Sibilance

I thought I would post this as I have been wrestling with this issue for about a year, and today I solved it. I had looked at an array of potential solutions, including: Cables; PSUs; DACs etc.

In general the issue i was noting was:

>Small number of tracks/albums with hard sibilants (e.g. Tarzan)
>Cymbals being splashy & hard
>General feeling of edge

The changes I was making were increasing transparency & detail, and reduced the sibilance, but they were not hitting the nail squarely on the head.

I noted that by simply disconnecting my spdif that connected my Singxer-F1 to my DAC I was addressing some sharpness in my sound, this would then return some time later. This was repeatable.

I then bought an Uptone LPS-1 PSU for my microRendu and got a high pitched warbling wail through my speakers. I had a line isolator between my DAC & pre-amp. I speculate that I had closed off my earthing route and hence the delightful noise, removing the isolator solved the issue.

Drawing together the observations above, and above all the removal of sharpness when I disconnected and reconnected the spdif between F1 and DAC I did the following:

1. Routed all my mains cables ensuring none ran alongside signal cables - just crossed perpendicularly where necessary;
2. Ran an earthing cable from my DAC to my pre-amp;
3. Ran an earthing cable from my F1 to my pre-amp.

Result: Sharpness gone.

Overall a layer of hash has gone. Bass lines that were difficult to follow are far easier to track. Sharp cymbals now ring naturally. Some lyrics are clearer ...etc.

Don't get me wrong. This isn't a Damascene conversion, my system has been getting better and more transparent over the last year already, but this is a definite very nice result; and not on all recordings, some just have issues.

My test problem files are generally now all OK. My worst offender, Phil Collins  - Son of Man, is now listenable!

All for two lengths of wire, four connectors and a bit of wire reorganisation.

I know some others have been wrestling with this issue. I doubt it is some form of universal panacea but it has solved the issue for me.

M