Digital Dingleberries

[mep]

I would like to start a list of Digital Dingleberries that people are using in their digital systems to see how many dingleberries are out there in digital land. My definition of a digital dingleberry is anything you insert in the digital signal path that is not required to play digital music. One example would be inline Ethernet filters. I would also like to know if the digital dingleberry devices also create a problem that has to be remedied with another dingleberry attached to the primary dingleberry you purchased. For example, one of the inline Ethernet filters I was just reading about comes with a linear power supply, but some people have claimed the stock power supply isn't very good and you need to go purchase an aftermarket power supply to allow the inline Ethernet filter to really shine.

From what I have read, the inline Ethernet filter is designed to filter out any EMI that has crept into your Ethernet cable and is causing noise you may or may not be able to hear until you don't hear it anymore.

For the here and now, my digital system is pretty straight forward. I recently purchased a Roon Nucleus Plus to replace my Windows laptop. I also recently purchased a PS Audio DSJ DAC. I had a CAT 8 cable run from my router downstairs into my stereo room upstairs with a wall jack behind my digital gear rack. I have a Netgear router attached to the wall jack and both my Roon Nucleus Plus and my DSJ are connected to the Netgear router via CAT 8 cables. This eliminates connecting a USB cable from the Roon Nucleus Plus to the DSJ as they are connected together via the network. For the hear and now, I have two external hard drives with music files that are connected to the Roon Nucleus Plus via USB. The next order of business for me will be to set up NAS drives to store the music and eliminate the external USB hard drives. In the meantime, assuming good source files, the digital portion of my system sounds very good. It's also very quiet like the rest of my system is.

[Steve Lefkowicz]

I use a few. My digital stream out of my notebook currently:

1. Audioquest Jitterbug. I use two actually, one in the USB port that feeds the DAC, and one plugged into the last unused USB port on the notebook. I haven't really a/b'd them in/out of the system yet, as I've only placed them in the past few weeks.

2. That feeds into an iFi iUSB3 power supply supply. In my system with every notebook and DAC I've tried it has been essential. Really cleans up the signal. I do use the dual head iFi Gemini cable with it in the output side. Lower cost option that works really well too is the Schiit Wyrd.

3. That feeds into an iFi iPurifier2. Can't really say I hear much difference with or without it, but since I have it i continue to use it.

That plugs into the USB input of my iFi iDAC2.

Overall, this setup is the best digital sound I've had in my system.

[EdAInWestOC]

My modest digital system is used each day while I work. It is based on the following components:
1) Toshiba 17 inch laptop running Windows 10 (v1803) and Foobar2000 v1.4.2 (ASIO, SACD & Kernel Streaming support)
........with Intel i7-4700MQ CPU @ 2.4GHZ w/1.5TB SSD hard drive storage and 24GB RAM
2) Schiit Audio Wyrd USB signal purifier (or a de-crapper as they call it)
3) Schiit Audio Modi Multibit DAC
4) Schiit Audio Loki tone controls
5) Schiit Audio Lyr 2 headphone amp w/NOS Philips 7DJ8 tubes
6) Focal Clear headphones
7) All USB digital cables are Pangea silver USB cables
8) All analog ICs are 0.5m Kimber Hero ICs with WBT conectors

Component 2 is a digital dingleberry. It is an example of devices found in many digital systems that clean up the USB link. One of the best purchases in the above system were the Pangea silver USB cables. Many people argue over the value of quality USB cabling but I can easily reproduce the effects using standard USB cables vs the Pangea Silver cables. It is plainly audible.

The Schiit Wyrd, the dingleberry, made a difference in the sound as most of these devices do. The degree of improvement depends on the source of the USB link. My source component is a Toshiba laptop that is used for multiple purposes. I have several thousand digital music files, many of them being 24/96 PCM, 24/192 PCM, DSD files and some redbook files. In my system, the Schiit Wyrd made a modest improvement. Just a slight increase in the focus of the sound. NOTE: My music files are located on an external 3TB USB hard drive and on a NAS file server with 2TB of RAID 1 storage.

The analog ICs cost more than most of the devices in the above listed system. They do make a difference in maintaining low level signal integrity as many of us know. There are many cabling disbelievers but few, if any, will be found on this forum...thank god.

Ed

[Boltman92124]

Nice Ed. I see you over at VE too, where cable discussions are banned! I can strap up with AQ, Kimber, Tributaries or Transparent front to back. Love'em all!

[Boltman92124]

I have a 20 year old Theta TLC (anti-jitter device) that I still use between my ancient Adcom GDA-700 and a Windows 10 server running JRiver 20! Also have a Creative XFi HD for 24 bit files. It all still works remarkably well and it's simple! The Adcom is/was the poor man's Levinson No. 36 DAC. Same balanced BB 1702's with Ultra Analog receiver and HDCD filter. Nelson Pass output stage.