NVA 'TFS': 'The Future Statement' lands at Marco Towers...

[tubehunter]

So the Audio is setup to use ASIO to interface to the DAC.

This means that the music data is sent directly to the DAC without any intervention from Windows or even the Xonar audio console - it literally gets delivered at the DAC's doorstep.

This means that if you made a bit-perfect rip from a CD, you will get a bit-perfect delivery to the DAC. It also means that no jitter is introduced by the transport itself.

It also means that you don't have to do anything to switch between different sample rates or bit depths - it's transparent and hassle free.

One implication is that the windows volume control doesn't work (remember it bypasses Windows completely).

The options for attenuation are as follows:
1) Have the maximum signal go to a pre-amp and attenuate from there in the analogue domain.
2) JRiver has an option for changing the 'internal volume'. This effectively attenuates in the digital domain before the data is sent to the DAC. Now because JRiver user 64-bit data structures for processing the music data this kind of internal attenuation effectively has no negative effect on the audio.
Therefore this option allows for plugging the TFS directly into a power amp and bypassing the pre altogether.
3) As above but use a pre to set the ball-park volume in the analogue domain and tweak it from the comfort of your armchair in the digital domain with the 'internal' volume control.

Interesting, So if Marco is using his Sony Dac 16Bit 44.1/48khz and tries to play 24bit 192Khz files Asio downsamples it?

[Figlet108]

Hi Jason, I'm sure plenty here would be interested in the forthcoming transport version.

Ok, so the plan is to produce a transport-only product next.
It will be similar to the TFS except:

• smaller - the challenge is to make it as compact as possible
• cheaper - it won't be a Statement product in a fancy case
• audio only - I won't go out of my way to ensure bluray playback capability
• optional external PSU - for those on a budget it will be available without the fancy linear PSU

My question to you guys is: what digital interfaces do you want?
Obviously it will have USB.
It will also need legacy S/PDIF in the form of coax and optical.
But do people care about AES/EBU?

[Welder]

Hi Jason

Lots of questions....sry

Given you’ve Windows7 as the operating system I take it you’ve not optimised the cores for particular processes. If you have got around this problem I would be interested in knowing whose software you used and how much you had to pay for it.

I gather you’ve used one of the Asus on PCI sound cards (?) From what I’ve read it may be the ST (?)

Have you underclocked the processor (?)
If so did you match it to the bus speed (?)
I understand you have to linear regulated power supplies feeding the MOB (?)
I wondered how you had implemented the clock power feed and have you separated the power supply for RAM and processor on the board (?)
I haven’t seen any mention of USB connectivity, or galvanic isolation on any of the data outputs. Is this primarily built for S/PDIF ?

Is there any provision for the owner to change the operating system without breaking any hardware dependencies?
What if anything has been done to the sound card?
I’ve had a few Asus sound cards in my time and while they’re competent they aren’t the best performing cards out there so why choose it ?

My view is media storage should never be on the same drive as the operating system yet I see you’ve allowed for this and I wondered why?

That’s the first batch of questions.

[Ali Tait]

Jason, that's good news, that's exactly what I'd be looking for. As for your question, how much would it cost to add? If it doesn't add too much to the price I'd say add it in.

Any timescale on when it will be available?

[Figlet108]

Interesting, So if Marco is using his Sony Dac 16Bit 44.1/48khz and tries to play 24bit 192Khz files Asio downsamples it?

No, I think in that case what's happening is that the full unadulterated signal is passed to the Sony Dac through the S/PDIF connection and it's the Sony that downsamples it. After all, how does the TFS know the capability of whatever DAC is connected - I didn't think any information was passed back to the transport with the S/PDIf protocol.

I'm not 100% sure though so maybe someone more knowledgeable can confirm.

[Clive]

Just imagine asking similarly detailed questions when buying a car! I bet Jason feels a bit overwhelmed...

[Figlet108]

Can it be used with a Linux PC?

Sure can, and in fact a TFS owner (Terry) that posts on hifisubjectivist does just that. He runs Ubuntu on it and swears that it sounds better than the Windows set-up.

[jostber]

Sure can, and in fact a TFS owner (Terry) that posts on hifisubjectivist does just that. He runs Ubuntu on it and swears that it sounds better than the Windows set-up.

That sounds good for me as I use Suse Linux.

[Welder]

I wouldn't expect a salesman to know the answers Clive which is why I'm asking the guy who I believe is the geek in the pile.

Basically I'm trying to establish whether this is a basic Asus low powered MOB with a standard Asus sound card fed by a couple of linear power supplies in a box.

A modern music centre if you like

+1 for Linux OS and one less question.

[Marco]

Well, if it is, it's a bloody amazing one!!

Marco.