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Steve's Digital Journey (Read 13956 times)
Dominick
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Re: Steve's Digital Journey
Reply #50 - 04/17/21 at 16:30:40
 
Donnie.... I am using the Acoustic BBQ “ Double Smoked” USB cable form  Audiogon forum member “Grannyring”.

I bought it from forum member Roger “HockessinKid” and really like it.  I believe Grannyring now makes a triple smoked BBQ version, so maybe look into that as well.

I believe HK now has moved away from the Acoustic BBQ cable and now uses a different one , so maybe hit him up for further details on a comparison.  

Dom
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HockessinKid
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Re: Steve's Digital Journey
Reply #51 - 04/17/21 at 18:18:13
 
Donnie,

FYI no USB cable currently in my system, as the CXN is an all in one streamer/DAC. One less cable to incorporate.

HK
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JBzen
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Re: Steve's Digital Journey
Reply #52 - 04/17/21 at 18:30:21
 
Roger and Geno,

How do you think the CXNv2 mod compares to Steve's description of the Holo Audio May DAC?

John
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Tommy Freefall
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Re: Steve's Digital Journey
Reply #53 - 04/17/21 at 20:08:09
 
I think a comparison between the Modwright modded Cambridge CNX v2 and Steve’s stock CNX v2 + Holo Audio May combination would be very interesting.
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Geno
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Re: Steve's Digital Journey
Reply #54 - 04/17/21 at 20:48:47
 
Sounds like the Holo is a fantastic unit. But so is the modded CXN. I’m completely happy with mine. The Holo at $5000 vs the modded CXN at $2600. I’m even happier with the extra $2400 in my bank account😎
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HockessinKid
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Re: Steve's Digital Journey
Reply #55 - 04/17/21 at 20:53:03
 
It is impossible to compare the two units until a head to head listening session/shoot out in the same system can be done. I've never heard the Holo Audio May DAC but have heard glowing reports about their previous DAC iterations.

I would encourage Steve to contact Dan Wright to see if he'd be willing to ship a burned in unit to Decfest this year, heck invite Dan to come if possible. Dan has tremendous respect for Decware and Steve. I envision some stupendous late night listening sessions.

For me a one box streamer/DAC works well. DAC SQ has really improved a lot in the last few years. It seems that this is one piece of equipment that requires regular updating, which can get costly.

HK
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Steve Deckert
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Re: Steve's Digital Journey
Reply #56 - 04/18/21 at 04:44:47
 
Donny, I am just using an Audioquest Cinnamon for the USB cable with an AQ Jitterbug pugged into the IMAC.

As for digital cables, I am going between a Straightwire Mega Link and a High Fidelity Cables Reveal.  Not sure which one I will end up preferring between the Cambridge and the Holo.

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Re: Steve's Digital Journey
Reply #57 - 04/18/21 at 17:14:55
 
Very cool. The May DAC seems (somewhat) similar to the high end Denafrips DACs.
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Steve Deckert
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Re: Steve's Digital Journey
Reply #58 - 04/19/21 at 04:05:36
 


Well, after only 2 evenings with it, not even burned in yet, it is sounding beyond reproach. Tonight I though I had it turned on and warmed up for 2 hours before I listened. I was wrong, I didn't push the button long enough... Shame on me. We were going to have to do a cold boot as it were, so I turned it on and ice cold it frankly sounded exactly the same as it does when you can toast your bread on it! Amazing as hell for solid state. Even for tubes it would have been amazing.

Most everything I listened to has been 16/44 and many of them, have sounded like they came from my collection of hi-res, or direct to disc master LPs, or even one of my tapes.  

This is the part that is blowing my mind so bad.  

For 40 years I have listened to digital recordings on consumer grade digital gear and been less than impressed.

I blamed the format, the recordings, the gear. Turns out it was primarily the gear, occasionally the recordings.  Format has now dropped out of the discussion.

This is a real eye opener. So if THIS is what 16/44 actually sounds like how could ANY self respecting engineer listen to a $500 CD player, hear what happened to the playback of the recording and be fine with it? It would have been a complete fail. No different than launching a rocket directly into a building and calling it a success and then marketing it.

Assholes.

Hehe, on a more positive note, it's just such a thrill to hear digital recordings, 16 bit nonetheless, sound like analog masters. Literally they do, and I did not know that was actually possible. Almost embarrassed to admit it. Perhaps if I had more than an hour to spend with the $38K Wadia rig that was placed in my listening room 20 years ago...

This is going to be such a game changer for my head. Instead of going to a relative small collection of a few hundred analog masters to get a nut off when listening, I can now have the same sound streamed from an infinitely deep pool of millions.  

The best way I can describe this DAC is to say it sounds like DIRECT TO DISK 45 RPM LP's., but with blacker backgrounds and less colorations and distortions.

If this is what 16/44 actually sounds like then jitter, power supplies, plastic cases, circuit chips, cheap jacks, profit engineering, cables, and all the rest are simply DESTROYING it. Quite literally it is like listening to sandpaper being shoved through a meat grinder. Just pitiful. Almost criminal. With this DAC there is a level of magnitude more density, color, bloom, air, space, weight, all of it. Doesn't even sound like a recording, just sounds real. Remember I am hearing it paired with exceptional speakers and amplification on par with the DAC. If my over enthusiastic ramblings come of as just that, realize that many other reviews of this DAC may not have been conducted in as good a room or on gear this good.

