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USB connection to DAC: multi stage improvement

In my setup (Innuos Zenith Mk3, Antelope Zodiac Platinum with Sean Jacobs DC3/4 and Antelope Audiophile clock) sequential addition of decrapifiers has lead to increasing transparency, dynamics and soundstage depth.

My chain now reads like this

ZenithMk3->Singxer UIP->JHoinrich Isolator RH07b->IFi USB iPurifier3->LHY UIP2.0 Pro->Intona7054b->Zodiac Platinum

 

The Singxer is powered by Sean Jacobs DC3/4, The Lhy is reclocked by the Antelope clock

 

Of particular note: this is the best result of trying every conceivable permutation.

 

In terms of overall impact:

1. reclocking the LHY using the same clock on DAC and upstream Etherregen

2. introducing galvanic insulation after each powered device.

3. using isolator equipment with different chips at each stage.

 

i have learned the hard way that fighting ground level noise, RFI/EMI and other network noise is a gradual rather than binary solution at each step and that in digital audio ‘less is more’ doesn‘t apply as it does in the analogue section. Equally the whole bits are bits debate seems churlish against this background

antigrunge2
antigrunge2 OP
1,560 posts
 

I suggest you keep worrying about impedance mismatches in digital

audphile1's avatar
audphile1
7,833 posts
 

Doesn’t matter what anyone thinks or whether or not what you did is really necessary or could have been accomplished by other means. If it sounds good to you and makes you happy, awesome!

mitch2
4,731 posts
 

Every USB interface is an opportunity for impedance issues that can ultimately increase jitter.  Between a high quality streamer and a DAC with an optimized USB input, the best number of unnecessary USB interfaces is probably zero. I am certainly not invalidating the benefits you hear, just saying there are reasons the approach may not work for everyone.

onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61
5,433 posts
 

When nobody else is doing what you do, is that a message?

It wasn't that long ago someone was posting here about how you can really tune your system by daisy chaining multiple interconnects.  It didn't catch on.

lalitk's avatar
lalitk
6,173 posts
 

“in digital audio ‘less is more’ doesn‘t apply”

In digital streaming, I’ve found that ‘less is more’ absolutely does apply. My experience has shown that focusing on fewer, higher-quality components yields far better results than piling on endless tweaks. You can tweak every stage of the chain, but beyond a point, those additions often do more harm to the sound than provide any meaningful improvement.

Getting rid of USB and switching to a DAC with Ethernet card was the biggest improvement over a setup that included a Aurender N20 ➡️ EMM Labs DA2. 

My digital streaming setup: 

Apple Router → Matrix Audio SI-1 → Streamer (Merging DAC+clock+power supply) using a pair of FTA Métis LAN cables. 

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