Audio-gd Digital Interface - any good?

[morris_minor]

A couple of questions.

In general terms do re-clocking interfaces have genuine sonic benefits?

If so, has anyone any experience of the Audio-gd Digital Interface (http://www.ampcity.co.uk/audio-gd-digital-interface.html)?

In specific terms I'd expect the quality of the source and DAC to determine if one of these things is needed - I'd use it between a Squeezebox Touch and a Metrum Octave NOS DAC.

I've just emailed the guy who designed the DAC for his comments in general about jitter and the Octave, but comments from anyone here would be most welcome.

Thanks,
Bob

[Reid Malenfant]

It sounds similar to a Monarch Audio DIP 24/96.

Not saying it is but if it does what the DIP did in my system then it's something I'd seriously consider.

The idea behing the DIP (Digital Interface Processor) was to retime everything (as this thing aludes to) & change a standard coaxial S/PDIF & Toslink input to an AES/EBU output as well as coaxial output.

It certainly worked in my system, though it got replaced with the same kind of thing, but with upsampling as well (DIP 48/96) :eyebrows:

[morris_minor]

Thanks Mark. There's a 30-day return on it (UK dealer, not some Chinese flea market) so it's maybe worth a punt for the price of shipping . .

[morris_minor]

A quick reply from Cees Ruijtenberg, who designed the Octave: it has its own re-clocking so I can save myself some money . . .:)

[pete_mac]

The DI is a great bit of kit. I used one for quite a while as a reclocker between my Squeezebox and various DACs. I hot-rodded mine with a drop-in Tentlabs XO which improved the upsampling performance noticeably, as well as a different hex inverter chip and a nice silver umbilical power cable off ebay (less than a tenner).

I recently sold the DI with a view to forcing myself to upgrade to the Empirical Audio Synchro Mesh (which, based upon the performance of their other gear, should be the new benchmark) and my system doesn't sound as good now that the DI is removed from the signal path. Flatter, less dynamic, less detailed, poorer flow. I miss it immensely!

[morris_minor]

Thanks Pete. With a money back guarantee maybe it IS worth trying .. :eyebrows:

BTW how would you set the unit to upsample? There only seems to be a switch to select inputs...

[pete_mac]

There are some pins on the board which are shorted via little jumpers. You can see them on the right hand side of the Tentlabs XO in this photo:

http://i535.photobucket.com/albums/ee359/petemacozfoz/disale3.jpg

[Reid Malenfant]

Ah, so now it's sounding suspiciously like the DIP 48/96 :)

The only way you'd get that off of me is from my cold dead hands :eyebrows:

[morris_minor]

There are some pins on the board which are shorted via little jumpers.
Ah! Thanks Pete! I'm getting more and more interested in this :eyebrows:. Do you use the better power supply? I'm assuming there are benefits of doing so ...

[morris_minor]

Well - just ordered one, with PS and uprated clock.

Am I going to be thankful of the 30-day return policy? :scratch:

[Reid Malenfant]

Probably not... I think you'll be pleasantly surprised though that's going on what the DIP does, here's hoping that does the very same.

If it does, you'll be wondering where all that bass came from & how come you couldn't hear it before in such detail :eyebrows: That's just the low frequencies...


Have fun!

[morris_minor]

Probably not... I think you'll be pleasantly surprised though that's going on what the DIP does, here's hoping that does the very same.

If it does, you'll be wondering where all that bass came from & how come you couldn't hear it before in such detail :eyebrows: That's just the low frequencies...


Have fun!
Here's hoping, Mark! :)

[pete_mac]

Ah! Thanks Pete! I'm getting more and more interested in this :eyebrows:. Do you use the better power supply? I'm assuming there are benefits of doing so ...

The external power supply is mandatory if you intend using the DI without a PC (ie. if you are not using USB to power the device).

Congrats on the purchase. Give it some time to burn-in too. Even if you are a burn-in skeptic, the audio-gd gear (DACs included) is very 'component-dense' and seems to settle down after several hundreds of hours of use.

[morris_minor]

The external power supply is mandatory if you intend using the DI without a PC (ie. if you are not using USB to power the device).

Congrats on the purchase. Give it some time to burn-in too. Even if you are a burn-in skeptic, the audio-gd gear (DACs included) is very 'component-dense' and seems to settle down after several hundreds of hours of use.
Thanks Pete. Yes, I'd read about the need for burn-in with these. My approach with this is going to be - use it for a while without a lot of critical listening, then take it out of the loop and see what's missing. I tried this with a PSU1 on my Graham Slee Solo headphone amp and the difference going back to the wall-wart PS was immediately apparent (squashed dynamics, less bass etc), so hopefully the impact of the DI will be just as noticeable. :eyebrows: