thread?

Right now I think the thread age/length discourages anyone just starting to dip their toes in the water from reading it

[flkin]

On 9/29/2023 at 12:02 PM, flkin said:

 

100 hour mini review of the Pink Faun USB v2 bridge (card)

 

For the discussion below, I refer to v1 but that is the older v1 card with the Ultra clock module attached. This card is warmed at least 24 hours (makes a big difference when cold). The v2 is burned in around 100 hours.

 

Both are externally powered by a 5V Paul Hynes DR7t+ double regulated, extreme version.

 

After burning in the v2 for around 100 hours, my overall impression is this:

 

- More accurate modern sound

- Tight, controlled, great imaging which can challenge the v1

- Detailed and dynamic

- At the upper edge of dynamic sounds, the treble was a little shouty during the break-in time. After 100 hours of burn, this seemed to have reduced but not gone

 

Compared to v1:

 

- V1 is more liquid softer sounding, natural but slightly less clear

- Bass slightly less tight than v2

- Slightly more body, thicker in the lower mids and bass especially when clock is not warmed up.

- Vocals remain preferable especially with female voices. More analogue? Feeling of being present and real with no treble issues.

 

I think both cards can appeal to different audiophiles in different ways. After spending a lot of time optimising my system with the v1 inserted, it’s not surprising that I prefer its sound. And at 4 times the price, this should be the case. That said, I was surprised at the v2 performance. That newer tighter sound is engaging.

 

For those using Euphony as the playback software, one can try switching kernels 5.14 and 5.18 as an optimising tool to balance the sound character of the v1 and v2 cards. It is possible to use the v1 card with Euphony 5.18 kernel which then gives the modern sound of the v2.

 

And for those wanting to add a bit of the Pink Faun clock magic - natural sounding, spatial awareness and emotional connection especially to vocals, will have to wait for the Ultra card due later this year. Perhaps they will incorporate some of the newer tech of the v2 card into it as well? 

 

Some of the tracks used for this evaluation:

 

 

Live a FIP - Musica Nuda

Tracks: Quando, I will survive

Great live album where bass lines and dynamic vocals show the extreme edges of the system

 

 

Chasing a Dream - Gabor Csordas

Tracks: Chasing a dream, Fresh

The electric bass guitar and drums are pretty good tests for bass resolution and separation.

 

 

Alive at the Village Vanguard - Fred Hersch, Esperanza Spalding

Tracks: A Wish

Esperanza voice is goosebump real when the system is firing well. Emotional engagement at 100%. Lots of 'things' happening in the venue background which can show resolution power of the system 

 

My system details within which the cards were playing is in the signature link below.

 

It’s been over 2 months since I received the Pink Faun v2 USB bridge/card. After using it for a while and concluding that the card is suitable for a more modern sound but plays alongside the v1/OCXO card which offers an alternative analogue sound, I lent it out to a fellow AS audiophile @Acholate for a month and at that time he found it sounded comparable to his JCatEx. By now it’s fully burnt in. 

 

A few people were asking for an update after burn in and here it is. Comes at a good time as I just had the firmware updated when Jord of Pink Faun TeamViewed into my system and made the change. He told me that this update made a significant improvement to the Ultra card’s sound during its final development stage and suggested that the same might be true if applied to the v2 card. 

 

Well, either from this firmware tweak or from the completion of the burn in, the sound has improved and by quite a bit! Any anomalies in soundstage width at 100 hours burn has gone, it’s now wide and deep similar to the v1/OCXO. The overall character that I noticed during the initial evaluation still holds true. It remains a more modern sound than v1/OCXO, tight and faster but has now settled into a very engaging, natural sound.

 

From my listening notes the first character that now stands out is that the sound is less thick than the v1/OCXO with less lower mids or upper bass energy. Makes the sound lighter in its feet and therefore tighter and faster in character. There doesn’t seem to be any loss of bass information, it’s all there but tighter, taking less space in the soundstage. 

