Ayre USB DAC

[EdipisReks]

what if there is a hold up at the post office and they get the registration card 31 days after purchase?

[Hopstretch]

Probably just go by the postmark? But I think it's silly to open yourself up to that sort of quibbling in the first place. If you are prepared to warrant the piece for the extended period, then do so from the outset and have done with it.

By the way, it still sounds very good. The only functional downside is I now do a lot more rate switching in Audio Midi. With the Duet, I just let iTunes upsample everything to 96kHz as I didn't feel I could hear any difference. With the Ayre, I definitely prefer CD playback at 44.1kHz. Will someone please write a native-sample-rate plugin for iTunes? Pretty please?

[Hopstretch]

June Stereophile has a fairly enthusiastic review of the Wavelength Cosecant, with the sidebar that John Atkinson measured the jitter performance as the lowest he'd ever seen on any USB interface. So I guess the particular asynch implementation that Wavelength and Ayre are both using does appear to do more or less what it says on the box.



Interesting to compare with the CA DacMagic, which they also liked on all other inputs but USB.

[justin]

is this online? if not, can you post hte full review?

[Hopstretch]

It's not online yet. And the digital edition I get is in one of those flash format readers, so there's no way to simply post it here. What are you most interested in, the measurements?

TBH, I stopped reading the subjective impressions after the reviewer blithely claimed in passing that he could hear distinct differences between the same tracks ripped to different lossless formats.

[Voltron]

***

TBH, I stopped reading the subjective impressions after the reviewer blithely claimed in passing that he could hear distinct differences between the same tracks ripped to different lossless formats.

[cclragnarok]

It's not online yet. And the digital edition I get is in one of those flash format readers, so there's no way to simply post it here. What are you most interested in, the measurements?

TBH, I stopped reading the subjective impressions after the reviewer blithely claimed in passing that he could hear distinct differences between the same tracks ripped to different lossless formats.

FLAC sounds flat, Apple Lossless sounds sweet, and Monkey's Audio sounds jittery (the dancing is the jitter).

[Nebby]

FLAC sounds flat, Apple Lossless sounds sweet, and Monkey's Audio sounds jittery (the dancing is the jitter).

It wasn't too long ago on head-fi that someone recommended ripping to uncompressed wav for the best sound, compared to other lossless formats

[The Monkey]

TBH, I stopped reading the subjective impressions after the reviewer blithely claimed in passing that he could hear distinct differences between the same tracks ripped to different lossless formats.

I'm so glad that pissed someone else off, too. And you're right, the fact that he was so flip about it was doubly infuriating.

[justin]

yeah, in that case, i guess im mostly interested in seeing the measurements.

[Grahame]

TBH, I stopped reading the subjective impressions after the reviewer blithely claimed in passing that he could hear distinct differences between the same tracks ripped to different lossless formats.

How better to demonstrate you audiophile Golden Eared cred, than being able to hear distinct differences that aren't

Was that with or without the use of an audiophile USB Cable? we should be told! Otherwise how can treat this as a credible review

[Azazel]

Audiophile and 'cryo' treated USB cable

What are you most interested in, the measurements?

Me too. What was the jitter level (ps)?

Looks very much like with USB we have got a good digital interface at last... Now I wonder how long since the first audiophile CD-transport with USB out sees the light

[Voltron]

yeah, in that case, i guess im mostly interested in seeing the measurements.

Then buy the magazine you cheap bastard.

[Dusty Chalk]

They're not exactly the same -- with lossless compression, it still needs to be decoded, so depending on your computer's capabilities, and what else you're doing, there could be slight differences...but since most people can't even hear jitter, and this being another order of magnitude less audible...the statement still smells of manure.

[atothex]

Is it theoretically possible that the dude's computer is sooooo shitty that it struggles to decode compressed files in a timely manner?

I can't imagine these cats being very computer savvy. I mean, they all love the Sooloos, which to me screams retard.

[Dusty Chalk]

Theoretically possible, yes; likely, not so much.

[aardvark baguette]

My HP mini note stumbles with iTunes, but it manifests itself as complete pauses/breaks in the music. Same with foobar + flac.

[JBLoudG20]

My HP mini note stumbles with iTunes, but it manifests itself as complete pauses/breaks in the music. Same with foobar + flac.

You you have the 2133 series, or the 1000 series?

[grawk]

Is that using windows or leopard, sammich?

[aardvark baguette]

HP 2133, with vista 32bit business, iirc.

its current use is tv-viewing/internet-surfing-while-at-the-parents-house-on-weekend-visits, so it never really ended up being an audio-based tool, as I originally planned.

The mac mini is much more desirable at work.

(the 2133 had at one point been my work-audio computer, along with a pico)