Rizlaw
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Fireblade, here is the comparison you requested.
Components used:
Audio Source: Linux Computer / bitperfect USB out / 16/44 FLAC files
DAC: Wyred 4 Sound DAC-2seDSD
Output type / Output voltage / Volume setting RCA 2.6V 70 Setting used for test RCA 2V 68
XLR 5.2V 70 Setting used for test XLR 4V 68
ACCESSORY: Decware ZBIT (Alps voltage attenuator set at ~ 6/8 - 7/8 open to match balanced XLR output level to DAC-2 RCA unbalanced output)
AMP: Decware Taboo III (2.1 volts input for full output. Stepped Silver Attenuation control set at +11 clicks out of 20)
CABLES: Decware 1M Silver Reference for RCAs Goertz .5M Sapphire Silver XLRs Wireworld Starlight USB 1.5M
HEADPHONE: Audeze LCD-2.1 (warm sound, beautiful midrange and very good bass, top end slightly muted)
SETUP A (ZBIT in) : Source USB digital out to > DAC digital USB input > DAC Balanced analog XLR out to > Zbit Balanced analog XLR input > ZBIT unbalanced analog RCA out to > Taboo III unbalanced input 1
SETUP B (ZBIT out) : Source USB digital out to > DAC digital USB input > DAC unbalanced RCA out to > Taboo III unbalanced input 2
My subjective impressions via LCD-2.1 headphones:
Apart from doing the best I could, by ear, to keep levels even, this test is clearly not scientific. I don't put a lot of faith in subjective test because everyone hears things differently and there is too much variability in the equipment/cables used. Above are the components I used. I'm not an audio ideologue for tubes -vs- transistors, copper -vs- silver, balanced -vs- unbalanced, etc., etc. I elected to use headphones for this test because, IMO, a good headphone reveals more information about the recording for testing purposes. I do prefer listening through good speakers. I believe I am using a good headphone for this test and I am familiar with my LCD-2.1s minor shortcomings. Take my opinions for what they are worth: just another opinion.
My overall impression is that "Setup A (ZBIT in)", for a not insignificant cost, adds something positive and worthwhile to the overall enjoyment of listening to reproduced music. In some ways it's a subliminal improvement: an added bit of life, power and sparkle to the sound. Most of time, until you "listen" for it, you don't always realize the improvement is present in the playback of the recording. The improvement is, to be fair, subtle but, I feel, real. I'm told, not everyone likes the effect. I used to think that a custom-made quality XLR to RCA cable was good enough to convert a balanced output to unbalanced input with no loss in information or fidelity. The ZBIT proved to me that I was wrong. Reading the Jensen paper on proper balanced to unbalanced conversion helped me to understand why I was wrong (at least to the extent I understood the paper).
My apologies if I did not pick current music like hard rock, metal, techno pop or anything that's constantly compressed and unbearably loud. My musical tastes are more: classical, movie soundtracks, opera, light jazz, vocals from the 40s-90s. I could have picked a wider selection, but I don't think it would have shed any more light on the test FIREBLADE asked me to perform. I'm sure others will add their impressions (pro and con) as more ZBITs are sold and heard.
1. Michael Giacchino: Star Trek Into Darkness - Track 1 "Logos/Pranking The Natives"
I listened to approximately the first minute of this track "Logos". It contains a mixture of horns, chimes/gongs, choir and sustained electronic low bass tones. It's a soft and lovely horn theme.
With "Setup A" I hear a large reverberant space. The horns sound full and powerful. The percussion is lively and I can hear the percussionist(s) hitting each chime/gong with their associated shimmering reverberations trailing off into the sound mix. The female choir is clear and in the distant background. Toward the end, the string section shimmers as the music builds to a crescendo before the change to "Pranking The Natives".
With "Setup B" the large orchestral reverberant space closes down (I estimate by almost a third). The horns sound thinner and less powerful as do the chimes/gongs and choir. The shimmer and fade in the percussion instruments is diminished. The choir's vocalization is less distinct and harder to hear and its depth in the sound field is diminished. The sustained electronic low bass sounds less powerful. The string section doesn't have the same intensity and shimmer as the crescendo builds toward the end of this part of the track.
2. Alexandre Desplat: The Grand Budapest Hotel - Track 4 " A Prayer for Madame D" (Academy Award Score 2014)
A great film with equally great music. This is a short track (1:21) which has xylophone, mandolins (maybe zithers), triangles and what sounds like a real organ. The differences I hear between Setup A and B are that Setup A produces a subtly more ambient, lively and powerful sound. Using Setup A, each of the instruments is every so slightly better defined and placed on the sound stage.
3. Rosanne Cash - 10 Song Demo - Track 1 "Price of Temptation"
Setup A produces, overall, a more lifelike presentation. You can hear more of the air around Cash's voice as well as the piano and eventually the bass guitar. The sonic picture makes her voice slightly more intimate. Setup B seems to slightly flatten the entire sonic picture as if a fine veil was draped over the mics.
4. Kenny Rankin - Because of You - Track 4 " 'Round Midnight" / Track 6 - "Erienda"
Track 4: This studio album sounds a little too dry for me, so I'll call this one pretty much a draw. Male voice and guitar. There could be a slight veiling of the sonic presentation on Setup B, but it's very, very slight.
On other tracks on this CD where other instruments are in the mix, like drums, bell tree, tambourines and saxophone, Setup A does sound better. For example, Track 6 - "Erienda" has different percussion instruments which sound slightly more lifelike, with more detail and shimmer to the sound. I've noticed that the main benefit of the ZBIT doesn't begin to materialize until there is more upper middle/high frequency content in the mix.
5. Dave Grusin - Discovered Again - Track 1 "A Child Is Born"
Here we have piano, drums, cymbals, string bass and vibraphone in a beautiful, slow ballad. And the winner is ..... Setup A. Again, things just sound slightly more lifelike. The upper midrange and treble simply have that added sparkle (not artifical sizzle) which makes things sound more enjoyable. The string bass has more power to its plucked notes compared to Setup B. Setup B has a slightly dulled overall presentation to make it less appealing to me.
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