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Then I Got a Pulse, Now I'm a Believer

My apologies to The Monkees. 

I received my Innuos Pulse today and it's outstanding even with the coax output. Better clock in the Pulse I assume. I don't know what they do to those 1s and 0s but they sure sound a lot better than the ones coming out of the Node 2i. I've followed the many discussions about this and it's my sworn testimony that a better streamer is worth it. 

But tomorrow a new DH Labs Mirage USB cable arrives and I can finally hear my BitFrost 2 64 through its USB input. 

mashif
mashif OP
328 posts
 

Well, I finally got to hear the BitFrost with the USB input. And I didn't like it! I listened for a day and something just sounded off. Tried a lot of different music and they all seemed not quite right. 

So I switched back to my coax cable and input and the magic was back! The only thing that comes to mind is that the USB cable is a DH Labs Mirage, a decent but not expensive cable. My coax cable is a Transparent Audio Premier 75ohm cable that retails for over $1k. It could be the difference between USB and coax in general, but I don't have a way to test that. 

The USB version was kind of cold and clinical while the coax is more musically coherent. The sound just flows while the USB sounds like it's being forced out. Not what I expected but it's what I got. 

 

ronboco
897 posts
 

@mashif 

So you were using the DAC in the node as well? I have a node n130 with a Teddy Pardo LPS and use it for streaming only. It is quite good when you bypass the internal DAC. 

mashif OP
328 posts
 

@ronboco 

I never used the DAC in the Node 2i except when my BitFrost needed service. I just happened to receive the LPS for the Node the day after I sent it off. So I listened to the Node DAC for one day without LPS and the next day I installed it and noticed it sounded much better. But I was glad to get the BitFrost back. 

soix
10,167 posts
 

 

Well, I finally got to hear the BitFrost with the USB input. And I didn't like it! I listened for a day and something just sounded off. Tried a lot of different music and they all seemed not quite right. 

Is the USB cable new?  If so you should give it at least 100 hours to break in before making any firm conclusions.  

mashif OP
328 posts
 

@soix 

You're absolutely right. I spent a good part of today listening and comparing. What I noticed is that the USB has a much bigger and deeper soundstage that initially sounded strange. Today I toed in my speakers about a half inch more and that refocused the soundstage back into the room a bit. Yesterday it sounded like the left and right were disconnected. Now it feels integrated again with USB. 

I do tend to be impatient even though I know better. I'll stick with USB for now but I can see a better cable in my future. 

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