In my own defense, this has alway been my problem with digital as a playback format, especially CD's... it literally costs as much as a vehicle to get it to sound right. Analogue on the other hand would sound better for 1/10th the cost and does.  

However using this (Programmable Gate Array to control the resolution of a temperature compensated ladder of resistors to an insane tolerance) approach compared to using a Burr Brown chip is no different than hand-soldering an amplifier for 17 hours that could have been made with a circuit board in under 2.

With this DAC the sound is so perfect that when you use upsampling be it by the optional chip in the MAY DAC or the DSP in ROON or whatever you use, it is easy to hear how the upsampling glazes things together which until now sounded better and more clear, but in actuality sounds worse and less distinct.

There is nothing wrong with the upsampling chip in the MAY DAC, it's that the DAC is so good it reveals the upsampling algorithm's faults. You can hear the exact same thing with Roon's upsampling, and other software based upsampling.

Well, I couldn't be more happy, my music library just turned from brass to gold. Had I known digital could sound like this I would have sold a lot of shit to get it far sooner. But that's just it. Digital couldn't sound like this for 5K. It took another digit on the price to make it happen. So as far as I'm concerned this is the best 5K DAC there is.  And since it comes from a talented music lover/digital guru in China it is affordable.

As I continue to listen throughout the evening, ROON RADIO, a wide variety of tracks come up and before this DAC, there would be certain tracks or albums that stood tall above the rest ultimately ending up in a nice demo playlist somewhere... now

I swear to God if this is 16 bit I'm going outside and eat some tree bark.... Oh thank God, it was 192.  Diana Krall.  I have never heard her sound this good.  Never.  I have several albums that don't sound this good.  That's probably because the ZP3 phono stage isn't as good as this DAC.  Doubtful, but possible.  

This is the first time I've listened to 192kHz on super familiar music, and it is just almost too good.  You know, you can cross that line where it's no longer entertainment, and becomes terrifying because it suddenly manifested right there in your room.  It bends your reality a bit.

I can't wait to see what happens when it burns in and I put it with the Anniversary Zen Triode amp.  

I mean, usually to hear music this good one after another all night two nights in a row would have been difficult because of record cleaning, tape machine alignments, cartridge set up, tonearm tweaking,  table leveling, humidity, and a dose of luck,...

God bless the passion of the man who pushed himself to create such a Zen DAC.  I will post your name as soon as the website is no longer crashed from the traffic.

This DAC sounds so good that it reveals the distortions and colorations of the analog formats in way that for the first time by comparison come off as a negative instead of positive.  And I will admit, this kind of honesty without the artificial stick in the eye restores my faith in humanity a bit : )

Steve




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Re: Steve's Digital Journey
Reply #59 - 04/19/21 at 04:54:24
 

BTW, all this commentary is just what I can hear from my bench just through the door way to the listening room... I have a line of sight to both speakers, but I am hearing the room.

I just walked in there and got into the sweet spot and the resolution was so unreal that I actually got uncomfortable and turned it off.  That's officially a fuse blowing in my head because it sounded too real.  I can count the times that has happened to me in my entire lifetime on my left hand. This is serious shit.

Possibly the Lii Silver Reference Cabinets had a lot to do with it. No doubt made it possible. The combination. I would put this total system of only 10K up against anything in the world that will fit into 8000 cubic foot space regardless of price.  It's the trifecta of all time.

Steve


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JBzen
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Re: Steve's Digital Journey
Reply #60 - 04/19/21 at 13:46:46
 
Very nice!

Replace the fuse and make it Steve's?

John
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Re: Steve's Digital Journey
Reply #61 - 04/19/21 at 18:01:18
 
I think I need to go feed my wallet some aspirin after reading this. Cheesy
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Re: Steve's Digital Journey
Reply #62 - 04/19/21 at 18:05:21
 
I find a short massage of Aspercreme works wonders on mine. I put a little extra on the fold and then double back for more pressure.

I am sure that Holo May in Steve's environment sounds fantastic. I love my PS Audio DSD and it's a good thing I do as I can't see affording a different DAC any time soon. But Steve keeps proving what I have found out: these Decware components will NOT be the weakest link.
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Re: Steve's Digital Journey
Reply #63 - 04/19/21 at 19:07:06
 
Fortunately my living room is too small to accommodate a larger pair of speakers and I'm too old to start looking for a new wife, so I think I'll just try to keep this one happy by standing pat for awhile.
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Re: Steve's Digital Journey
Reply #64 - 04/19/21 at 19:16:06
 
Quote:
standing pat for awhile


Best prudent approach that I am taking at this time. I almost took advantage of the CXNV2 mod spring sale and then this pops up! Huh
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Steve Deckert
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Re: Steve's Digital Journey
Reply #65 - 04/20/21 at 04:19:00
 

It's going to take some time for me to wrap my head around this DAC.   What I heard last night was only 5 seconds when the fuse popped.

It was a 16 bit file. I have for my entire life convinced myself that throwing away the least four significant bits from the 20 bit master was a crime, and it was but given the time / 1980 / bandwidth was just a dot back then.  

Still, I was always quick to blame the format for everything wrong with the recording. And see how I just went for the recording? Always blame the recording. Always shoot the messenger.

I can hear now, that it was more the hardware than it was the recordings and it has left me somewhat stunned and disoriented since I didn't realize this was possible from 16/44.1 NOS output.

