invaderzim
Senior Member
That made so much sense that I ordered one. Even though I'd decided to take a break from ordering things this month.
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Review and Measurements of Paradigm PW-Link Streamer/DAC
- Thread starter amirm
- Start date
That made so much sense that I ordered one. Even though I'd decided to take a break from ordering things this month.
OP
- Thread Starter
- #43
Yes.
Aw Shucks, it wasn't me, we owe it all to MSNWatch who turned us on to the PW/Link/Amp and Amirm who tested them.
There is an interesting comparison of consumer room EQ programs here. Unfortunately it has not been updated since 2017 so their are improvements not reflected here. In the ARC Genesis announcement they mention the ability to align phase in speakers and subs...but apparently not a feature available to the PW/Link/Amp.
As for Tidal, can you select the PW-Link as the output device in the native Tidal mobile app or you have to use PlayFi's own Tidal plugin for this? If the latter, is the functionality limited to your albums and playlists or you get the "full experience"?
Audiophiles have been lied to the Hifi selling press. They eschew things in their signal chain Eg. tone controls, because it apparently “messes with the phase” of their speakers, but on the other hand, will spend $xxxx on a valve (pre)amp because to insert artifacts which they call “detail”, as in “ I can hear more details from the recording”
Room correction, OTOH, will suddenly give you a rock solid centre image, but that means the audiophile will lose that “spacious 3D soundstage”
It will flatten your bass peaks, but for audiophiles it robs them of the “bullet proof bass”
Last edited:
OP
- Thread Starter
- #50
As requested, I tested the performance of PW-Link when being fed digital in, and digital out. As noted by others, it indeed is able to perform its ARC Room EQ using this path. For kicks, I connected a Topping D50 to its digital output. Here are the results:
As one would expect, the external DAC significantly improves performance, reducing distortion products to below -115 (totally inaudible).
Not expected was the fact that I was stuck with the same analog output as the internal DAC. This means that the digital samples we are getting have to be attenuated or they overflow. This is a classical problem in signal processing in that the math can cause amplification of samples, causing overflow. The fix is usually to reduce levels (as we are doing here) and then compensate in analog domain on the output.
1.5 volt should be good enough for many amplifiers though so this solution is readily available. You can start with the internal DAC and if you have an itch for perfection, step up to an external DAC.
By the way, I could NOT power the Topping D50 using the rear USB jack on the PW-Link. It must not have enough power for it. The above test was with the Topping D50 being powered by the computer. Use of optical cabling has all but eliminated any sign of mains leakage/ground loop at 60 Hz.
Summary
You have a great, turnkey digital room EQ in PW-Link. I wish it had USB input though. Fortunately my PC motherboard has that output so I did not need a USB to Toslink bridge. This is so handy that I am tempted to go and buy a PW-Link for myself.
As one would expect, the external DAC significantly improves performance, reducing distortion products to below -115 (totally inaudible).
Not expected was the fact that I was stuck with the same analog output as the internal DAC. This means that the digital samples we are getting have to be attenuated or they overflow. This is a classical problem in signal processing in that the math can cause amplification of samples, causing overflow. The fix is usually to reduce levels (as we are doing here) and then compensate in analog domain on the output.
1.5 volt should be good enough for many amplifiers though so this solution is readily available. You can start with the internal DAC and if you have an itch for perfection, step up to an external DAC.
By the way, I could NOT power the Topping D50 using the rear USB jack on the PW-Link. It must not have enough power for it. The above test was with the Topping D50 being powered by the computer. Use of optical cabling has all but eliminated any sign of mains leakage/ground loop at 60 Hz.
Summary
You have a great, turnkey digital room EQ in PW-Link. I wish it had USB input though. Fortunately my PC motherboard has that output so I did not need a USB to Toslink bridge. This is so handy that I am tempted to go and buy a PW-Link for myself.
Amir, any idea how many vol down button clicks needed from maximum to reach that 1.5v output? At 1.5v output, do you still think the ARC boost clipping still happens?
estuardo4
Active Member
- Joined
- Mar 29, 2019
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As requested, I tested the performance of PW-Link when being fed digital in, and digital out. As noted by others, it indeed is able to perform its ARC Room EQ using this path. For kicks, I connected a Topping D50 to its digital output. Here are the results:
Summary
You have a great, turnkey digital room EQ in PW-Link. I wish it had USB input though. Fortunately my PC motherboard has that output so I did not need a USB to Toslink bridge. This is so handy that I am tempted to go and buy a PW-Link for myself.
Amir, or anybody with the knowledge, I've searched Amazon and I'm not seeing an USB to toslink option. Could you please recommend me one?
Thank you.
Topping D10 is one, doubles as a DAC. There are others, eg USBstreamer from Minidsp. Search for USB to SPDIF converter.
OP
- Thread Starter
- #55
I just packed it but it is I think two clicks from max or something close to it.
OP
- Thread Starter
- #56
With internal DAC you have to stay at 1.3 volt or lower. With external DAC as shown, you can go up to 1.5 volt.
Late here as I was on vacation when Amir's measurement came on line. Hoped the numbers for both the Link and Amp were better but not really surprised after seeing countless "mainstream" Audio products measured here in ASR underperforming despite having high price tags. I will say though at least in my experience using both AMP and LINK the ARC room correction system outweighs the measurement deficiencies in a big way. I am sure many here could construct a far better measuring system but for under $200 the LINK can't be beat for actual audible improvement. And if your better measuring system doesn't have room correction then I'm confident in saying it won't sound better than the LINK.
For $157 I could not resist ordering one of these. Amir, you are letting me do an end run around using your tutorial to learn REW.
Some questions I have about a couple points in the review:
https://www.anthemarc.com/downloads/index.php
Some questions I have about a couple points in the review:
This does not seem right. I see downloads for iOS, Android, Mac, and Windows. Am I not understanding something?
https://www.anthemarc.com/downloads/index.php
I am only able to use the demo mode, but it looks like you may be able to compare measurements with and without ARC using the Quick Measure tool. This with the ARC Genesis software. I don't know if the ARC Mobile version is the same. Maybe someone who already owns this product can say more about this.
OP
- Thread Starter
- #60
I don't know if that is for Paradigm Link or not. Here is where I got my info from Paradigm website:
As you see it only mentions iOS.
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