SQ impressions debate

Agreed. I don’t know how else to explain the SQ difference, even between different versions of Audirvana.

It’s absolutely true, but how much you’ll notice it depends on the DAC. Better implementation on the DAC the less difference will the player make.

My observations are on both hard wired and through wireless transmission.

How do we explain SQ differences when transmitting over WiFi?

Jitter is not supposed to be an issue over Ethernet protocols and WiFi provides 100% galvanic isolation so noise if out of the picture.

This points to manipulation of something in the software.

Damien answered to a post of mine on this issue. I was wondering why there is a difference even between different Audirvana players in Bit pefect mode on Mac.
He said that Audirvana processes to reduce the noise of the computer, and for that reason Bit perfect gives different results when compared to different players. Reducing the noise of the computer sends purer Bits to the DAC.
That’s why you hear a difference in Bit perfect mode.

Very interesting… in theory though this is difficult to manage SQ consistently.

Example, USB cables effect Mojo sound signature a lot. AS probably sounds good with a certain computer and with a certain USB cable. If a variable is changed everyone is chasing their tails again.

Since I hear big changes wirelessly and heck even to my Bluetooth Klipsch speaker… it suggests what they are doing is affecting things outside of “noise” since computer noise is not transmitted over wireless.

I can see that maybe being a case if I had sys optimizer running, but I do not. I am wondering what other noises can Audirvana really reduce. And then how would he explain the difference between A3.x and AS sound presentation.
Maybe he meant that whatever DSP he always applies (with other processing off) “cleans up” the sound somehow.

Damien did not elaborate which other operations run, but he said that they differ depending the version of the player. It’s not DSP, it’s about noise reduction. SysOp is not the only noise reduction process. That’s what I understood.

Thanks. Would be awesome to learn what he meant by that.

After Damien, there was a guy who elaborated on how noise affects Bit perfect mode. He gave a very interesting additional information.
Check the thread about “SysOptimizer”. I think it was discussed there.

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If there is no measurement or a proper blind test confirmation, there is no truth.
I have yet to see a confirmed blind test that could not be measured. On the other hand, people hear difference from things like jitterbug, 1000$ USB cables and such, when a 500$ DAC with a 50$ cable would do. That is till the blind test, then excuses come in play.
In times when even a reputable manufacturers like PS Audio are selling snake oil, there is no credibility.

That very well might be but there is no evidence presented, only marketing. If there was a real benefit, it would be easy to demonstrate it instead of audiophile talks.
In any case, even if it’s noise, a proper DDC even as cheap as Pi2AES, does magnitudes more than any software player can.

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You may be right.
But what Damien told me made sens to explain why there was an audible difference between two different Audivrana players in Bit perfect mode.

So… turns out AS reveals how bad class D amplification is… just hooked up Schiit Aegir and paired with AS, it’s pure magic.

Sorry for the all the mess but maybe it’s informative that if AS sounds weird something is jacked up.

My amps are class A.
Still agree that they all have their own sound signature.
But also not all class D are necessarily bad.

Well I’m not impressed by Ps Audio… Strata, and before I had S300.

Both create what I would call thin holographic sounds that aren’t musical.

I have heard really good things about Rogue though… tube input and Hypex Class D Output. There seems to be some magic with the right tube input stages to liven up class D.
Also, I’ve read although I’m not sure how true this is, that Class D is an order of of magnitude more sensitive to lower quality AC cable, and power line noise.

Why does Class A (at least the Aegir) kick/punch harder than class D (the ones I’ve had) ? I feel like that’s opposite to the stereotype….

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“Purer bits”? How is that?

It was very well explained by a guy who elaborated about it on the thread about SysOp.
Follows my posts on this thread, and you’ll find what he told me.

EDIT
Sorry, I was a bit busy when I replied to you. Tell me if you don’t find the post, and I look for it.

My simple point: bits are bits - there is no such thing as “purer” bits.

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Thanks for sharing this opinion. Audirvana’s raison d’être is in large part because users think the bits from Audirvana sound better than the bits from other software.

There was a long discussion on the Roon forum a while ago - if something is “bit-perfect”, it HAS to refer to the same thing/sound the same in digital terms, UNLESS there is DSP involved. ANY other difference is in the analog space.

Actually, I tried to look for the post I was talking about, but I was mistaken. It was not in the thread about SysOpymizer. I don’t know where to find it… and it’s a pity because the guy who commented what Damien said explained it very well, much better than I am able to.

“Purer” may not be the most appropriate word, but you should excuse me, because English is not my mother’s tongue.
The explanation is that in a Bit perfect mode the player is supposed to send the bits of the track to the DAC. But in practice, the flux of the bits of the track is “polluted” by the noise.