By hearing it right, I can simultaneously hear how broken digital is on most consumer gear. The effect of jitter is perhaps hundreds of times more audible and ramped than we're lead to believe. Listening to this is proof.  

So far my acoustic memory is turning this into a lesson in the one thousand ways to molest a digital signal before it hits your amplifier.

I keep noticing all the layers of density that were never rendered before ...  missing detail tone and body I blamed on the least significant bits that were tossed away. I thought that's what happened to it -especially the ambience.  Turns out to be not nearly as much as I thought, if any. Seems the ambience was and is being destroyed by jitter and smeared by algorithms and filters and further undermined by cheap power supplies.

The reason a power supply makes such a difference in the sound is because it supplies the electrons you are actually listening to.  The audio circuit only modulates those electrons.

Anyway, I am also hearing plenty of unlistenable music/ modern recordings, hard rock, heavily limited pop that is still bad, but it certainly has less grain.  So it's like a bowl of shit that has less chunks floating in it.

We'll end on that note.

Steve










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Re: Steve's Digital Journey
Reply #66 - 04/20/21 at 04:47:27
 

I have also been pondering something else about this DAC.  

Can I really call it solid state?  

Consider this:  An analogue volume control that uses transistors or even relays as switches to achieve a ladder of variable output voltage...  found in many tube preamplifiers...

Is that really solid state?  Nothing you are listening to is going through any solid state parts whatsoever.  The solid state simply is used as a high speed ultra-reliable relay to switch resistors in and out in a ladder to achieve the desired output.

The only thing the signal -- which is a solid silver (35 lbs) dual mono power supply -- sees in this DAC on its way to your amplifier is resistors.  No circuit chips whatsoever.  No capacitors either.  So this thing is literally a DAC that uses no chips or capacitors I the signal path so far as I can tell.  Just a massive power supply feeding a high resolution ladder of resistors.  The whole process is actually a lot more analogue than it is digital.  

One thing I can say is that the spread between bad recordings and good ones is so big now that the bad ones are just like rusty cars you drive by never to see again.  You don't care.  There are so many shiny new ones that you do like that the real problem is finding enough life to hear it all.

Like right now a female vocal is playing with such density and texture and tone and color and vibrance and lucidity and transparency and dimensionality that there is no way it can be 16/44 - and I just looked and it is 24/96...  boy you should here this!

BTW, there is really no such thing as 24 bit in so much as all 24 bit depth is utilized.  You can't push past 20 bits due to noise overtaking the process.  So 24 bits just means the original 20 bit master has been preserved.




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JBzen
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Re: Steve's Digital Journey
Reply #67 - 04/20/21 at 12:51:16
 
Smiley

Jeff Zhu's utilization of HDMI as a tethered source is opening up a whole new highten input as far as I can see. Four lines one for data stream and three for clocks! Another veil will be eliminated. Imagine what music will feel like in the late 20s'. Good read on the Kitsune site all-be-it hard to follow at times.

John Cheesy
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Re: Steve's Digital Journey
Reply #68 - 04/20/21 at 15:02:14
 
Do I see a DAC in the Decware line future? Smiley
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Re: Steve's Digital Journey
Reply #69 - 04/20/21 at 17:01:26
 

No Decware has no plans to get into the DAC market.
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Re: Steve's Digital Journey
Reply #70 - 04/20/21 at 22:45:33
 
Hopefully I will have a KTE May ( Level 3 ) to listen to by the end of this week.

I am anxious to try out the USB input.
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Re: Steve's Digital Journey
Reply #71 - 04/20/21 at 23:35:26
 
Quote:
Jeff Zhu's utilization of HDMI as a tethered source is opening up a whole new highten input as far as I can see. Four lines one for data stream and three for clocks! Another veil will be eliminated.


Yes, the I2S implementation sounds really good. Guessing all of it is!

I have heard quite good USB implementation, and with good cables it can do less damage and sound pretty complete and musical. Interestingly, with more refined mains power, with my modified DAC having improved internal power, USB, clocking, etc... a special USB cable I made sounded more like music to me without the jitter bug and Uptone USB regen combination I had used for a long time with other nice USB cables. I think this was a combination of progressive power, power cable, computer, and DAC upgrades, and a better USB cable.

My DAC has separate transformers for the input and output/DAC boards, as well as two pretty heavy chassis "walls," isolating the transformer section and the input and output boards. To this, I added noise and vibration refinement by ear, along with improving the power supply, clocking, etc. No small part of this broader equation was from following some guys who know loads more about it than me. I first tried a homemade silver coax cable bypassing the connectors and replacing the cable between input board and the DAC chips on the output board. This was a big improvement over the stock copper coax setup. But then pulling the cable and installing a good Crystek clock and a little cap right next to the DAC chips, that made the DAC notably more resolving and musical.

When I got a Kitsune Singxer SU-1 USB Bridge, HDMI/I2S did prove to be more solid and complete, but I think this was a combination of the extra good USB cable I got lucky with, the well implemented USB Bridge, and using I2S into the DAC. The Kitsune Singxer, with an improved power supply, connectors, good femto clocks, upgraded regulators, etc, does a lot to keep the digital stream clean while also refining the stream before the I2S. And even with this sophisticated USB "treatment," doing cable tests with some good USB cables, they still sounded different enough, computer to Singxer, to make clear sonic choices, and my hierarchal preferences remained the same as pre-Singxer.

