[dBe]

Once again I jump into the wayback machine and relearn the value of resonance control and vibration elimination.  You would think that after years of experience in this obsession/hobby/profession that the simple things would stay with you, huh?  Hopefully you are brighter than I am.

Our old system was a mainstay in our listening room for quite a while.  It gave Gayle and I a lot of enjoyment over the years, but I made a decision to completely change a good thing.  I decided to move to a server based music system for the convenience and because I had recently heard the Tranquility DAC.  I knew that its' analog-like presentation was a good place to start assembling a system that we could live with for a long time.

Being stubborn by nature I decided to ignore the advice of people much brighter than I am and built a purpose built mini ITX Intel dual core PC instead of going the proven Mac route.  I was determined to build a PC that rivalled the performance of the Mac Mini.  If you are considering a server, save yourself the grief and go the Mac Mini route.  This is not the topic of this post, but merely history to give you an idea about the basis for this discussion.

Anyway, the first thing that I noticed was that the playback had pretty much zero soundstage.  I've been doing this long enough to realize that soundstage is closely related to overall noise in the system.  I set about eliminating the resonances in the Rosewill case.  As I did the step by step elimination of the panel resonances, etc, the soundstage began to incrementally flesh out.  All this was done using the onboard audio on the Zotac Ion board.  I was waiting for my Tranquility.  I was getting very good sound using Foobar 2000 and the AQvox ASIO driver in a kernal streaming mode.  It was about this time that I snapped to using cones under the computer, just like any other piece of quality audio gear.  The soundstage got MUCH better, just like you would imagine.  Who knew?  Obviously it took a while for me to remember basic audio 101 - treat every piece of gear like it is the most important link in the chain.

Sooooo, where does all of this groundwork lead?  Stay tuned and tomorrow I'll discuss some of my findings.  Nothing new or earthshaking except for some of the items that I've found to be killer in addressing component isolation and vibration control...........

Dave

[dBe]

 
 

If only it was that easy..........

DUH!!!

[ADD]

Tell us more Dave.
Is this like a good bed time story.
Cant wait.!!!!!!
Igor

[dBe]

Tell us more Dave.
Is this like a good bed time story.
Cant wait.!!!!!!
Igor

It's more like a fairy tale for audiophools like us 

Damping the case on the computer was a very worthwhile exercise.  The question was what I would use to damp the case on a whim, so I went to Lowes and bought some self adhesive felt pad at a heckuva good price.  I used it liberally on the inside of the computer case and the panels became dead, dead, dead.  Best part was the soundstage became more stable - female vocals, in particular, became more focused in space.  This was something that I was not expecting from just damping the case.  While I was inside the case I added some ERS cloth in areas that looked reasonable - one place that seemed like a good idea was on the bottom of the DVD burner directly above the control chip location for the Intel 40GB SS drive.  I also put strips of ERS on the SATA cables internally and on the eSATA cables to the external 1TB Hitachi drives.  Honestly couldn't tell any changes from the ERS, but I consider it like chicken soup - couldn't hurt.

The biggest changes came of course from experimenting with different footers and by mass loading the top of the computer... wonder where the idea for the MacSandwich came from?  The mass for the top of the computer was a high tech stack of books.  The footers, though, is where all of this gets interesting.  Simply placing the computer on cones popped everything into place.  Bass was tight and fast, the midrange was glorious and the highs were shimmery and transparent.  The soundstage was tight and focused.  I know, I sound like the posterchild for audiophoolery, but that is my story and I'm sticking to it.

I think that the reason that there was such a big improvement is that the computer case is a relatively large, flimsy case with pieces and parts relatively loosely mounted.  Stabilizing the case, drive(s), sound card and I/o's did what always happens when this done - made the sound more coherent.

The cones that I used for this set of tests were the Parts Express Dayton cones that are no longer made, unfortunately.  They have aluminum bodies with screw in hardened tips.  They are but one of many options for isolation purposes.

Being in transition to the Mac Mini doesn't really change things.  It, too, responds very well to isolation and resonance control, just not on the big scale of a big flimsy box like the mini ITX.

Resonance control is a necessity for articulate, vibrant reproduction.  Of course there are many things that can be considered necessities, but this is one of the big ones.

Tomorrow I'll introduce you all to the coolest isolation footers that I've come across in like, forever.

Dave

[dBe]

Here they are:



An Audible difference:   http://www.anaudibledifferencenm.com/Home-Page.aspx


Dave

[mcallister]

I like the looks who makes them? Do you sell them?

[highfilter]

Looks great, Dave.

So tells us more! What are the different variations and applications for each? Have you tried them on a variety on components and documented the results for each? I imagine the Tranquility DAC and the Mac Mini. 

[dBe]

I like the looks who makes them? Do you sell them?

Yes I do.  I'll have more info in a bit.  Stay tuned.

http://www.anaudibledifferencenm.com/Home-Page.aspx

Dave

[dBe]

Looks great, Dave.

So tells us more! What are the different variations and applications for each? Have you tried them on a variety on components and documented the results for each? I imagine the Tranquility DAC and the Mac Mini. 

These are the brainchild of my friend and accomplice in audio, Jim Rogers.  They have been in the works for some time.  The different materials definitely work in different ways... as do the different balls.

