There seems to be a lot of different technologies/products on the market currently to address the USB connection. What are your experiences and what do you recommend? ATM I do most of my listening with Tidal/Spotify using their respective desktop apps on my Windows 10 computer. I am listening with a Wywires Silver USB cable direct from a USB port on my computer to my Directstream Snr. I use this connection a lot and am looking for advice on how to best “optimize” it for the highest SQ. I have bridge I and have been looking at Bridge II but must confess that I am not sure about spending money on it since there is already talk of a bridge III. Another way to ask this question would be what is the best way (SQ wise) to stream Tidal/Spotify to the DSD? Reclockers, Lanrover, USB regenerator. What do you folks think? I don’t want to spend an arm and a leg if I don’t have to. That being said SQ is very important to me.
I’m a Bridge 2 user myself so I will defer to others on USB but the “talk of bridge III” is currently just wishful thinking on the part of some members. Paul has said that there may be one someday but it is not currently in development.
I like my LANRover it improved SQ with my microRendu/LPS-1 USB into my Yggy DAC, which was already quite good, but of course this doesn’t mean you might prefer the DS/bridge. I believe there is a 30 day return if you don’t like the LR.
rogerdn said
I like my LANRover it improved SQ with my microRendu/LPS-1 USB into my Yggy DAC, which was already quite good, but of course this doesn't mean you might prefer the DS/bridge. I believe there is a 30 day return if you don't like the LR.
+1 LANRover is a great addition. I use my USB chain forward and back from Mac Mini to DS Sr and from NPC to Mac. To give you an idea of how good this chain is, I record vinyl in DSD 128 and honestly have a hard time telling the difference between vinyl and the DSD rip. That says a lot, IMO. Before LR, I could more tell much more readily. The LR has gotten rid of a lot of faint mid level distortion/noise I was getting without it.
When we beta tested the LanRover, it seemed that those using the Directstream dacs, all reported positive results.
It makes sense, it was most likely optimized with a DSD. As someone said there is 30 day trial. To save some money, ask if they have any b-stock units available.
There are devices similar to the LR for about half the price (and which preceded it, and use similar casework…). Then the addition of a linear power supply helps either device. I had problems with the LR working with my preferred setup, and none with the cheaper unit.
It actually cleans up what I had thought to be a “bits are bits” chain. I came to realize in the process, that USB is the worst way to get audio to a device. Loaded with noise and timing errors, which you don’t necessarily know are there until they’re gone - or you compare the same source coming from something like the DMP.
One of the most important things to do is to galvanically isolate USB from power, which is what the USB to CAT5 boxes are doing. It was a far more dramatic improvement than the Disruptor, Regen or the AQ thingies.
So saying it’s an “improvement” is both an understatement and a bit of misdirection. It’s actually noticeably “less bad” than a single USB cable, despite requiring two USB cables, two boxes and an ethernet cable. Counter intuitive and anti-minimalist-audiophile. And yes, the cables you use are audibly different, to the extent that your system resolves that sort of thing. Plus the linear power supply vs. the wall wart.
Sorry - to answer your question, it sounded cleaner, quieter, more dynamic, better transient response and may also affect FR.
One thing I forgot to relay that is actually an advantage for USB over Bridge is it’s ability to transmit double DSD, which the Bridge II cannot. At least not yet, anyway. I have recorded a ton of my vinyl collection into DSD 128 (to reduce wear and tear and for convenience purposes) and don’t want to down convert it to DSD 64. It’s more of a laziness thing than a SQ thing, honestly since DSD 64 and 128 both sound identical to me. At least vinyl rips do. I haven’t compared other digital files.
How does the Lanrover compare SQ wise with the Bridge II? Anyone heard both? How stable are they? Are they Plug and Play pretty much or is there a lot of futzing around to be done? Does the Lan rover have the same capabilities so far as what resolution files it can handle as the Bridge? Sorry for so many questions Thanks a lot for your input thus far.
Run mine with a microRendu and was easy to set up and has had zero dropouts in the months I’ve had it. But as I said earlier could never get my Win 10 laptop to connect, believe a few others have had this too, 7 was ok.
It worked fine with Windows 10, using JRiver, into a Benchmark Dac2.
For me it did nothing, but Benchmark has a very good usb input. They will tell you that add ons will not offer improvement.
I’m now using a Lindemann 825 and I have sometimes wondered if the LanRover would have performed differently in that set up. Although using a Jitterbug and AQ cable, I get very good digital audio, actually I get excellent sound through all of it’s inputs.
I mentioned the LanRover because, as I said the best results were into DSDs.
Thanks a lot for your input thus far.