29-Feb-2016, 17:25
Great post Hifi_swlon, I actually fully agree with it. We really need our DAC's to take take care of the issues of which I am sure they're there now today in many products, including our Devialet's.
Although the source can mitigate some of the noise issues as well, I think it's the function and job of the DAC to be insensitive (to a very high degree) to outside influences. If it's all taken care of we'd of course not need to look for "band-aid add ons". I personally did not yet want to replace the Devialet and since it has a built in DAC I "needed" to resort to other measures, or better said through experimentation I actually found out it can be improved upon significantly.
By coincidence today I read about a relatively new TEAC DAC (http://www.teac.com/product/ud-503/) which already takes care of some of the issues mentioned e.g. USB/digital ground plane isolation. I believe it's not even very expensive. I'm sure, like I wrote before, it'll all soon be common engineering principles followed by all serious manufacturers. Don't forget that for example high speed USB (480Mbit/s) isolators didn't exist yet 6 months ago while there isn't a serious DAC without some form of isolation present in it's S/PDIF or AES3 inputs.
For now I personally think it's best to avoid using the USB, ethernet and WiFi inputs of our Devialets if one seeks the best SQ possible. If anyone wants to use USB I'd use a full galvanic isolator like the Intona or for computer audio the Mutec MC-3+ USB or perhaps the Berkeley Alpha USB, although this last one already is a bit dated.
Personally I will also not invest in any new Devialet hardware until they give their Expert product a serious technology update to address the issues spoken of here in this topic. Perhaps I'll even never buy a highly integrated solution like the Devialet again. In the future I may start using (at least) a stand-alone DAC because of the rapid technological advances being made here every day. For now though I am satisfied with the Devialet and the band-aids I've surrounded it with.
If I can also scale down on the computer side of things and all the band-aids there, for example with the MicroRendu, I will not hesitate. Even though it all works perfectly today, the idea to have a clean and simple setup does sound attractive. A regular PC 'server' not near the system without all the linear PSU and USB enhancers, special software etc. feeding the Microrendu over the network and from there Mutec->Devialet would probably be ideal for me today. I would not want to go back in SQ though.
Although the source can mitigate some of the noise issues as well, I think it's the function and job of the DAC to be insensitive (to a very high degree) to outside influences. If it's all taken care of we'd of course not need to look for "band-aid add ons". I personally did not yet want to replace the Devialet and since it has a built in DAC I "needed" to resort to other measures, or better said through experimentation I actually found out it can be improved upon significantly.
By coincidence today I read about a relatively new TEAC DAC (http://www.teac.com/product/ud-503/) which already takes care of some of the issues mentioned e.g. USB/digital ground plane isolation. I believe it's not even very expensive. I'm sure, like I wrote before, it'll all soon be common engineering principles followed by all serious manufacturers. Don't forget that for example high speed USB (480Mbit/s) isolators didn't exist yet 6 months ago while there isn't a serious DAC without some form of isolation present in it's S/PDIF or AES3 inputs.
For now I personally think it's best to avoid using the USB, ethernet and WiFi inputs of our Devialets if one seeks the best SQ possible. If anyone wants to use USB I'd use a full galvanic isolator like the Intona or for computer audio the Mutec MC-3+ USB or perhaps the Berkeley Alpha USB, although this last one already is a bit dated.
Personally I will also not invest in any new Devialet hardware until they give their Expert product a serious technology update to address the issues spoken of here in this topic. Perhaps I'll even never buy a highly integrated solution like the Devialet again. In the future I may start using (at least) a stand-alone DAC because of the rapid technological advances being made here every day. For now though I am satisfied with the Devialet and the band-aids I've surrounded it with.
If I can also scale down on the computer side of things and all the band-aids there, for example with the MicroRendu, I will not hesitate. Even though it all works perfectly today, the idea to have a clean and simple setup does sound attractive. A regular PC 'server' not near the system without all the linear PSU and USB enhancers, special software etc. feeding the Microrendu over the network and from there Mutec->Devialet would probably be ideal for me today. I would not want to go back in SQ though.
PS Audio P3, Shunyata ΞTRON Alpha Digital and HC/Furutech power cables, Paul Hynes SR7EHD-MR4, DIY Roon Server & Roon Endpoint running AudioLinux Headless, Phasure Lush^2 USB cable, Audioquest Diamond RJ/E ethernet, Uptone Audio etherREGEN, Mutec MC-3+ USB, Shunyata ΞTRON Anaconda Digital XLR AES/EBU, Devialet Expert 250 Pro CI, Nordost Tyr Reference LS cables, Von Schweikert VR-5 SE Anniversary Edition, Anti-Mode Dual Core 2.0, JL Audio Fathom F112. More detail here.
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