 

In Eric Clapton’s The Lady in the Balcony, Lockdown Sessions, River of Tears used to sound slightly fat in the v1/OCXO, now sounds very nice in v2. Good balance of guitar, voice and bass now. 

 

Another example is the Audiophile Analog Connection vol.2, Route 66 track, a favorite of mine. It gives the impression of being in the venue and envelopes the listener with its thick, almost syrupy atmosphere. Here the v2 again excels as the huge bass notes and overtones presents clearly and more believable than the v1/OCXO.  Doreen Smith’s voice in this track is so well matched with this kind of setting and brings me to the second character of the Pink Faun v2 USB card, the imaging and treble energy. 
 

 

In this track I’ve found in the past Doreen’s voice is not easy to play properly. There’s always a metallic sheen to her voice with some edginess in parts. The v2 is able to handle it fine. There is more lower treble energy which gives the impression of making sound less stodgy compared to the v1/OCXO. Details are pronounced and vocals are forward. In my system I’m not hearing any harshness, just more forward sound with a slight loss of sweetness. This is one aspect of the v1/OCXO sound I still prefer - female vocals in pop and classical which I find very realistic and textured without even a hint of harshness even at the extremes of volume or tone. 

 

As for imaging the v2 really excels now. The edges of sound are clearer, placements in sound field easy to identify. The Beatles Deluxe - Help! album track 38 Yesterday Take 1 is a great track to hear this. Shows how Paul McCartney improvised the guitar before settling on his now well know version of the song. That guitar and his voice images holographically in the v2. The v1/OCXO in comparison offers the guitar with thicker strings, less woody guitar echo and a larger voice. Edges are less defined. 
 

 

Can it be better? I guess I could wish for more vocal sweetness, perhaps more atmosphere in the blackness part of tracks (blackness is never black, it’s full of echos, background murmurs and moving air), maybe more positioning of sounds in live recordings deep in the soundstage and lastly more control in the extreme bass notes in the region of 25-40 Hz.

 

These deep notes are not often found apart from test tracks and perhaps organ music. Here I’m finding the v1/OCXO is more controlled. The Audiophile Analogue Connection Vol 2, Seven Last Words of Christ: Intro has very low frequencies beyond many speakers’ capabilities. The v2’s offering is a little flabby compared to the v1. And because the track has some excellent female vocals, I like the v1/OCXO’s overall presentation for this track. 

 

At the time of my last listen 2 months ago, I preferred the older v1/OCXO in my system. I’ve now changed my mind. Time and the new firmware seems to have settled the v2 into a more natural presentation akin to the v1/OCXO. It’s tighter mid/bass and excellent separation wins for me despite the slight lack of final sweetness in female vocals. To me, this is a clear example of new technology moving forward to supplant the old at a lower price.
 

Good job Pink Faun! 
 

- Kin

[Hulio]

Hi Team,

 

What is the difference between the Pink Faun USB V2 card vs Pink Faun Ultra USB card?

 

Thanks.

[flkin]

The v2 card replaces the older v1 card which had an option to add an OCXO clock on board. V2 card has an improved clock section but no option to add a clock. Uses a later ASM3142 usb chipset and updated hardware. And with Pink Faun’s recent firmware update, the v2 has exceeded my old v1/OCXO sound wise. 

 

The Ultra USB card is their attempt to build the ultimate USB card. Includes super capacitor power supply, their Ultra OCXO clock, their latest thoughts on design and a metal housing for EMI and heat management. Should be out anytime now. 
 

I wrote about the v2, the ultra prototype and the comparison between my old v1/OCXO and the v2. Earlier in this thread. 

[Exocer]

2 hours ago, flkin said:

And with Pink Faun’s recent firmware update, the v2 has exceeded my old v1/OCXO sound wise. 

Interesting data point! Thanks for sharing.

[Hulio]

Flkin, thank you for the information. I just got my V2 card and did not know anything about the Ultra USB :(

 

Do you know the price point for the Ultra USB?

