That would be my reading of the comment as well, and it does so in fairly dismissive manner.
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Yes, I explained it was a wrong link and corrected it since.
It was an interesting point they made all the same. I only have one more comment.
Perhaps it’s more to do with marketing and folks general love of big numbers.
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I’ll just ask again. How does this all relate to software. The whole discussion is suddenly about nyquist frequencies, implulse localisation, usb protocols, usb cables, galvanic isolation, temporal precision, cable length, cd playback jitter etc etc. I’ll ask just once more. What has all this got to do with software?
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I am not a fan of the aesthetics and UI of 1.8 and miss 1.7 greatly, but I concur that is sounds better. I have been using quite a bit of DSP lately, so that might be a reason I am hearing an improvement.
Agree. This thread got derailed lately. It was/is supposed to be about perceived SQ changes relating to 1.8. That’s it
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Here’s something I found out today. I was working at my desktop PC, which is an endpoint, and 2 of my zones had the “Exclusive mode” setting turned off after migration to 1.8, something I had not double checked. I’m not claiming that I heard a sonic difference since I was listening out of the crappy computer speakers. I just saw the sound quality icon which was the green dot instead of the usual purple star, and that prompted me to check the settings.
I wonder if this couldn’t be a factor for some of the people on this thread that have heard a difference. Double check all your zone settings just in case…
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Yes, I thought that was fairly well understood already. Buffers exist on both sides, and data is clocked out of them.
The interesting part about USB versus S/PDIF is that USB actually consists of many virtual ‘pipes’ or connections over the single wire, some of which can be bi-directional, while S/PDIF is a single unidirectional connection.
More frames per second (they’re not shorter, they’re more frequent) need different electrical arrangement for signalling. But that’s also irrelevant.
Software don’t affect jitter, at least not directly. However, it does affect how much CPU is used, number of cache-misses, how much virtual memory is used, etc. All these activities generates electronic noise, which in some setups can affect the sound quality (for example, a Nucleus or NUC with a DAC connected directly to USB will be affected).
And electronic noise that reaches the DAC will increase clock jitter since the oscillator becomes less accurate. So in a roundabout way software can affect jitter.
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I have to apologise to the participants of this thread for derailing it on my personal quest to finally get to grips with the ubiquitous terms ‘blacker background’ and ‘less noise’ in the absence of quantifiable audible hiss and grunge.
Decades ago, Stereophile offered a vocabulary to set a common ground on trying to describe the sound of gear - these terms weren’t on the list IIRC.
Best wishes,
Marin
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Good info, thanks!
I guess I would not be the only one interested by having some links on vendors…
I have the same problem with my Antipodes S30… I now use Squeeze waiting for a v1.7 or an update
Same problem with my Antipodes S30!
Marin, I must admit I have read Stereophile articles many times and never came across that such a list of vocabulary had been explicitly designed and proposed. So I am interested and think your suggestion to adopt it is probably a very good suggestion!
Like so many times, relevant information is a needle in a haystack. Would you please be as kind as to share the vocabulary list and its description within this thread ?
Best regards,
Christian
PS: Also many thanks to Magnus for his very clear explanation on how software can, indirectly but effectively, affect jitter. A needed explanation indeed!
I’d love to, but need to dig online, not knowing if that’s still available…
Agree on your SQ description. Not hating the new version. Kind of cool looking and it’s all about listening anyway.
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Here you go.
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I just listened to the same track from Qobuz and Tidal.
Within Roon and directly through my LUMIN D2.
Doesn’t matter which way I play it it sounds the same just like it did on 1.7.
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I will try to explain how I understand this.
Any listening room has its own background noise. With an insufficient black level during playback, there is a feeling that the musicians are crowding in the space of the room, among the heap of equipment.
That is, as if they were recorded in your room.
Or in other words, the studio background in the recording is not able to surpass the background of your room and therefore the studio background is not audible.
With enough black, the speakers show a different space, namely the space in the room where the recording was made. And it feels like a dark room (as if the lights were turned off behind the speakers).
Now the musicians are not sitting on your equipment, but are in a separate room, which suddenly opened up in front of you.
As I understand it, this black background is low-level noise. But it doesn’t look like a hiss. On the contrary, it looks like a transparent dark space.
At a moderate black level, this sounds very interesting by ear. At an excessive level of black, this noise absorbs quiet musical information.
I don’t yet understand how useful this black level is. And how to determine the line between sufficient and excess levels.
It is very difficult to describe the sensations in words for people who have not experienced it. There is always a risk of being misunderstood.
Sorry for my bad english.
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