slippers-on
Music...let it move you!
Yeah, I think it will be ok. I've borrowed Oscars Neutral Cable a while back and had no issues....sound was quite good!
Going Digital!
- Thread starter slippers-on
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Yeah, I think it will be ok. I've borrowed Oscars Neutral Cable a while back and had no issues....sound was quite good!
slippers-on
Music...let it move you!
Oscar, Mi Man! seems you've become THE research specialist! Thanks for digging up the info on the Neutral cables.....seems they conform to the USB standard in 90 ohms.....that's a great thing. I also see they are 2.0 which, according to AMR is also ok....so I shouldn't have any problems....at least I hope, My other cable was also 2.0 and it had the drop outs, but only with the i5 quad core, the laptop is a dual core AMD which is a slower processor. So only time will tell.
Perhaps I was a bit to premature to say Fabio was rude.....perhaps it was just an oversight on his part....an honest mistake.....I think its better to give him the benefit of the doubt in this case.
Perhaps I was a bit to premature to say Fabio was rude.....perhaps it was just an oversight on his part....an honest mistake.....I think its better to give him the benefit of the doubt in this case.
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Kt77
Well-Known Member
Hey little Brotha,
Man, I'm becoming good at showing up to parties after midnight of late, but as I'm downloading more and more music of late ( over 200 tracks ) it seems that I simply forget to check in. But you're more then welcome, and I do try to assist when/where I can.
I'm thinking that the shorter length of your WW Starlight might've had something to do with the dropouts as well, but as you've said - time will tell.
Oversight or not?, a question is a question and deserves to be answered no matter what, especially from someone whom products someone has invested in, I mean in reality it only takes all of one minute to respond to said task. Anyways, I've another 2 USBs to obtain before it's time to sit down and start converting everything over to DSD 128 with napkins in hand and let the cream puffing begin.
Be well as always Mi Brotha, I'll catch up with you on the back hand side.
Peace.
h
slippers-on
Music...let it move you!
Mi Bro! The Double headed Neutral Cable is bliss! The bass is starting to fill in nicely after about an hour of run in. This cable is great, especially in the upper to higher frequencies. It is a match made in heaven with the Wireworld Silver Eclipes 7...yes sir Boyeee!
The Gizmo for Andriod as well as iPad are great options...Jremote is even better!
The Gizmo for Andriod as well as iPad are great options...Jremote is even better!
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slippers-on
Music...let it move you!
I've got about one hour and a half of music playing on the iFI Micro with the Double headed Neutral Cable and the bass has come on song! I'm sure the cable isn't fully run in as of yet. But it's really a very neutral sound with great dynamics! The cymbals are crisp and bass is tight! Things are lingering in the air, and tone is spot on. I'd say it's more transparent than the Wireworld Starlight 7 which I was using before from the iUSB Power to the Micro DAC. I like this combination of the Double headed Neutral Cable and the Silver Eclipes 7 RCA's 100% more. It's very hard to imagine such a setup of the iUSB Power and the IFI Micro DSD DAC ( total $700 and a steal) sounding this well....especially with the darker back ground the Fidelizer has produced!
It's great to be back to listening to quality music again after TS the issues of drop outs that I was experiencing. The things I Trouble shot where the PC and it's sound card....the iUSB power, the Micro and finally the USB cables. AMR was right there with me the entire way...with me sending screen shots and they sending me screen shots...the entire TS took about 2 weeks before AMR suggested a faulty WW cable from the iUSB Power to the DAC. But what was puzzling was why did that cable mess up only with the i5 processor and not the AMD laptop? I was thinking the cable was at fault as well, but the new Neutral Cable is even shorter at 1 foot long.
But I think I have found the problem for real this time. Upon receiving the Neutral Cable, and firing up the system with it in place, I got the same old error messages I trouble shot for two weeks. My heart sank! I removed the new cable and decided to try that other adapter that comes with the Micro...not the one I had been using all the while, the one that came in the static bag, but the longer one that's in the box. After putting it on with the Neutral cable...no problems. So I removed that adapter and replace it with the one in the static bag...and no problems. So I think the adapter has to be put on just right so no problems will happen. But never the less, I'm just happy to be back to error free music, and things are sounding great over here.
My system is clicking over here...Vincent Preamp/amp hybrids....Analysis Plus Pure Crystal Copper copper interconnects....Canton Vento 830.2 speakers with ceramic drivers .....and Triode Wire Labs Cryoed copper speaker wires. And now the Neutral Cable paired with the Wire World Silver Eclipes 7 RCA cables for the IFI iUSB Power and IFI Micro iDSD DAC being driven by a repurposed as a music computer, W8.1 running Jriver 20 with Fidellizer Optimizer, running everything DSD128 on a HP Pro Desk 400 G1 small form factor i5 3.3 GHz 4 core processor, 8 GB RAM. Folks....I'm getting reference quality sound over here. Now for a little tweaking of the DAC to get the last little drop of fidelity out of her before I move on to upgrading the Turntable/phono amp. Then I'm done...I won't need to change a thing or add a thing unless I go for a pair of Canton Reference 9.2
Oh, and before I get a fussin from Mi Man Oscar....I ain't forgot about my new speaker stands....they will be added towards the end of my journey.
It's great to be back to listening to quality music again after TS the issues of drop outs that I was experiencing. The things I Trouble shot where the PC and it's sound card....the iUSB power, the Micro and finally the USB cables. AMR was right there with me the entire way...with me sending screen shots and they sending me screen shots...the entire TS took about 2 weeks before AMR suggested a faulty WW cable from the iUSB Power to the DAC. But what was puzzling was why did that cable mess up only with the i5 processor and not the AMD laptop? I was thinking the cable was at fault as well, but the new Neutral Cable is even shorter at 1 foot long.
But I think I have found the problem for real this time. Upon receiving the Neutral Cable, and firing up the system with it in place, I got the same old error messages I trouble shot for two weeks. My heart sank! I removed the new cable and decided to try that other adapter that comes with the Micro...not the one I had been using all the while, the one that came in the static bag, but the longer one that's in the box. After putting it on with the Neutral cable...no problems. So I removed that adapter and replace it with the one in the static bag...and no problems. So I think the adapter has to be put on just right so no problems will happen. But never the less, I'm just happy to be back to error free music, and things are sounding great over here.
My system is clicking over here...Vincent Preamp/amp hybrids....Analysis Plus Pure Crystal Copper copper interconnects....Canton Vento 830.2 speakers with ceramic drivers .....and Triode Wire Labs Cryoed copper speaker wires. And now the Neutral Cable paired with the Wire World Silver Eclipes 7 RCA cables for the IFI iUSB Power and IFI Micro iDSD DAC being driven by a repurposed as a music computer, W8.1 running Jriver 20 with Fidellizer Optimizer, running everything DSD128 on a HP Pro Desk 400 G1 small form factor i5 3.3 GHz 4 core processor, 8 GB RAM. Folks....I'm getting reference quality sound over here. Now for a little tweaking of the DAC to get the last little drop of fidelity out of her before I move on to upgrading the Turntable/phono amp. Then I'm done...I won't need to change a thing or add a thing unless I go for a pair of Canton Reference 9.2
Oh, and before I get a fussin from Mi Man Oscar....I ain't forgot about my new speaker stands....they will be added towards the end of my journey.
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MikeT.
Displaced Irish Cajun
Byron,
You know I've been following this thread for a while and damn it, you've just pushed me too far....I've gone and purchased JRiver today. I have an older Lenovo PC with a brand new hard drive, clean slate with nothing but JRiver and iTunes on it. Nothing else, I thought it would be a good idea to have a dedicated computer so when I needed to replace the hard drive, it seemed like a good time to DO IT!
