Your fool day is driving me crazy. A new dac or not? Silly me yesterday I bought a soldering kit to learn how to make those fantastic upgrades. I´ve always been TOO fast. Hey, still there are people that don´t know how to solder a miserable piece of electronics. So Peter, I want the money I spent on the kit back to my pocket or in other case I WANT AN UPGRADE (at least to practise with my new toy).

Just for your information, here in Spain the fool day is on December 28th, I let it know only to not look so stupid.

Anyway and to take it with a smile, this is my new suggestion para el NOS1 lego: Paulego Dac or perhaps Paul-ego Dac 

Juan

- Phasure Open Project (O-P)

- Phasure DIY Ultimate

Ufffff, I was sweating thinking I had to cancel the power in the Clairixa 

Juan

Thanks Arjan, I'm glad you can enjoy that sound as I do.

Regards,
Juan

Peter, this was my final paragraph before I corrected it:

"In the end, the result of consistency, intensity and emotion extracted from the NOS1a, the Blaxius and the Clairixa, as a system, makes listening music more than ever a pleasure and not a permanent dissatisfaction."

After being around the word "consistency" for at least 15 minutes I changed the words "consistency, intensity and emotion" for the word "synergy" because I was not sure if "consistency" was going to be understood the way I wanted. For consistency I wanted to say "coherence" but also "cohesiveness" something that has a "permanence", something that stay there firmly and constantly. I mean "that" sound.


If the low jitter helps to make this sound, then welcome the low jitter and thanks to the one that can handle, however imperfectly, such matter.

Thank you for your kind words
Juan

To complete the Clairixa small review I did the other day I´d like to add some of the notes I took spontaneously while I was  listening.
As I said, the standard cable that comes with the NOS1 was my reference. This cable is, in my opinion, excellent. I tried maybe 10 cheap cables both USB3 and USB2 similar to the standard one, I tried also the Mapleshade Clearlink USB 2.0 which is perhaps the only cable that is a bit clearer. However, I ended always using the standard cable. I can´t find a better explanation for the good performance of this cable than that this is the one that Peter used from the start with the NOS1, therefore should be in an excellent sync with the dac. I guess, that the same philosophy can now be applied to the Clairixa regarding the  NOS1a and the NOS1a 75B with the Blaxius cables.

These are the notes I took:

The bass is more prominent although very well integrated. There is perhaps a slight emphasis on the upper bass.

The mids and a bit up and down becomes, as it should be, the essential body of the sound.

A phenomenon occurs that I had not perceived previously: the feeling that the air in the room vibrates and that that vibration energizes the room and even reaches the chest. Something like as when one is in a disco with those terrible bass, but this time the effect is much more subtle and balanced, and this happens also at lower levels of sound.

The voices have a greater body than previously with the standard cable and acquire more maturity.  A female voice is a voice of a woman. I don´t know how to express that feeling in a better way.  The piano has also that same body and maturity as also the violin, the orchestra, the sax or the bass. All of this with a clarity that seems closer to the reality.

The soundstage is larger in all the dimensions, height, width and depth. There are no empty spaces in the soundstage, all  the space makes sense, even the spaces where there is no sound (some call it "air"). The combination of three-dimensional space, body and air makes what I would call "ambience". The Clairixa has ambience in spades.

The speakers disappear completely, until the point that from the listening position and closing the eyes, it's really hard to find the exact speakers location.

I had to find the appropriate volume to get the best sound. A qualitative leap is perceived when the optimum volume is reached. In my case, this sound is around -22.5db / -21.0db. I guess this depends largely on the listening room.

There's a sense of speed in the response to different sounds. Maybe it's better dynamics or because the sounds are better defined and that produces that sensation of speed.

The Clairixa does not seem to be smoother than standard cable. Rather, the standard cable is smoother than the Clairixa. Perhaps it is due to that  the standard cable rounds a bit the highs or maybe to that just gives less information. Certainly the softness of the standard cable can be addictive. However, the clarity of sound that gives the Clairixa has nothing to do with aggression. Interestingly some old recordings appear now very gently. Maybe that recordings were not as bad as it looked.

The contribution to the SQ that makes this cable is incomparably greater than any cable of any type at any price I've tried before.

Perhaps this cable will evolve if Peter evolves also the NOS1a 75B and the Blaxius cables. However, today, I have the intuition that, at least for the ones with those components, the Clairixa is the best cable. Of course just an intuition.

Has the Clairixa defects? Sometimes the upper bass seems a little oversized. It may be in relation to my speakers, I´m not sure. Anyway, it happens only in some recordings.

All these appreciations are actually related harmoniously with each other and obviously are not only a result of this cable. It is the balanced set of components that produces this sound.
In the end,  the result of the synergy extracted from the NOS1a, the Blaxius and the Clairixa as a system, makes listening music, more than ever, a pleasure and not a permanent dissatisfaction.

Juan

When I was testing the Clairixa I found a problem with one of my speakers (I sent you a PM about it, Peter) so although I have a first impression I keep a deeper review until everything works perfectly. To calm a bit some anxiety let me advance just a few things I'm already sure about.
In comparison with the standard USB cable,  which is the one I was using and everybody knows, the Clairixa has a better and deeper bass, being probably this its most prominent quality, a much bigger and three-dimensional soundstage, much more "ambience" and a sense of realism that makes the standard cable seems like an amateur.
Just one more puntualitation, the Clairixa in my appreciation it is not smoother than the standard cable,  it is not even a smooth cable in my opinion. It is a cable that makes a sound as real as you can imagine it is the real sound.
I don't think that I'm wrong if I say that the Clairixa it is more than just a cable,  much more.

Enough for now...

Best regards,
Juan

Clairixa received! Thanks, Peter

Juan

Hey Peter, be quiet, we´ll try to judge it generously hehe

Nah, seriously, thanks for shipping it so quickly

Juan

Yes, exactly that is what also happens here.

Juan

And what are doing those tube amps placed there?. Would not it be better to place them away in some bamboo boards to avoid vibrations? 

Juan

My vote goes for a new PCIe USB card 

Juan

Hey Peter, maybe after finishing the test with the Clairixia you could give another opportunity to the bamboo boards. The clarity that seems to bring your cable could help to define better the effects of the board. But let's be patient ...

Juan

I want one, your standard length, 1,80m, is fine for me.

Juan

Hey! I´m sure you won´t forget Mani!

I find it a very interesting theory. The better the media we use to reproduce the reality, the "reality" reproduced approaches to the real reality, (what a tongue twister!). Let me put an example, if we use a lens to look at an object we´ll see that object, some way or the other, in an altered way. As better as the lens is, as "real" the object will be reproduced. But if the lens we use are our eyes the real thing becomes totally real (not philosophical arguments here, just physical). This is how I understand your theory and  I totally agree with you. Now, in our situation, the NOS1a is certainly a better tool than the NOS1, so in this case it reproduces the sound closer to the real sound and the volume is, of course, a quality inherent to the real sound. So, the NOS1a could be a more sensible tool to the volume.

Sorry if I seem confusing in my reasoning.

Juan