Maxxwire Moderator Premium Member Rank: Sony Adept
Joined: Aug 29, 2002
Posts: 25729
From: Portland, Oregon - USA
Posted: 2011-08-21 15:15
Since I had never run Digital Music from the computer over a USB cable before I got the V-Link I had no reference for what this The Revelation Audio Labs 'Prophecy' CryoSilver Reference Dual Conduit USB 2.0 Digital Link Cable might sound like except for the original OEM USB cable that I had been using. My first impression was that these 2 USB cables sounded essentially the same, but that similarity has vanished as the Revelation Audio Labs 'Prophecy' CryoSilver Reference Dual Conduit USB 2.0 Digital Link Cable has broken-in over the first 175 hours and by the completion of its initial 250 hour break in period it has become the very accurate and highly transparent USB Digital Link cable that it is now.
For the last 9 years and up until just recently I have preferred to run the Audio Alchemy i2s Bus Digital Processors in my Vacuum Tube Separates Audio System because of the way they bring out every detail in the harmonic structure of the Baroque and Classical Music that I like to listen to. For just over a week now the Revelation Audio Labs 'Prophecy' CryoSilver Reference Dual Conduit USB 2.0 Digital Link Cable along with the V-Link which Asynchronously controls the data rate and jitter of the bitstream from the computer plus keep data compression at a constant 24/96 which has revealed Music that I've listened to for many years in a very palpable way that I never imagined could be possible because it is far beyond the capabilities of my traditional Audio System which consists of a Counterpoint Tube/FET Preamp and Conrad-Johnson Vacuum Tube Power Amp Audio with their 5 picosecond jitter i2s Bus Audio Alchemy Digital front end.
This 3 Disc set of Locatelli's Music was enthusiastically recommended to me by one of the guys at a local record store and it soon became one of my favorites, but since the lengthy series of AC Power Delivery Upgrades done on my Sony DB 930 which radically improved its performance and sound quality this trio of CD's has been my go-to evaluation Music.
Since the V-Link has been using the Revelation Audio Labs 'Prophecy' CryoSilver Reference Dual Conduit USB 2.0 Digital Link Cable this Music it has opened up like never before in a way which fleshes out the the Harmonic Structure and envelops the listener in the Music while decay ambients reconstruct the original recording venue in my Auralex Pyramid Studiofoam treated listening room. My $25,000 Vacuum Tube Separates with their 5 picosecond jitter i2s Bus Digital front end have never been able to render Music in such an authentic manner which by comparison makes the V-Link not only a fantastic bargain, but a radical improvement to in sound quality as well.
With the Revelation Audio Labs 'Prophecy' CryoSilver Reference Dual Conduit USB 2.0 Digital Link Cable supplying power and Digital Music on separate cables to the V-Link I find myself being able to experience the Music in a very visceral way instead of only being able to listen to it as I had with my much more expensive traditional Audio System.
I am now convinced that this DualConduit design enables the Revelation Audio Labs 'Prophecy' CryoSilver Reference Dual Conduit USB 2.0 Digital Link Cable to bring a most profound improvement to computer sourced Digital Music over USB. While mono conduit USB cables are routinely said to all sound the same this RAL DualConduit USB cable has proven that it does not sound like all of the rest!
So far the Revelation Audio Labs 'Prophecy' CryoSilver Reference Dual Conduit USB 2.0 Digital Link Cable has had the most the most extraordinary Digital wire break in I've done so far in that it has made a far more profound improvement to the sound of the Music than any other Digital cable I've owned and it also showed the most remarkable sonic improvements by the end of its 250 hour break in periodthan any Digital cable I have broken in including the Revelation Audio Labs 99.999% Pure Silver i2s Bus wire that I have linking the 2 Audio Alchemy i2s Bus processors in the Vacuum Tube Stereo System. This amazing DualConduit USB cable has allowed me to be able not just to hear, but to experience what the V-Link is truly capable of in terms of bringing the Music alive!
I've spent the weekend doing more listening to the V-LINK and it still sounds great! I would like to try it with a new outboard DAC, but I will have to wait for that until funds free up.
