15-Dec-2014, 11:44
I used the supplied Crystal cable far too long, hoping that it might improve, or that I would get used to it. It produced on my system a thin sound, with a glassy treble more in keeping with a budget system. But on some recordings it sounded OK.
I have no soldering skills, so for experiments with the AES/EBU interface, I have used Neutrik adapters. These probably introduce their own colourations, but for the purposes of experiment I went ahead.
I first used an Atlas Mavros digital RCA cable connected via an adapter to the companion AES/EBU. This produced a significant improvement, a fuller sound with less of the glass edge.
I then tried a length of Chord Indigo balanced cable, a relic from a previous system that I have not got around to selling yet, and it is an analog cable. It is of low capacitance and my layman's knowledge of how impedance works leads me to believe that it may have a higher impedance as a result.
I tried it via another Neutrik adapter, this time on the master end, and the results were great, a full sound with a detailed but well controlled treble. Placing RF chokes on each end also resulted in another small improvement. This should not really work, but it does for me.
I wonder how much electrical noise/RF affects this interface, maybe even noise generated by the Master. There has been some correspondence in the HiFi press recently, where the idea was suggested that the differences between cables were really how good they were at suppressing this noise. I don't know.
I must also say I have had little problem with the configurator, but I do work with software as a living, so maybe I am used to quirky interfaces. I don't use SAM, not sure if that affects the bug. I always save the files locally into a folder named to describe what the config is and with subfolders for Master and Companion. I then copy both to the SD cards and switch off both amps at the wall, replace the cards and let them boot at the same time on the new config. I say this in case it might work for others as it does for me.
I have no soldering skills, so for experiments with the AES/EBU interface, I have used Neutrik adapters. These probably introduce their own colourations, but for the purposes of experiment I went ahead.
I first used an Atlas Mavros digital RCA cable connected via an adapter to the companion AES/EBU. This produced a significant improvement, a fuller sound with less of the glass edge.
I then tried a length of Chord Indigo balanced cable, a relic from a previous system that I have not got around to selling yet, and it is an analog cable. It is of low capacitance and my layman's knowledge of how impedance works leads me to believe that it may have a higher impedance as a result.
I tried it via another Neutrik adapter, this time on the master end, and the results were great, a full sound with a detailed but well controlled treble. Placing RF chokes on each end also resulted in another small improvement. This should not really work, but it does for me.
I wonder how much electrical noise/RF affects this interface, maybe even noise generated by the Master. There has been some correspondence in the HiFi press recently, where the idea was suggested that the differences between cables were really how good they were at suppressing this noise. I don't know.
I must also say I have had little problem with the configurator, but I do work with software as a living, so maybe I am used to quirky interfaces. I don't use SAM, not sure if that affects the bug. I always save the files locally into a folder named to describe what the config is and with subfolders for Master and Companion. I then copy both to the SD cards and switch off both amps at the wall, replace the cards and let them boot at the same time on the new config. I say this in case it might work for others as it does for me.