Experiments also indicated the computer can be a big deal when everything gets refined enough to hear it. The streamer can mess things up with less than stellar parts, design, OS and player software and filtering schemes....and worse if these are resource demanding making the computer work harder, and creating noise and digital artifacts related to heat as well as too much processing and vibration. Seems this is why dedicated servers are using simple OSs, to avoid a hyper active OS doing non-music processing and contributing to digital issues. And I experienced this 1st hand putting a stripped down OS in my computer...the sound got notably more resolving, so much so I had to adjust my system for the added density. Associated, it seems that often more efficient parts tend to be quieter, while also processing digital better. I find that better hardware and setup alone, including not sharing the USB buss with external drives, can help keep issues lower in audible ways. If the digital hitting the USB cable can be sent with little need for "repair," seems undamaged digital, in most cases, has to be better than "repaired" digital.

Same with HDMI.... Working with a buddy on finding and/or creating the most transparent I2S cable, once again, we heard that digital is not just 1s and 0s, "digital" cables making about as much difference to the sound as cables on the "analog" side, between components.

As with USB cables sounding quite variable, some HDMI seemed to create less coloring and damage to the digital stream, and some truncated aspects of the stream and/or colored the sound. So though I2S is conceptually a better format technically, still HDMI cables really mattered in our tests. And like USB cables, it clearly depends on cable design and materials, but I find I just can't tell without listening tests. We tried lots of non-audiophile cables, a few sounding similar, but most were notably different sounding, both of us using good power and tuned up Minis for servers, his HDMI coming out of his unmodified Singxer SU1 and into his additionally modified Kitsune Holo Spring2 DAC, ....and mine using a tuned up Singxer, and a tuned up Gustard X20 Pro.

So I guess all this points to how fragile digital-to-analog can be, and ways to avoid doing damage to it. And if the digital stream is cleaner to start with, it is easier for the DAC to be more effective. I guess the May DAC takes care of a lot of this in its design, but it would be very interesting to look into how it does with considered attention to the digital before the DAC!

Anyway....so far, my experience says that a great DAC can be notably greater with care and attention to what we are sending to the DAC.
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Re: Steve's Digital Journey
Reply #72 - 04/23/21 at 05:20:03
 

So as I break this bad boy in, I am listening to it passively and streaming music to it on the coax input from the CXNv2. I have walked in the room several times and just quickly walk out with my head shaking in disbelief.  

If you have ever seen the movie CONTACT where the sphere begins to spin and the walls seem to be shaking and coming apart letting you know that you are about to go into a worm hole... this is the sense I get in my room, the sphere being the exact same size as the movie and setting between the couch and the speakers and part way into the floor which is no longer there...

The fact that it can do this with raw 16 bit material with the upsampling OFF is never going to stop blowing my mind the way it is. I just can't believe it. The music is overloading all my senses to a point where I'm experiencing a new sense beyond the 6th that can see hear smell taste touch and become the music all at the same time and across time.  

It has the sound that has lived inside my head my whole life that I have chased and never heard completely come out of my speakers until now. It took 59 years for our paths to cross and some really good amplifiers ; ) to make it happen but I'm feeling like I just found Jesus or something.

I pretty sure God is actually music.

Whoops, before I got so side tracked by myself, I wanted to mention that I knew going into this marriage between the CXN and the HOLO that a good digital cable won't be optional. And the only way to know where you stand is to have more than one to compare. At this point I'm not going to name names, but In trying to knock the winner off it's pedestal I tried something similarly priced and raved about, and found it to be pretty clinical and a bit lean albeit very resolute. So after listening to it all week and finding myself skipping tracks - a sign that you don't care for the way they sound - I decided to put my original cable back in and that may have a lot to do with why I nearly saw God.  The difference at this level of things is really a lot bigger than one would think.

Also, I forgot that I am listening to my 25th Anniversary Zen Triode amp for the first time with the DAC, and the speakers at the moment are the Zen Master Series model ZF15M Open Baffle crossoverless single-driver speakers.  That could also have had something to do with it.


-Steve



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Re: Steve's Digital Journey
Reply #73 - 04/23/21 at 12:57:42
 
Will you been fooling with digital for some time now with great success from your comments. I also been dwelling in this computer age for 30 years with somewhat success. From the simple on and off state of a switch comes a wealth of knowledge unobtainable in the not so distant past. I embraced it and utilized it to the max but it has been; is a bitter sweet journey.
The CXNV2 is one of those computer appliances that saves a lot of headaches in digital reproduction of audio. While adding a new clock to my CD player and seeing the difference a clock can make in audio, the streamer will preserve that signal almost perfectly fed by the AMC CD player. I think it is the additional coax that is causing the non descript difference meaning an A-B comparison reveals a difference - either one is enjoyable.
The reason above will keep the CXNV2 as a mainstay front end with a Modwright touch on the horizon. I am also interested in your and Steve's coax ventures. The one he ends up with and your silver homemade cable?
Thanks Steve & Will for your elaborate experiences. Much appreciated. Smiley

John
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Re: Steve's Digital Journey
Reply #74 - 04/23/21 at 22:50:39
 
Steve,

Thanks for the update of your revelatory experience. Fun to experience vicariously!


