Sneak Preview: Scott Nixon USBTD. . .

Hantra · « **on:** 28 Feb 2006, 02:09 am »

All:

Tonight, I got a sneak preview of the new USBTD from Scott Nixon. I must say that I was quite surprised. I expected a difference, but a minimal one. What I heard was a pretty significant difference! The soundstage was wider, things were sharper, more detailed, and the background was quite a bit darker. I was super-impressed.

The coolest thing about it, aside from the improvement, was the way it installed. I plugged the USBTD into my PC, and sat down. I launched Foobar, and went to Preferences. It was not only already in my output options, it was already SELECTED for me!?

I didn't have to do a thing! THAT'S impressive. No ghey software to install, no tweaking, no settings, and it still sounded better. W00t!

Looks like I'm in line to buy one, but there are quite a few ahead of me.

More to come. . .

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #1 on:** 28 Feb 2006, 02:45 am »

This it B ?..... Link.....

gongos · « **Reply #2 on:** 28 Feb 2006, 03:10 am »

I'm on the list for a demo, and am going to compare it to my RWA USB Select/Empirical Audio Dack! setup. The one thing that blows is I can't use my DEQ2496 with it, which might be a deal breaker.

Hantra · « **Reply #3 on:** 28 Feb 2006, 03:13 am »

Quote from: lonewolfny42

This it B ?..... Link.....

That's it.

Why can't you use it with the DEQX Gongos?

gongos · « **Reply #4 on:** 28 Feb 2006, 03:27 am »

Because there's no USB in on it for digital, and using the analog in of the 2496 would completely defeat the purpose of the USB DAC.

matix · « **Reply #5 on:** 28 Feb 2006, 03:47 am »

I am trying to understand this product...does it have a volume control? Does it mean to just plug the computer to it, and then direct to the power amp?

matix · « **Reply #6 on:** 28 Feb 2006, 03:48 am »

sorry..double post

KT · « **Reply #7 on:** 28 Feb 2006, 04:25 am »

Hantra,

Sounds very promising! I wonder how much of the improvement is due to the new USB input vs. potential parts upgrades in the other sections of the dac. I'd be very interested in seeing a comparison of two units that were identical save the I2S input receiver (especially the output cap, I/V resistors, tube).

It seems that recorded music will live on the hard drive for now and in the future, so this positive first impression is a very good thing. I guess anyone who's still spinning CD's on a transport will still be reliant on S-PDIF, though.

Congratulations and thanks to Scott for offering us even greater performance for such a reasonable cost. Awesome!

In case you're thinking about getting a Squeezebox, this might also be a good reason to wait until it features USB I2S output: to take advantage of the sonic superiority of this new interface (if it's as good as first impressions suggest).

I'm looking forward with great interest to hearing your long-term impressions as the new Nixon dac continues to burn in.

Best,
KT

KT · « **Reply #8 on:** 28 Feb 2006, 04:32 am »

Quote from: matix

I am trying to understand this product...does it have a volume control? Does it mean to just plug the computer to it, and then direct to the power amp? How different is it from the EA type?

If I'm correct, it works like a just like a normal dac. Instead of receiving a signal from a CD transport, however, it takes it from the computer.

The signal chain would look like this:

computer > dac > preamp > power amp > speakers

or

computer > dac > integrated amp or receiver > speakers

Best,
KT

Hantra · « **Reply #9 on:** 28 Feb 2006, 01:54 pm »

Quote from: KT

I wonder how much of the improvement is due to the new USB input vs. potential parts upgrades in the other sections of the dac. I'd be very interested in seeing a comparison of two units that were identical save the I2S input receiver (especially the output cap, I/V resistors, tube)

That's one of the things we wondered as well. It looks like I may be able to find that out in a few weeks, pending the backlog of orders getting out.

I'll definately keep you posted.

B

JLM · « **Reply #10 on:** 1 Mar 2006, 01:40 pm »

What tube is that in the USDTD?

What kind of power supply/wallwart is used?

Hantra · « **Reply #11 on:** 1 Mar 2006, 01:59 pm »

Quote from: JLM

What tube is that in the USDTD?

What kind of power supply/wallwart is used?

6DJ8, and I used my own 3XAC power supply for the test. If you didn't want the 3XAC, then it would be a standard wall wart. Having heard the differences, I believe it's a must to get the 3XAC.

8thnerve · « **Reply #12 on:** 2 Mar 2006, 06:04 pm »

What about the Chibu USB? Anyone heard this?

