Usb be spdif on Blu2 and Chord Dave
Posted by: analogmusic on 05 December 2018
did a test this weekend on an Auralic Aries streamer with its USB vs SPDIF on a blu2/Dave Dac
The SPDIF sounded much better, less glare on vocals and more musical too.
quite strange as it’s not even the USB input on the Dave that was used it was the one in Blu2 upscsler
the aries has a linear power supply
I’m somewhat surprised as I thought the USB should be better....?
I think USB has more RF noise,I will demo the Mscaler TT2 in the new year,Fed SPDIF from my Core.How did it sound anyway?
Hmmm the blu2 mscaler enhances the already good Dave. There more resolution and more music extracted.
best performance comes from the blu2 CD player but from the Coax I’ve heard a different sound each time a different streamer was used. Can’t say now which is best... tried Naim HDX linn Majik and AURALiC Aries... to my ears the Auralic and linn were very close. The HDX sounded different to both. Strange... I didn’t expect this. These aren’t small differences but clear ones.
And in the case of the Auralic, different from coax vs USB output with coax a clear winner compared to USB.
Naim's preferred digital connection has always been coaxial SPDIF, and the only digital cable they make is coax, which might tell you something.
I had a similar experience during an extended home test of the Blu II. Best quality was CD replay, then close second was via SPDIF (NDS spdif out to BLU) and third (easy to hear the difference) was via USB Melco to BLU. As I understand it, the BLU USB socket is not isolated which probably explains the result.
From reading the various Chord forums,as I understand it,the CD replay out of the Blu2 is the best sound you can get out of the Blu2/Dave.If other inputs do not sound as good,there must be noise/RF on that input.The solution is usually ferrites,with the Blu2.The Mscaler is supposed to have better isolation than the Blu2,plus it does not have the CD option...at half the cost.Do you plan on buying an Mscaler Analog?
Chrissw19 posted:I had a similar experience during an extended home test of the Blu II. Best quality was CD replay, then close second was via SPDIF (NDS spdif out to BLU) and third (easy to hear the difference) was via USB Melco to BLU. As I understand it, the BLU USB socket is not isolated which probably explains the result.
Indeed it is easy to hear the difference.
I know a number of people use a Gustard U12 on this forum, maybe that's worth looking into? It has optical output as well as AES/EBU which looks interesting to try into Dave.
No quarter posted:From reading the various Chord forums,as I understand it,the CD replay out of the Blu2 is the best sound you can get out of the Blu2/Dave.If other inputs do not sound as good,there must be noise/RF on that input.The solution is usually ferrites,with the Blu2.The Mscaler is supposed to have better isolation than the Blu2,plus it does not have the CD option...at half the cost.Do you plan on buying an Mscaler Analog?
Yes, once I have sorted out the front end streaming (SPDIF) to Dave (which will then also be the source to the Mscaler eventually).
Ndx2 maybe...
Yes maybe, but it is very expensive as a streamer only..... I think of the NDX2 as a complete solution.
No quarter posted:From reading the various Chord forums,as I understand it,the CD replay out of the Blu2 is the best sound you can get out of the Blu2/Dave.If other inputs do not sound as good,there must be noise/RF on that input.The solution is usually ferrites,with the Blu2.The Mscaler is supposed to have better isolation than the Blu2,plus it does not have the CD option...at half the cost.Do you plan on buying an Mscaler Analog?
I can't comment on other people's experiences, but the USB output from a Melco into Blu2 then on to DAVE sounded better than the Blu2's CD player. I may well end up with the upscaler (I've no need for a CD player, & it may well be that without the extra circuitry the former will sound better anyway), and will use Melco USB into iFi USB3 isolator to feed it.