John,

As it turns out I have been exploring digital a while. In the late eighties or early 90s I got a pretty nice Nakamichi CD player, more-or-less replacing a decent B&O turntable with its top cartridge at the time, purchased around 1984. A Marantz CD followed the Nakamichi, then a Rega Apollo and Jolida CD with a tube output.

Switching to DACs, I got what I think may have been Steve's only effort at assembling and selling DACs, the ZDAC, a nice decent value DAC for the time, though having some USB issues. It was then I got into experimenting with cables, computers and player software, and the only time I have spent any time with Coax interconnects using a Musical Fidelity V-Link USB convertor before the DAC....but I think I ended up preferring a glass toslink cable over standard coax. As I recall, the async and conversion did clarify/solidify the sound, but my Coax experience is limited.

My second DAC was a NOS (44.1/16) Tranquility DAC, where blind testing throughout its development, in multiple high end systems, led them to finding their USB implementation being more resolving and "analog" than other connections for their simple but sophisticated DAC. It was Eric Hider who was heading up the project that opened more extensive doors for me about how important what came before the DAC can be. They had also done extensive blind testing with different computer setups, power sources and cables, software, OS adjustments, vibration management, USB cables... I got mine in the spring of 2011, and that computer/DAC setup was really good, and is now quite good to me in a souped up form.

Then liking what I was reading about modifications in it, I got my current Gustard in January of 2017 and have kept it in since. Now, after modifications on all my gear and most cables special made to tastes, trying the Tranquility in my main system again, it sounds beautiful. It is warm, dynamic, smooth and resolving running 44.1K/16 bit, and the Tranquility without the ZBIT, having only RCAs out. Better than the Gustard with files upsampled to 352.8 in the computer? The Tranquility does have a sweetness I may prefer, like a good old friend, but I miss things about the Gustard's finest space and resolution, still smooth, but differently, showing more very fine detail complexity and micro speed especially noticeable up top... and the attacks having more high emphasis, while the Tranquility gives a lower solidity to the attacks that is also quite seductive. Both really nice on first comparisons to me, I will keep the Tranquility in for a while to let it "get under my skin" while figuring out optimal gains and possible tube adjustments.... Anyway, I guess I have not had loads of front ends since I gave up vinyl about 30 years ago.

Sorry I didn't explain the coax in my last post well. This was internal in the Gustard going from the input board to the output board. Stock it had threaded ends and a smallish gauge, maybe 6" copper cable with a copper shield as I recall (?). I figured just losing brass looking ends and board posts would help. I replaced it with a cable soldered to the boards to eliminate the connectors, my cable made with a 24 gauge VHAudio UP-OCC silver wire with a cotton cover, and shielded with oversized rectangular Neotech "Cotton" copper litz. This Neotech, made with loads of minuscule UP-OCC copper wires, each wire having very thin dielectric, the weave creates a hollow interior like a shield cable. I think mine was a 20 gauge and it comes with a strip of flat plastic inside, giving the hollow woven matrix a wide rectangular shape. I attached the silver wire to this interior plastic strip, and drew it through by pulling the plastic liner out from the other end, replacing the flat plastic strip with the silver wire.

The silver wire small and round, and the copper litz wide and hollow, I figured this added air space would reduce veiling interaction between the "signal" wire and the "shield." And it did sound way more resolving and musical than the stock setup in the DAC. I later tested this method more conclusively in parts of the analog signal paths of my amp, and I think adding air space does work based on hearing it first with Neotech UP-OCC silver/teflon wire unshielded, and then with this shield treatment over the silver wire in the same positions. As I recall, most of what I heard from the shield was less noise, not subtle veils. This led to replacing stock cables in the signal paths which made resolution and transparency improvements in the Torii, and also in the CSP3 and now, the ZRock2, some positions using this shield method, and some using careful geometry for noise cleanup rather than a shield. Anyway, I don't know how this "coax" replacement wire arrangement might work for a Coax interconnect having moved away from coax ICs many years ago.
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Re: Steve's Digital Journey
Reply #75 - 04/24/21 at 06:17:22
 

Tonight and last night, I have been zeroing in on the sound of this DAC as it gradually breaks in. So to that effect I have removed the ZTPRE and have been running the DAC directly into the 25th Anniversary Zen Triode amplifier so I can hear just it.  I am using the balanced outputs feeding a ZBIT which then drives the amp with an RCA cable.

It's so good I can't decide if the  ZTPRE makes it better or not.  First time that's ever happened.  Actually I think it probably does make it better, but the sound quality with the DAC directly connected to the amp is so good it brings great doubt.

It's such a joy to listen to.  No longer do you care if the bit rate is 16 or 24 bit, and no longer do you care if the sampling rate is 44.1 or 384K.  It doesn't sound better because of the higher sampling rates, it sounds better due to the higher quality engineering and parts.  We thought it was sampling rate and bit depth that determined how good it would sound.  We were wrong.

Steve






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Re: Steve's Digital Journey
Reply #76 - 04/25/21 at 03:23:41
 
Thanks for the update Steve! The May sounds like it continues to evolve into gorgeous and complete musicality! It is stimulating and exciting for me to hear about it.

Having used the NOS Tranquility so long at 16/44.1, also voiced to pull all that is there with a 16/44.1 files, I can easily agree that upsampling or hi-res are not critical. In retrospect, it seems good NOS DACs have consistently been preferred by many serious listeners over the years, but a fairly small group proportionate to all the DACs bought. That said it is great to see more and more evidence of evolving efficacy and popularity of ladder DACs and well implemented NOS chips.

