Transient MKII Asynchronous USB Converter

Ghostbuster70 · « **Reply #80 on:** 25 Feb 2013, 01:14 pm »

Wow...it sounds so much better after a few weeks of use! My spinner has not seen a disc the last month...

Ghostbuster70 · « **Reply #81 on:** 26 Feb 2013, 09:26 pm »

Hello Dusty,

Do you think i will get even beter results with a PSI USB card (SOtM) ? Or is that not necessary anymore ?

http://www.mediaelectronics.be/shop/nl/579-sotm-tx-usbexp-audiophile-pcie-to-usb-audio-card.html

with regards,
Arjan

CIAudio · « **Reply #82 on:** 26 Feb 2013, 09:42 pm »

Quote

Do you think i will get even beter results with a PSI USB card (SOtM) ? Or is that not necessary anymore ?

http://www.mediaelectronics.be/shop/nl/579-sotm-tx-usbexp-audiophile-pcie-to-usb-audio-card.html

I don't know much about these, but it could help things if it's USB power is improved by filtering.
We also provide filtering of the USB internal of the Transient. I doubt it would be better (or as good) as using Transient with the VDC-5 MKII.

Ghostbuster70 · « **Reply #83 on:** 27 Feb 2013, 11:30 am »

I ordered the sound card, i will let you know

I also played more with and without the power supply, and the differences are quite big.
It really shines with the power supply, the bass is much stronger, certainly an improvement.

k6davis · « **Reply #84 on:** 13 Mar 2013, 03:36 am »

Dusty,

I've had my Transient for about 3 weeks now and my only complaint is that I'm not sleeping enough because I can't stop listening to my system!

I'm using it as a USB to SPDIF converter between my computer and my NAD M51 DAC/Preamp, which itself is supposed to be very effective at minimizing jitter. The Transient apparently does a far better job. I'm basically stunned at the improvement it's made.

Instruments and, importantly, the environments in which they are recorded are much more clearly defined. In the case of music that uses sampled sounds along with normal recordings, I can distinctly hear the all disparate ambiences, at the same time! Transient (ha, ha) response is greatly improved, but what makes that so apparent is that the noise floor is lower so the transients appear out of a quieter background. It makes for a sound that can be startlingly realistic with quality recordings. And there's much more information in what I thought were just average recordings than I could hear without the Transient. It's very impressive.

Beyond the rave, I do have a question. I've read that, when using USB for audio, it's a bad idea to use USB for anything else. Does having other, simultaneous activity on the USB bus adversely impact the performance of the Transient?

Thanks,
Keith

DaveBSC · « **Reply #85 on:** 13 Mar 2013, 04:21 am »

Quote from: k6davis on 13 Mar 2013, 03:36 am

Beyond the rave, I do have a question. I've read that, when using USB for audio, it's a bad idea to use USB for anything else. Does having other, simultaneous activity on the USB bus adversely impact the performance of the Transient?

Thanks,
Keith

The ideal way to run a computer music server is headless (no monitor, no input devices), using something like JRemote for JRiver, or MPod or MPDroid for MPD if you're running Linux. ANYTHING that the computer does that's not directly related to audio playback is ultimately harmful to the sound. How audible that will be depends on the rest of the system.

CIAudio · « **Reply #86 on:** 13 Mar 2013, 03:26 pm »

In theory, DAVEBSC is correct. However it really depends if the extra work being done by the computer is causing any audible degradation.

I use Transient with both a MAC and Win PC. Both have external SSD's connected by USB, and have had no issues with drop-outs or audible signal degradation. It is very system dependent as computers vary in hardware, power supplies, controllers etc. It's best to try different configurations and judge for yourself.

k6davis · « **Reply #87 on:** 13 Mar 2013, 08:22 pm »

Quote from: CIAudio on 13 Mar 2013, 03:26 pm

In theory, DAVEBSC is correct. However it really depends if the extra work being done by the computer is causing any audible degradation.

I use Transient with both a MAC and Win PC. Both have external SSD's connected by USB, and have had no issues with drop-outs or audible signal degradation. It is very system dependent as computers vary in hardware, power supplies, controllers etc. It's best to try different configurations and judge for yourself.

What you said has been borne out by my experience, Dusty. My (internal) music drive is nearly full at 4TB and I've been making copies/synchronizing backups. One copy takes *days* over USB 2.0. Not only have I had no dropouts, but I was hearing the sound quality improvements I was speaking of while all of this copying was taking place!