Overall I am quite pleased with the setup I have right now and will likely do a few more upgrades to my speakers to take advantage of the increased resolution. I plan to upgrade the crossovers in my Magnepan MG-10QR speakers with some Audio Note Silver Binding posts with Auric hookup wire and Mundorf Supreme capacitors for the tweeter panel.
After that, the next upgrade will be new Optical and perhaps USB cables to round out the setup. I got side tracked last week in my analog setup building a new Phono Preamp, which was more for fun than anything else...now I am back to the Digital side and will keep everyone posted on any new findings and maybe even make some lilac cables...
Maxxwire Moderator Premium Member Rank: Sony Adept
Joined: Aug 29, 2002
Posts: 25729
From: Portland, Oregon - USA
Posted: 2011-08-22 17:15
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On 2011-08-22 00:22, sonyeslover wrote: I've spent the weekend doing more listening to the V-LINK and it still sounds great!
Overall I am quite pleased with the setup I have right now and will likely do a few more upgrades.
I've been very impressed with the amazing sound quality of my Musical Fidelity V-Link ever since I got it, but I couldn't resist trying to improve upon its already great performance and so far the V-Link has responded very well to all of the upgrades I have provided it with and in turn it has accentuated the effectiveness of the upgrades that I have done downstream from it prior to installing the V-Link.
So far the V-Link does especially well on Music ripped from very well Mastered CD's such as Haydn's Erdody Quartets Op. 76 (4-6) from Nippon Columbia...
I'm looking forward to hearing about the success of all the upgrades you have planned to your Audio System including the wiring upgrades for your V-Link.
~Maxx~
[ This message was edited by: Maxxwire on 2011-08-22 19:00 ]
Maxxwire Moderator Premium Member Rank: Sony Adept
Joined: Aug 29, 2002
Posts: 25729
From: Portland, Oregon - USA
Posted: 2011-08-25 04:00
After the Revelation Audio Labs 'Prophecy' CryoSilver Reference Dual Conduit USB 2.0 Digital Link Cable had completed its 250 hour break-in with such success I was curious as to whether or not I could now remove the lead weight from the V-Link since the DualConduit cable had remained continually hooked up to the V-Link for so long. Upon removing the lead weight the heavy duty build quality of the Revelation Audio Labs 'Prophecy' CryoSilver Reference Dual Conduit USB 2.0 Digital Link Cable tilted it forward enough to warrant replacing it or finding another method of keeping it level.
After the lead weight was removed I sat down to evaluate the sound of the Music I was listening to and I was shocked to find out that without the mass loading provided by the lead weight that the sound of the Music from the V-Link had lost its crystal clarity and had become diffused! I had originally placed the lead weight on top of the V-Link to steady it, but evidently I had inadvertently tapped into the V-Link's need for Resonance Tuning.
I always keep spare Resonance Tuning tools around for situations such as this that might arise. I've had many years of experience Resonance Tuning the i2s Bus Digital processors in my Vacuum Tube Separates Audio System and my first attempt at Resonance Tuning them was with BDR Cones, but the BDR Cones made the Music sound bright and very analytical, but with a trio of Audioquest Sorbothane Feet under each of them they sounded better than they ever did with the stock feet.
Since the V-Link also employs i2s based Digital Processing only in a more highly effective State of the Art configuration I found a pair of Audioquest Sorbothane Feet which now hold the V-Link perfectly in pace and have proven to be even better than the inadvertent effects of mass loading.
The effects of Resonance Tuning the V-Link and its freshly broken in Revelation Audio Labs 'Prophecy' CryoSilver Reference Dual Conduit USB 2.0 Digital Link Cable can be heard in the Music as details that have sprung from other details which in turn produce even more detail while the entire harmonic structure has become tighter and more well defined.
That is one thing I am missing in my system, resonance/damping and vibration control. I may have to do something about that!