Thinking back on the Tranquility, developed over a decade ago, but well into the rising tide of async, high-res and upsampling, it took some sort of crazy confidence in how good it sounded to even bring it to market. And still it was a great risk within the commercially popular hi-tech-is-better trends. But even with many "shootouts" where it beat highly respected and much higher cost DACs, trends still seemed defined by reviewer "authorities" and regular audio folks being heavily influenced by the glamour that many people attach to fancy sounding tech. With clear pointers of many finding the Tranquility great, even so, I remember some degree of fear of spending money on something that was not in sync with trending development. But finally cutting through the confusions and seeking more natural sound, I was rewarded.

Now, listening to it in my main room after using it passively in my work space for several years, with my system tuned up quite a bit..... and the Tranquility having gone through some good upgrades in that time....the timing, smooth space, and inner detail are really sweet. This iteration, having full and rich sounding Jupiter coppers in the output stage, I felt like the voicing was great, but I wanted a little more. So I put in a little 0.0047 Mallory M150 bypass on the 0.22 Jupiter hoping to pull the very top and finest detail a little more out front. And first impressions are really good, more very fine detail and space enlivening all harmonic and spacial information while giving just enough complexity and immediacy to further awaken faster and more complete leading edges, textures, etc. Amazing what upping the capacitance by about 1/47th did, but now it is really close to the upgraded Gustard with fine detail and spacial information. Finally A-B'ing them will be interesting indeed. And something about NOS timing and associated richness may tip the balance.

This re-tasting of really well done low res makes me wish even more that I could hear the May. It sounds like it is off the top at pulling all 44.1/16 has to offer. With its brilliantly implemented resistor ladders and devoted attention to everything innovative developers have discovered over the last decade, creatively implemented in this design, I can imagine it must be incredible. It truly appears by technical and listening impressions, including yours, to be state of the art! Thank goodness for folks like Jeff Zhu (and you) who's art uses great tech toward uncovering great beauty.

It seems we are in a lucky phase of audio trends, where at least a notable segment of trending hi-tech is more about music than theory and specs. Associated, now that the word is out, this DAC, like Decware, is coming into its own respect-wise. Hopefully this developing "heathy-for-once" trend will hold, and developers will become more and more focussed on the musical experience, and less on technical appearances and associated sales shimmer.

Relative to your thoughts on outcomes of upsampling/higher res and not, my limited experience of finding both really feeling like music in this system, makes me think of how powerful and critical voicing is. Clearly the May DAC (and the Tranquility) were designed to pull the completeness from 16/44.1, and that defined some primary voicing focus. Whereas, my Gustard, no matter how many times I tried, always sounds good, but tends to be a little too clean for me at 16/44.1. Improving as you go up the 44.1 multiple ladder though, finally it really comes into the deep beauty at 352.8K. This is running files upsampled by Pure Music's pretty magically real sounding upsampling algorithm at 24 or 32 bits in-computer, but the DAC is really alive there. And using Audirvana to upsample, I got the same results. So I am imagining this may be due to this DAC being voiced to best support a high sample rate. Certainly my modifications were, but guessing the original voicing was weighted toward higher res since 352.8 was my favorite pre mods too. Balanced with a resolving, spacious, dense and complex/complete sound.... Saber chip and all, it was successful enough to draw me away from the pretty amazing NOS Tranquility several years ago.

So just thinking the May and Terminator may be about as good as it gets, especially considering costs for that level of effort, development work, and musicality. But more and more, I imagine it like this.... After several decades of people getting stuck in trying to make digital sound "analog," thank goodness many are now just trying to make it sound like real music, and in doing so, finally realizing digital's full potential. So it seems a lot of DAC tech can be really good these days depending upon how good the developer uses it, which is a real blessing, especially for mid cost DACs. What a trip it is!

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Re: Steve's Digital Journey
Reply #77 - 04/26/21 at 18:32:41
 
The PSA DSD to ZTPRE into my Atma-Sphere M60 OTLs was a revelation.

PSA DSD to ZTPRE to ZBIT to SE84UFO25, I could not detect a noticeable improvement. ( my ZTPRE did not have the cap mod )

That was with a PSA DSD, which has a very low output coupled with 25 foot balanced cables.

PSA DSD with a ZSTAGE between the ZBIT and SE84UFO was once again a revelation, for me, in my system.

Maybe I just did not experiment with the gain adjustments of the ZTPRE enough to learn how to make the magic happen?

I am also currently experiencing the KTE May magic, the DAC has maybe 1000 hours on it, so it should be fully settled in.

KTE May to ZBIT to ZSTAGE to SE84UFO25, I will pull the STAGE out for a listen, but I like having the extra bias control.

I am running 705.6/20 bit files through it for evaluation and it sounds phenomenal.
Jussi of HQPlayer recommends running files at 20 bit depth on the May and Terminator.
It lowers the distortion level substantially according to Jussi. ( edited out noise floor )

As soon as I figure out how to roll the firmware in the May I will try PCM 1.5M 20 bit files.