Even intense USB activity didn't hurt the sound in my setup.

In fact, if I have to keep the USB bus busy to keep it sounding that way, I'll have to rig something!

DaveBSC · « **Reply #88 on:** 16 Mar 2013, 08:07 pm »

Quote from: CIAudio on 13 Mar 2013, 03:26 pm

In theory, DAVEBSC is correct. However it really depends if the extra work being done by the computer is causing any audible degradation.

I use Transient with both a MAC and Win PC. Both have external SSD's connected by USB, and have had no issues with drop-outs or audible signal degradation. It is very system dependent as computers vary in hardware, power supplies, controllers etc. It's best to try different configurations and judge for yourself.

True, as I said it depends on the level of the system. The developers at JPlay are absolute fanatics about this stuff. The ultimate way to run JPlay is using two computers, the "control" PC that can be a general purpose machine, and the "playback" PC which uses the ideal headless method with no other software, preferably with either a 12V LPS or battery, or even better, a full on, multi-rail linear supply like Core Audio's NanoATX.

Ghostbuster70 · « **Reply #89 on:** 7 Apr 2013, 01:00 pm »

Quote from: Ghostbuster70 on 27 Feb 2013, 11:30 am

I ordered the sound card, i will let you know

I also played more with and without the power supply, and the differences are quite big.
It really shines with the power supply, the bass is much stronger, certainly an improvement.

I have the card, after some troubles making it work (make sure Malware Bytes is un-installed). I must say it really improves the sound quality, bass is better and the sound is less digital, this is what i've noticed after a few day's of listening.

Ghostbuster70 · « **Reply #90 on:** 19 Sep 2013, 09:12 am »

I still have compatibility problems with my SOtM tX-USBexp card. It loses connection which results in drop outs ? Does anyone else have this card and knows a solution somehow ? It's a shame because it sounds great together...

CIAudio · « **Reply #91 on:** 19 Sep 2013, 04:38 pm »

I'm not familiar with the SOtM card, but if you give us a call, we'll try to help trouble-shoot it. I assume everything works fine using the computers USB port?

Ghostbuster70 · « **Reply #92 on:** 30 Sep 2013, 08:54 am »

Yes Dusty, the problems only occur when i use them together. Thanks for you're proposal, but my english is too weak to speak with someone through the telephone. I think it is what it is, the converter works fine when i use another USB port from the same PC. But i really like the way it sounds together, it sounds identical to (in my ears) my high-end cd player.

CIAudio · « **Reply #93 on:** 30 Sep 2013, 01:15 pm »

Quote

I think it is what it is, the converter works fine when i use another USB port from the same PC.

This appears to be an issue wit the SOtM card... I would suggest contacting the manfacturer for support.

ceedee · « **Reply #94 on:** 30 Sep 2013, 10:26 pm »

There will be a review coming up soon.

Ghostbuster70 · « **Reply #95 on:** 10 Oct 2013, 02:46 pm »

Dusty, is the USB converter also compatible with Linux software (Vortexbox) system ?

I'm thinking about buying this Music Server system, but want it to work with the CI Audio Converter...

http://www.audioaanzee.nl/images/Merk/Streamer/audioaanzee%20servers%20engels.pdf

CIAudio · « **Reply #96 on:** 10 Oct 2013, 03:22 pm »

Quote

Dusty, is the USB converter also compatible with Linux software (Vortexbox) system ?

I haven't tried it with the Vortexbox, but Transient is directly compatible with Linux (no drivers needed).

shadowlight · « **Reply #97 on:** 10 Oct 2013, 03:53 pm »

Ghostbuster70,

No experience with running it vortexbox but I was able to use it successfully when Dusty had loaned me the Transient during the Melody GTG at my house back in December. I tried with Mint, Ubuntu and Voyage Linux and did not have to install any drivers.

Ghostbuster70 · « **Reply #98 on:** 10 Oct 2013, 11:36 pm »

Thank you very much for the fast reply, i'll give the music server a try next week, it also has the SoTM USB card (lol), but i will see how it works out...

Ghostbuster70 · « **Reply #99 on:** 24 Oct 2013, 02:28 pm »

i have bought the Audio Aan Zee music server, and it sounds and works fantastic with the SOtM usb card and the Transient Converter. I think the problem was the compatibality with the SOtM card and windows 7. The seller knew about the problems with it, the server itself works on Linux with Daemon software...