Do the Jitterbug !

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Fretless
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Do the Jitterbug !

Unread post by Fretless »

Here's my entry for the smallest audiophile system ever ! Fits on a CD case.

Image

.. and something this small just doesn't have the right to sound as good as it does.

Okay, so what is all this stuff ?

Image

Front left a Raspberry Pi 2B in case (single board - no add-on's), middle: an Audioquest Jitterbug, right: a Nuforce uDac3.

In my search to make a small headphone system to listen to via the in-house LAN I tried attaching a Roland USB DAC to a Pi. This worked fine but the SQ fell a bit short. Looking for improvement I ordered a Cambridge Dacmagic XS, only to find out that it is no longer distributed in the Netherlands.

In frustration I scanned the webshops for an alternative for about the same price and came up with the Nuforce uDac3; a DAC, headphone amp, RCA pre-amp and USB-SP/DIF converter in one tiny box. And I spotted something else that had caught my eye a while ago, the Audioquest Jitterbug; a USB filter / noise reduction unit. Why not ? So I ordered that as well. Getting both for roughly what the Dacmagic XS costs.

As you can see, the uDac3 is minute, really, but it feels solid and well-made with a nice, chunky volume pot. Plugged in to the Pi via USB the whole thing is powered by a 3A wall-wart and running the new test version of Volumio 2 the OS automatically finds the Nuforce. Grado SR80's in and Music!

Immediately the quality of the uDac3 over the Roland unit is apparent (and my Fiio X3 as well). Wider soundstage, better definition and imaging, a lot less grainy. Stunning, in fact.

But wait - there's more. That Jitterbug thingy. It is a sort of USB extension plug with a socket on the back end. For putting in between a computer and any USB DAC. The point is that computers are noisy buggers - all sorts of loose electronic rubbish wandering about all over the place and causing general disturbance and digital mayhem. Also, USB was not designed as an audio medium - it is a universal data transmission system which doesn't cater particularly well to the specific needs of hifi. USB audio tends to sound flat, dry and lifelesss - which is the effect of jitter subtly disturbing the synchronisation of the sound signal. Now there is an answer to that.

The Jitterbug has circuitry to remove the electronic 'noise' and to check and correct the data packages being sent to the DAC. Does it work? Yes it does - and you can hear it! With the Jitterbug in place the already great sound of the uDac3 blooms and fills out. Instruments get more solid and the sense that everything in the mix exists in its own space. Suddenly it feels like you're plugged into a large and expensive rig and not a couple of things you could fit into a biscuit tin.

I'll be trying various combinations over the coming weeks but those looking to try and get more 'life' and musicality out of their computers might want to investigate the Jitterbug, a cheap little upgrade.

Right, I'm off to enjoy some music! :dance: :dance: :dance: :guiness;

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Re: Do the Jitterbug !

Unread post by _D_S_J_R_ »

Well done, but I wish to challenge one thing please. Digital audio is DATA, nothing more and it's up to the DAC to receive this data, lock to the digital sigmal, minimising noise interference and clock it into the processor properly. A data stream from a computer is supposed to be more stable than that from a CD transport (I thought anyway), but I do accept that PC's have electrical noise which can add to contamination, hence the need (I think) for galvanic isolation of a DAC's USB socket... For computers and DACs that allow it, it's often been suggested an optical connection be used to remove any electrical connection between the two - and the receiver 'window' should allow correct data transfer between the two without getting in the way. if there's a tonal difference between the two, then I've been reliably informed it's a design issue in the DAC, not an issue with the digits travelling from one box to another...

The Doc recommended me a twenty quid USB to SPDIF converter, since the ancient QED DAC comes from the phono cum Toslink optical era. My streaming from the PC and YouTube pages is stunning through this method and the little converter is amazing. The Doc gets even better sound here as his DAC is rather better than mine - proper 3-D and an effortless quality I never thought YouTube was capable of until I did the same thing.

Glad you have a cost-effective little system. Shame about the shitty Grado's though - God they're uncomfortable ;)
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Re: Do the Jitterbug !

Unread post by Fretless »

Thanks for the feedback Dave, computer audio is data. But that data needs to be correct and on time. It seems that the Audioquest plug does its best to ensure that 'clean' data gets sent from the PC to the DAC - which can then process it into analogue sound. And that the power supplied from the PC to run the DAC is also free from any EM interference.

I have several D/A units lying around and I will be testing this device out for my own curiosity. But the above report is my own listening experience and I hear a better musical reproduction with the Jitterbug in the digital chain, at least with the uDac3. The combination is a killer - and my first stop will be plugging the Grado SR225e's in for a blast.

:music-listening:

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Re: Do the Jitterbug !

Unread post by Fretless »

Now having had a couple of days to play around and compare things I can make a few conclusions about the new toys.

The Jitterbug does make an audible difference - certainly on small USB DAC's. I have tried it with the Roland UA25EX, Fiio X3 and a Terratec Aureon (one of the very first external soundcards); in each case the Jitterbug causes a slight increase in volume and a major increase in detail, separation and the 3D space around instruments. the sound is squeaky clean, allowing more insight into the music.

At this moment I have the Terratec running via Jitterbug and driving the Grado SR80's. a combination I have known for many years - and it never sounded so ... refined ! Playing FLAC's via the Apollo 37zz media playing program, which is a very small, free, lightweight application that has the best SQ of any Windows system that I have yet found.

