I used to think the DAC was 90% of the sound. This sub-$300 DIY project proved me wrong

Tinkering
339

Hi folks,

I think we have reached the point of diminishing returns on the theoretical debate here.

To @nquery and others pointing out the contradiction regarding jitter: You are right to call that out. In my attempt to explain the fragility of digital-as-analog, I used “jitter” as a catch-all term for timing uncertainty, which muddied the waters. To be clear: I agree that digital audio jitter is a solved problem in modern Asynchronous USB. My hypothesis remains focused on System/Ground Plane Noise modulating the operating environment of the DAC, but I accept that my previous post conflated those concepts. Thank you for the correction.

The State of Play

We now have two very different worldviews operating in this thread:

  1. The Objectivist View: If standard measurements (SINAD, Voltage Ripple) don’t show a change, the audible difference does not exist or is placebo.

  2. The Tinkerer View: If multiple experienced listeners consistently hear a durable improvement that correlates with architectural changes, there is likely a physical mechanism at play that we haven’t found the right way to measure yet.

Neither side is going to convince the other today. And frankly, endless debating of theoretical physics and USB specs is drifting far away from the purpose of this thread.

So, let’s do this:

  • If you want to explore measurements, null tests, and the validity of subjective listening: Please head over to @Marian’s excellent Diretta Measurements thread. That is the perfect venue for that rigorous analysis, and I genuinely look forward to what is discovered there.
  • If you are building this project, stuck on a configuration step, or want to share your listening notes: You are in the right place!

I created this thread to help people build a sub-$300 transport that makes Roon fun again. I’m going to get back to doing exactly that.

To the builders: How are your Diretta kit builds coming along? There’s a new 1 GB RPi5 board that will be available soon in the US for $45. I think it would make a great Target and may even be adequate for the Host now that we have a way to disable Energy Efficient Ethernet (EEE).

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