Isn’t DSD 128 5.6mbps? Well within the range of a 100mbps router.
For some reason I thought it was higher. Even DSD256 will work with the 100 megabit throughput of my router. I have a support ticket in with Sonore. I guess I’ll be sending it in to them and having them look at it then.
I’m not using the bridge with JRiver, but with JRiver MC 23 via USB the ends of DSD files get chopped off (not quite every time, but most of the times.) I think it’s chopping off the amount of time that matches the file read ahead buffer, but I’m not sure. With DSD it’s also far from gapless even when correctly configured for gapless.
While I’m doing a backup right now and using ASIO double DSD rate sounds like crap, sounds like buffering isn’t working at all. Some single rate almost plays. With WASAPI single rate play much better but double rate is too gappy to listen to. In foobar2000 I can be doing replay gain scanning, wave seek bar scanning, backups, chkdsk’s, and huge file copies while reading my files over wireless from my NAS and everything plays great (not an exaggeration, except for chkdsk that’s what’s going on when I rip CDs). I’ve tried the obvious things, but to tell the truth JRiver MC DSD support is all over the map and I don’t even care to try anymore. Just call it a bad attitude on my part.
[Edit: FWIW this morning JRiver plays single and double rate DSD pretty well except for the notes in the first paragraph above. Maybe having foobar2000 doing a waveform scan in the background helps 
]
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Ok, if I relent and try USB instead of Bridge, what is the agreed max length of USB Cable I can get away with? And should I use my AudioQuest USB filter thing I happen to own as well?
Many Thanks
The USB 2.0 standard specifies 15’ as the maximum length. The real constraint is the amount of time for a signal to get to the end and then get acknowledged back before a timeout. This means that some cables that aren’t certified (don’t meet the USB spec) have to be shorter if they have too much capacitance, etc.
If you go over the limit there’s a point where adding just, say, 1/2 of an inch will take you from working to being very flaky (depending on the devices in question.)
You’ll have to listen for yourself whether the AudioQuest JitterBug adds anything to your system. I’ve heard it work and also heard it not work.
Thanks very much Ted.
Hi all, just an update. So after being inspired by various people I bought a 15ft Startech usb cable for a couple of quid off amazon to try instead of Ethernet to the Bridge.
Wow! I was instantly blown away by how smooth it sounded, no harsh distortion around vocals. Also everything sounded much more realistic and 3D like. Bitperfect also shows up solidly on the display using the test file.
Downside: After about 10 minutes I realised that actually, detail was quite low and almost a bit smeary.
I then borrowed an AudioQuest Coffee cable from my local dealer (nintronics) and that was a big improvement, no smearing, lots of solid detail, but for me it sounded less involving, a bit dead in comparison to the cheapie cable and the bass wasn’t quite right, but it was a step in the right direction.
After reading various comments and reviews I blindly bought the AQ Diamond cable. It’s still not finished burning in, but instantly I knew I did the right thing. I must say the amount of extra detail is frightening, a bit like when I went from my 20 year old krell fpb power amp to my Dan D Agustino Classic amp. The odd bass that I heard in the Coffee cable has also been fixed.
In other words in my view the Bridge II is nowhere near a good usb cable. If you have been using the Bridge all your DS Dac life then do yourself a favour and go over to the dark side and try usb
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What I don’t like about the Bridge is all the inherent noise there is when using it. It being a computer at it’s most fundamental level, it’s going to be noisy and add noise to its audio output. If at all you can isolate as much noise and jitter from entering your DAC you’re off to a much better start to getting “high end” sound. That’s why I think it’s advisable to use a proper source component (Directstream transport or a product from the likes of Sonore, Melco, Auralic, ect) as noise isolation and low jitter is part of their design and why you ultimately buy one. I do think the Bridge offers a LOT of functionality though, so in that regard it’s a great product. You using USB (not even necessarily using a high end cable) might just be better for sound quality compared to the Bridge from a inherent standpoint as your USB source may offer better noise isolation and lower jitter.
I hate being the devils advocate here but have you any measurements to support your position? I use the Bridge II and I don’t hear this noise your are stating exists. PS Aufio wouldn’t implement a device that’s unshielded and spewing digital interference. If it was problematic an absorbent shield or architecture would have been implemented. Do I get better sound from my DMP yes but marginally better and that has more to do with lossless ripping and delivery.
Sure, Ted himself said the Bridge is the 2nd worst offender as far as radiated noise goes in the Directstream so getting rid of it would get rid of some noise. Paul himself has discussed this issue in general as well. Paul’s posts regarding the new server they’re developing talks about the exact same thing I’m talking about. One of PS Audio’s main goals with the server is to try and isolate as much noise from the processing side of the server from the output side of the server due to the added noise and jitter from it. See Ted’s post I’m referencing here. For context the thread was asking about adding RFI/EMI shielding inside the Directstream and where it would make the most sense:
I think the biggest source of (rf?) noise is the external pc / network connected to the Bridge and not the Bridge as such. The noise goes through the Bridge through your preamp, through your power amp out to the speakers. I think tthe thing to remember about hifi is that you can’t treat each component in isolation, it’s an interconnected network, once noise gets in it affects everything.
@chris5 this is why I use a galvanically isolated fiber optic network adapter. This separates the noisy PC from my source component. I use it to connect my PC with Roon/JRiver running to send audio to my Sonore Signature Series Rendu. PS Audio sells a similar device, their LANRover for USB connections.
I tried all the TPS stuff last year with batteries etc but it was a real pain having to recharge every other day and although it did sound cleaner, for me, I seemed to loose an awful lot of bass.
Mind you what didn’t help was that amazon uk had / have trouble at their warehouse and could not deliver the optical cables I was actually ordering e.g. the would supply orange cable instead of yellow, or wrongly coloured terminators.