On the downside - the fact that the Jitterbug puts a lot more treble detail into the sound means that the combination with the Nuforce uDac3 and SR80's becomes fatiguing quite quickly - if it was a TV I would turn the brightness down. Fortunately in the 'neglected' corner I have a AKG K601 lying about and that just springs to life with the UDac3. The (very) laid back performance of the AKG is transformed into a feast of spaciousness and musical information. Glorious! The K601 is quite hard to drive, but the tiny Nuforce amp gets it to an acceptable volume level with absolutely no sense of strain or graininess.

Also the closed-back Sony MDR-100AAP with its full bass sound works extremely well with the Pi/Jitterbug/uDac3. The Grado sound is forward and clear - also the characteristic of what the Jitterbug does, so the two in combination can be a bit overpowering, although I tried it with the SR225e as well and thought I could hear the second cello of the New York Philharmonic picking his nose.

Still have to try the 'big' Hegel and MF DAC's but the Audioquest Jitterbug is certainly a device that can make budget USB soundcards sound a lot more musical. :grin:

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Re: Do the Jitterbug !

Unread post by terrybooth »

Digital certainly means that you can get a decent sound for a very low price. - I quite live my little Chromecast audios. They're not as good as my Pi2 + Hifiberry Dac+ but cost less that £30. And you can plug headphones in (just tried with my Grados - lacks in scale, I thought).
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Re: Do the Jitterbug !

Unread post by Fretless »

For the techno-geeks who aren't getting bored stiff by my gadget fixation - here's todays trial:

Image

The really rather (too) nice Musical Fidelity M1DAC, a leading mid-price design a few years back, now regarded as a bit soft and stodgy in performance terms. It is fitted with a serious Asynchronous USB input which should cancel out the effect of the Jitterbug - shouldn't it?

The M1DAC is in my office rig along with an MF XCANv3 headphone amp (the only piece of kit I have that has valves in it!). Hooked together with MIT interconnects and a pipeline-thick Supra USB cable running to my Dell laptop. Plugging in the Grado SR225e headphones I then give Mike Oldfield's 'Amarok' a good blast.

Amarok is a bizarre mix of acoustic guitars, electronic effects, rock distortion, tribal drums and third-world chanting - oh, and Janet Brown doing a hilarious Margaret Thatcher voice as well. MO really went to extremes on this recording and it is a great test-disc. Especially telling are the layered acoustic guitars near the beginning which ought to be easy to separate in the mix.

The M1DAC doesn't have much bite, it is politely detailed and informative - but it has trouble rocking out. Inserting the Jitterbug certainly has an effect there. A new grip and incisiveness arrives and Oldfield's guitar parts gain in presence and weight. The politeness turns into confidence. The effect isn't as pronounced as with the cheaper DAC's but it is there and removing it leaves the music flatter and greyer.

Just to try something else I went over to Youtube and played the opening of Tangerine Dream's 'Hyperborea'. a low quality stream taken from a non-remastered CD. Again with the Audioquest plug in place the music is richer, fuller and has more impact. Whatever that little plug is doing in terms of digital jiggery-pokery, it sure works well. In theory It doesn't add anything to the data-stream, but it does try to make sure that no audio information gets lost on its way to the DAC,

Oh blast - looks like I'll have to get at least one more Jitterbug. :grin:

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Re: Do the Jitterbug !

Unread post by Classicrock »

Are you sure the jitterbug is removing jitter? A good Dac should be doing this. I wonder if this is more about filtering electrical noise. I have seen great results claimed by devices that separate the USB signal from the USB power such as the iUSBpower.
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Re: Do the Jitterbug !

Unread post by Fretless »

Audioquest make some claims that this device can also be used to clean up the EM noise in, for instance, NAS drives by plugging it into a USB socket. Might be Snake Oil but I will be trying it out.

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Re: Do the Jitterbug !

Unread post by Fretless »

There's no time like the present.

So, playing the opening of Amarok I have had the Jitterbug in and out of the USB socket on the back of my cheap n'cheerful WD MyCloud NAS a couple of times and am shaking my head in confusion, not sure if I want to believe what I think I am hearing.

Running my office setup Pi(Moode)/M1DAC/XCANv3/SR225e the jitterbug-cleaned network link gives an 'incremental' (what Audioquest say in the blurb) inprovement. What I hear are (slight) improvements in a wider soundstage, better definition, quieter silences; even the messy distorted guitars are more focussed - yes, that would be the best word. The effect here is that the overall sound gets a sharper focus.

This is the Jitterbug running in EM filter mode as a passive cleaner of the noise in the network at the point at which the music data is transmitted from.

Maybe I am drowning in my own :Bllocks: here. But cheaper domestic computer network accessories like the MyCloud won't have been optimalised for audiophile use and no attention will have been given to the effect of system noise - as long as the data is transmitted properly. The Pi is also a very basic device. It would seem that the more expensive High-end audio apparatus has built-in compensation for the electronic 'dirt' that is pumped around - but the budget gear can benefit from some help.

Serious thinking to do ..... :think: :think: :think: :guiness;

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Re: Do the Jitterbug !

Unread post by wallace »

I have used one for a while now,on my PC system.I really can't say if i can hear a difference,with or without it,but i have convinced myself it does something,not sure what thou... :confusion-shrug: :whistle:
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