Maxxwire Moderator Premium Member Rank: Sony Adept
Joined: Aug 29, 2002
Posts: 25729
From: Portland, Oregon - USA
Posted: 2011-08-25 06:01
Although it is a separate subject Resonance Tuning plays a vital role in achieving optimum quality playback in that resonance effects every part in every component in our Audio Systems. Here is a link to a Dedicated Resonance Tuning Thread where Members jttar. rb, dahrich mykyll2727, RickeyM, maverick11359 and I discuss our various experiences Resonance Tuning using to improve the performance and sound quality of our Audio equipment.
On 2011-08-19 22:32, mykyll2727 wrote: I sent off emails to both Lifatec and RAL regarding the bandwiths of their 470 strand glass toslinks. If and when I hear anything back I'll report it.
I agree the purple color of the RAL cables is certainly distinctive. I like it._mykl
I still haven't heard back from either company unless I passed by their replies in my junk folder. I'm going to emailthem both again just in case. I truly suspect that these are the same cables and that RAL simply adds their purple techflex to theirs. If I'm right that's a major difference in price for some Techflex and shrinkwrap._mykl
Maxxwire Moderator Premium Member Rank: Sony Adept
Joined: Aug 29, 2002
Posts: 25729
From: Portland, Oregon - USA
Posted: 2011-08-26 04:01
-mykl- From looking at the pictures of these 2 Glass Toslinks I agree that the 470 count conductor, ferrule and housing of these two Glass Toslinks do appear to be from the same OEM which is Lifatec. I can remember the early days of Glass Toslink consciousness here at Agoraquest when lots of people were coming here to find the best place to buy Glass Toslink while there were any number of vendors selling the same Glass Toslink for some very high prices and you and I would direct them to Stuart who always did his best to maintain the lowest price. Provided the bandwidth meets your required specification it sounds like Lifatec may become the new Stuart offering a quality Glass Toslink at a reasonable price.
The RAL Glass Toslink is the first departure from the production of excellent quality 99.999% Fine Silver electrical cables that I know of and I could understand why they were required to source the parts from Lifatek because you know that Audioquest is not going to sell the proprietary parts for their Glass Toslink. The first time I saw RAL's Glass Toslink it struck me odd that after all these years that they would make this departure from making their time tested specialty which is their excellent quality 99.999% Fine Silver cables upon which their sterling reputation has been built. One of these cables is my excellent sounding RAL 99.999% Fine Silver DualConduit USB Cable which cost less than 1/3 of what the high priced competition was hoping to sell their MonoConduit USB Cable.
I would love to know the bandwith of both cables. Not only to be sure if they're the same but to also know if it's a step up from what I'm using. If there's no improvement I'll stick with the "Stuart" type cables that have served me so well for 6yrs now and are even cheaper than the Silflex.
I had noticed the identical strand count and that the RAL also sported the 5mm steel jacket which both Silflex and the RAL ad refer to as armored. These similarities really got me wondering but when you pointed out that they seem to be using the identical connectors, barrels, stress relief and all I become very sure they're the same. Given the difference in price I don't think RAL would even have to source the parts and assemble them themselves. They could simply buy finished cables and add the purple Techflex and their signature shrink wrap and still be way ahead of the game. If Lifatec would allow it._mykl
Maxxwire Moderator Premium Member Rank: Sony Adept
Joined: Aug 29, 2002
Posts: 25729
From: Portland, Oregon - USA
Posted: 2011-08-27 03:57
All of this discussion about Glass Toslinks of different brands and conductor compositions made me curious as to how my budget $45 Dayton GOC 65 strand Glass Toslink which from what I understand has approximately 10 Mhz of bandwidth would sound compared to my Audioquest Optilink 4 Fused Silica Glass Conductor Toslink which has 30 Mhz of bandwidth when each of them was used with the Revelation Audio Labs 'Prophecy' CryoSilver Reference Dual Conduit USB 2.0 Digital Link Cable optimized Musical Fidelity V-Link USB-S/PDIF Converter.
The Music I used for the comparison was a Nippon Columbia Mastering of a Mastersonic 20 Bit Recording of Haydn's Erody Quartets OP. 76 which contains an abundant amount all of the essential ultra fine detail and ambient cues I would need to differentiate the sonic capabilities of each of these Glass Toslink cables.
