[audioengr]

I would normally recommend the Ridge Street Audio Poiema that I sell, but the guy has dropped off the earth.  Not returning phone calls, emails or filling orders....

It is the best cable I have found, even a tiny bit better than my discontinued Bitmeister.

I've heard good things about the Audioquest Coffee, but never heard one.

Steve N.

[ozzy]

Thanks everybody for the help. The rest of my system is Pass Labs XP-10 Preamp, Pass Labs X350.5 Amp. Speakers are the Eggleston Works Andra 2. I am using all HiDiamond interconnects and power cords. I have three dedicated outlets and I have an Audience aRt 2- TO connected to each deicated line. I also have a Synergistic Powercell SE.
Probably Friday I will try the 16 bit vs the 24 bit setting.

[audioengr]

Thanks everybody for the help. The rest of my system is Pass Labs XP-10 Preamp, Pass Labs X350.5 Amp. Speakers are the Eggleston Works Andra 2. I am using all HiDiamond interconnects and power cords. I have three dedicated outlets and I have an Audience aRt 2- TO connected to each deicated line. I also have a Synergistic Powercell SE.
Probably Friday I will try the 16 bit vs the 24 bit setting.

Have you tried the SM straight to the wall with no conditioner?

Steve N.

[NickS]

Thanks everybody for the help. The rest of my system is Pass Labs XP-10 Preamp, Pass Labs X350.5 Amp. Speakers are the Eggleston Works Andra 2. I am using all HiDiamond interconnects and power cords. I have three dedicated outlets and I have an Audience aRt 2- TO connected to each deicated line. I also have a Synergistic Powercell SE.
Probably Friday I will try the 16 bit vs the 24 bit setting.

VERY nice system you have there, ozzy. 

One more suggestion... if you have a glass TOSLINK cable hanging around, try it from the SM to your DAC.  I don't wish to open a can of worms but I had a few issues with coax that completely went away with the TOSLINK cable.  My suspicion is that there is an intrinsic ground issue with the modded Touch through the coax output.  Your DAC may be susceptible to this as was mine. 

If I'm correct in my assumption, the SM simply passes this fault through the coax cable to your DAC since their is no galvanic isolation at any point in the signal transfer.

Joy for you might be within reach... the TOSLINK approach worked out particularly well for me and made my SM shine as it does.

[cooch]

Steve, just got the SM yesterday....using the coax connection into my DAC-wow, what a difference with the sonos-it is actually very enjoyable to listen to now........couple questions: 1) any difference after break in?  2) i want to also use the optical with my home theater receiver and need some advice on proper hook up. i have the sonos going to the optical in on the receiver. my receiver has an optical out. here's how i want to hook up the SM to the receiver-let me know if this is right or wrong-sonos optical out to receiver, receiver optical out to SM optical in, SM optical out to DAC. Is this correct and will the SM make a difference in this application also? thanks for Steve's and anyone else's input.........

tommy cooch

[audioengr]

VERY nice system you have there, ozzy. 

One more suggestion... if you have a glass TOSLINK cable hanging around, try it from the SM to your DAC.  I don't wish to open a can of worms but I had a few issues with coax that completely went away with the TOSLINK cable.  My suspicion is that there is an intrinsic ground issue with the modded Touch through the coax output.  Your DAC may be susceptible to this as was mine. 

If I'm correct in my assumption, the SM simply passes this fault through the coax cable to your DAC since their is no galvanic isolation at any point in the signal transfer.

Joy for you might be within reach... the TOSLINK approach worked out particularly well for me and made my SM shine as it does.

Actually all inputs and outputs on the SM are galvanically isolated.

Steve N.

[audioengr]

Steve, just got the SM yesterday....using the coax connection into my DAC-wow, what a difference with the sonos-it is actually very enjoyable to listen to now........couple questions: 1) any difference after break in?

Yes, it should improve for about 1 week.

2) i want to also use the optical with my home theater receiver and need some advice on proper hook up. i have the sonos going to the optical in on the receiver. my receiver has an optical out. here's how i want to hook up the SM to the receiver-let me know if this is right or wrong-sonos optical out to receiver, receiver optical out to SM optical in, SM optical out to DAC. Is this correct and will the SM make a difference in this application also? thanks for Steve's and anyone else's input.........

tommy cooch

If you are trying to loop the receiver signal through the SM, this is probably the way to do it.  If you are trying to just send the Sonos signal to the receiver, then all you need is the toslink output from the SM to go to the toslink input on the receiver.

steve N.

