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MEASUREMENTS: AUNE X1 (Mark I).

As we all know, manufacturing capacity has shifted to Asia over the decades. Almost all the high tech gear we use in our daily lives are "Made in China" or Korea, or Japan these days. So why not...

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MEASUREMENTS: Transporter TosLink vs. AES/EBU Behringer DEQ2496 Loopback.

A little while ago, I demonstrated that the TosLink loopback with the Behringer DEQ2496 in line worsened the Transporter's jitter measurements significantly here.  Although I do not believe the extra...

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MEASUREMENTS: The hunt for load-induced jitter...

I can't help it, I guess... I remain fascinated by this whole jitter issue, particularly with the belief that computer load can somehow alter the jitter/timing characteristic of a digital interface....

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MEASUREMENTS: Pioneer DV-588A - DVD-A and SACD "universal" player!

Hey guys, remember the SACD vs. DVD-A "war" back in the early-mid 2000's?In the heat of the battle, it was nice that a few manufacturers gave us these "universal" DVD players that could handle both...

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MEASUREMENTS: Sony Playstation 1 (PS1) - SCPH-5501 as CD player.

I got a kick out of this article by Stereophile awhile back (2008):http://www.stereophile.com/cdplayers/708play/Imagine, audiophiles using an "archaic" (circa 1994) game console as a CD player for...

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MEASUREMENTS: [UPDATE] Adaptive AUNE X1, Asynchronous "Breeze Audio" CM6631A...

In late February, I received an interesting USB2 --> SPDIF box from Asia. It's based on the C-Media CM6631A chipset (it says "Breeze Audio" on the metal case and "CM6631-V1.4" on the PCB) which...

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MEASUREMENTS: Oppo BDP-105 does DSD.

Well, it's out...  The March 26, 2013 BETA firmware for the BDP-105 that allows native DSD playback from this unit's USB ports as DFF and DSF files on a USB stick. As far as I know, there are no plans...

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MUSINGS: On SACD & DSD audio...

SONY multi-page spread (with hybrid SACD 'RS500' sampler!) - Rolling Stones magazine, December 2003.Okay, now that I have posted a number of measurements over the last months, permit me a moment to...

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MEASUREMENTS: Laptop Audio Survey - Apple MacBook Pros, Acer Aspire, ASUS...

Now that the asynchronous CM6631A USB to SPDIF device works well on the Mac with full access to sample rates after removing that reset chip, let's have a look at a few of the laptops I have around here...

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MEASUREMENTS: USB Cables for Audio DAC's.

Up to this point, as you've seen in my measurements, I have been using standard generic shielded cables for analogue and digital. As you likely also know - if you've been involved in "high end" audio...

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GUEST REVIEW & MEASUREMENTS: The Dr. Frank's "Best-Coaxial-Digital"™ SPDIF...

By Keaton I. Goulden-Eyre III, Esq.Two months ago, I had the good fortune to meet my independently wealthy friend Stephen at the local smoking lounge where 'the men' gathered to speak of recent...

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MEASUREMENTS: TosLink digital optical audio cables.

Let us now finish off testing the digital audio cables at my disposal. Already we're seen that USB and coaxial SPDIF cables did not have any measurable differences even with poor construction and...

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MEASUREMENTS: Analogue RCA Interconnects.

Now that I've measured the main digital cables used for audiophile listening these days (USB, coaxial, TosLink), I figure it's time to demonstrate what happens when we bring the testing methodology...

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MUSINGS: "Audiophile" Digital Cables...

As I noted previously, the purpose of going digital has to do with prevention of signal corruption. In doing so,  we can speak of "bit-perfect" transmission of audio data in a way which is impossible...

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MEASUREMENTS: Power Cables for Low Power Audio.

We are told - "everything makes a difference!"Expensive power cables are an example of taking this principle more than likely to the extreme - well into the territory of the neurotic...

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INITIAL IMPRESSIONS: TEAC UD-501 USB PCM & DSD DAC (Part 1)

This guy arrived at my doorstep on May 7. Over the next week or so, I'll just build up this blog with TEAC UD-501 information as I gain experience with the unit.Initial Impressions & The Basics:By...

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MEASUREMENTS: TEAC UD-501 PCM Performance (Part 2)

Okay folks, let us continue with the TEAC evaluation... First, we need to look at the PCM performance of this DAC. Although DSD may be the "hot" feature of DAC's these days, PCM remains the most...

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MEASUREMENTS: TEAC UD-501 DSD Performance (Part 3)

Okay, this is the 3rd (and likely) last part of my TEAC UD-501 review. This will be the second time I measure a true DSD device. The first time was about a month ago when I checked out the beta...

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PROTOCOL: [UPDATED] The DiffMaker Audio Composite (DMAC) Test.

Up to now, I have been using primarily a combination of RightMark along with the Dunn J-Test for my audio measurements. IMO, the standard procedure I've used thus far isn't bad and can already detect...

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MEASUREMENTS: Do lossless compressed audio formats all sound the same?

The year is 2013.Digital audio has been around for a long time. The CD 16/44 PCM format has been the de facto standard of audio delivery for 3 decades now. For the last decade at least, many of us have...

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