Has anyone tried footers or isolation devices on the DS DAC?
I tried some Herbie’s Tenderfeet and there was too much of a bass bump for my system.
Was wondering if you guys had better experience with other footers.
Thanks
Only with SGCD but very impressed with Isoacoustics Orea.
cxp
What effect did it have on the SGCD?
Also, has anyone tried Cardas Golden Cuboid myrtle wood blocks?
I have Nordost TC Sort Kones coming next week for my DS. My rule of thumb has been to isolate Tubes, Transports and Turntables …but lately I’ve tried them on DACs to great effect. I’m pretty pragmatic so its always astounded me how effective they are on soldered electronics. Its not subtle and its not all about micro-phonic components. its very strange and perplexing. I’ll report back in a few weeks.
I never understood what I was isolating components from. My house is bank-vault solid and quiet. The component rack is full of devices that don’t produce any noticeable vibrations; there are no fans, moving parts. With everything active but no signal, even with volume full up, there is complete silence. The speakers are a fair distance away and are themselves on spikes and on very solid footing. I always assumed that I would have to reach some pretty awesome spl to create vibrations, sympathetic or otherwise.
No???
Oh, forgot—all that said, I do have my amp on a Powerbase which I bought used and way cheap…
I was initially interested in the Isoacoustics for their claim to reduce parasitic vibrations or in other words intrinsic vibrations in the equipment itself.
I believe they are in fact engineered for this purpose as the isolators compress as weight is applied and you are supposed to use direct on the metal frame.
With similar logic people might assume that a turntable doesn’t need isolation. Often the goal of isolation is not keeping your components from interacting, but instead is keeping your components getting vibrated by the sound your speakers are producing. Most audio equipment has microphonic parts (aluminum electrolytics, or non C0G surface mount caps, …) and depending on the delay back thru the system that weird feedback can change the tonality… It’s not typically a huge difference and the exact effect is not very predicable but it’s measurable.
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To my ear, any isolating/reducing of vibration seems to have clear benefits. I’m currently using Herbie’s small fat dots under my DSD and it’s better than none. I’m waiting for a set of Synergistic Research Big MIGs. I’ve used MIGs to positive effect under other equipment in the past and found a set of these used so will give them a try with this.
I’m going to order some of the big fat dots to compare to, I feel like the small dots are a bit too little in my case, the DAC sits on a glass shelf at the moment and you can feel it vibrating. Soon enough I’ll likely replace that shelf with something else, either MDF or granite.
I really wanted to try the Oreas under the DAC and my speaker platforms but ended up cheaping out and getting the Iso Pucks for under the speakers and MIGs for DAC. Maybe eventually I’ll buck up and get the Oreas.
Well thank you Ted. I’ll pretend my brain produces enough juice to understand what the hell you said, but now I know I need isolators under my thingees.
I love this place!!!
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With the Oreas I get more natural Timbre. There is a loss of boxyness, less congestion. Bass is more musical, kick drum impact is improved.
I noticed harmonica sounded like harmonica. Acoustic guitar had more of a rich tone. The whole system sounded a little more relaxed and dynamic at the same time.
I do not observe a thinning out that I often hear about. It just sound more effortless. I am adding more Orea for underneath my S300 and I am considering another pair for underneath my Dectet.
One really good demo track of mine of recent is Footsteps by Pearl Jam off of the Lost Dogs CD.
Without isolators it sounds thicker but at the same time there are blunted transients like Eddie Vedder is singing behind a 2 inch piece of plywood. The guitar strings don’t have the proper attack, I can’t hear the harmonics.
With isolators, the midbass is much more natural. Its not thinned out but rather the midbass is more properly placed if that makes sense. Midbass stays with the vocalist or the instrument being used instead of blurring across all instruments. Sounds more live iwth the isolators.
All these effects are not sweet spot and turn on your goldenear super power level effects, I can hear these effects all over my combo kitchen/living/dining room. There is a general improvement with timing.
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I have 20 isolation pads I have under my audio equipment. I got them from a company called PexSupply. com One pad costs 50 cents !
Just because audio equipment isn’t vibrating like a tuning fork doesn’t mean they don’t have micro vibrations that are affecting the system.
My observations was that anything with a heavy transformer will always benefit from isolation.
cxp
Do you use 4 of them under your DAC and place them under the existing feet? Or do they go under the chassis eschewing the existing feet?
What you have to factor in is that a loudspeaker is a two-way device. It works nearly as well as a microphone as it does a speaker. Most intercoms use the speaker as the microphone as well. In a Hi-Fi speaker the microphone effect is partially damped by the crossover and amplifier but it is still working as a microphone at the same time as acting as a loudspeaker! What is fed back into the amplifier is the difference between the input signal and the room acoustic feedback. This is probably a major reason why loudspeakers are room dependant and position dependant. The acoustic feedback becomes electrical feedback into the amplifier: all the equipment is joined together by electrical cables hence a continuous loop - continuously going round and round! And as Ted said the electronic components can vibrate hence generate a very small electrical signal which time smears the music signal due to noise pollution …
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I was informed that the company that supplied my pads has changed its name. The new website is now called SupplyHouse. com The SKU number is MP-2C You can buy 48 pads for $12.96.
Or the E.V.A. style
https://www.supplyhouse.com/sh/control/product/~product_id=MP-2E
Use 3 of them, two on heavier side and one on lighter side in middle (so you form a triangle).
They support 16lbs each so 3 is well in the range for DACs. I put 2 in front since the SGCD is front heavy due to the toroid being there.
The E.V.A. Anti-Vibration Pads look very promising since they are so inexpensive and might be effective. I am using Nordost Pulsar Points under the BHK preamp and between the M700 amps. I also add ankle weights on top of each. Now I can put the E.V.A. pads below the Pulsar points (might be an overkill but should help me sleep better at night).