Audioquest Jitterbug

[Hifi_swlon]

Anyone tried?  I ordered 2 from Amazon today.

Now I'm using USB I was planning on trying a REGEN from Uptone, based on all the CA posts, but since there's a wait, (and its an order from the States, and they're apparently working on a new power supply for it) I thought I'd hold off.  But in reading the reviews for that, the AQ Jitterbug caught my eye and as the general consensus seems to be that they work to some degree, and also complement the REGEN.  So I figured why not - I know I need to improve my source (Mac Mini) now I'm using USB.

Anyway, at a shade under £80 for two (which can apparently be used in parallel on the same source), what can possibly go wrong...

[GuillaumeB]

Anyone tried?  I ordered 2 from Amazon today.

Now I'm using USB I was planning on trying a REGEN from Uptone, based on all the CA posts, but since there's a wait, (and its an order form the States, and they're apparently working on a new power supply for it) I thought I'd hold off.  But in reading the reviews for that, the AQ Jitterbug caught my eye and as the general consensus seems to be that they work to some degree, and also complement the REGEN.  So I figured why not - I know I need to improve my source (Mac Mini) now I'm using USB.

Anyway, at a shade under £80 for two (which can apparently be used in parallel on the same source), what can possibly go wrong...

Nice one, I'm hearing good things about them too.

Guillaume

[rwjr44]

Audio stream has nice reviews and then a comparion of Regen, Wyrd and the Jitterbug.

[Confused]

It also got a rave review and awarded "outstanding product" in the October (!!?) edition of hi-fi news.

[Antoine]

I've had one in my system since last saturday (they're in stock everywhere in NL so picked one up at a local HiFI store). Not sure yet if it really improves much or anything at all but at least it didn't degrade SQ noticeably either. But this surely is a case of diminishing returns. My USB output chain already had some other stuff in it:

JCAT USB interface card (powered by JCAT Battery PSU) -> AQ Jitterbug -> TotalDAC D1 USB cable/filter -> uptone Audio USB REGEN (powered by 12V BoTWS linear PSU) -> Devialet.

Round up (with links to the individual reviews) on Audiostream: http://www.audiostream.com/content/usb-a...hx3CCbS.97

PS: there will be a package deal for the REGEN with the new PSU add-on later this year. See: http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f6-dac...post456859

[Hifi_swlon]

I've had one in my system since last saturday (they're in stock everywhere in NL so picked one up at a local HiFI store). Not sure yet if it really improves much or anything at all but at least it didn't degrade SQ noticeably either. But this surely is a case of diminishing returns. My USB output chain already had some other stuff in it:

JCAT USB interface card (powered by JCAT Battery PSU) -> AQ Jitterbug -> TotalDAC D1 USB cable/filter -> uptone Audio USB REGEN (powered by 12V BoTWS linear PSU) -> Devialet.

Round up (with links to the individual reviews) on Audiostream: http://www.audiostream.com/content/usb-a...hx3CCbS.97

PS: there will be a package deal for the REGEN with the new PSU add-on later this year. See: http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f6-dac...post456859

Good links thanks - I think the Audostreams where I ended up somehow via CA. Didn't know about the package deal.

It was interesting seeing the 'scoring' of the devices and put it into better perspective for me - the way some people had been talking (more about the regen) the results were more like buying a complete new hifi!

Anyway my source is a stock Mac mini - although all it does is serve/play music - and a relatively low end AQ USB cable (the green one). I'm pretty sure the Dev and my speakers are revealing a harshness from the source, so we'll soon find out - hoping for at least something (positive) audible but if not an interesting talking point for things sticking out of the back of the mini.

What was most surprising in reading those articles, is that a lot of manufacturers in general apparently were not on top of this signal integrity thing, and haven't really addressed these problems in their designs even at the highest end. If they had done so, a lot of these hoops USB users are jumping through would be unnecessary.

[Chris Marshall]

Would be interesting to test the claims that they may help even if your not using the USB input. They suggest putting them on unused USB ports, etc. to reduce noise.

Anyone tried them using Air and noticed an improvement? It seems unlikely but Computer Audio definitely isn't as straightforward as it seems :-)

[Hifi_swlon]

I've had one in my system since last saturday (they're in stock everywhere in NL so picked one up at a local HiFI store). Not sure yet if it really improves much or anything at all but at least it didn't degrade SQ noticeably either. But this surely is a case of diminishing returns. My USB output chain already had some other stuff in it:

JCAT USB interface card (powered by JCAT Battery PSU) -> AQ Jitterbug -> TotalDAC D1 USB cable/filter -> uptone Audio USB REGEN (powered by 12V BoTWS linear PSU) -> Devialet.

Round up (with links to the individual reviews) on Audiostream: http://www.audiostream.com/content/usb-a...hx3CCbS.97

PS: there will be a package deal for the REGEN with the new PSU add-on later this year. See: http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f6-dac...post456859

Good links thanks - I think the Audostreams where I ended up somehow via CA. Didn't know about the package deal.

It was interesting seeing the 'scoring' of the devices and put it into better perspective for me - the way some people had been talking (more about the regen) the results were more like buying a complete new hifi!

Anyway my source is a stock Mac mini - although all it does is serve/play music - and a relatively low end AQ USB cable (the green one). I'm pretty sure the Dev and my speakers are revealing a harshness from the source, so we'll soon find out - hoping for at least something (positive) audible but if not an interesting talking point for things sticking out of the back of the mini.

What was most surprising in reading those articles, is that a lot of manufacturers in general apparently were not on top of this signal integrity thing, and haven't really addressed these problems in their designs even at the highest end. If they had done so, a lot of these hoops USB users are jumping through would be unnecessary.

[Chris Marshall]

Just ordered one from Amazon to have a play, hopefully I'll be able to hear some improvement even with Air.

If not, it will fit into my Desk system.

[Antoine]

[cut]
What was most surprising in reading those articles, is that a lot of manufacturers in general apparently were not on top of this signal integrity thing, and haven't really addressed these problems in their designs even at the highest end. If they had done so, a lot of these hoops USB users are jumping through would be unnecessary.

There is a small number of manufacturers who did identify and address some USB noise issues, or at least to an extent but I suppose most are/were simply not aware of any those issues or did not know yet how to solve them/haven't done the hard and expensive R&D work yet. I think most of them simply follow the implementation guides of USB PHY chipsets manufacturers like XMOS and be done with it. As always: someone has to be the first.

Since these accessoires really work and are getting more widely known because of all the reviews popping up I think this all might change in the future when customers start asking for these noise countermeasures/features built in or of course start buying competing products that do include these features.

Another possibility is that one day something better than USB pops up and becomes a/the new popular standard. At least in theory an ethernet based protocol/standard like AIR should have been better (but to me in reality isn't, yet).