I’m in!
One issue Galen did not mention was to differentiate between TCP and UDP. It is only TCP that does error checking. UDP is sent as unicast or multicast and normally the control signals are sent this way and the music as TCP, so I guess what he says about CRC, packet drop and similar still counts.
One other thing that strikes me when discussing noise floor was that according to my understanding the amplitude of the music signal is coded digitally within the telegrams sent. I also thought that the voltage level of the ISO layer 2 was relatively constant. If I understood what he was saying he claims that the voltage level may sometimes drop below the NIC noise floor and that cat.7 cables with individual TSP may remedy this to a certain point.
He’s just putting forward some of the basics of digital transmission for me (us) and musing over where improvements might be made. He hasn’t really looked at the down and dirty details of audio in digital terms yet. From what I know of Galen, though, if he does take this on the design will be based on what he hears. He makes no bones about it, if you aren’t going to listen you might as well not do it.
But in general we don’t get errors over AES/EBU, S/PDIF, TOSLink, USB, I2S or Ethernet in digital audio so whether or not error checking is involved isn’t as important as one might think in sound quality - in fact you’ll get less jitter, etc. if there are no retransmissions 
Low levels do add to jitter since it’s not as obvious when a signal transitions from 0 to 1, etc.
With the DS jitter isn’t really a problem, but all of the other things he talks about having to do with ground loops, common mode noise rejection, RFI, reflections in the cable etc. are important whether you are talking digital interconnects, analog interconnects, speaker wires, power cords, etc.
Yup. He referred to this as “journeyman” info! It was more “revelatory” for me, a bear of very little brain.
Pooh!
Ted Smith said Low levels do add to jitter since it's not as obvious when a signal transitions from 0 to 1, etcDoes a lower slew rate (less square) similarly contribute to jitter?
Yep:
High slew rates ==> less jitter, more RFI
Low slew rates ==> more jitter, less RFI
A good solution is using differential pairs, aka balanced lines, they lessen both jitter and rfi, but they allow much faster slew rates without nearly as much RFI.
In the diagram below the light blue is the ideal and the various noises move the time from the ideal. Obviously a shallower rise exacerbates any of these problems.
I had not thought of RFI created by the transmission itself.
Thanks, Ted
EMC always addresses two components, Emission and Immunity.
It’s all Norwegian to me.
Paul McGowan said It really depends on a number of factors but in general, I prefer the sound of the network connection to the sound of the USB - but only by a little and it really depends on the USB cable. Lots of variables. For my own setup I use both: USB and network. I mostly use USB because I have a Mac Mini tied into the DS through USB that allows me to use iTunes as the interface on my iPad mini. Being lazy and a sucker for Apple interfaces, the ease of use of the iTunes interface outweighs the small difference in sound quality between the two. So mostly, that's what I do.Your mileage may vary.
I experience a better sound quality with USB Wireworld Platinum with Jriver (bit perfect) vs Bridge I on the DS, when it was the opposite with my PWII. Do you use Bridge II, or what you experience Paul is with Bridge I ?
This was with 1.2.1, I haven’t tried any comparison again with PP …
Thank you
Yes I have been using a ww cable exclusively since testing different brands and types, I would recommend any 1 of their cable’s depending on your price range from the Starlight 7 and up
I recently purchased Lavricables solid silver USB cable on Audiogon. It is very reasonably priced ,works with the DS DAC & considering the SQ it is a steal for the money. I purchased the 2 headed cable.
Another USB cable that seems to work well with the DirectStream is the Cabledyne Reference Silver. I find it quite neutral across the frequency range and nicely detailed. I can now hear/see why the USB connection is so popular with this DAC.
harbapapa saidAudioquest Coffee: Doesn’t work with DS, Generated pop’s. I don’t know reason. May be system dependent.
Audio quest Coffee does work for me, with DS and also with Sprout.