So now I have JRiver, my Wyred4Sound DAC-1LE and I'm ready to go...I have no idea where yet, but I'm ready. The plan is to select a few really excellent high resolution albums and kick back for some listening.
I have to do a lot of reading to catch up to your level of expertise. Converting PCM to DSD has me intrigued, don't understand it yet, but it sounds like its really excellent to hear your description.
Great thread! Lots of folks jumping in with great advice.
You know I've been following this thread for a while and damn it, you've just pushed me too far....I've gone and purchased JRiver today. I have an older Lenovo PC with a brand new hard drive, clean slate with nothing but JRiver and iTunes on it. Nothing else, I thought it would be a good idea to have a dedicated computer so when I needed to replace the hard drive, it seemed like a good time to DO IT!
So now I have JRiver, my Wyred4Sound DAC-1LE and I'm ready to go...I have no idea where yet, but I'm ready. The plan is to select a few really excellent high resolution albums and kick back for some listening.
I have to do a lot of reading to catch up to your level of expertise. Converting PCM to DSD has me intrigued, don't understand it yet, but it sounds like its really excellent to hear your description.
Great thread! Lots of folks jumping in with great advice.
slippers-on
Music...let it move you!
Hi Mike!
Your juices are flowing....your interest is peaked! That's a good thing because you have one of those systems that's ripe for DSD 128! Resolution wont be a problem for your rig. And DSD 128 done right is jaw dropping enjoyable!
Jriver is great, especially when you add JPlay which isnt so easy any more from what I gather, due to the feud between Jriver and Jplay.. But Fidelizer Optimizer is good as well and there's a free version.....here's the link. http://www.fidelizer-audio.com/
Don't forget to read the support page on Jriver...lots of info in there on getting started.
Acoustic sounds has some downloads that are DSD. And you may know about HD Tracks as well. A few others. http://bluecoastrecords.com/ http://www.channelclassics.com/ http://www.cybele.de/ http://www.hifitrack.com/en
If W4S DAC can do native DSD, then you pick the ASIO option in Jriver and it sends DSD to the DAC, if not, then you'd select the WASAPI option which sends DSD in a PCM wraper until the DAC lets you in, then unpacks it as DSD. Once you get use to it, it will be second nature.
Once you start reading about DSD, you'll find stuff out there...lots of white paper which talks about noise with DSD and that Hi REZ PCM is the way to go. I have not found that to be true....at least not with the iFI Products in my experience. But once you find your way around DSD and PCM let your ears be the judge, not whats being reported in reviews. I was at a DAC party a few weeks ago where there was a $10k Bricasti DAC....a $8K DAC Which was that high dollar Cary Audio Music system DAC, and a $3500 Marantz DAC as well as a $1500 Cambridge DAC. The first 3 all had DSD capability's. Because the guy who gave the party read what some of those reports said in the negative about DSD, he wouldn't even up sample and do DSD on the fly. So kindly let your ears tell you whats up.
Let me know how you're getting on with it...and if you need help, feel free to ask.
Your juices are flowing....your interest is peaked! That's a good thing because you have one of those systems that's ripe for DSD 128! Resolution wont be a problem for your rig. And DSD 128 done right is jaw dropping enjoyable!
Jriver is great, especially when you add JPlay which isnt so easy any more from what I gather, due to the feud between Jriver and Jplay.. But Fidelizer Optimizer is good as well and there's a free version.....here's the link. http://www.fidelizer-audio.com/
Don't forget to read the support page on Jriver...lots of info in there on getting started.
Acoustic sounds has some downloads that are DSD. And you may know about HD Tracks as well. A few others. http://bluecoastrecords.com/ http://www.channelclassics.com/ http://www.cybele.de/ http://www.hifitrack.com/en
If W4S DAC can do native DSD, then you pick the ASIO option in Jriver and it sends DSD to the DAC, if not, then you'd select the WASAPI option which sends DSD in a PCM wraper until the DAC lets you in, then unpacks it as DSD. Once you get use to it, it will be second nature.