I already had the Audioquest Optilink 4 hooked up to the V-Link so I listened to it to refresh my ears as to its rendering of this excellently Mastered Music and then I connected the Dayton GOC to see what differences there might be between these two Glass Toslinks which have 65 strand Glass conductors although of different composition .
What I heard from the Dayton GOC Glass Toslink was a very faithful rendering of the Music which although sounded excellent was unable to fully and convincingly flesh out the ephemeral decay ambients which give Music playback the authenticity of a live performance somewhat like a tall waterfall which is missing the very fine mist that is created when it enters the water below which while being an impressive sight would not seem completely natural.
Both of these Glass Toslink cables got the Music right, but it was the ability to transparently pass these very delicate details that differentiated these two Glass Toslink cables and the ability of the Audioquest Optical 4 Fused Silica Glass Toslink to faithfully render the harmonic structure of the Music complete with a highly descriptive set of decay ambients and venue cues that put the listener in the 3 Dimensional space of the original Musical event while the Dayton GOC as I said did get the Music right, but its lack of transparency makes it hapless to create a 3 Dimensional listening experience.
I was not able to make this same level of evaluation of these 2 Glass Toslinks while listening to the DB 930 when it was receiving a Synchronous Digital Optical bitstream from the computer's sound card, but the Asynchronous V-Link has so significantly raised the quality of playback especially since it has been using the Revelation Audio Labs 'Prophecy' CryoSilver Reference Dual Conduit USB 2.0 Digital Link Cable which after it had broken in sounded so much better than the MonoConduit USB cables I have used that by comparison it makes the substantial sonic differences between these two Glass Toslinks which I described above seem inconsequential by comparison.
What I'm trying to say is that since I am able to compare both Single and DualConduit USB cables as well as inexpensive Glass Toslink with Fused Silica Glass Toslink that even using an entry level USB cable and Glass Toslink with the V-Link it sounds absolutely fantastic compared to the mundane sound of a computer sound card. When I first hooked the V-Link up with an entry level USB cable I personally found it shockingly better than any Digital front end I had ever heard including the $7,000 i2s Bus Digital processing in my Vacuum Tube Audio System.
At the most basic level the Asynchronous V-Link has been a very substantial sonic improvement over the Synchronous Optical Digital bitstream that my computer's sound card was able to supply. So for those who are looking to dramatically improve the quality of their existing computer based Audio playback the $169 Asynchronous V-Link USB-S/PDIF Converter is capable of doing so with nothing more than the Digital Coax (providing your equipment has a galvanically isolated Digital Coax input) or Optical Toslink cable that you are already using along with a basic entry level USB cable to interface the V-Link with your computer.
Although if you have a collection of very well recorded and expertly mastered Digital Music and you are looking for a level of playback performance that pushes back the walls of your listening room and faithfully recreates the nuance and fine detail of the original Musical event along with the detailed recreation of the spacial cues that define the 3 Dimensional space that the Music was recorded in then the V-Link will need the transparency of some equally high resolution cables for example the Revelation Audio Labs 'Prophecy' CryoSilver Reference Dual Conduit USB 2.0 Digital Link Cable and an Audioquest Optilink 4 or 5 Silicon Oxide Conductor Glass Toslink to take the V-Link to that next level of performance.
Joined: Nov 16, 2010
Posts: 223
From: Louisville, KY
Posted: 2011-08-27 19:22
I'm using an X-FI HD for USB to S/PDIF conversion, although I purchased it primarily to use as a ADC. I can't imagine anything that could provide better conversion; yet, posts here alluding to the V LINK's qualities make me think I might want to look into one. I'm wonderin' if any here could compare these two converters?
[ This message was edited by: sterling1 on 2011-08-27 19:24 ]
Maxxwire Moderator Premium Member Rank: Sony Adept
Joined: Aug 29, 2002
Posts: 25729
From: Portland, Oregon - USA
Posted: 2011-08-28 00:28
sterling1- One of the main differences is that the X-Fi HD uses Synchronous Digital from the computer where the rate of the bitstream is determined by the computer and because the computer alters the data rate to suit its internal workload which may cause the rate go as low as 14/32 plus the X-Fi HD has onboard D/A conversion.
