I see, so you mean processor noise. In any case, a decent DAC should copy the incoming data to its own (reasonably large) RAM buffer.
Is there any peer-reviewed publications in digital electronics that supports the fact that copying inbound small packets resulting in higher process noise? Or is it just your observation?
There is a white paper yes. A peer reviewed paper no. As there is no peer reviewed paper for DR or in fact most things that come out of the private sector.
Here’s a link to the presentation ITF gave to Japan Audio Society in 2017. スライド 1 (itf.co.jp)
So far Luxman and a few other high end Japanese makers are the only main adopters.
FWIW, ITF are not an audio company at all. They are a small engineering firm and audio was selected use case for their Bulk-Pet protocol.
I don’t think that excessive expenditures of this type are an issue at all as long as one balances personal acquisitions of this sort with some generous charitable donations. I don’t believe you can afford one if you can’t afford the other, and it’s important to assist those who are !ess fortunate.
thanks, but i think it depends on the DAC, some work well with USB async input, some don’t. The Bulk-Pet technique may help, and that remains to be seen.
I tested the linn klimax/dsm3 with hqplayer & usb input, and it sounds pretty good (to my ears). I could have lived with this setup, but the simplicity of wired optical ethernet connection wins.
Drive fast, take chances
Everyone seems to need something to nerd out on, Hifi and Guitars being mine - but I have friends who are classic car guys, or Golfers, or Road bikes, boats whatever - and every hobby has its snake oil and outright f***wittery when it comes to product. I’d never been critical of anyone’s choices it’s all pretty harmless but there is some stuff that makes me cringe… The most expensive audio cable (Jorma - 3.5m speaker cable) on Trade me (which is New Zealand’s eBay) is $50,000 dollars so about the same as a complete 252/supercap/300 set up…
Price is soon forgotten if quality remains! Like many here I don’t tell friends the cost of anything I buy, partly embarrassed and partly I don’t like to talk money!
Gary
I think in general the price of a Chord Music cable is a bit bonkers. I am not denying that cables sound different and I have some experience with Chord Sarum cables. I have formed my own opinion and that is that just because something is different doesn’t mean it must be better. But I have no problems with Chord or anyone buying a Music cable. I am sure the difference it represents is a good one!
What is more bonkers is the price difference of electricity in Norway these days. Where I live, north-west-ish, today we pay 0,0023 euro per kw/h. In Oslo they pay 0,393 euro per kw/h. About 170 times more. And of course, it’s because somebody forgot to upgrade the cables between the north and the south.
One can apply all these metrics to anything. It’s a terrible topic because it all comes down to how much money one has. Money is one of the great social dividers.
In my view the point at which it becomes bonkers is the point where you are spending money and not getting any real benefit from it. That is an intensely personal issue and will therefore vary greatly from person to person.
I recently spent nearly £2000 on three Powerlines. They made a huge improvement to my enjoyment of music. Now that’s £2000 on three mains cables. The average non-hi-fi person would consider me certifiable for spending money like that - even if they could hear the difference. As I said it is a very personal thing and impossible to generalise.
You bought a kettle cord for £600 ?
Would I guess be the average query to a Powerline … a friend of mine knows nothing about Hifi , but he was an engineer at AWRE (making nuclear bombs) and he understood it immediately
He also understood that what I was seeking was a discernible uplift .
On the other hand he has a Mercedes Convertible which I think a complete waste of money , - with his knees and my knees getting into the *****y thing is an exercise in contortion, but he’s happy.
I on the other hand drive a Suzuki Ignis, which reflects my driving needs/aspirations .
And have you seen the Naim Watch thread, why do people spend so much money when a quartz digital watch will tell perfect time ? (My Rolex is upstairs, unused and probably unloved )
Completely true and yet completely subjective. I’ve heard the same argument over and over again over the years even about entry level stuff. “But that 500 quid hifi doesn’t sound any better than my clock radio mate. You’re bonkers. As long as it carries the tune, than anything more and you’ve spent money for nuffink”
It’s all a matter of degrees.
And system to system
Then there is the question as to whether the benefit is real or imaginary …and whether it matters if benefit is real or imaginary - which may depend on available money as well as the psyche of the person.
And also from time to time. In the past I’ve made ‘upgrades’ and then later removed them and thought to myself ‘I really don’t know what it was about that that I thought I liked so much at the time’.
As to real or imaginary, well truth is we will never know. Best leave that can of worms tightly closed!
It is never bonkers to spend your own money on what you personally want, be that unused sports cars collecting dust in a barn, or expensive bits of copper wire dipped in unobtainium. If you like it, for whatever reason unfathomable to others, buy it.
It is bonkers to spend your dependants money on what you want and ignore their needs. So for me I would never have spent the amount I now can while my kids were at home, I could only spend my limited income once. Now with only my wife and myself to support the numbers change. As we both become older those numbers change again.
Also it’s worth remembering that value judgements can change very significantly depending on circumstances. Some years ago my wife and I went through a very bad patch where we struggled to pay regular household bills. In those circumstances anything beyond the most rudimentary music system to me became bonkers. On the other hand we have been at the other end of the scale where we had vastly more money than we needed and in those circumstances one simply buys what one wants without really considering if it’s really ‘worth it’. So yes - it’s all relative and fluid. There really are no rules or guidelines.
It’s worth it if it’s value of you.
You are so right; the world is going the wrong way, with both massive wealth and poverty increasing. With the price of fuel hitting crazy levels, an average price cap of £3,850 expected for January, can anyone justify £4,000 on a single cable? Of course they can if they earn pots of money. A £4,000 cable is the same to one person as a £5 one is to another. Cars, watches, shoes, designer suits, it’s all the same. Is any of it bonkers? Is none of it bonkers? And who makes the judgement?
Well of course we all make the judgement. If one is reasonably well off, then as you get older you have a clear choice of spend it yourself or pass it on to the next generation. Someone once said to us “Travel first class or your children will.” My neighbour next door is more blunt “Spend it ourselves or our son will piss it up against a wall.” The idea is the same though.
I don’t do a lot of travelling in any class these days, but I do sometimes use business class for work trips so I can use fast track to avoid the queues and the lounges to sit more comfortably while I wait for the delays to play out, even though I can only claim back the tourist fares from the company. It’s money well spent mostly.
Every hobby has it’s snake oil, sure, but I’d hazard a guess that few more so than ‘audiophilia’. You can buy a boat/motorcycle/car which is faster or more interesting or louder or prettier or with better provenance. Or a restored classic.
There are diamonds which are higher carat or coloured, or beautifully shaped. They generally hold value and (obviously) will last generations.
But spending £3000k on a USB cable, the benefits of which are totally untested, unproven and likely complete and utter nonsense when compared with a £30 one…? It is bonkers. It’s totally bonkers.
Spending that much on cables or isolation stands or other HiFi fluff which is almost certainly doing nothing except providing a cooling-mist for audiophile neurosis (but how can I have £10,000 speakers without £3000 cables?!) is ridiculous in the extreme, whichever way one looks at it. There are few sub-segments of a hobby so utterly devoid of financial reason than this.