Once you start reading about DSD, you'll find stuff out there...lots of white paper which talks about noise with DSD and that Hi REZ PCM is the way to go. I have not found that to be true....at least not with the iFI Products in my experience. But once you find your way around DSD and PCM let your ears be the judge, not whats being reported in reviews. I was at a DAC party a few weeks ago where there was a $10k Bricasti DAC....a $8K DAC Which was that high dollar Cary Audio Music system DAC, and a $3500 Marantz DAC as well as a $1500 Cambridge DAC. The first 3 all had DSD capability's. Because the guy who gave the party read what some of those reports said in the negative about DSD, he wouldn't even up sample and do DSD on the fly. So kindly let your ears tell you whats up.
Let me know how you're getting on with it...and if you need help, feel free to ask.
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Kt77
Well-Known Member
Mi Brotha,
It sounds like you're really in that Zone and loving it, I'm glad to know that you're digging the Neutral USB as for the money it's very nicely made and sounding. My last one will be a dual headed versions as well.
Next up Nordost Sort Kones and Synergistic Research ECTs to use underneath and placed onto said iFi Audio devices. Yes..........., I'm still enjoying the ride as well.
slippers-on
Music...let it move you!
I dont want any one to get the wrong idea, Mi Bro! I don't know if the dual headed USB cable is making the fidelity more reference quality (if that makes sense?) because of the separation of the signals. All I know is I love the sound of my system. The iFI Micro seems to love this cable! Got all my fingers and toes crossed because I dont plain on messing around with the DAC/Cables any more....its off to tweaks. And then I will turn my attention to the vinyl side of things.
keithpgdrb
Super Member
Boo. I started getting some kind of distortion with my nano. Then it would just cut out. Returning it for another. Just my luck.
slippers-on
Music...let it move you!
That's a bummer!
My issue was/is the Micro doesn't seem to like Wireworld Starlight 7 cables. Don't know why concidering it does like Wireworld Ultraviolet 7 USB cables and the Wireworld Silver Eclipes 7 RCA cables....but put in a Starlight 7 and she won't play......figure that one out!
Kt77
Well-Known Member
Brotha,
I'm inclined to believe since the Micro iUSB Power was designed around the companies Gemini Dual - Head USB, then said Neutral ( brand name ) or any decently made dual head cable should be used between the iUSB Power and Micro or Nano iDSD and would say while there are more expensive cables out there............, it's about how they're actually voiced to interact with said iFi Audio devices that I'd then be concerned about?.
As I believe we've both noted............, the Neutral USB cables offer a sense of synergy that's very well matched to the overall sonics of said DACs and is one I can highly recommend at its price, while some tend to believe in that stuff about system dependency, I tend to believe more in generalizing a particle sound of any given cable as it's intended to be heard through any component based upon what's needed to begin with?. It's like many generalize about tubes like Amperex - Mullard and Telefunkens being the only ones worth owning/using, simply because they've not explored other brands that are easily capable of offering better sonics then any of them..........., in said case, knowledge is power to those whom know better as opposed to limiting their options due to said lack of knowledge or experience.
In my mind, either stuff matches well, or it doesn't.
Like your quest towards a better phono-stage, I'd say go with what you've heard in your actual system as far as the Sutherland goes, as another brand mightn't offer the same sense of refinement as much as this one seemed to have moved you, but at best this is just an assumption based upon my ability to read between the lines on what you've written about said demo, and that's how I generally base anything as it relates to audio............, it comes back to synergy, no ifs ands and buts about it, either it sounds better or it isn't?.
Kt77
Well-Known Member
That's a bummer!
My issue was/is the Micro doesn't seem to like Wireworld Starlight 7 cables. Don't know why concidering it does like Wireworld Ultraviolet 7 USB cables and the Wireworld Silver Eclipes 7 RCA cables....but put in a Starlight 7 and she won't play......figure that one out!
