shadorne,
Thank you for your response.
There is more going on in the noise/component matching realm of computer audio than just jitter. Galvanic isolation and impedance mismatch could even play a bigger role in source/DAC interface issues, particularly when using USB connection. All three (and likely even more) are potential detriments to sound quality and enjoyment of music from digital sources.
Some feedback from Agoner lowrider57 (Thank You) has made me re-evaluate the clarity of the primary point of the above review in terms of the readers’ takeaway. I did not intend to castigate the Uptone products specifically, or even at all, but to communicate that the addition of such devices (of any brand or maker) in the audio chain can actually introduce degradation of sound quality. Up to this point, I had, wrongly as it turns out, held the opinion that the worst possible outcome would be that I would simply hear no change at all.
I have had interest in the Holo Spring DAC since hearing excellent reports on its sound quality from Agoner falconquest. I was re-reading the review linked below this morning and happened upon this statement by Michael Lavorgne when he was describing what he felt to be a positive effect of the Singxer SU-1 with the Spring DAC, but not so with the totaldac:
"This was not the case with the totaldac where I felt the addition of the SU-1, connected via AES, subtracted some of the D1-six’s magic."
Also, rklein made this comment in the user follow up: "I tried the Singxer and ultimately preferred the Holo without it."
Read more at https://www.audiostream.com/content/holo-audio-spring-dac-level-3-kitsune-tuned-edition#gAQ5yQQUuIVI...
So, had I not committed to a few folks here to make with and without comparisons with the ISO Regen/LPS-1 and post my findings, I might well have simply left them in my digital chain once installed and unknowingly suffered a prolonged setback in sound quality, or even more likely, pursued more gadgets to fix what was not broken to begin with but issues that had been unwittingly introduced by adding the ISO Regen.
The chain of such devices in some folks’ systems is truly, er, ponderous (borrowed without permission from Joseph Marley’s ghost). I posit that the money would be better spent on an improved source and/or DAC and/or cables as funds allow rather than more of these potentially problematic devices.
Maybe my remarks will encourage these folks to remove the entire rig of fix-it devices and see if they are suffering from this malady. If they hear a benefit after such exercise in their own systems to their own ears, then it’s all good. If they prefer to return these devices to their chain based on listening preference, then it’s all good. YMMV indeed.
Dave
Thank you for your response.
There is more going on in the noise/component matching realm of computer audio than just jitter. Galvanic isolation and impedance mismatch could even play a bigger role in source/DAC interface issues, particularly when using USB connection. All three (and likely even more) are potential detriments to sound quality and enjoyment of music from digital sources.
Some feedback from Agoner lowrider57 (Thank You) has made me re-evaluate the clarity of the primary point of the above review in terms of the readers’ takeaway. I did not intend to castigate the Uptone products specifically, or even at all, but to communicate that the addition of such devices (of any brand or maker) in the audio chain can actually introduce degradation of sound quality. Up to this point, I had, wrongly as it turns out, held the opinion that the worst possible outcome would be that I would simply hear no change at all.
I have had interest in the Holo Spring DAC since hearing excellent reports on its sound quality from Agoner falconquest. I was re-reading the review linked below this morning and happened upon this statement by Michael Lavorgne when he was describing what he felt to be a positive effect of the Singxer SU-1 with the Spring DAC, but not so with the totaldac:
"This was not the case with the totaldac where I felt the addition of the SU-1, connected via AES, subtracted some of the D1-six’s magic."
Also, rklein made this comment in the user follow up: "I tried the Singxer and ultimately preferred the Holo without it."
Read more at https://www.audiostream.com/content/holo-audio-spring-dac-level-3-kitsune-tuned-edition#gAQ5yQQUuIVI...
So, had I not committed to a few folks here to make with and without comparisons with the ISO Regen/LPS-1 and post my findings, I might well have simply left them in my digital chain once installed and unknowingly suffered a prolonged setback in sound quality, or even more likely, pursued more gadgets to fix what was not broken to begin with but issues that had been unwittingly introduced by adding the ISO Regen.
The chain of such devices in some folks’ systems is truly, er, ponderous (borrowed without permission from Joseph Marley’s ghost). I posit that the money would be better spent on an improved source and/or DAC and/or cables as funds allow rather than more of these potentially problematic devices.
Maybe my remarks will encourage these folks to remove the entire rig of fix-it devices and see if they are suffering from this malady. If they hear a benefit after such exercise in their own systems to their own ears, then it’s all good. If they prefer to return these devices to their chain based on listening preference, then it’s all good. YMMV indeed.
Dave