 

Thanks.

[flkin]

@Hulio No the Ultra is not out yet. I guess we just have to wait until the announcement. I’m guessing it won’t be cheap though..

 

The v2 is already very nice, just make sure it has the latest firmware. 

[danielB]

On 1/28/2024 at 4:49 PM, flkin said:

@Hulio No the Ultra is not out yet. I guess we just have to wait until the announcement. I’m guessing it won’t be cheap though..

 

The v2 is already very nice, just make sure it has the latest firmware. 

Hi,

On v2 page says that it using proprietary firmware.

Is there a way to update to latest firmware but to keep and reinstall the original? ASMTool or something else?

 

[flkin]

3 hours ago, danielB said:

Hi,

On v2 page says that it using proprietary firmware.

Is there a way to update to latest firmware but to keep and reinstall the original? ASMTool or something else?

 

Sorry I have no idea. Jord teamviewed into my system to get it done. I guess the later cards sold would already have the later software depending on when you purchased it. I like the improvement the v2 firmware offered, I'm not sure if there is a reason to return to the earlier version after the upgrade.

[danielB]

42 minutes ago, flkin said:

Sorry I have no idea. Jord teamviewed into my system to get it done. I guess the later cards sold would already have the later software depending on when you purchased it. I like the improvement the v2 firmware offered, I'm not sure if there is a reason to return to the earlier version after the upgrade.

Thank you for the infos.I ve bought mine 2nd day after launch last year so better to ask Jord if i need a firmware update.

I suppose your update were under windows?

[flkin]

 

40 minutes ago, danielB said:

Thank you for the infos.I ve bought mine 2nd day after launch last year so better to ask Jord if i need a firmware update.

I suppose your update were under windows?

 

Yes, can only be done in Windows.

[flkin]

Finally the long awaited Pink Faun Ultra USB bridge is complete and just about to be delivered to their first owners next week. 😄

 

Last year 2023 when I found out about it, I visited Pink Faun in Rhenen to have a first look and wrote up about that visit is here. Being a long time Pink Faun user, I am fortunate to be in this first pre-production batch of 10 units.

 

It’s taken a little longer than planned but the team has taken the time to revise the locking lip of the USB Ultra’s aluminium case so it can fit both the current 2.16 Ultra streamer, which was what it was designed for, and the older 2.16x cases where full height cards usually needs some adjustment to fit. The Ultra card is 1.5x the width of a PCIe slot due to the new case which serves as an EMI shield and heat sink for the new super-capacitor power components and Ultra OCXO clock inside and so it will need 2 free full sized PCIe slots to fit. External power will be 5V/2A through what will probably be a 2.5mm barrel plug but there seems to also be an internal 4-pin Molex power socket too. It will be interesting to compare the internal Molex supply buffered by the super capacitors to a good external DC supply. This is significant since good DC supplies and their associated audiophile cables are not cheap. 

 

 

Jord informs me that the card will be officially launched on their website before the Munich show in May. The 2nd batch is sold out with units ready later this month and production of the 3rd batch is on the way. I’m told the current plan is to sell only to existing Pink Faun owners for €3250 ex. VAT making this probably the highest price USB card in existence!

 

Once I get my unit and have sometime with it, I will write my impressions about how it sounds. At this price, it is not a trivial purchase and it would have to out perform the existing v2 card substantially to make it worth the asking price. I recently found that the existing v2 card already outperformed the older v1/ultraOCXO card so this will be a difficult target to reach indeed. Let’s see soon!

 

Regards to all, Kin

[danielB]

Hi Kin,

I was expecting it after Axpona but not at that price.Must be something special.Could be the capacitors and the filtering after the capacitors.At least is not 3 slots wide and 600w power hungry like the rtx4090:))

[danielB]

And what s 3250 oiro ex vat in today s money? few grams of nano-flo gel or less than half of a qsa gold fuse?

