Ever since I got the bridge about 6 months ago I have added about 8 different tweaks that have really
made this thing sing. I wanted to share that on the forum, as what I’m hearing now is drastically
different from what it sounded like 6 months ago. I am actualy in awe when I hear High res files, the level of realism is outstanding. It doesn’t just sound good, it sounds real.
1. Corsair Force GT Solid State Drive ($220) - There is a drastic improvement in noise floor and
detail when using solid state drives over regular IDE. This is a cheap way to get an immediate
improvement as regular hard drives have too much vibration which adds jitter.
2. Audioquest Diamond Ethernet cables ($1200+$2200) - There seems to be a lot of comments in forums
about how ethernet cables make no difference. This couldn’t be further from the truth. I bought a 1
m length of Audioquest Cinnamon to test this out and the difference was immediately noticeable. I
then upgraded to the Vodka, and then the Diamond and the difference is phenomenal. The biggest
change is in the sound stage which explodes open, imaging of instruments is pin point accurate,
resolution, detail, musicality, all improve by leaps and bounds. I run a 1m length to my router and
a 3m length from router to bridge. The biggest difference is gonna be in the run from the computer
to the router, and the one from router to bridge just completes the effect. When I rewire it back to
the cheapies, it sounds completely flat and void of life. I know its expensive, but if money is no
object, then this is mandatory. I would stay away from wifi as it’s highly jitter prone, and
bandwidth limited.
3. Upgrade Company Signature DAC and Bridge Mod with 3 Copper Bybees ($2000) - I got my DAC and Bridge upgraded by the Upgrade Company and it was money well spent. The signature mod opens up the soundstage on the DAC
immensely. Lows are more powerful with no loss of control, highs more detailed. The soundstage
opened up so much that I had to add some toe in to my speakers to get the image back in my small
apartment. He also mods the Bridge which makes the bridge sound more musical and lowers the noise
floor. You can specifically hear how the sonic signature has changed by the bridge mod.
4. PS Audio AC-12 Power cable Feeding Computer ($1000) - Since your computer is functioning as a
transport, it is necesarry that you treat it like one, thereby feeding it the appropriate power. I
was using a $400 power cable on my computer, and upgraded to the AC-12. The first thing I noticed
wasn’t the sound, but rather the graphics on my monitor look stunning when my computer started.
Contrast improved and images just look so much realer. Once I started streaming music, I noticed a lower
noise floor, and higher resolution. The difference was drastic.
5. Power Conditioner Feeding Computer - I also have a Monster HTPS7000 MKII feeding the computer and
that improves the sound over a cheap power strip. I have a P10 that powers my sytsem but currently
my computer is too far from it to connect.
6. Power Conditioner Feeding Router - Make sure your router is also connected to a power conditioner.
This makes a subtle but noticeable improvement over the wall or cheap power strip.
7. Elyric Client - I’ve tried about 10 different clients and while they all look better than Elyric, nothing sounds better. Elyric sounds so much more musical and lifelike than all the others. It puts JRiver to shame. When transcoding is enabled on Elyric the sound is phenomenal. If anybody knows another client that sounds as good or better I’m all ears.
8. Corsair H100 Liquid Cooling Fan ($130) - This is probably the only improvement that I wasn’t able to A/B test since I always use Liquid Cooling fans in my system and get much better system performance. The liquid cooling fans use much less vibration than the standard fans. I use the H100, and my system is dead quiet, and stays cool.
kayhustle,
I agree on all your findings and I thank you for sharing it with us.
I did most of your tweaks and got similar results. (items 1, 2, 4, 7, 8)
Elyric client having by far the best SQ - absolutely right.
Question - Can you share more details about item no. 3 ? Links ?
One more tweak that worked for me - I changed the SATA cable from the power supply to the SSD with a filter , see attached link.
http://www.sotm-audio.com/sotmwp/english/portfolio-item/sata-filter-ii/
Some people here on the forum interface direct from the PC to the bridge and don’t use the router, if latency/jitter is your big concern why not remove the router and have one cable less too.
Your cable between the PC and bridge will need to be a cross over cable.
@amiglic I might have to check out that filter. I didn’t even know those existed. How much was that? I might have to buy one. How big was the improvement?
As for the signature upgrade, the link is here:
https://upgradecompany.com/upgrade-company-products/ps-audio/product/304-ps-audio-perfectwave-dac-mkll-pwt-signature-edition-upgrades
David Schulte is the guy who runs the company and he is great. He’s upgraded my Oppo BDP players before with outstanding results. He also ships out very quickly.
@johno, I didn’t know you could do that. I’ll have to research that. My only concern would be if they had high end crossover cables that were as good as the Audioquest Diamonds, and I assume I’d need a separate ethernet card as well right.
Very nice, thanks :)>-
although I haven’t tweak most from the list, my I believe eLyrics is definately better to my ears than jRiver, esp it does gapless…
Hi, I assumed the PC was dedicated to the task of streaming only and not on network which should give best results. My PC used for streaming is on network though I plan to dedicate the PC to streaming only in the future.
If the PC is on network and another network card is installed I would not see why you could not interface with a cross-over cable to the bridge. Ask and see whether someone is already doing this to be certain before embarking.
So with the upgrade of the Ethernet cable, what if you have your router and NAS well away from the PWD location. Does it make any sense to upgrade the last 1M bit ethernet cable from the wall jack to the back of the unit, without dealing with all the 25’ or so of ethernet cabling connecting up to that point?
@kayhustle
Thanks for the information about the Upgrade company.
I live abroad and the transportation for me is a big one.
About the SOTM see the eBay link.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/SOtM-Power-Noise-Filter-II-for-SATA-HDD-ODD-SDD-/261317922802?pt=US_Sound_Cards_Internal_&hash=item3cd7c30ff2
They ship quickly.
The improvement in my system was noticeable and certainly justifies the cost.
I installed the filters on my both SSD and I recorded improvement on both. One with the Windows OS and the second with the Music Libraries.
I am very interested to hear SQ results of DIRECT connection between the Bridge and the the PC compared to the “Router” system most of us use.
And another byproduct, get rid of all the network issues which most of us experience.
If done so, how can we control the eLyric on the PC and the PWD ? I use an IPAD for this.
Anybody can post his experience ?
Thanks.
I use JRiver on the PC.
@soliver From what I find, I can hear a difference when changing the ethernet cable to the router and the one from the router to the bridge. Any side/length makes a significant difference.
@soliver From what I find, I can hear a difference when changing the ethernet cable to the router and the one from the router to the bridge. Any side/length makes a significant difference.Yes, thats what I hear too!
- See more at: http://www.psaudio.com/vanilla/discussion/3626/ethernet-cable-for-bridge/p4#sthash.EPLh0FVf.dpuf