Shazam - A USB out does not help things unless you are forced to go to a USB input DAC. Even these are not jitter intolerant. Most use ASRC to reduce but not eliminate jitter.
I2S output to the DAC is superior because it puts the low-jitter clock closer to the D/A chip itself. Usually I2S input DAC's do not have upsamplers in the path either, just the D/A chip. The Pace-Car that Wappinghigh talks about does this. It uses a buffer memory that isolates the input stream from the output stream. There is no other more straightforward way than this technique to get low jitter digital to the D/A chip.
Steve N.
Empirical Audio |
When will someone mod a Sonos (or other device) with an asynchronous capable USB out? Wouldn't that eliminate entirely the need for expensive clock mods on the transport box if you just turned it into a digital file 'pass through' and let the DAC clock do the heavy lifting? It just seems ridiculous to me that there isn't an easier way to transfer the file into the DAC cleanly without worries of transport jitter.
What am I missing here? Would love for one of the techies to enlighten me on this. |
Mrjstark, do you actually have the Cullen mod? If so, can you please elaborate? BTW, do any of these mods affect the Sonos' sw upgradability? Sonos typically comes out with a sw release once a quarter. |
Cullen mod - might be it for me, I am all ears. |
How does the Cullen mod compare to the Empiracal?
Anyone? |
Have a look at the Pacecar mod via Empirical Audio. I've got one. Highly recommended. |
Barrelchief,
Yes, the sound improvement is evident from both the analogue and digital outputs. Since I listen to the digital output through a superior DAC, that signal is better, of course. For casual listening (i.e., while I'm working busy the house), I use the analogue outputs. Before the power supply upgrade, I avoided the analogue outputs because the sound quality was unsatisfactory. |
Hi Folks. I had the Cullen Mod done to one of my ZP-80's. I am still conducting my evaluation and will report back in another week (or so.)
Cedar, I sent Joseph an email, quite a while back (before the Cullen mod was available) and did not hear back from him.
Does Joseph's PS mod improve the sound from both the analog and digital outputs?
Thanks |
Very interesting. It is getting warmer. |
Tboooe,
Both of those questions should be posed to Joseph Chow. I don't know the answer to either one. As a beta tester, I comment to him about sound quality, reliability, and ease of use. When he is satisfied with the power supply, he will upgrade my units to the final version, except for cosmetics. At that point we will find a mutually agreeable price. I have tested his designs for a few years now.
I know that he is testing them in his system as well as in mine. I have not heard the results in his system. He did tell me his target is to stay below $300 per ZP80. |
I am very interested as well. I spent some time looking at the Cullen Circuits upgrade and it seems pretty solid though I wish it included a mod to the power supply as well.
Cedar, I wonder if the power supply from Mr. Chow can be used in conjunction with the Cullen Circuits mod? Do you mind if I ask how much the mod was? |
I am very interested as well. I spent some time looking at the Cullen Circuits upgrade and it seems pretty solid though I wish it included a mod to the power supply as well.
Cedar, I wonder if the power supply from Mr. Chow can be used in conjunction with the Cullen Circuits mod? Do you mind if I ask how much the mod was? |
I know that Joseph Chow (Audio Horizons) has developed a ZP80 power supply upgrade which I am beta testing. It delivers a significant improvement to the music. My reference for comparison was a Levinson 37 transport which had been upgraded. When Sonos performance matched it, I sold the Levinson.
I use FLAC files from a network storage device, and play through the ZP80 digital output to an Audio Horizons tube DAC.
In order to get the best signal, both the transmitting and receiving ZP80 power supplies should be upgraded. |
I am also interested, as long as it is under 1K (more like $700). Come on big brains of the industry sweat a little and give us something that we can afford. |
