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At least for me, in my system. YMMV.I would appreciate comments and suggestions.
1. Vibration control.My ESI Waveterminal U24 is placed on a MDF shelf of a flexy rack. Shelf itself has dynamat underneath (for vibration control.)
When I have added a ziploc bag filled with 1 lb of kitchen salt underneath the u24, the overal sound became more pleasant and more musical. Ziploc bag sits on a thick cork mat. Planning to replace with a maple platform sometime soon.
I believe that this requires more testing. some of the ideas I am considering:
1. MDF box filled with sand, with a lid freely floating on top of the sand.
2. MDF box with seminflated air bladder inside
I have not opened the U24, but now I believe that antivibration treatment of internla components would be also beneficial (blue tack blobs)
2. Incoming signalI have replaced standard shielded USB cable with 12 ft. USB2 extender cable that has a some kind of signal amplification device on other end. Extender cable is Chinese no name variety ($20), clear sleeving, shielded with tinned dense braid.
Original 6ft shielded USB cable is plugged into extender on one side and into U24 on another.
There is a huge difference in sound quality, comparable to differences between two medium priced CD transports of different generations. I prefer the sound of extender cable, it sounds more refined and definitelly more listenable.
Extender cable amplification device gets power through USB cable. I would like to find one that use external power supply. This would provide stable power for U24 as well.
Follow Ups:
Aha, someone else that can hear USB tweaks, I thought I was alone in this, everytime I mention it I get flamed for even mentioning the possibility.My experience has been that a short passive cable is the best. Long passive cables sound lousy, and long active cables with short passive to the DAC are almost as good as short passive.
For the last 8 months I've been using 2 active cables in series running around the perimeter of the listening room to get from the computer right next to me to the DAC. This worked gret until 3 weeks ago when the computer couldn't see the DAC. I tried it with a laptop on short passive, work fine. Laptop through either active, no go. So I went back to long passive, didn't sound as good but worked. After a week of that I decided to try the active again and it works fine. Its been going strong for two weeks now. No clue as to why it stopped and then started again!
On the vibration front, I've seen significant changes with this. I tried a number of different approaches, the best by far was roller bearings. I'm using the cheap DIY ones made out of concave door pulls mounr]ted on a wood block with a ball on top with the device resting on these. I'm using stainless steel shaving mirrors on the bottom of the DAC to give a hard smooth surface for the balls to roll on. This made the sound go from very good to jaw on the floor WOW!
John S.
"extender cable amplification device"? on a USB cable? Sure it isn't just an RF filter?
it is more like hub for one usb2 connector. I have no idea what's inside, the claim is that it amplifies the usb signal to accomodate 12ft cable length.
I doubt if it "amplifies". This is digital, not analog. This is simply a single channel USB hub that is powered from the cable. Allows a longer cable. I have had mixed results with these, mostly bad.
Buy it at Best Buy or other computer store.
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