Mucking around with a SBT

[RichB]

So I recently acquired one of these courtesy of Tom (Montesquiei) with the Best of Two Worlds Linear PSU. Its taken a bit of tweaking to get it sounding 'right' in my system.

Did a factory reset to clear the last user settings, plugged it in to the rega amp and started listening. First thoughts were it was uninspiring and not a patch on my laptop/vlink/dac set up. Although i do like how well it picked up my favorite HQ radio stations and its v user friendly interface, running flawlessly with an andrioid control app.

So onto the digital outputs into the rega dac, ouch... very harsh and in yer face sounding, too much 'detail' and high end sparkle. Practically giving me a headache through both the coax and optical outputs and I almost relisted the thing straight away.

Did a bit of reading on here and elsewhere and thought I'd try the EDO 3rd part app, didnt notice any improvement from either of the digital outputs but then added my vlink to the usb output (with a bus powered hub as recommended).... much nicer. Huge big soundstage, really detailed and open sounding but not a bit harsh or bright at all.

This has caused me some headscratching as to why this combination should so much better using 3 different cables and a hub than just using the optical out straight to the dac. Isnt the usual rule of thumb that the fewer cables and components the better. Goes against all my better judgement in fact, but the results are so clear to hear.

Just to confirm my ears werent playing tricks on me I had a friend over to listen to both the SBT going straight to the dac and my laptop/vlink to the dac via optical. He actually enjoyed the driving hard sound of the SBT but agreed the laptop was an easier listen.

Can anyone offer any thoughts why this should be so?

Cheers

Rich

[Markiii]

Could be the vlink is a better match, does it have an spdif input for comparison?

[Stratmangler]

How it the SBT set up, and which server are you running?

[RichB]

Could be the vlink is a better match, does it have an spdif input for comparison?

yes, the vlink and hub combination sounds consistently good on both toslink and coax outputs to the dac. The SBT on the other hand is as rough as a sack of spanners from both its digital outputs to the dac


How it the SBT set up, and which server are you running?

I'm using the latest firmware and kernal updates, for when I have been streaming from the laptop I've used the latest version of logitech media server from their site. The SBT is connected wifi to my router and has been v steady (no drop outs) with spotify and streaming radio which is what I've been using it with. Its running the USB output via the EDO app, that goes to a cheapo usb 2.0 hub which is connected by bog standard usb a to micro type connection. Then I run a bit of supra usb 2.0 from the hub to the vlink, the vlink is connected to the dac by a maplins bit of toslink.

Was any of this helpful mate?

[Stratmangler]

Have you fixed the output level on the Touch?
Is it set at 100% in LMS?

EDO has never been described as improving the sound of the Touch (although it has been claimed to do so) but it does permit the Touch to output 24/192 files to an external DAC via either the input coax SPDIF, or a DAC connected to the USB port, assuming that the device can handle 24/192.

[Covenant]

I have tried the Touch via USB and agree it's better, much better in fact. It was Gazjam of this very parish who advised me to try it. Unfortunately the dac I now use- Beresford Bushmaster Mk 2 doesn't have a usb input so I might look around for a converter. If I remember correctly, in the EDO settings you select very large buffer (USB only).

[Stratmangler]

I cannot concur with your findings about the coaxial SPDIF on the Touch sounding poor.
I have a HiFace2 USB > SPDIF and it runs perfectly well from the Touch USB port. The sound quality I get feeding my DAC from either the Touch direct, or by USB via the HiFace2 is the same.
I hear no difference.
And the sound quality I have is very good indeed.

[Alp]

I run an SBT with EDO and TT3.0, tweaked to increase the SPDIF process priority. Perceived wisdom is to have a very low buffer (4000 or less) with SPDIF but I have found that soundcheck (http://soundcheck-audio.blogspot.com/2011/11/touch-toolbox-30.html‎)'s suggestion of a very large buffer size eliminated the harshness. I feed the signal into a BM2 DAC via optical and coax and, to be honest, cannot tell the difference. I have not tried the USB output since the BM2 does not support it. Powering both the SBT and the BM2 with the Ankaka battery made a big step-up in SQ in my system.