Bwanagreg · « **Reply #13 on:** 2 Mar 2006, 09:57 pm »

This sounds promising! I just recently bought the HagUSB to convert USB to SPDIF, but I really would prefer a straight USB option. As it is though, I'm getting and amazingly glare-free and smooth analogue-like sound, far better than I had with a conventional CD transport via the SPDIF input.

Make sure to try an ASIO-USB driver. It bypasses the nasty Windows Kmixer nonsense, which as I understand it resamples and otherwise damages the sound if it isn't bypassed. I'm using this one:

http://www.usb-audio.com/

with J River Media Center and APE files.

Now the main problem I'm having is a bit of crackling/popping (talk about analogue-sounding!). I'm pretty sure it is due to either a cheap USB card I'm using (uprgrade on the way) or some other settings that I haven't tried to change yet. Anyone else run into this?

Hantra · « **Reply #14 on:** 3 Mar 2006, 12:03 am »

Quote from: Bwanagreg

Now the main problem I'm having is a bit of crackling/popping (talk about analogue-sounding!). I'm pretty sure it is due to either a cheap USB card I'm using (uprgrade on the way) or some other settings that I haven't tried to change yet. Anyone else run into this?..

Are you using the Resampler? Check your CPU usage. Report back.

I had the same problem before I got a faster CPU.

I didn't even know there was an ASIO USB driver. I'll have to try that when I get mine.

Thanks!

B

Bwanagreg · « **Reply #15 on:** 3 Mar 2006, 01:53 am »

Hantra,

CPU utilization is between 5 and 15-20%. I have a RAID 5 card - wonder if that is causing conflicts? This is modest AMD 2000+, 266 Mhz FSB system, 512 M memory. I'll see what the new USB card does - the one I have now is really cheap. I have been thinking about upgrading the MB and CPU - this is really a sickness, isn't it

As for resampling, I have my output options set to source sampling rate and depth, and I'm pretty sure the ASIO driver completely avoids kmixer (isn't that what does the resampling?).

I'd appreciate any other suggestions. I've already turned off a bunch of services, and the firewall and anti-virus programs. I am running Net Remote, too. I don't WANT to turn that off

Hantra · « **Reply #16 on:** 3 Mar 2006, 02:30 am »

Quote from: Bwanagreg

Hantra,

CPU utilization is between 5 and 15-20%. I have a RAID 5 card - wonder if that is causing conflicts? This is modest AMD 2000+, 266 Mhz FSB system, 512 M memory. I'll see what the new USB card does - the one I have now is really cheap. I have been thinking about upgrading the MB and CPU - this is really a sickness, isn't it

I wouldn't buy any new hardware yet. Try Foobar. I've never used J Rivers, but it may be more resource intense. If it doesn't pop on another player, it's not the hardware.

I ran a 1.4Ghz with Foo on 96k resample and it choked. I run a 2.8 now with a GB of RAM, and I can do whatever I want. Resampling I don't do now b/c I just don't think it sounds natural.

HTH,

B

Jon L · « **Reply #17 on:** 3 Mar 2006, 03:23 am »

Quote from: gongos

I'm on the list for a demo, and am going to compare it to my RWA USB Select/Empirical Audio Dack! setup. The one thing that blows is I can't use my DEQ2496 with it, which might be a deal breaker.

But you can use WinAmp Bridge to use Winamp plugins in Foobar. One of them happens to be Shibatech SuperEQ, which is a fantastic parametric EQ software. And they're both free...

Jon L · « **Reply #18 on:** 6 Mar 2006, 04:46 am »

Quote from: Hantra

The coolest thing about it, aside from the improvement, was the way it installed. I plugged the USBTD into my PC, and sat down. I launched Foobar, and went to Prefer ...

But are you able to select USBTD using Foobar's ASIO dll mode?

With HagTech HagUSB, I'm having a heck of a time being able to use ASIO dll, ASIO4ALL, or KS. In other words, no relief from the K-mixer.

Hantra · « **Reply #19 on:** 6 Mar 2006, 04:58 am »

Quote from: Jon L

But are you able to select USBTD using Foobar's ASIO dll mode?

With HagTech HagUSB, I'm having a heck of a time being able to use ASIO dll, ASIO4ALL, or KS. In other words, no relief from the K-mixer.

Well I haven't messed with any of that. I should probably load the ASIO drivers and give it a shot.

I'll report back this week.

B