That's because it was to short............., both devices simply couldn't find her as the current discussion is that many USB DACs actually rather see a 1.5M length of cable in front of them, go figure.
slippers-on
Music...let it move you!
Bro! Now that you mentioned synergy, it ain't happening with the Micro/iUSBPower. Listen to this crazy crap!
Remember yesterday I told you I was headed to my dealers house? Well I picked up a Wireworld Starlight 7 (2m) to replace the Ultraviolet 7 which is just a step bellow the Starlight 7 on the totem pole as far as Wireworld is concerned. I wanted to see if I could squeeze a little more fidelity out the system. After I rain the cable from the PC to the iUSB DAC, now mind you, The Neutral Cable is still in place between the iUSBPower and the Micro....the music stopped! Wouldn't play! Same issues I had with the Starlight 7 between the iUSBPower and the Micro! Only this time it's between the PC and the iUSBPower! The Micro hates the Starlight 7 for whatever reason! No synergy whatsoever! Go figure! The Ultraviolet has a little less silver than the Starlight 7. You figure that one out Bro, and get back with me!
I replaced it with the Ultraviolet and I'm cool...music is bliss!
Remember yesterday I told you I was headed to my dealers house? Well I picked up a Wireworld Starlight 7 (2m) to replace the Ultraviolet 7 which is just a step bellow the Starlight 7 on the totem pole as far as Wireworld is concerned. I wanted to see if I could squeeze a little more fidelity out the system. After I rain the cable from the PC to the iUSB DAC, now mind you, The Neutral Cable is still in place between the iUSBPower and the Micro....the music stopped! Wouldn't play! Same issues I had with the Starlight 7 between the iUSBPower and the Micro! Only this time it's between the PC and the iUSBPower! The Micro hates the Starlight 7 for whatever reason! No synergy whatsoever! Go figure! The Ultraviolet has a little less silver than the Starlight 7. You figure that one out Bro, and get back with me!
I replaced it with the Ultraviolet and I'm cool...music is bliss!
slippers-on
Music...let it move you!
Bro...not in this case...the Neutral Cable is even shorter. It's the Starlight 7. My IFI hates it!
slippers-on
Music...let it move you!
Never left it on. Is it possible you ran battery down by leaving it idle ?
Kt77
Well-Known Member
Little Brotha,
I shall repond to both of your last postings here, and say that's Whack as hell!!!!!!!!!, and ask that you try the WW Starlight 7 just from the iDSD and Computer without the iUSB Power being in the chain and see what happens?. Remember my iUSB sits on the floor behind the rack disconnected as I'm just use to dragging my Mac Mini and the iDSD into the bedroom and connect both to our flat screen when I'm downloading music and back out to the living room to listen through the system, and while the Starlight is long gone, I never had a problem with it configured like this.
And don't forget the standard Starlight is rated at USB 2.0 while there's one rated at USB 3.0 for say $20 more, which I'd think might be a better option in said case.
I shall repond to both of your last postings here, and say that's Whack as hell!!!!!!!!!, and ask that you try the WW Starlight 7 just from the iDSD and Computer without the iUSB Power being in the chain and see what happens?. Remember my iUSB sits on the floor behind the rack disconnected as I'm just use to dragging my Mac Mini and the iDSD into the bedroom and connect both to our flat screen when I'm downloading music and back out to the living room to listen through the system, and while the Starlight is long gone, I never had a problem with it configured like this.
And don't forget the standard Starlight is rated at USB 2.0 while there's one rated at USB 3.0 for say $20 more, which I'd think might be a better option in said case.
Kt77
Well-Known Member
Like back in the good olde days of solid state based components from the likes of Naim or Exposure or Onix ( U.K. ) even if I've only used my iUSB twice, I'd normally leave it on and cut the iDSD off, as those English companies taught me/us earlier on that the PSU should always be left on outside of bad weather conditions.
Hence the PSU is stable as it remains powered up at said times and is a safer bet as far as sonic readiness goes, lest one likes waiting for their components to come back on song after being powered down for a few days or more?.