So…again; it’s not like it’s horrible…by a long shot. Just looking for the right mate, and…now…will allow plenty of time, for burn-in (though I have mixed feelings on the subject; but that’s a discussion for another time).
I will say this: might as well get on, with the getting on. That is…getting switched over, to the Media Bridge.
I don’t imagine, I’ll get an answer on such a thing here; but, with deciding on JRiver (for now)…I was hoping to run it, right from my NAS (unRAID). Anyone doing that…via “Docker”?
I understand that. I bought a demo DSJr unit from Audio Advisor and it had an issue, so I ended up sending it back for a new one; so it took a bit longer to get up and running. Bright side was Audio Advisor sold me a new one at a fair discount, which was only slightly ($60) more than the demo price.
Ted - just a thought about passive preamps and DS / DSj, how about a stereo pot/stepped attenuator (lets just play with the unbalanced outs here), say 100 ohms (but probably less) simply acting as a variable short to ground ?
Same principle as the DS attenuator, but variable.
Set the DS to 100% and use the pot between DS and power amp for the volume.
You have said yourself that the DS can stand short to ground so it should not be a problem, right ?
Also, the output impedance of this arrangement should not be a problem either, no impact on the upper registers when set low.
With that being said, this will fail if a variable load on the outputs has an impact on the DS sonic character.
And now I realize this post would have been put in DIY, sorry for that !
Anyway, I am a bit tempted to try this out myself
The resistor values won’t be obvious and they’ll have to be reasonably precise (0.1% or better or at least matched left to right at each value to approx. 0.1%)
All in all you’ll most certainly get better quality if you simply use 1 (for unbalanced or 2 for balanced) resistor per channel to match the output gain of the DS to the rest of your system. You’d want to make sure you could get loud enough without hiss and then the DS’s volume will be more artifact free than a stepped attenuator (no contact issues, etc.)
Interesting. I just had to send my brand new DSJ back because of an issue too. The remote volume control would intermittently revert back to 1 or jump up twelve ticks all at once, etc.
It would play for about 15-20 minutes from being off (not standby but cold). When it got warmed up, it ran very hot (and they run hot normally) it quit time after time. After a couple of days I gave up on it.
My salesman at Audio Advisor gave me the option to have it (the demo unit) repaired or to send it back, and pay a touch extra for a new one.
Easy decision on that…no issues with this one thus far…had it about 2 months…
Thanks Ted - anyway, my point is ; how many preamps / DACs can actually be level controlled just by simply loading the output in this way with no sonic degredation (all other things being perfect) as I understand it.
Truly amazing, hats off. From a technical point of wiew that is really something special, I have never heard of anything like it.
Is there really no impact “upstream” in the DS circuitry when forcing on the outputs close to ground ?
The energy must be dissipated somewhere ?
That’s one advantage of an output transformer. The passive output filtering provides a well defined output impedance and any outboard shunt resistor to ground will then make a voltage divider. Since there’s some passive resistance between the final voltage sources and the output they just have to be big enough to dissipate the current if the output is shorted (two eight watt resistors on each arm do it without getting warm.) Also since there are four digital switches in parallel for each output, they each take only a fourth of the output load.
When we were thinking about how to implement the optional 20dB attenuator we didn’t want any relay contacts, etc. in the direct signal path whenever possible. Having a relay controlled shunt to ground seemed like the cleanest solution. I chose the attenuator and mute relays based on the reliability of their contacts and have been happy with the results.
Guys…you know of my quest; to “warm-up” the DsJ a bit. And I’ve mentioned my love, of class-A. But the best of them, made in recent times…are out of budget.
It’s got me looking, at monsters of yore; Krell, Plinius…lol. Like a KSA-50S, or SA-model Plinius.
I’m also looking, at a BAT VK-55. Presumably, you guys have experience…with the DsJ and different power-amps.
Just want to update everyone on the status of my DSJ. So I have it for a week now and have put 100 hours on it. On the first days, the unit just sounded awful - narrow sound stage and high sibilant. Right now the sound stage has improving but still not at the level I’m expecting. The sibilant is still there. Heat is no issue - it runs warm but not hot.
Perhaps I got a unit that requires lots of burn-in time. Will give it another 7 days and see.
Mine sounded very disappointing during the first 24 hours too. After that it quickly emerged into the best sound I’ve ever had going on in my listening room. There was another noticeable jump up in sound quality at about 10-12 days out.
I think I’m getting, that 10-12 day jump…lol; and I’m a guy, who rarely…acknowledges “run-in”.
What I’m noticing…is just a smoothing out, of presentation; ALL the detail, ZERO hash…and just a lovely musicality. And…the sound-stage seeming to w i d e n.
Hey…can someone give me a quickie, on how to get DSD working through JRiver?
Thanks; but that’s either too old…or I’m set-up wrong elsewhere, to make much sense of that.
Do I want to configure Zone ‘player’ or ‘DSjr DAC’? I know that seems obvious; but choosing DsJ, takes things in that whole other direction…from this tutorial.
I am using both sources - the bridge is connected to my Eero wireless router and the USB is connected to Aurender music server. I used MConnect to stream Tidal and Spotify. I also connected my Fiio X7 music player to the coaxial input. The sibilant is all there but less on Tidal and Spotify. My cables are Wireworld and Cardas (they are either neutral or on the warm side).
I have to say there were too many changes happened in my system all at once - new tubes in the BHK preamp, new PSA Dectet power strip, new power cords, etc. Now I’m trying to revert some to see what else is contributing to the sibilant. Fun, fun, fun.
If anyone can think of anything else I can try, please let me know.
I don’t have a DS but when I first hooked up my Ultrarendu to my SGCD I went straight from cable router and noticed a ton of high frequency emphasis. Most likely it as a ground loop and high frequency noise.
Not only does the clock inside the router/switch matter, the power supply also matters a bit.
