I'm sure you're right. But the point isn't which hardware is better, the point is which digital transport is better, and that includes the software. I've chosen what is considered the best software in each case.

So what we're really comparing is the 'best' microRendu setup vs. the 'best' Mach II setup. I think this is the most interesting comparison, certainly to me.

The whole purpose of this exercise, for me, is to determine whether I can live with the microRendu setup in my office system, or whether I need to set another Mach II up in my office. At the moment, it seems the latter is going to win hands down.

And yet, over at CA, people are convinced that the microRendu/LPS-1 is absolutely as good as it gets...

Mani.

OK, here we go with the Konbanwa track...

1. Peter's original file (flac):

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B82Qx9VwoovtUGExZWNrVEZfbDA

2. microRendu digital out (wav):

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0PU5LO5jVjfNGxheGZFVXFEd1U

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0PU5LO5jVjfUUFxcGs3TDFlclU

3. Mach II digital out (wav):

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0PU5LO5jVjfdVBwTWlYVDE3ZGs

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0PU5LO5jVjfU1NkMXhWZTVUd1k

I won't say anything at this point, other than the shortcomings of digital path are much easier to identify with this track.

So, which file sounds the closest to the original - file 2 or file 3?

Mani.

OK, here's what John Swenson wrote on CA:


So, a very, very low frequency.

Mani.

It's on the CA site somewhere - will have a look later.


Aha! No I didn't. The Mach II was switched off for the mR test, but the mR was still on for the Mach II test. This time, I will make certain only one is on at the time it is being tested.

Mani.

I'll be posting the output from Peter's CD rip a bit later on (once I've done it). Should be interesting.

Mani.

OK, here's the mistake I made. I should indeed have started a new thread for this because it has nothing to do with testing different USB cables, or testing different DACs. It is about testing two different digital transports (the microRendu vs. the Mach II).


Yes, I'm very aware of this.

This is the way I look at it. If the path adds, say, 5% 'distortion', then when listening to file 1, there would be 5% distortion and with file 3, 10% distortion (assuming they're perfectly additive). With 1% path distortion, file 3 has 2% on listening. With 0.1%, file 3 has 0.2%. Etc, etc.

But if the path is truly transparent (0% distortion), files 1 and 3 would sound totally identical.

So the question I was trying to answer is, which digital transport (the microRendu or the Mach II) gets closest to the holy grail of true transparency?

Mani.

Yes, let's.

Mani.

Hey Peter, I never asked anyone which of the 3 files they preferred. All I asked was which of files 2 or 3 sounds closest to file 1. Nothing more, nothing less. I really thought that that was the beauty of the test - much less subjective than the regular listening tests.

But what you hear in file 3, I do too. It is different from file 1. What is interesting for me is, why? So, here are areas that might be contributing to the differences between file 1 and file 3:

1. the hardware (right from NAS drive to Mach II USB output)
2. W10 14393
3. XX configuration
4. the USB-to-spdif converter
5. the BNC cable
6. Tascam spdif receiver
7. Tacam SD card hardware

4-7 would seem the obvious culprits (quite a lot to go wrong), BUT... they were identical setups for file 2 and file 3. So if there is a flavour being added by 4-7, that flavour should be present in both file 2 and file 3, but not in file 1. I can't hear any such thing. To my ears, file 2 and file 3 are as different from each other as they are from file 1.

I still suspect it's W10 14393 doing something [very pleasant] to the sound... Maybe we'll be able to figure something out as we go forward?

Mani.

Thanks. Will repeat test a little later on.


[Italics mine.]

OK, this is the 2nd time you've mentioned an ADC in this thread. There is no ADC, because there is no 'A' to convert - it's 'D' all the way from the NAS drive to the SD card in the digital capturing device.

I hope this is absolutely clear.

Mani.

Nah, totally wrong. I take you to the Louvre and then put my iPhone photo next to the painting and ask you how closely it matches the painting. You say, "I can't do it. I don't like her smile... it disturbs me too much - it's too false. Ciska never smiles like that." I would then slap you across the face (nicely) and say, "Get a grip of yourself. Whether you like the smile or not is totally irrelevant to this exercise."

But if you really can't even listen to file 1, then I agree, it's not going work.

Mani.

Hey Peter, just send me 02-Konbanwa from The End of a Summer and I'll repeat the 'test'...

Mani.

I totally disagree. We don't have to compare to reality at all. All you have to do is compare to file 1.

If I went to Paris and took a photo of the Mono Lisa with my phone, I could figure out how accurate my photo was compared to the painting. Would you then say to me that that's not a fair comparison because I don't have Mono Lisa (the woman) actually standing in front of me to see what she really looked like? Or that Da Vinci wasn't a very good artist? Or that the materials he used make it difficult to compare? These would be irrelevant... no? The reference would be the painting and nothing else. The reference here is file 1.

But I do agree that the higher the 'qaulity' of file 1, the easier it should be to compare. In which case, I think ECM should be a good choice.

Mani.

Unfortunately, I don't have rips of either of those albums. But I've attached the rip info for Zahlen Bitte - I'm very confident it's a good/accuarte rip.

But does it even matter how the CD was ripped or how it sounds... for the purposes of this test? I mean, all we need to do is to determine how closely files 2 and 3 match file 1, irrespective of whether we 'like' the sound of file 1.

What am I missing in your thinking?

Mani.

No, scroll down towards the bottom of http://canopusdrums.com/en/concept/ to 'RECENT VIDEOS'. It's the first video with Hyuk Jang playing.

Mani.

It's the original CD rip, absolutely 100%. No ADC whatsoever. All I did was change the name. But here it is again in case the name change screwed something up  :

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0PU5LO5jVjfMjJkNFJ5M1RxSnc

Mani.