I must add that I am using the USB input, which is exceptional, without the PLL engaged.
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Re: Steve's Digital Journey
Reply #78 - 04/26/21 at 20:14:11
 
MrDerrick, What are your initial impressions of the PS Audio DSD vs. KTE May DACs?
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Re: Steve's Digital Journey
Reply #79 - 04/26/21 at 22:02:34
 
Waiting for Sunlight to compare both at 705.6.
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Re: Steve's Digital Journey
Reply #80 - 04/27/21 at 16:51:12
 
Sunlight might release next week, so what I am hearing with the KTE May;

Greater sound stage depth
Cleaner extended decay
Better bottom end drive
Complex music passages and massed vocals have better definition
The soundstage width has stayed the same

This is playing files at 705.6/20 with the May vs 352.8/24 with the DS.
With Sunlight I should be able to compare with 705.6/24 on the DS.

I just do not have enough time to compare both at all PCM rates.

I will run some SDM files through both for comparison as time permits.
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Re: Steve's Digital Journey
Reply #81 - 04/27/21 at 19:43:43
 
Thank you for your first impressions. I'm looking forward to hearing what Sunlight brings to the PS Audio DSD.



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Re: Steve's Digital Journey
Reply #82 - 04/27/21 at 20:39:13
 
Windom took me forever to get just right but I LOVE it. . . so I am not in a hurry to upgrade but will. I'm disc-based so these higher upsamplings before the DSD don't matter to me, and I can't afford a new DAC, so it's a good thing I get what I want from the DSD. Will hopefully last me as long to go as it has already.
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Re: Steve's Digital Journey
Reply #83 - 05/25/21 at 01:34:37
 
Steve, glad you're enjoying the May dac. I've had one for a few months and it keeps getting more and more enjoyable to listen to.

I do want to correct one thing. The May has copper transformers, not silver. A silver one was used in the Spring 2 KTE but not in the May of any variant.
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Re: Steve's Digital Journey
Reply #84 - 06/19/21 at 20:41:53
 
It is said by many "reviewers" that in a system, the DAC is improving only slightly the whole system and we should concentrate more on other components like amp and speakers.
I disagreed with this, the DAC being at the source and I experienced it myself.
I bought some 4 or 5 years ago an Onkyo CD+streamer+DAC to experience digital beside the old Arcam CD player I had since the 80ties. No changes really beside the ease of streaming ! Then I started to upgrade amp and speakers, the improvement was there for sure as I could compare old vs new system ....BUT....I noticed DACs were getting better by the day these last two years, so I bought an RME ADI-2 DAC-FS .... WOUAH.... everything lighted up even though I keep streaming through the Onkyo.
So this thread doesn't surprise me one bit, and I am quite pleased Steve brought it up.
I also believe that Philips knew their business with 16/44,1 and a good recording in that format is all you need. Between 16 bit and 24 all you gain is 48db of dynamic range. Considering that 16 bit gives 96db and that the largest recording are symphonic orchestra with 60db fully included into the 96db range of the 16bit of the CD, above the room floor noise, if the equipment were to reproduce it, the listener would be done with serious ears injuries. So not to worry, no equipment reproduce such a wide dynamic range and 24bits are pretty useless not to mention higher numbers....just to explain why Steve finds 16/44,1 so good.

Now I am after a good streamer but very few manufacturers seems to work on the subject.
It seems this Cambridge does the task as Steve doesn't mention it as a possible weak link.
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Re: Steve's Digital Journey
Reply #85 - 06/19/21 at 21:11:53
 
Tooppy, the Streamer matters too! If the digital stream is "noisy" it affects the DAC negatively. I am no expert and have not heard many different "front ends" but, in order to avoid all the USB feed issues, I found a used dSC Network Bridge to feed my DAC and see/hear absolutely no reason to look for anything else.
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Re: Steve's Digital Journey
Reply #86 - 10/08/21 at 00:54:30
 
I have one of these and it works nicely for me.
https://ifi-audio.com/products/zen-dac-v2/

I also just bought one of these which has been great once I got it running.
https://ifi-audio.com/products/zen-stream/

The stream product is interesting, it seems like a port of the volumio open source project but with a much better hardware implementation than a Raspberry Pi 4.  Plus it has the noise filters and powers the dac (see first link) without an additional power cord.

Its definitely not as user friendly as some other things, but Roon probably sorts all that out for you.
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Re: Steve's Digital Journey
Reply #87 - 10/10/21 at 23:55:13
 
@Yostjacob
Funny enough I bought three weeks ago precisely the Ifi Stream, it works fine for me, you just to find the right software to run it easily.
I use mconnect but also DSaudio and Ici software. It is all depends of what I want to listen to, my Nas, an internet radio or Qobuz.
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Re: Steve's Digital Journey
Reply #88 - 09/05/23 at 04:32:31
 


It has been awhile and I thought I would update the thread since my journey has had some unexpected surprises...


I've been listening to the CXNv2 digital output feeding the coax input on the HOLO for the past year or more because it is less hard sounding, more laid back, more dimensional than I get from the Roon Nucleus or even the iMac.  It was just more musical. When I got the Nucleus I had no idea it could be used as a streamer to feed a DAC so the wall wart got plugged into the wall and glued to the outlet so it couldn't come out.  Which is why when I discovered it could stream and tried it I didn't like the sound.


The CXNv2 that I was using to feed the HOLO got WIFI disease and I had to send it off for repair.  After a couple months, I had to do something so I hooked the Roon Nucleus back up.  Then I moved everything into the main listening room to eliminate all the cables and everything I could.  I was forced to use the Roon as a streamer instead of a server only, and consequently plugged the wall wart into the Decware power conditioner instead of the wall.