I'll be back with more info tonight.  I have a hot soldering iron yelling at me >>>>>>>>>>>>

Dave

[dBe]

These are the brainchild of my friend and accomplice in audio, Jim Rogers.  They have been in the works for some time.  The different materials definitely work in different ways... as do the different balls.

I'll be back with more info tonight.  I have a hot soldering iron yelling at me >>>>>>>>>>>>

Dave

I'm back.

The footers in the picture above are (l-r) mesquite, kwilla, purple heart and osage (bodark) in the back row and the smaller disc isolators in the front row are hard maple.  The balls in the back row (l-r) brass, zirconium dioxide, silicon nitride and 302 stainless.  The front row is a cork pad, delrin ball and another silicone nitride ball with the item on the right being a maple/sorbothane/maple sandwich.  These are very cool   .

As you would expect, all of the materials sound different, as do the balls.  Put them all together and you have a lot of variables.  What you don't see is the mass loading incorporated into these little wonder that sets them apart from everything else out there.  Can you tell that we have been doing a lot of study about the use of mass and its' effect in soundstage here in Albuquerque in tha last few months?  It has been fun.

We used the purple heart cones at RMAF with the silicone nitride balls IIRC.  The sound was very good, round and still tight with terriffic space around the instruments.  Using the cones was just one of the things that we did to dial the sound in.  Thanks, Jim.

I'm going to ask him over to field some questions in a day or so.  Be gentle, he is new to all of this.

[jrebman]

Any more news/info?  Can you describe dimensions, appearance, etc?  I checked the web site but didn't see too much more than you have said here.

Thanks,

Jim

[dBe]

Any more news/info?  Can you describe dimensions, appearance, etc?  I checked the web site but didn't see too much more than you have said here.

Thanks,

Jim

Jim, the other Jim is putting the finishing touches on his products.  I keep telling him that they are winners, but he is OCD about details.

The ones that I am the most excited about are his stacked isolators.  They are rock maple discs 1" in diameter x 1/4" thick.  They are on both sides of a 1" x 1/4" sorbothane disc.  There is an impression on one of the pieces of maple that receives one of the 1/4" diameter ball bearings.  Standard bearings that will come with the isolators will be brass, stainless steel and, I believe, silicone nitride.  There will be 4 to a set with 4 extra maple discs so that there are all kinds of assembly options.  Some pieces of gear sound good just sitting on a maple disc and ball combination.  Pricing is $49.95 + $5.00 shipping at this point.

BTW, I could not find an email from you concerning the UberBUSS.  Could you resend it?

Thanks,

Dave

[ZLS]

    Hi Dave,

    I am confused (as I often am) about the stacked isolators.  Are they solely for the purpose of stacking one component on top of another?  Or can they be used for free standing components. 
    Specifically, I am awaiting delivery of a Mach2 along with your sandwich.  Can I stack the outboard HD on top of the sandwich using these isolators? 
    BTW, one of the reasons I enjoy Audio Circle so much is how small manufactures help each other out. 
I would never have found out about the Mach2 Mini if not for your posting about it, and I would never have purchased your sandwich product if not for Kevin of Mach2 talking so highly about it. 
    Sometimes good business is just about being good people. 

[dBe]

    Hi Dave,

    I am confused (as I often am) about the stacked isolators.  Are they solely for the purpose of stacking one component on top of another?  Or can they be used for free standing components. 
    Specifically, I am awaiting delivery of a Mach2 along with your sandwich.  Can I stack the outboard HD on top of the sandwich using these isolators? 
    BTW, one of the reasons I enjoy Audio Circle so much is how small manufactures help each other out. 
I would never have found out about the Mach2 Mini if not for your posting about it, and I would never have purchased your sandwich product if not for Kevin of Mach2 talking so highly about it. 
    Sometimes good business is just about being good people.

The isolators can be used for any application that you can think of including what you proposed.  They are ideal for something like a HDD.  Each Isolator will support up to 10 pounds.

Thanks for purchasing one of my Sandwiches.  You are gonna LOVE the Mach2 Mini.  It sounds awesome!
I've been involved in online audio and recording arts forums since the old Madisound Bulletin Board when it was a 1200 baud    dialup site.  I can honestly say that Audio Circle is the best there is in my not so humble opinion.  I told one of my foreign customers that some of the joys in my life are the relationships that I have established with wonderful people from all over the world.  Another is that I have had to opportunity to meet many of the manufacturers that have Circles here.  Great people, by the way.

Audio Circle is like family - you love them even though you may have an occasional disagreement.  At the end of the day it's all good.  It is my pleasure to help anyone that I can here, especially those that bring to market high quality affordable audio products that make music, not just sound.  It is simply reciprocity.  Danny Richie (a friend fo many years) encouraged and supported me when I started up.  It is the least that I can do to give others the support that I have in turn received.  I will always do so.  I'm blessed to be part of a group of manufacturers and AC members that are all pulling in the same direction - towards THE BEST reproduction of music possible.

Welcome aboard 

Dave 

[jriggy]

Man! How'd I miss this!? I was waiting on this info too, but just bought some Ceraballs. Dang it...  Love the real wood for sure! Look forward to give these a try some time. Lovely.