[cooch]

thanks Steve. also, when switching between 16 bit and 24 there is absolutely no difference in sound quality. is that right? thanks


tommy

[paul79]

Synchro Mesh mini review:

New guy here, and I'm posting because me and Steve thought that you guys wanting to try using supplies other than the Wall-Wart, or one that Steve recommends, might benefit from my experience..

System consists of:
Bel Canto DAC3.5VB MKII with the VB supply fed from a Pure I-20 Ipod Transport, directly feeding custom VRD 60wpc mono tube amps.
Speakers are JBL L220's highly modified with extensively upgraded crossovers.

I had Steve make me a custom cable so that I may use my VBS1 Supply to run the SMR. Listed below is the email I sent to Steve with my findings:


The SMR came at 9:00 this morning. Kind of strange for UPS to come that early around here, but all the better.

Got it all hooked up and tried the VB Supply first. Sat down for a listen and it was not pretty. Very edgy, tiny soundstage, and just distracting to say the least. So, I figured I'd let it all warm up. Waited about an hour and sat down again, nothing improved. At all! Then I figured I better try the wall wart..

Plugged it in, then sat down. AHH! Music again! Thank god.. Listened to a familiar track and could her some improvements to the system. I let it play for another hour, then sat down for another listen... Won't get too lengthy with thoughts on multiple tracks, so here are my findings on one:

One of my favorites; Fourplay, Swamp Jazz. This band is fantastic for my tastes, and display musicianship like few others do. No distortion to cover up lousy musicians here. Just talent.

Guitars sounded cleaner, faster and more real, with excellent visual stimulation. Positioning improved. Piano rang true, could depict fingers plucking the keys, and pedal effects greatly enhanced. The size of the venue more translated due to an up-scaled reverb effect. An effect that before, translated to my room size, rather than the larger than my room effect of the actual venue. Quite cool indeed. Lovely ladies breathing into the mics with a soft ahh that sounded like noise before. Drum attacks more there and defined, translating the aggressiveness or subtlety of the drummer.  Symbols realistically crashed and waved with greater visual impact. Realized actual life and tension on the silent breaks. The bass more realistically fluttered.

These improvements described are what matter to me. Let mine be a killer band to listen to over a vocal performance any day. Nice job Steve.

I'm now questioning how good (or not good) the VBS1 Supply actually is. I'm assuming that Bel Canto took steps with their mate-able products to actually get positive results using the VB, but it is not good for this particular application.

No, you are not getting this thing back.
Thank you!

Summing up. Use the Wall-Wart, or a supply that Steve recommends.

Cheers!

[audioengr]

thanks Steve. also, when switching between 16 bit and 24 there is absolutely no difference in sound quality. is that right? thanks


tommy

No.  Like it says in the manual, you should try both to determine which your DAC likes better.  One will usually sound better.

Make sure to power down between changes.

Steve N.

[steve in jersey]

My SMr arrived yesterday afternoon (2pm, est.) & I've had it "cookin w/ music" since it's arrival . As it is "brand spanking new" I'll only relay a few of my initial impressions.

I had hoped my Blackcat Audio Silverstar digital coax would arrived in time , I ended up using a Cardas coax for my Reclocker to DAC link  &  a Harmonic Technology "Digital Copper" BNC to RCA  from my Auraliti PK100 to SMr. Once the Blackcat arrives the configuration will change to PK100>Blackcat>SMr>HT"DC">Metrum Octave DAC. I will eventually swap out the RCA connector on the Metrum for a BNC so that all the connections will be BNC. ( Given the quality of this DAC I'm a bit puzzled at the choice of an RCA over a BNC )

First let me say the case used for the SMr while plain is visually "tight" & inspires some confidence that the inside circuit is also carefully executed. (Anyone remember"Yadis"). I've listened only very shortly ,but I believe I've gained a slight bit of volume range on my Burson Soloist HP amp/pre. (I only have about 100hrs of listening time on my HiFiman HE-500s so I'm not quite sure what to attribute this change to yet). The Auraliti has two pretty good crystal oscillators on a sound card ,but the sound is slightly different now. I'm not
sure how things will shake out once I've changed the configurations(Do any of us in this hobby ever come to a configuration we stop tweaking ?), but I think it's  so far !

