savoy014

Introduction Sound Affairs has expanded it's Plixir line to linclude high-end interconnects and power cables. You may want to have a look at my earlier post on the Plixir Elementa power cord. I took a look recently at the Signature Interconnect, which sits above the entry-level model, Elementa. Description The Plixir Signature Interconnect is finished in a pale blue jacket and is available in both RCA and XLR versions. The cable utilises Ohno Continuous Cast (OCC) copper conductors arranged in a star quad geometry, and is shielded. The cable is marked for signal direction. While I did not try to use the cable the "wrong" way around, the braided shield is tied at the source end only and should sound different hooked up both ways. The RCA version I had on hand was terminated with DH Labs RCA plugs. The cables are quite flexible and unable to suspend light components in the air, unlike some of it's competitors. The plugs lack jaws of death required to rip out your RCA s...

Introduction Linnenberg is not a name that is familiar to me. Yet, the company has been around for more than 20 years, manufacturing their equipment wholly in Germany (a rarity in today's world of outsourced production). The product lineup is modest, with a headamp, DAC, DAC / headamp and linear power supply. Description The Vivace DAC is a half-width component which is modest only in size and weight. The heart of the Vivace is the ESS 9018 Sabre DAC chip. Other noteworthy features include a femto master clock (82 femto seconds of jitter), a galvanically isolated USB circuit and a S/PDIF jitter reduction circuit. Passive I/V conversion is done using a zero feedback circuit utilising precision resistors and an ultra low noise transistor. The Vivace has two coaxial inputs and an asynchronous USB input. The coaxial inputs are limited to a maximum of 192 kHz sampling rate, while the USB input accepts all sampling frequencies up to 384 kHz. Both DSD64 and DSD128 are supported. The analo...

Introduction I had the Lumin D1 on loan from a kind friend for a week. I walked away with a very good impression of the D1, especially for it's price tag (about S$ 2,000). The D1 is an affordable music streamer that can either stream from a NAS, or removable USB storage. An onboard DAC makes this a one-box solution unlike it's competitors from Aurender and Auralic. Description Control is via Lumin's iPad app. At time of writing, official versions for other platforms were not available.  Compared to Lumin's more expensive models, the D1 omits battleship construction, and utilises a single circuit board housed in a more compact chasis. You still get dual Wolfson WM8741 DAC chips and balanced outputs though.  A switched mode power supply is provided.  However, my friend had purchased a balanced DC power supply from Sound Affairs, and I used that during the time I had the D1. Looking at pictures of the internal layout of the D1, the analog circuit omits the Lundahl output t...

Introduction USB isn't always what it is cracked up to be. Not too long ago, asynchronous mode USB audio seemed to be the perfect solution for all problems in audiophile life. The problem is that the quality of implementation varied tremendously. Some DACs pulled it off really well, while some were just underwhelming compared to their SPDIF inputs.  Anyway, you can never keep a good audiophile down, and many resorted to offboard USB to SPDIF convertors to save the day. In fact, you will find numerous threads debating on the sonic differences between the various devices on the market. Let's throw another device into the fray. Description The UpTone Audio USB REGEN is a small nifty device that fits between your computer / streamer and the USB input of your DAC. It combines a USB hub chip with an ultra-low noise regulator and low-jitter clock to regenerate your data signal.  Instead of drawing on the voltage of your PC / streamer, it takes the power from an external power supply ...

Introduction Entreq of Sweden has been busy over the last few years, with the release of a number of new ground boxes, and add-on devices for existing models too. Please have a look at my earlier post on the Entreq Tellus and Eartha silver cables for more information on how these ground boxes work.  Description The Olympus is the new top of the range of Entreq's mini ground boxes. It is physically larger than the previous mini box range, and the 9 kg weight is quite substantial. This box is definitely more midi than mini. The Olympus has a single silver binding post on the rear and is described by Entreq as being designed to ground preamplifiers and DACs, or as a ground for their cables and AC conditioners. The wooden feet appear to be a new design, and are nice oval wood discs compared to the very basic feet on my Tellus. Sound Quality I tried the Olympus is a variety of locations.  I first  tried it attached to the grounding post of my Gryphon Diablo integrated amplifi...