I have been running the Mutec / SOtM kit for a long time now, and it might seem from this thread that I have pretty much A/B tested everything possible. Well there is one major omission, I have never tried the SOtM kit via USB. In fact, since having the Pro, I don't think I have tried anything via USB. Last weekend I was thinking about this and thinking about the pending arrival of an EtherRegen, and figured it was about time I tried USB. Not much time last weekend, but I did a bit of cable swapping to set up the system as PC - Ethernet - sMS200Ultra - tXUSBultra - USB to Devialet, basically taking the Mutec MC3+USB "out of the chain".
With some listening in the week and yesterday, I started to form the impression that there was something a little nicer about the sound via USB, more organic you might say, but I couldn't help thinking a little something was lost. Doing the armchair audio designer bit, I could see that the MC3+USB has an advantage, as it is feeding the Devialet a REF10'd super low jitter signal to the AES/EBU input which the Devialet could take full advantage of when extracting the clock signal. On the other hand, maybe the SOtM kit has an advantage, with the "last component before the DAC" being powered by a lovely Paul Hynes SR4, not the Mutec's nasty SMPS.
I had some quiet time today, and set up a little test. I could run USB using the SOtM kit, and at the same time I could run music from a USB drive via my Arcam Bluray player, feeding the Mutec MC3+USB. This made for a good test, I have found previously that the MC3+USB sounds not far off identical fed by either the SOtM kit or the file playing Arcam. I could start identical music on both front ends, and switch between the two using the Devialet remote app. This worked well, a lot easier than some tests which involve lots of cable swapping or re-starting software, and so on.
An interesting result. With some tracks things did indeed seem a little nicer and more organic via USB, but also softer. It was clear that via the MC3+USB things sounded more dynamic, with more PRAT if you like. Switching the same track from USB to AES/EBU in some cases there was a noticeable increase in bass punch, things sounded much sharper and more dynamic. Yet, there remains something that with some music sounded a little nicer via USB. So, a slightly mixed result, but on balance I much preferred the results via AES/EBU.
Of course this does beg the question, is it a consequence of the influence of the MC3+USB, is it the difference between the Devialet's USB implementation versus AEA/EBU, or simply the difference between the asynchronous USB protocol and synchronous AES/EBU. It's probably a combination of things, there is no way of telling I guess. What I would say is that both the AES/EBU and USB sources could be classified as "reasonably good", so I am thinking it does say a little about the inputs / protocol themselves. A degree of speculation here, of course.
To be clear, these are fairly marginal differences, it's not a case of "wow, where have the dynamics gone!" when switching to USB, but it is the kind of subtle stuff that adds up to make a difference. Plus, I remain a little intrigued by the areas where I seemed to prefer USB. I shall be leaving the system set up tXUSBultra to USB for a while, it is sometimes interesting to see how small changes like this manifest themselves over time.
It has also got me thinking about the SMPS in the Mutec, maybe changing this to a LPS might help close the gap in areas where USB is ahead? A little optimistic perhaps, but maybe. Either way, it has got me thinking....
With some listening in the week and yesterday, I started to form the impression that there was something a little nicer about the sound via USB, more organic you might say, but I couldn't help thinking a little something was lost. Doing the armchair audio designer bit, I could see that the MC3+USB has an advantage, as it is feeding the Devialet a REF10'd super low jitter signal to the AES/EBU input which the Devialet could take full advantage of when extracting the clock signal. On the other hand, maybe the SOtM kit has an advantage, with the "last component before the DAC" being powered by a lovely Paul Hynes SR4, not the Mutec's nasty SMPS.
I had some quiet time today, and set up a little test. I could run USB using the SOtM kit, and at the same time I could run music from a USB drive via my Arcam Bluray player, feeding the Mutec MC3+USB. This made for a good test, I have found previously that the MC3+USB sounds not far off identical fed by either the SOtM kit or the file playing Arcam. I could start identical music on both front ends, and switch between the two using the Devialet remote app. This worked well, a lot easier than some tests which involve lots of cable swapping or re-starting software, and so on.
An interesting result. With some tracks things did indeed seem a little nicer and more organic via USB, but also softer. It was clear that via the MC3+USB things sounded more dynamic, with more PRAT if you like. Switching the same track from USB to AES/EBU in some cases there was a noticeable increase in bass punch, things sounded much sharper and more dynamic. Yet, there remains something that with some music sounded a little nicer via USB. So, a slightly mixed result, but on balance I much preferred the results via AES/EBU.
Of course this does beg the question, is it a consequence of the influence of the MC3+USB, is it the difference between the Devialet's USB implementation versus AEA/EBU, or simply the difference between the asynchronous USB protocol and synchronous AES/EBU. It's probably a combination of things, there is no way of telling I guess. What I would say is that both the AES/EBU and USB sources could be classified as "reasonably good", so I am thinking it does say a little about the inputs / protocol themselves. A degree of speculation here, of course.
To be clear, these are fairly marginal differences, it's not a case of "wow, where have the dynamics gone!" when switching to USB, but it is the kind of subtle stuff that adds up to make a difference. Plus, I remain a little intrigued by the areas where I seemed to prefer USB. I shall be leaving the system set up tXUSBultra to USB for a while, it is sometimes interesting to see how small changes like this manifest themselves over time.
It has also got me thinking about the SMPS in the Mutec, maybe changing this to a LPS might help close the gap in areas where USB is ahead? A little optimistic perhaps, but maybe. Either way, it has got me thinking....
1000 Pro - KEF Blade - iFi Zen Stream - Mutec REF10 - MC3+USB - Pro-Ject Signature 12
