Monarchy Audio DIP 48/96 upsampler [Archive]

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bigmarty

31-01-2010, 20:23

StanleyB

31-01-2010, 21:03

How would you know that the upsampler is reducing jitter? Would you be able to hear the reduction in jitter?

leo

31-01-2010, 21:11

From my experience upsampling usually makes a difference but mostly NOT in a good way, just my imo;)

The Vinyl Adventure

31-01-2010, 21:16

I'm sure there was someone around these parts who was using that exact combo and liked it... Brain not working well enough to say who though...

leo

31-01-2010, 21:28

As always theres only way to be sure if you like these things yourself;)

bigmarty

31-01-2010, 23:45

How would you know that the upsampler is reducing jitter? Would you be able to hear the reduction in jitter?

Hi Stan, first of all excuse my ignorance, and second of all is that I'm very pleased with your Caiman DAC :) , brilliant sound and so easy to use it is well and truly a part of my system now, (more photos to follow) and I must admit I'm very happy with the sound of my system, but when I was first looked at the Wadia 170 iTransport people were talking about the only problem was jitter unless you had something to control it and the Monarchy Audio DIP 48/96 upsampler or Benchmark DAC which got rid of the jitter were mentioned all the time, these were supposed to make the sound more smoother. A pre owned Monarchy Audio DIP 48/96 upsampler has come up for sale on another forum, and got me thinking again... as always I am always trying to get my system sounding as good as I can get it and just looking for a more experienced opinion.

Cheers

Marty :rolleyes:

bigmarty

01-02-2010, 00:47

I think i'v got the JITTERS :lol: I'v been to the loo six times already and got a bit of a sore head and I think my glands are a bit swollen :eek:. I might even have to take Monday off work....definitely got a bit of a temperature :o. I'll let you know how I am tomorrow. Any advice of how to get rid of the Jitters would be much appreciated :lolsign:

Marty :D:D

Themis

01-02-2010, 17:01

Hi Folks, I was thinking of buying a pre-owned Monarchy Audio DIP 48/96 upsampler to go in between my Caiman DAC and Wadia 170 iTransport to reduce Jitter. Do you think this would make a difference or do you think I would not notice any difference and be wasting my money ? :scratch:
look forward to your opinions

Many thanks

Marty
Hi Marty,

in my opinion, your weak link is the 170i, which is a very simple USB->SPDIF converter. Unfortunately, there's no guaranty that the MA DIP will mask the potential "problems" of the Wadia (if any and if they are audible).
Unless the DIP is very, very, very cheap, I wouldn't advise you to invest in this.

bigmarty

01-02-2010, 23:03

Hi Marty,

in my opinion, your weak link is the 170i, which is a very simple USB->SPDIF converter. Unfortunately, there's no guaranty that the MA DIP will mask the potential "problems" of the Wadia (if any and if they are audible).
Unless the DIP is very, very, very cheap, I wouldn't advise you to invest in this.

Hi Dimitri,

Thanks for your opinion, I know the Wadia 170i is the weakest link in my system but only just :) and I thought the MA DIP would just bring it up to the mark of my CDPs. For sheer convenience the Wadia is a great bit of kit with my 160 GB iPod classic holding 4,700+ songs ripped in apple lossless, most of the time we will have it on shuffle and have re found some great albums that we haven't played for years :band:
but I will take on board what folk are saying. ;)
As usual great advice and support from every body and definitely still my favourite music forum :youtheman:

Many thanks

Marty

bigmarty

01-02-2010, 23:09

Themis

02-02-2010, 06:44

and I thought the MA DIP would just bring it up to the mark of my CDPs.
Hard to say... :( I've serious doubts, though : usually imperfections with interfaces like the Wadia are multiple : various noises, clock... The DIP will certainly fix the clock part, but will not clean the signal of the (already) embedded noise.

For sheer convenience the Wadia is a great bit of kit with my 160 GB iPod classic holding 4,700+ songs ripped in apple lossless, most of the time we will have it on shuffle and have re found some great albums that we haven't played for years :band:
I know. I also have a 160GB iPod (with 400AAC VBR), although I use it only for headphone listening, as I went the Squeezebox route a few years ago. ;)
My wife uses shuffle, too. Very convenient, indeed ! :cool:

bigmarty

02-02-2010, 13:39

Hard to say... :( I've serious doubts, though : usually imperfections with interfaces like the Wadia are multiple : various noises, clock... The DIP will certainly fix the clock part, but will not clean the signal of the (already) embedded noise

I know you are right Dimitri, rather spending the money on the Monarchy Audio DIP 48/96 upsampler I might get in touch with Mark at Audiocom and order a level-2 upgrade

"The level-2 upgrades install every conceivable improvement to the i170. We replace the internal clock of the PCM2706 chip with a ultra-low jitter external clock, the Superclock 4. This removes jitter and noise at all digital processing and analogue levels of the PCM2706 enabling more accurate, error free processing. We add a WBT NextGen cu RCA phono for digital output to provide the best possible signal transfer. To finish we further upgrade Tantalum decoupling with the S-CAP capacitors."

It's expensive at £453 but it should have big improvements to the Wadia.

Marty :)

Themis

02-02-2010, 13:46

Yes. This looks MUCH better, to me too (although the WBT plug is... ahem... not very useful) . :) Yes, it is expensive, indeed.
What is the price of the DIP ?

bigmarty

02-02-2010, 16:35

Yes. This looks MUCH better, to me too (although the WBT plug is... ahem... not very useful) . :) Yes, it is expensive, indeed.
What is the price of the DIP ?

I'm glad you agree :) the asking price for the DIP is £160 including postage (it is about four years old). My real worry was would it make any real difference to the sound..... I was even thinking about getting a Benchmark DAC which is supposed to get rid of the jitter but what a price:( but in the end I got the Caiman DAC (audio file bargain) which I must say I'm very pleased with and sounds superb :eek:. I suppose if I look at it this way the saving I made not getting the Benchmark and getting Stans Caimam DAC with the rest of the money can go towards the upgrade :lolsign: a win win situation, but please don't tell my wife....:lol:

Marty

Themis

02-02-2010, 16:47

There are cheaper dacs than the BM with anti-jitter circuitry. But then, again, they won't fix other (than clock) imperfections...
Yes, if you already saved the money, then it's a win-win situation.

Have a look at the Denon ASD-51W and ASD-51N as well. I don't know how it compares to the Wadia bit (but I plan to get one next month).

John

02-02-2010, 17:12

The Audiocom upgrade should push things a lot further, there a few of us here who used Audiocom can vouch for how well they work, just be paitent it can take a few weeks before you get it returned and then a few weeks for you to hear its true potential

trailer

02-02-2010, 21:28

I've got a MA DIP upsampling into a Wolfsoned 7520 from an Apple TV.
I didn't notice as a big a difference using it in NUS mode. It did make a difference in the upsampling mode (it's a jumper you need to move on the PCB inside the actual unit). I guess theory says it shouldn't but hey, when did theory come into things?

There's one going on eBay too for £170 at the moment too.