Does iMac toslink benefit from a Musical Fidelity V-Link

[RightBrain]

Somebody out there will know this. The V-link is being marketed as a good way to have a s/pdif coming out of one's computer, however the iMad already has a fiber optic port. This is s/pdif, right? Do I still need the v-link? Presently using a toslink to MF V-Dac v.10. Would I benefit using a USB to v-link to toslink?

 

Any help appreciated.

 

[kboss]

I know this is not a direct response to your question, but hope it is helpful anyway.

 

I have a MacBook (white, early 2009 model) and I find that the optical connection performs poorly. Very muffled sound compared to USB (this is also to a Musical Fidelity V-DAC). This is with a good quality optical cable (Van Den Hul Optocoupler). I should receive my V-LINK somewhere this week, and will report whether the sound improved (over the USB connection in this case).

 

Do you detect any significant differences with the sound from your V-DAC when connected either by USB or toslink?

 

Koen

 

 

[noogle1]

Just got my V-Link today and I haven't done enough listening to come up with any firm conclusions. The issue with the Toslink S/PDIF output from the iMac is that the embedded clock signal will have a lot of jitter (computer clock circuits aren't very high quality). The V-Link has a much more precise on-board clock so there should be much less jitter in its Toslink signal, which in theory is good news for audio quality.

 

An alternative (or additional) upgrade would be to fit a V-PSU external power supply to your V-DAC.

 

[noogle1]

.

 

[kboss]

So I spent a few hours listening to the V-LINK yesterday. In my admittedly very modest setup (see signature), the improvements in stereo imaging were immediate and very obvious. The 3D placement of instruments and voices became incredibly stable. Just to be clear: this is a comparison between MacBook->USB->VDAC and MacBook->USB->VLINK->COAX->VDAC.

 

I thought that my previous upgrade (a linear PSU for the V-DAC) already made a huge improvement in the stability of the image, but adding the V-LINK resulted in another HUGE leap forward. I'm a happy camper!

 

Koen

 

[almaatakz]

A very obvious question re the v-link is if it can be used as a low-cost "asynchronous upgrade" to non-asynch gear.

 

e.g. how would these two set-ups compare for jitter:

- mac mini USB out - benchmark HDR USB in

- mac mini USB out - v-lnk - benchmark opticla in

- mac mini optical out - benchmark optical in

Will adding the asynch stage reduce jitter in the overall chain?

 

the question is obvious, but in two reviews of the v-link that I have seen (on this site and in HiFiNews) answering or even asking this question was clearly avoided for some reason.

 

[Geoff]

Recently installed the V-Link, M1 DAC combo after comparing with the RDAC. Using the async USB link with either the optical or coax link to the DAC doesn't need any extensive listening to notice the improved all-round clarity and imaging. The V-Link is a night & day improvement.

 

[noogle1]

Isn't that exactly what it's designed to do?

 

Essentially you are just substituting the Mac's on-board clock for the V-Link's (better) clock.

 

[wgb113]

According to Benchmark there will not be a difference in sound with option 1 (USB) or option 3 (optical).

 

I too am curious as to what, if anything, the V-Link would add to that setup.

 

Bill

 

 

[Raym87]

Well Bill....bearing in mind Benchark's comment, I expect it has everything to do with their implementation of their jitter reduction circuitry. If the dac has a decent jitter correction system then the effect of adding a V-Link is going to be minimal. In this case the only benefit would be a conversion from USB to S/PDIF, useful for Dac's without a USB input.

 

[noogle1]

I think the best computer-DAC connectivity solution is native asynchronous USB. S/PDIF is always a compromise because it combines the clock and data signals together into one and you can never recover the clock again properly. So I'd put the V-link into the "better" category rather than "best".

 

[blessingx]

Another thing to consider is OS X having no native 88.2 optical output. If you have any 88.2 HDtracks/ripped DVD-As or 176.4 HRx files, it is problematic to bump to 96 or down all the way to redbook-like 44.1. V-link would require dividing the 176.4 sample rate in half, but that's still a better solution than your optical options.

 

Just ordered one myself partially because of the above and partially in anticipation of a new MBA (which unfortunately has no mini-toslink).

 

[wgscott]

2010 mini andrecentpowerbooks have 88.2 kHz optical out.

 

sorry for my ipad typing