Well, it didn’t hurt to give the iPurifier a try. I guess it does not work too good with the Omega. It worked with my ChordMusic USB cable and this cable does the least amount of damage I have ever heard from a USB cable. But there are other components in the chain besides a USB cable like the hard drive and streamer and those components are not perfect and can produce noise and artifacts in the signal. The iPurifier is not a cable and what it does is do regeneration and retiming of the signal. I tried it in and out recently with the MK2 and ChordMusic and I can hear it does clean the sound a little especially the highs sounds a little purer and less grain. I also got mine from Amazon, but it’s staying in my system because I can hear a little less loss without it. You can’t hear it as good in some recordings, maybe you can try it with recordings with lots of high frequencies content and see if it helps before you send it back.
Update: I had to do it. I would like to get rid as much crud as anybody else away from my system, so I compared again without the iPurifier and the sound is chalkier, less rich and not as live. With the uPurifier, I can hear the piano is less dull, the resonance expands into the air more clearly. The twang on the double bass also is more live and clearer transients. The high hats and the snap on the snare drum also has more clarity and impact. I like the sound much more with it in than out. So this iPurifier may not work in some systems, but it really sound wonderful in mine. Sorry it didn’t work in yours. I use the DSD256 of Bill Evans Trio {Sunday At The Village Vanguard} track 3 Solar and it made quite a difference.
Reminds me of Tuning Ring on the Inakustik USB. I got a blacker background liked what i heard. When i pulled off the tuning ring after 1 week, i found it was killing the live sound and the toe tapability on the recording. If a recording lacks a black background adding one with a tweak usually causes loss of some elements of good things in the music recording.
Going back to the baseline for a listening of before implementing chane should always be a part of the evaluation on plan
On the third day the Omega improved to a point where Sigma and Stealth T-select could not compete. The Omega sounds like Sigma, but it offers so much more. Omega excels in tonal richness, body fullness, midrange sweetness, timbre translation, holographic image, and all comes with a deep-dark background. The break in on Omega is unique. The first night the sound was compressed, and the background was noisy. Yesterday the background turned darker and the soundstage has developed. Today the background is pitching black. A pair of TAP filters are acting like a black hole that gradually sucked out all the digital noises and sonic glare from the streaming flow. As a result, today the music sounded cleaner, more natural, more vivid, and more live-like.
To truly judge its superiority, I compare the streaming to PST again. In the past I have used Dragon48 to compare PST and Summus2 (both use HDMI I2S outputs), and PST is superior in every way. But when using Sigma/Stealth T-select USBs, some differences have shrunken, but PST was still a clear winner. With Omega in the chain, it has brought the music streaming up to a level that matches PST in so many ways, only in the detail and resolution the PST is ahead, and obviously it was due to the inferiority of the streamer. Streaming with Omega sounds quieter, fuller, more analog-like, and more involving than PST (when playing the same recordings in DSD files vs. DVD discs). PST is sounding a bit “digital” which I have never heard from in the past. Omega USB has changed the game.
At this point, the break-in has slowed, but I continue to hear improvement as time goes by. The KPIP has done the heavy initial break-in work, which really helps for this review. It is enough to express my admiration for this amazing cable. I have never heard more beautiful music from my system until now.
The ultimate approval is coming from my wife. She said that this cable is better than the ones I tried before. I told her the cost (1/2 of what I really paid), and she said it is worth it!
I was waiting for your verdict in the middle of the night! Thanks.
Now I can go dreaming for a while! Omega is in my mind, even if I have to start thinking about a gift for my wife at the same price level: we are talking about 350 US$, isn’t it?!?!?
A hard Sunday ahead working on my room, less than 7 days before starting the refurbishment. It makes my night shorter or my morning longer, as you prefer! And I’m thinking about new expensive USB cables meanwhile!
That’s a terrible hobby! We all need a serious psychiatric consultation!
Nah! As I mention a possible stereo purchase, she’s already busy on google searching for her gift (incidentally she always finds something sooooo nice not exactly priced as my “declared” audio toy).
In your case Al, I agree it could become very dangerous!
Who, my wife? Not even close, she is on another planet, mixing together at her convenience = new rules to be accepted + rules must be changed + rules, what rules? Life is too short!
But I love her for that, of course.
@vmax, I received the duro70 Sorbothane sheet. So, I cut a piece and placed it at the metal support slot for the Dragon, then I replaced the sorbo ring with two pieces of sheet on Omega support. The detail and resolution became even more precise. The SQ is incredible. Here are pictures of them:
The sorbothane sheet is amazing on power cables. I can see why digital cables also benefit with their lousy spring clips or friction spring plates to secure them.