This brought the sound quality of the HOLO up a notch and I was pleasantly surprised.  Then I realized that for the past year the difference between the HOLO feed by the CXNv2 at one end of the room didn't sound enough different from the CXNv2 by itself at the other end of the room to justify the difference in cost.  Either the CXNv2 was the all time giant killer OR I have been handicapping the HOLO this entire time.

Anyway that is what I was beginning to think and then I realized despite being plugged into the line conditioner, it's still a frikin wall wart powering the Roon Nucleus!  

I purchased a really nice linear power supply and cable to replace the wall wart and while I obviously expected an improvement it was still a holy crap moment.  A moment where you hear your DAC for the first time despite owning it for around 2 years.

Another large factor in this was the speakers.





The DFH-10 Headwrecker Horns are like the James Web Telescope when compared to other speakers.  These things have also had me upping my game with the vinyl rig because they are so unforgiving and revealing.  But man o man when you get it right, it's incredible.  So just after hearing the real power supply on the streamer for the HOLO I moved the speakers to the other end of the room and listened to the CXNv2 for a few weeks.

The combination of the hearing what the linear power supply did for the streamer feeding the HOLO and these speakers I simply couldn't un hear the stock power supply in the CXNv2.  It lacked density and the speakers were always on the edge of being shouty.  

So the pattern here is about hearing only the weakest link, the non-linear power supply in the CXNv2, the wall wart for the ROON, either one made these hyper detailed speakers jump from shouty to dreamy depending on the music, mood and time of day.  I of course at the time blamed it on the speakers.  Same thing that most of you would have done.  I developed three ways to deal with it.  The GIZMO2, the passive filter for the Fast15, a ZROCK2.  Sometimes I used all three.  Which is to say that these devices were designed to fix the speakers...

Anyway after realizing I didn't have time to re-engineer the power supply for the CXNv2 like Dan Wright did, I decided to just a buy a streamer/dac that had a linear power supply.  I found that Cambridge makes a high end version of the CXNv2 called the Edge N62 or something like that so one was added to the Decware listening room.

This DAC sounds really nothing like the CXNv2.  It uses different DAC chips and while it has similar detail it is more aggressive and dense about it.  Compared to the HOLO it features detail in an almost hyper way similar to the speakers I've been using which is great because if you're going to have two DACs you certainly don't want them to sound the same!

Here is where it gets interesting...

I decided to remove all the safety devices; the filter, the ZROCK2 and keep the GIZMO2 bypassed.  Just RAW and wide open to see if I could handle that during the break in of this new unit.  Acid test.  If I can enjoy that without wincing at least once or twice that will be impressive.

Well to my surprise I have been able to deal with it rather well.  The speakers are still hyper, but now the presence or dynamic peaks while still there simply don't bother me.

I realized that what was bothering me is the glare that rode on top of the music caused by the non-linear power supply in the chain.  These speakers let you not only hear the glare but the grain that leaks into the music from the nonlinear power supplies.

All of the other speakers also revealed it, but far more politely, making it a mild nuisance and easily forgivable and in some cases go completely unnoticed.

I am grateful to these Lii Headwrecker Horn speakers for pushing the edge so hard that I had no choice but to make my sources sound better --both digital and analog alike.  It was actually very easy because the speakers make it so easy to hear the changes. Also grateful because they magnified the weak links enough to be heard.

I just realized that the speakers are like a drag car that goes too fast and now you need roll bars and a parachute.  

This new system is being driven by the Sarah 300B amplifier and will probably be such a distraction at this years DECFEST that I have already made free 'Headwrecker' hats for attendees or anyone who hears a pair in our listening room!





-Steve



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Re: Steve's Digital Journey
Reply #89 - 09/05/23 at 09:08:08
 
Exciting! It never ceases to amaze me how much digital sound quality can be improved, subtle and siggnificant changes can be made in so many ways.

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Re: Steve's Digital Journey
Reply #90 - 09/05/23 at 15:08:31
 
Quote:
Posted by: Steve Deckert      Posted on: Yesterday at 20:32:31

...I purchased a really nice linear power supply and cable to replace the wall wart and while I obviously expected an improvement it was still a holy crap moment...


Wall wart bad... LPS good.

There are two audio hobby horses that I ride: one is tube "matching" and the other is linear power supplies.

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[FOOBAR2000 | Jay's CDT2 MRK3] -> Denafrips Terminator 2 + Gaia
Sumiko Pearwood -> Mapleknoll Athena -> Luxman SUT -> Maple-tree Phono 3E
Woo WA22 -> 2x UFO25s, balanced monos
Omega SAM , Hifiman Arya, Senn HD-650
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Kamran
Seasoned Member
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Posts: 939
Re: Steve's Digital Journey
Reply #91 - 09/07/23 at 16:29:37
 
Great update Steve—it also marries my experience going from a Bluesound Node to my Innuos Pulse, which has a Linear Power Supply feeding my Holo DAC.

Btw—which external LPS and cable did you end up buying—do share!

Love the hat!
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Innuos Pulse-Holo Audio Spring 3 KTE R2R-Ic0n4 Autoformer Passive Pre-Sarah 300B SET Amp-ZBIT-Project Carbon Debut TT-Schiit Mani Phono-GIK Room Treatment-Caintuck Audio Magnum Baffles—Li Audio Fast 15 Drivers-P.I. Audio MajikBuss & Puritan PSM 156 Conditioners
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