[flkin]

27 minutes ago, danielB said:

Hi Kin,

I was expecting it after Axpona but not at that price.Must be something special.Could be the capacitors and the filtering after the capacitors.At least is not 3 slots wide and 600w power hungry like the rtx4090:))

Jord will be at Axpona. He might bring one along seeing that it’s already completed. If so, those lucky visitors will get to hear it first! 

[MarcelNL]

No offense, yet I don't want the best USB output, I want the best I2S or whatever is best for computer to DAC output!
 

[Exocer]

On 4/6/2024 at 4:28 AM, flkin said:

Finally the long awaited Pink Faun Ultra USB bridge is complete and just about to be delivered to their first owners next week. 😄

 

Last year 2023 when I found out about it, I visited Pink Faun in Rhenen to have a first look and wrote up about that visit is here. Being a long time Pink Faun user, I am fortunate to be in this first pre-production batch of 10 units.

 

It’s taken a little longer than planned but the team has taken the time to revise the locking lip of the USB Ultra’s aluminium case so it can fit both the current 2.16 Ultra streamer, which was what it was designed for, and the older 2.16x cases where full height cards usually needs some adjustment to fit. The Ultra card is 1.5x the width of a PCIe slot due to the new case which serves as an EMI shield and heat sink for the new super-capacitor power components and Ultra OCXO clock inside and so it will need 2 free full sized PCIe slots to fit. External power will be 5V/2A through what will probably be a 2.5mm barrel plug but there seems to also be an internal 4-pin Molex power socket too. It will be interesting to compare the internal Molex supply buffered by the super capacitors to a good external DC supply. This is significant since good DC supplies and their associated audiophile cables are not cheap. 

 

 

Jord informs me that the card will be officially launched on their website before the Munich show in May. The 2nd batch is sold out with units ready later this month and production of the 3rd batch is on the way. I’m told the current plan is to sell only to existing Pink Faun owners for €3250 ex. VAT making this probably the highest price USB card in existence!

 

Once I get my unit and have sometime with it, I will write my impressions about how it sounds. At this price, it is not a trivial purchase and it would have to out perform the existing v2 card substantially to make it worth the asking price. I recently found that the existing v2 card already outperformed the older v1/ultraOCXO card so this will be a difficult target to reach indeed. Let’s see soon!

 

Regards to all, Kin

Looking forward to your feedback! Needless to say, the form-factor is interesting and gives the impression of quality. Typical for Pink Faun 😎. 
 

Unfortunately I am priced out of purchasing this card at the stated price point.

 

@flkin have you had a chance to demo the SOTM USBx10g or Jcat USB XE + Master OCXO?

[flkin]

@Exocer, yeah the new USB card is the first I’ve seen to have this form factor. The external case looks pretty chunky and solid but perhaps not as heavy as one would expect. They decided on aluminum rather than copper for the case which I’m told was an option during the design stage. 

 

I only heard the new Sotm card in another system briefly but haven’t come across the new JCat with external OCXO clock locally yet. 

[flkin]

6 hours ago, MarcelNL said:

No offense, yet I don't want the best USB output, I want the best I2S or whatever is best for computer to DAC output!
 

Good things come to those who wait… 😉  … eventually 

 

Jord mentioned this was in the pipeline after the USB card.

[Marcin_gps]

There os sth new coming from JCAT too 😉

 

[Rovo]

@Marcin_gps

What are the changes with respect to the JCAT USB XE? The clock upgrade integrated?

[Marcin_gps]

33 minutes ago, Rovo said:

@Marcin_gps

What are the changes with respect to the JCAT USB XE? The clock upgrade integrated?

- SMA connector for our Master OCXO Clock (there is a switch between built-in OCXO and external clock)

- new state-of-the-art linear voltage regulators with up to 3x lower noise figures than the LT3045 used on USB XE

- USB port with built-in galvanic isolation

 

Best regards,
Marcin
 

[flkin]

Finally here, some eye candy to share .. 😄

 

    

 

    

 

  This is surely the heaviest USB card around town! 😅