Just wondering what the general consensus is regarding the best usb cable length. I know Manny recently posted that he found no difference between a long (2 m I think) and a shorter cable. I have a 1 foot, $50 kimber cable here and it doesn't sound as good as my 3 ft $1 cable. My preferred cable is 6 foot, V4 data only, by YFS. I've ordered a 6 foot clarixa but there seems to be a lot of folks who think shorter is better. Is it?

One meter for me too. Thanks!

Joachim, what is a "DDD CD?"

I have to agree, though I'm using he V4 version of the YFS cable. It's incomprensible to me that anyone could find the YFS cable forward or "shouty," metallic or edgy; that is down right bizzare given my experience with the YFS ( see Feb 2, 2015 post above.) Give Claire Martin a listen, incredible vocal nuances. However, I certainly can't doubt Manis's and Peter's respective experiences with the cable as anything but bad. (Well I do feel that even a cable that's broken in needs to settle into a new system, so maybe 10 seconds is a bit too quick?) Is it the amp's? Don't know, but I believe that my BD Design amp is pretty much the same as the ones in the Orelo MKII's.

I'm looking forward to hearing the Clairixa too.

Thanks for the quick reply. Am off to work now --some folks can only be found on weekends-- so will change settings this evening and let you know.

With my settings below I get occasional ticks and, toward the end of long tracks --11 minutes or so-- I get long drop outs where sound stops for around 25 seconds and then resumes. This only seems to happen with Hi Res stuff. Is my SFS too low? Settings are below. Thanks.

Thanks guys. It had been so long since I used W8 I forgot that I never installed 1.186-i. I have to say I am now firmly in the W8 camp. Since upgrading to theNOS1a I've been continually making changes to my room/system: out went the APEXI capacitor card and the Renesis usb PCIe card, both of which significantly contributed to my previous NOS1 sound. I've also removed three 2x4 foot, 6lb per square inch, fiberglass boards I had in the room, though I still have other room treatments. As great as the sound was when I first got the NOS1a back, there was something about the sound that was a bit too soft or rounded that started driving me a bit crazy. Getting rid of all the things I mentioned made a huge difference; the sound again became lively and exciting but then another problem emerged: a subtle sense of HF distortion or raggedness I'd never heard before in W7. So Saturday I switched to W8 and had a bit of a WOW moment. No harshness and no midrange bloat, which was always what I heard with W8 and the NOS1. Once again a very happy camper.  However, I must relisten to Mozart Symphonies by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, A Linn records 24/96 download. The sound was fantastic though I listened to the whole thing, symphonies 38-41, without realizing it was playing a tad too slow!     

So all weekend I've been listening to XX on W8 with the settings below. The sound has been great but both 24/96 ans 24/192 files play too slowly. When I reboot in W7 they play fine. What to do?

Thanks Charlie. If it happens again I'll try disabling Xtweaks. Since I reinstalled the NOS driver, the computer has been running 24/7 and I've not had any problems. However, I've had the problem disappear for more than a month before and then its reappeared,  so we'll see what happens.

Thanks Peter, turns out I had been using 186i since it came out (and maybe that's when the problem started?) Also, I run my processor at 500MHz (cpu ratio of 12 in the Bios) but maybe that got changed somehow. I'll recheck the bios when I get home tonight.

Anyone ever had your PC turn off in the middle of a song, or when you turn the PC on it begins to boot for a second or two and then it turns off, like someone pulled the plug? I've been having these issue now for four or five months. It happens once or twice and then everything is fine for 3 or 4 weeks and then it happens again. Recently I played for two weeks straight, 24/7, breaking in the NOS1a without a problem. This weekend I had a friend over to hear the "new" system and it happened twice in a row in the middle of a song! I then rebooted in W8, I prefer W7, and all was fine. Rebooted in W7, reinstalled the NOS1 driver, and all has been fine, but I don't trust that reinstalling the driver was a fix.

So is the MB going, the PS or just a bad video card? It not the HD cause it happened after switching HD's loaded with an OS. Another possibility is that there is a short somewhere in the PC. And another possibility is that the automatic shutoff if the CPU gets too hot is randomly kicking in. Though my system is water cooled, I've not had a problem with the pump. And another possibility is that W7 is turning itself off cause I never "registered" the OS on the internet. For years now I've had that, "This is not a genuine copy of windows" verbage in the lower right of the screen, though I input the product key when I first built the PC.

It's going to take a while to trouble shoot this, but am wondering if anyone else has had similar issues?

I seriously doubt anyone could ever fault you for "not playing loud enough."   

A tough read if you download the study,  but very interesting conclusions!

http://www.analogplanet.com/content/your-brain-cd-resolution-sound-read-study

Just wondering when the YFS touring cable might be back in the US? Am looking forward to hearing it in my system. Currently I'm using a 6 foot, V4 version of the YFS data only cable with very good results. Am looking forward to seeing if there is a difference with the reference version. Since having my DAC upgraded to the "a" there is a huge difference between my YFS cable and my $1 usb cable. The YFS cable just sounds completely natural with no loss whatsoever in detail in all frequency ranges. Another way of saying this is that the sound feels like there is no added electrical hash causing distortion at high volume levels. The result is that it is easier to play way too loud. I guess if your first impression with the YFS cable is that there is something "missing" with the sound, then turn the volume up. What's "missing" returns, but not as distortion.

When I swap in the $1 usb cable, which mostly has been my go-to cable the last few years, the first impression is that it sounds better because the sound seems more fresh or alive (Switching to W8 is very similar). However, within 5 minutes that fresh sound, which feels like a shift in emphasis to a higher frequency range, soon leaves me with a "not right " feeling; I can no longer play "way too loud" because the distortion becomes totally clear and objectionable. So, for me, I think I prefer the slightly dry, woody, but "beautiful" sound of the data only cable to the perky, but noisy sound of the $1 cable.

So when I sent my NOS1 in for the "a" upgrade, I did not have my output resistors changed from 50 to 75 ohm. I had been so impressed with my RG 142, silver coated, solid copper bnc interconnect that I really wanted to hear the "a" upgrade without changing anything else. I suppose I was a bit worried that changing the DAC output resistance to 75 ohms would detract from the sound of my rg 142, 50 ohm cable. After letting the DAC and Blaxius interconnect burn I'm glad to report that hands down the Blaxius is the best cable I ever heard! All that was great about my RG 142 cable is made so much better with the Blaxius. I really did not think this was possible. Whats amazing too is that I'm currently using the Blaxius with 50 ohm output resistors and bnc/rca adapters and it sounds as described in all the posts above. For me though, the most impressive things about the Blaxius are the size of the soundstage and the resolution of the HF. Just amazing. Without distortion, I'm able to play at an average of 90-92db with peaks in the 96-98 db range, which for me is way too loud but not for everything!

Monday I'm having the 75 ohm output resistors and 75 ohm bnc connectors installed in the NOS1a as well as 75 ohm bnc connectors in my amp. Am salivating at the possibility of even better sound.

Thanks Peter