Bluesound Node 2 vs. Auralic Aries Mini

Hi yoby,

I’m not wgutz (wish also to hear from him/her), but I found that article/review an excellent resource for comparing Ethernet cables and accruements. It lines right up with my perceptions of the sound of WW Platinum and the SR Ethernet Active SE cable (excepting mine has the UEF tuning bullets which I find to be a significant improvement over the Enigma bullets used in the audiobacon comparison). Will be hearing the SOtM Cat7 cable this weekend, so I can comment on that afterwards.

dogmcd,

My recent comparisons of the sound of three top USB cables between my Aurender and various DACs produced convincing audible differences that run counter to your statement, whether related to data transmission variables or something you are not accounting for I cannot say.

My experience is that the sound character of various USB cables varies widely as well as their individual compatibility with different DACs. Actually trying these things rather than cognitively disqualifying such possibilities is the way to go IME.

Dave

Hi dogmcd,

I appreciate your clarification of your questions concerning the causals for audible differences in digital cables. I will try to stay with what I have learned from cable masters so far.

Re: Ethernet cables, the ultimate speed of transmission and the elimination of data loss/corruption is the key, as well as the elimination of RF/EMI noise riding on the signal. This is true of not only the wires but also of the connectors used. Some top manufacturers use networks (SOtM for example) to eliminate noise from the signal.

Re: USB cables, if the data packet is corrupted when it reaches the DACs asynchronous USB input, the packet is simply dropped and data is lost. Efforts are made to reduce causes of data packet corruption in the better designs.

Also, the way that the 5v power conductor associated with USB cable technology is isolated also plays a key role, ie the quality/effectiveness of isolation of the 5v signal from the wires carrying the digital signal to avoid transferring noise from the former to the latter. Galvanic isolation is frequently used for this purpose.

Purist Audio even uses a "specially selected" Ferrite choke in the 5v wire (not the actual signal cable as that is a no-no IME) to further eliminate stray noise from the 5v power lead reaching the actual digital signal by soaking it up while still in the 5V conductor path.

Elimination of RF/EMI penetration to the signal in USB cables is also a determinant as in the ethernet cable above.

Hope this helps.

Dave

Also, within DACs there is a process where the 1) noise, RF/EMI, etc coming in on the digital data stream and is (hopefully) cleaned up a bit and 2) the bits are reconstructed to simulate an analog waveform in order to output an analog signal to the downstream analog audio gear. If there is data loss detected during the digital-to-analog waveform reconstruction process, algorithms are applied to try to interpolate (artificially replace) missing data in order to complete the affected slice of the waveform.

The more of 1) that the DAC has to deal with, the more that will slip through (nothing’s perfect) and effect the signal in the DACs digital/analog circuitry, thus degrading the sound.

The more of 2), the more artificial interpolation due to data loss upstream. This is an imperfect process and can audibly effect the sound quality that results.

Re: "the difference in sound character" of different digital cables can be influenced by the metallurgy of various metal conductors, the dielectric chosen, shielding (or not) and cable construction techniques to further eliminate noise, the integrity/efficiency of the binding of conductors to connectors, and perhaps most importantly IMO, the resulting impedance match/mismatch imposed on upstream and downstream components.

Dave