[MartinT]

I use my Touch with EDO and TT3 running the co-ax output into a BM2. The sound quality is very good indeed, verging on superb, depending on the material. Lots of 24/96 DVD-A rips sound marvellous and even Spotify streams in high bitrate mode and Radio Paradise Naim stream sound very good. Both Touch and BM2 are battery powered.

[Covenant]

I have a cable ordered to power the Touch from the Anker battery. It will be interesting to see if its better than the linear supply I am using at present. I hope the cable is centre positive! Nothing on the web page to tell me.

[lovejoy]

Back when I had my Audiolab CDQ, I played around with EDO and the USB output for a while, but I ended up going back to SPDIF out as I just thought it sounded less forced than the USB output, and having the ability to play 24/192 from the SPDIF was a nice bonus that EDO gave (for my sum total of 1 24/192 album that is ;-). Now that I've moved from the CDQ to a Naim DAC I've lost the ability to use USB, but the SBT still holds its own via the SPDIF (at least it does when you use a combination of EDO and the TT3.0 tweaks) - I had a Naim NDX on home demo for a while and I actually preferred the sound of the Naim DAC + SBT to the NDX, so that's what I have stuck with. The SBT really is an amazing piece of kit. It was all very sensitive to SPDIF cables though, so you may want to try something different if you haven't done so already. I tried a few a couple of months back and found the Chord Prodac very good. I made the mistake of trying the Chord Indigo+ too and that was just mindblowingly good to the point of "Can this really be an SBT still" as the improvements just kept on coming - But almost £1000 for an SPDIF cable on a £200 streamer? I just couldn't stomach it. So I ended up with a very nice cable from Peter at Igloo audio after a couple of posts over on the PFM forum which was very reasonably priced and in my system came somewhere in between the Chord Anthem and the Indigo+. It's only drawback being that its BNC terminated, so the SBT end needed an adapter.

In terms of the PSU I've been using a Russ Andrews unit, which is still a switch mode supply, but it is rather good. I had been tempted with the best of both worlds supply, but I'd be fascinated by the results of your battery experiments Jerry...

[Covenant]

Thanks Rich,
I use a Mike Homar digital cable which is excellent. I also tried a cheap Toslink cable which was marginally inferior. I do agree though that the cable between Touch and dac makes a big difference. The USB/plug cable has arrived but I wont get a chance to have a good listen until the weekend. I should have my new preamp then as well. Yum....

[Covenant]

I spent an hour listening to my system last night (before the new preamp arrives) and can categorically state that the Touch benefits from battery power. My speakers can have a tendency to be a little laid back. The battery operation seems to have re-energized them so that they have more punch and a stronger presentation. I won't be going back to a linear supply.

[lovejoy]

Thanks Jerry,
That sounds like exactly what I need. Since the new turntable arrived, the Touch has been relegated to radio duties, so it could do with a bit of a kick, and the differences you describe sound like exactly what it needs. I'm going to go ahead and order one of those batteries - Which model do you use? I notice there are a few on the website.

[MartinT]

I use a 5V compact USB phone charger. It works very well.

[lovejoy]

Done! Ordered the 9000mAh version which should give a good days' worth of playback from the SBT. Will also come in handy for emergency phone power on camping trips ;-). Just need to make up a cable for power to the SBT now.

[Covenant]

Sorry Rich
Just finished a mega work day. This is the one I use:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00BUJCMUQ/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
It powers my Bushmaster Mk2 as well.

[lovejoy]

No worries, thanks Jerry.

It arrived this morning. I made up the cable ready to go last night so I was just playing about with some of the other 5V chargers I had around the house. Not surprisingly anything with an Apple badge on it made things sound pretty horrendous, but more surprisingly my Sony camera charger did a marvellous job. I'd go as far as to say better than my Russ Andrews supply, certainly opened out the soundstage a lot more anyway.

But now to the new battery. Initial impressions are rather exciting - Just as you say Jerry, much better projection, everything has been brought forward a few steps, things just sound more engaging. Timing seems to have improved as well. I need to spend a few nights listening now but things are sounding very promising indeed.

Many thanks for the tip, it's looking like a rather good one and a much cheaper option than a lot of the dedicated linear supplies.