Musical Fidelity V-Link is a dedicated Asynchronous Digital USB-S/PDIF Converter which allows the receiving Digital device such as a Receiver or DAC to use its asynchronous USB interface to instruct the computer that it has high priority on the computer's resource allocation which guarantees a continuous high resolution data stream up to 24/96.
Here is how the V-Link operates as explained in the Stereophile Magazine review... Inside, a multilayer printed circuit board runs the full length and width of the enclosure. A three-pin voltage-regulator chip supplies 3.3V to the circuitry. The USB datastream is fed to a Texas Instruments TAS1020B receiver chip, which converts the audio data to two-channel i2S format. The TAS1020B includes an embedded microprocessor; the firmware that allows it to operate in asynchronous mode is stored in a socketed eight-pin chip. The i2S output from the TAS1020B is fed to a Burr-Brown DIT4096 chip, which converts the data to S/PDIF and can operate at sample rates up to 96kHz. A single crystal on the board is used as a high-precision, single-frequency oscillator to drive the TAS1020B processor clock and its internal frequency synthesizer; the latter generates both the 44.1 and 48kHz word-clock frequencies and their multiples. .
For over 10 years I had a pair of i2s Bus Digital processors that worked Synchronously and although they could tame jitter down to 5 picoseconds the Asynchronous dual i2s Bus processing of the V-Link is far superior and offers a much better sound quality for about 2% of the cost.
There is much good to be said about the Sound Blaster X-Fi HD as far as D/A conversion and a great headphone amp goes, but when it comes to giving the Digital Section of a vintage Sony Receiver like my 12 year old DB 930 jitter-free State of the Art Asychronous control over the Digital bitstream from the computer its time to look to the V-Link.
The primary advantage the Musical Fidelity V-Link has is its use of jitter-free Asynchronous Digital transfer which will allow the Digital equipment that uses it to sound much better than the Synchronous type USB-S/PDIF converters like the Sound Blaster X-Fi HD and yet theX-Fi HD still offers several additional functions by way of its onboard D/A conversion and headphone amp that are so highly spoken of and it would be to your advantage to be able to use both of these highly capable USB Digital devices and let each of them provide the functions that they were built to be best at.
[ This message was edited by: Maxxwire on 2011-08-28 02:45 ]
Maxxwire Moderator Premium Member Rank: Sony Adept
Joined: Aug 29, 2002
Posts: 25729
From: Portland, Oregon - USA
Posted: 2011-09-01 03:30
After using the AIMP 2 player and being very pleased with it I decided to upgrade to the AIMP 3.00 Build 916 Beta 4 version shown above with the Black Glass v3 skin. AIMP's 32 bit floating point Digital processing sounds exceptional and offers a choice of 8, 16, 24, and 32 bit output rates. Alexander Markov's rendition of Paganini's 24 Caprices for Violin which was playing when I took the above screenshot never sounded nearly as good as when my conventional Optical CD Transport plays the original CD which the Music was ripped from.
Although I knew from past experiences with my i2s Bus Digital front end which also features variable bit output rates I couldn't help but testing the AIMP 3 player's 32 bit output setting and sure enough the sound of 8 bits being truncated by the 24 bit equipment downstream was quite evident in that it made the Music sound much worse, but when I switched back to the 24 bit output which I normally use the absolutely excellent sound of the AIMP 3 player in 24 bit combination with the downstream Digital equipment returned and I was once again able to enjoy a far more excellent sounding rendition of my Music collection than I ever was able to with my conventional Optical CD Transport and its $7,700 worth of Digital processing thanks to the Musical Fidelity V-Link USB-S/PDIF Converter which not only replaced it, but has proven to be a vast improvement for 2% of the cost.