[ozzy]

Well, I am now playing the Syncro Mesh set at 16 bits. It is a very different perspective. At this point I am not sure if this is an improvement over the 24 bit setting.I'll let it play a few days and then switch back to the 24 bit.
Question: With the 16 bit setting how does 24/96 music perform. That is, is it played back as 16 bits?

[audioengr]

Well, I am now playing the Syncro Mesh set at 16 bits. It is a very different perspective. At this point I am not sure if this is an improvement over the 24 bit setting.I'll let it play a few days and then switch back to the 24 bit.
Question: With the 16 bit setting how does 24/96 music perform. That is, is it played back as 16 bits?

Yes.  Dont discount 16 bits.  It can sound great.

Steve N.

[steve in jersey]

I spent a little more time listening to my system w/ the SMR in line, things are getting pretty interesting !

With any one of the 500+(480+ Classical) dBPoweramp ripped to uncompressed lossless FLAC or Wav, CDs on the USB external HD feeding my Auraliti PK100, I was wrong in guessing what was playing . What I thought to be a Tony Faulkner engineered, Hyperion or Helios recording turned out to be a Naxos recording. While my respect for the recording qualities of the Naxos label has increased , I'm not so sure they generally exhibit the more distinct soundstaging characteristics as other labels consistently do. They do however get "lucky" sometimes & don't mess up the results of the engineer on some sessions. This was'nt the first time I'd listened to this recording on my system, while I thought it  sounded good , I did'nt think it was this good .

In the less densely orchestrated sections of the Tone Poem "Ondine"(George Templeton Strong) the dialog between a single xinstrument or two & the small choirs of instruments playing with them it was very easy to follow the musical theme or the counterpoint. As the orchestration increased the clarity of the individual sections was'nt as obscured by the increased dynamic contrasts that I normally just accept as commonplace with a lot of Orchestral recordings. Trust me, this is not a "trick" Naxos pulls off on a regular basis. Toward the end of the piece there are 1 or 2 drum hits that surprised me not for their impact (not tympani drums) but for the fact I heard some harmonic texture to them ! (Are you kidding me ??, honestly)

I think you might have a pretty nice clock in this box, Steve. (& I'm not using the cables I want to yet !)

Thanks,
Steve A.

[ozzy]

Well, the 16 bit was definitely different but not better. The 24 bit setting has a much deeper sound stage while the 16 bit setting was more flat line, but with a little more bass.
This weekend, I will remove the SM from the system to see just how much it may/ or may not be contributing.

[paul79]

You will not be able to put it back in fast enough.

[cooch]

Hi Steve. The SM is sounding great when using the coaxial connections from sonos to dac to integrated. However, I need help with the toslink connection. I am also trying to run the sonos to SM to a surround receiver thru the toslink connections. But, something seems wrong with the toslink connection. I am getting sound from my surround system even when the switch is on coax, even though the surround system is hooked up by toslink.......i can switch back and forth between toslink and coax and still get sound (and it sounds exactly the same even tho the surround receiver is not going thru the Dac).  i would think that since I have the surround receiver hooked up thru the toslink it would only work when the switch is on toslink, and not work if it's on coax. what am i doing wrong? thanks. 

[cooch]

Steve, same thing happens when I use the sonos/sms/dac into integrated thru coaxial. i toggle back and forth on the SMS between coax and toslink, and music still plays thru integrated, even when toggled to toslink ....i am very confused now...thanks for your help

[jult52]

Steve (or any other poster):  Could you provide some comparison in terms of performance of the SynchroMesh with well-regarded units like the Audiophilleo 2 or the new Audio gd DSP-V2 or V3?  I am familiar with the units' functionality (and the fact that the AP2 is a USB convertor) and of course realize that the SynchroMesh is your own product, but would be curious about comments you would make.  Thanks.

[audioengr]

Steve, same thing happens when I use the sonos/sms/dac into integrated thru coaxial. i toggle back and forth on the SMS between coax and toslink, and music still plays thru integrated, even when toggled to toslink ....i am very confused now...thanks for your help

The selector on the SM selects the input only.  If you have an active signal on the selected input, then all outputs will be active at the same time.

Steve N.