Completely agree with you right up until this point:
This is partially true, although the pc is perfectly capable of delivering the audio format to the DAC it is not without its compromises (unless you build an audio pc and use selected parts mainly focused on delivering a clean as possible audio signal).
I have performed quite some testing regarding computer audio, and for me personally, a NUC/Mac or other basic computing device will not be up to par compared to a decent network streamer. To my ears something accessible like a Bluesound Node will vastly outperform a direct connected NUC or Mac.
I didnât want to turn a brief high level point into a 10 page essay.
I think it depends on your dac and their implementation of their electronics.
If you have a standard pc with a great dac thatâs built well, the clocking will make sure the signal it gets is good enough.
Another problem is usb and electronic noise. You can use optical to avoid this but I prefer usb because it will change sample rate natively when an app needs to rather than upscale to the bitrate etc applied on your optical out.
So you really need a dac with top galvanic isolation to filter the electronic noise from usb.
I can confidently say plugging in my chord 2qute dac sounds identical on any cheap or expensive pc because the dac is designed so well in its own circuitry that it just needs a standard usb signal to work. The supplied usb cable is even just a piece of shit $2 one - clearly rob watts the designer understands far more than anyone on this board About PC connectivity and implementation!
I own the same Chord 2Qute DAC and couldnât disagree more. Connecting a poorly designed audio computer (like a NUC) through the USB interface is IMO a last resort kind of choise. When comparing such a setup (PC to DAC) with my current setup (network streamer to DAC) the soundstage gets a real blow, the fine timbre of wooden instruments is severely damaged and the PRAT is simply not as enjoyable. These are just some of the problems I experience.
The same Rob Watts also stated itâs a waste to upgrade the supplied wall wart with a LPS. Not really a guy I thrust on his word (his marketing jibberish that is) as a LPS opens up the 2Qute in such an impressive way.
What is so disturbing to me about the original sales proposition (upgrade your SATA cables to improve sound quality) is that the SATA cables donât really play any part in the audio data chain because the audio going to the DAC isnât coming off the hard drive. The audio to the DAC is being fetched from RAM, it just happened to have already been deposited there when, a very, very long time ago (in computer terms), the operating system responded to an earlier request to fetch the next 4KB or whatever of data from an audio file and deposit it into RAM so that it was ready for the playback software to pick it out of there to transmit to the DAC when the time came. Discussions about jitter or any other timing or data integrity issues (data off the drives are check-summed and read errors detected) become totally meaningless in this context.
An analogy to illustrate the absurdity of the proposition might be someone who plays their music from physical CDs that they play on a CD transport. Thinking the quality of the SATA cables effects quality due to better timing or signal path characteristics is about as crazy as that CD user deciding to change the courier company that they use to get their CDs delivered from the mail order company that they buy their music from because theyâve done an A-B comparison between the same version of a CD delivered by UPS and by FedEx and have decided that the ones delivered by FedEx sound better!
The other courier company might specialize in transporting CDs and have all their packages blessed by a himalayan shaman which could make all the difference
Given how reading a red book CD stores audio data as compared to how a normal data CD stores data, improving CD transport cables could have merit.
The problem with audio CDs compared to data CDs (I understand them) is the synchronisation headers used to partition data and provide error detection/correction are not present to the same extent and instead contain audio data. I suggest a read of the description of how CD Paranoia works (used in ROCK for ripping) to more fully understand this for those who may be interested.
Siegfried would tell you not to waste money on cables, speaker cables in particular. I have 4 of his designs built and running. Good cables yes and appropriate for the task at hand, but silly money on cables was something he never agreed with as far as I recall. Well made and terminated doesnât not have to mean expensive. I make all my own cables and care to assembly and good connectors and wires is needed, but that doesnât mean spending hundreds per meter.
Hmm, I am not sure that galvanic isolation filters out electronic noise that is already there. It just makes sure that the device doesnât add any of its own.
I think you are correct, which is why I also believe there is no such thing as regenerating or repairing noise from USB signals. A good hifi system should absolutely minimize the noise that can be introduced to the USB signal.
There are motherboards which can be set to power-off USB connections, which goes a long way towards not introducing crap into the signal from the start.
The purpose of attractive SATA cables is to improve the visual appeal of a computerâs internals, as viewed through the see-through side of a gamerâs tower PC. This corresponds to an audiophileâs desire to use expensive interconnects and speaker cables, very often to improve the visual appeal of their rack of components. Both gamerâs and audio enthusiasts tinker with these bits after buying the bigger things (because what else woud you spend money on? Surely not music).
The difference between a PC gaming enthusiast who seeks to extract every last bit of MHz out of their system and an audiophile is that the gamer would never be so credulous as to think the SATA cable is making any bit of difference apart from aesthetics.
if all kinds of computer cables that transfer data digitally would be such a source of failure, how in the world could our digital world work? no money transfer would be correct, downloaded pictured would be scrambled, e-mails would be unreadable textâŚ
If sata cables and the sata protocol would be that bad designed how in the world could a computer boot up every time and not every 100th time
The reasoning behind âLooking into upgrading SATA cablesâ was that I thought that maybe a so-called better shielded cable may help to reduce the pick up of any potential electrical noise, have more robust connections or offer a higher integrity of data transfer. CD players have oversampling, why is this needed if everything is perfect in the data chain, doesnât oversampling check and correct any errors? We have all sorts of data checking and correction, we can have routers, switches, DACâs , Master clocks re-clocking everything. Why is all this needed if everything is perfect from the start. Why isnât it sufficient that data gets clocked once only in a quality DAC. We have bit perfect software programs, shouldnât this be normal and not seen or advertised as a premium. Everything may all work but maybe it can be improved all along the audio chain by keeping out electrical noise, minimising data errors and minimising jitter. Will a song still play fine with 1, 10, 100, 1000 bits of data incorrect? will it get corrected automatically by software interpolating whatâs missing. Doesnât digital equipment in general add missing data when required up to a point so the equipment will work reliably and while keeping its performance to a high level but maybe not at its highest level at all times.
My thinking maybe totally wrong but I thought it was worth looking into.
I originally came across a forum where a lot of people had bought these cables and some paid a considerable amount of money. Maybe they have all been had, maybe they donât care or realise it. They were all HiFi enthusiasts. As long as they are happy and there have been no negative impacts its everyoneâs own choice after all.
I will continue exploring ways to get data both streamed and from a SSD to my DAC at the highest quality and in the most reliable way within my budget.
If you want to eliminate noise, then go fiber and get a DAC which has a fiber input. Like a Lumin X1. No noise (from any source) gets transmitted. Done. No need to worry about audiophile switches, power supplies, etc etc etc.