[ This message was edited by: Maxxwire on 2011-09-22 03:03 ]
Maxxwire Moderator Premium Member Rank: Sony Adept
Joined: Aug 29, 2002
Posts: 25729
From: Portland, Oregon - USA
Posted: 2011-09-22 03:03
Using the V-Link USB-S/PDIF Converter has brought more than just an amazing set of sonic improvements to my Reference Audio System which now consists of my 1999 Sony DB 930 which has benefited so greatly from its Asynchronous delivery of a high resolution 24 bit 96 kHz Digital Audio bitstream.
The V-Link has brought more than excellent sound though in that has also introduced a very welcomed higher level of convenience to to the Windows 7 Audio stack. Before I had the outboard processing of the V-Link USB-S/PDIF Converter I was forced to use the Realtek GUI to switch from the soundcard's Digital Optical output which the DB 930 was using back then to the 24/96 D/A converted Analog Audio output which entailed plugging in the 1/8" mini jack while the Realtek GUI was on the screen and then selecting the Analog Audio output that the Tube Headphone Amp uses each and every time I wanted to use the headphones plus I had to unplug the Tube Headphone Amp's 1/8" mini jack after every session in order to be able to use the Digital Optical output again.
Using the V-Link for the DB 930's Asynchronous 24/96 Digital Audio and the Realtek sound card separately for the 24/96 D/A converted Analog Audio for the Tube Headphone Amp has greatly simplified the task of switching from one output to the other in that now all I have to do is set the default to whichever output I want to use with a single click of the mouse without all the hassle of plugging in and then unplugging the Analog Audio each and every time I want to use it.
Maxxwire Moderator Premium Member Rank: Sony Adept
Joined: Aug 29, 2002
Posts: 25729
From: Portland, Oregon - USA
Posted: 2011-09-22 03:04
I came across the Tweak Headz Lab Digital Recording site and they had some very interesting technical information concerning the advantages of 24/96 Digital Audio. You've probably heard most of this before, but it does take some interesting twists along the way...
"Bit Depth refers to the number of bits you have to capture audio. The easiest way to envision this is as a series of levels, that audio energy can be sliced at any given moment in time. With 16 bit audio, there are 65,536 possible levels. With every bit of greater resolution, the number of levels double. By the time we get to 24 bit, we actually have 16,777,216 levels. Remember we are talking about a slice of audio frozen in a single moment of time.
The sample rate is the number of times your audio is measured (sampled) per second. So at the red book standard for CDs, the sample rate is 44.1 kHz or 44,100 slices every second. So what is the 96khz sample rate? You guessed it. It's 96,000 slices of audio sampled each second.
So lets put it all together now. This brings us to the Bit Rate, or how much data per second is required to transmit the file, which can then be translated into how big the file is. Your CD is 16bit, 44.1 so that is 44,100 slices, each having 65,536 levels. A new Audio interface may record 96,000 slices a second at nearly 17 million levels for every slice. If you think that is a lot of data, well, you are right, it certainly is.
Lets talk about sample rate and the Nyquist Theory. This theory is that the actual upper threshold of a piece of digital audio will top out at half the sample rate. So if you are recording at 44.1, the highest frequencies generated will be around 22kHz. That is 2khz higher than the typical human with excellent hearing can hear.
Audiophiles have claimed since the beginning of digital audio that vinyl records on an analog system sound better than digital audio. Indeed, you can find evidence that analog recording and playback equipment can be measured up to 50khz, over twice our threshold of hearing. The theory is that audio energy, even though we don't hear it, exists as has an effect on the lower frequencies we do hear. Back to the Nyquist theory, a 96khz sample rate will translate into potential audio output at 48khz, not too far from the finest analog sound reproduction. This leads one to surmise that the same principle is at work. The audio is improved in a threshold we cannot perceive and it makes what we can hear better."
Interesting how 24/96 Digital Audio has brought us full circle back to Audio playback very close to the measured frequency output of Analog Recordings on Vinyl from a good Turntable only without any ticks, pops or surface noise. I don't know about you, but I've owned several Turntables and hundreds of records over the years and even with the nostalgia factor of Vinyl included my current 24/96 Asynchronous Digital playback sounds far better and best of all there are no Records to clean before each listening session!
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Posted: 2011-08-21 15:15