No pops of note. Tremendous improvement over standard computer cable. More experimentation to follow, with less expensive cables or with any I can find here which have been regularly cited as “excellent”.
Used the Audioquest Coffee Usb for two months on the DSD with no problem other than a bit of brightness with high key upper mids and highs which were eliminated when I switched to the Light Harmonics Lightspeed Usb. Several members have cited the cost of the Lightspeed ($800) as prohibitive, although I have to say that the Lightspeed’s effect on the DSD’s SQ was equal to that of the Pikes Peak OS upgrade in my system if not more. I also changed the DSD’s Power cord to Analysis Plus Power Oval 10 which also seems to have synergy with the DSD. The more expensive AP2 power cord was not a good match, nor was the Emerald Physics Conductor power cord both of which performed better powering amps.
Interconnect upgrades (MIT 36HD), (AP Crystal) pushed the SQ even further, and I am talking much much further to the point where it’s a bit hard to comprehend how good this DSD machine can sound when finessed with new cables. Many will offer that SQ is system dependent and but of course it is, and what a joy to hear how well this DSD can perform with the WW Starlight, LH Lightspeed, Mapleshade, JCat, AQDiamond, etc! I and a few others here have gone from the family RCA Victrola spinning 78rpm all the way to DSD… and I for one do not take that for granted. Installing a new stylus for the “Vic” put a smile on my dad’s face in just about the same way i feel today auditioning a new usb, and that’s the joy we all share to this day.
J1Hampton said Used the Audioquest Coffee Usb for two months on the DSD with no problem other than a bit of brightness with high key upper mids and highs which were eliminated when I switched to the Light Harmonics Lightspeed Usb. Several members have cited the cost of the Lightspeed ($800) as prohibitive, although I have to say that the Lightspeed's effect on the DSD's SQ was equal to that of the Pikes Peak OS upgrade in my system if not more. I also changed the DSD's Power cord to Analysis Plus Power Oval 10 which also seems to have synergy with the DSD. The more expensive AP2 power cord was not a good match, nor was the Emerald Physics Conductor power cord both of which performed better powering amps.Interconnect upgrades (MIT 36HD), (AP Crystal) pushed the SQ even further, and I am talking much much further to the point where it’s a bit hard to comprehend how good this DSD machine can sound when finessed with new cables. Many will offer that SQ is system dependent and but of course it is, and what a joy to hear how well this DSD can perform with the WW Starlight, LH Lightspeed, Mapleshade, JCat, AQDiamond, etc! I and a few others here have gone from the family RCA Victrola spinning 78rpm all the way to DSD… and I for one do not take that for granted. Installing a new stylus for the “Vic” put a smile on my dad’s face in just about the same way i feel today auditioning a new usb, and that’s the joy we all share to this day.
Nice analysis, thank you. All of us try different combinations and we obviously can’t even hit some, much less all. So your impressions are valuable to me. Thank you.
I’m a fan of at least trying the Belkin Gold. At $10 you can easily overlook the cost if you don’t like it. I find it to be on the warm side and pleasant but USB is not my primary input.
lwin1949 said I recently purchased Lavricables solid silver USB cable on Audiogon. It is very reasonably priced ,works with the DS DAC & considering the SQ it is a steal for the money. I purchased the 2 headed cable.I have also purchased a USB cable from Konstantin at Lavri cables. He builds a very fine cable and is a pleasure to deal with. Great communication and fast shipping. I only have a cheap computer USB cable to compare to, but the Lavri Cable is a big step-up from that! I have coming, a used Light Harmonic Lightspeed cable, double headed version for audition. It will be interesting to make the comparisons. I'm using a Aurallic Aries with my DS.
I just hooked up Shunyata’s latest Venom USB cable to my DS a while back and it works well, without any issues. It’s performance equals a much more expensive Chord Signature Tuned Array USB I auditioned a while back. Given the Venom’s relatively moderate price, I’d recommend it for anyone’s audition list. Needs standard week or two break-in before optimal performance.