AudioQuest JitterBug USB Filter Review

[amirm]

View attachment 41226

That is left and right channel both with Jitterbug. The previous chart is without.

 

[solderdude]

But the jitterbug on the power brings us 15dB improvement at 20kHz (of course I can't hear that but secretly still can because high res sounds better so I must be able to perceive 20kHz up to 100kHz)
And we see a massive 10dB improvement in packet noise (around 8kHz)
10dB ... that's very audible as it is a doubling of loudness so yeah ... it must be audible when I play at 170dB SPL !

 

[Vovgan]

Snake oil cable vendors make a product that does nothing, surprise surprise.

Inexpensive snake oil product is still preferable to a damaging product...

My first experience with Audioquest was also my first experience with "Hi Fi" gear - I bought their similar sized Dragonfly (1st gen) USB DAC/headphone amp. It was lauded by WhatHiFi and given there 5*, so I decided to give it a try. It sounded awful (shrill) compared to the headphone jack on my MacBook Pro. My colleagues whom I asked to validate my experience unanimously confirmed it. It was clearly a negative value product.

Later WhatHiFi partially admitted that they gave a high rating to a bad product by ... lowering its rating from 5* to 4*. 4* for a bulging $100 dongle that sounded worse that a headphone jack on a PC!...

 

[ZolaIII]

What is a crime is how few components are in there:

View attachment 41221

A couple of capacitors, inductors and chokes and they charge $59? The total manufacturing cost must be under $10.

Why anyone is at ease putting aside common sense to think the DAC designer couldn't include this bit of filtering is beyond me.

I didn't know what they targeted with induction coil, hi Ohm's resistors are useful when there is a bad USB cable or port in between for both current stabilisation & improved grounding but that's the oldest trick in the book. A row of capacitors when placed on main dac amp bord for stabilisation of the current feed to the DAC & amp chip will help there & will also act as self lo filter but effect is much better if they are placed there then somewhere else. Manufacturers of modern DAC, amp chips state their is no need for this still never the less effect will be there if placed so every normal equipment manufacturer will place them there. Audio Quest ain't among those manufacturers and you won't found voltage regulation row of capacitors on their DragonFly's which I would call cheap bastards design. I do tend to use quality OTG adopter (micro to A port) with high impedance tiristor to save me a trouble with non standard cable's, bad quality one's & ports but mostly to extend the life expectations of portable dac USB input ports. Those cost 2~3$ & you also get amazing grace that you can use regular data cable or even coiled plane USB cable. More than 6~7$ for this is a rip off!
On the other side don't be so harsh to it, after all it whose a yummy chowing toy for your dog who by the way developed it's critics taste very well.
Best regards.

 

[Blumlein 88]

But the jitterbug on the power brings us 15dB improvement at 20kHz (of course I can't hear that but secretly still can because high res sounds better so I must be able to perceive 20kHz up to 100kHz)
And we see a massive 10dB improvement in packet noise (around 8kHz)
10dB ... that's very audible as it is a doubling of loudness so yeah ... it must be audible when I play at 170dB SPL !

Do you think they tried to develop a simple filter that slightly helped with 8 khz packet noise. Sure their promises are anywhere from way over the top to outright lies, but maybe this one thing is something they sort of did.

 

[Sal1950]

As if to get revenge, my dog got a hold of it and chewed up the case but magically, the circuit itself survived!

At least you can attest to it's durability!

 

[VintageFlanker]

Would be glad to see how they demonstrate the benefits of the Jitterbug during Audio Shows. Probably as they always do:

And now, you can hear how crap it sounds without the Jitterbug. Let's plug it back. Now this is pretty obvious how much the dynamic increases and the soundstage opens up. What? You don't hear that? Must be something wrong with your ears, folks... It does sound better...because I told you so!

It was lauded by WhatHiFi and given 5*, so I decided to give it a try.

Maybe @amirm missed this cons point. You have to test it with at least 100 DACs before saying it does nothing!

 

[JustPoo]

I saw an RME ADI-2 DAC for sale on eBay, advertised with "extras" for £750. Alarm bells rang when I saw the picture of the DAC, on a wooden plinth. I clicked on the description and the extras were:

A 1.2m Furutech GT2 USB cable (£110) and 2 AudioQuest Jitterbugs (£120). Maybe one for each end?!

Assuming you could in good conscience flip them to some unsuspecting sod, a bargain!.

 

[solderdude]

It's just a standard USB EMC filter.

or perhaps closer to the one below

Except the jitterbug doesn't seem to have the TVS (ESD protection)
A simple common mode coil for data and +5V filtering.
Nothing frequency specific just HF filtering.

 

[Vovgan]

You have to test it with at least 100 DACs before saying it does nothing!

Ha-ha-ha, I haven't noticed that WhatHiFi had reviewed and praised this worthless piece of Audioquest too!

I recently gave yellow card to WhatHiFi for praising Denon 3500 disproportionate to its objective merits, so this time it's a red card for them.

 

[vitalii427]

Thanks Amir! It was really fun to read. So clear and precise phrases. This is one of the best articles for debunking audiophile magic! I’ll share this!

 

[daftcombo]

Maybe you should wait a few hours of burn-in?

 

[vkvedam]

It's a disgrace for an engineer fooling consumers and making a dosh out of their innocence

 

[Nango]

Those cost 2~3$ & you also get amazing grace that you can use regular data cable or even coiled plane USB cable. More than 6~7$ for this is a rip off!
On the other side don't be so harsh to it, after all it whose a yummy chowing toy for your dog who by the way developed it's critics taste very well.
Best regards.

We should buy their equities at the Stock Exchange.

 

[Damian]

I can attest that with my DACs (Dacport LX and Burson 160) adding the device just doesn’t allow windows to recognize the device and I’ve tried every port on my PC. My guess is that it causes a voltage drop? Worst 60 usd I’ve ever spent, I had some noise I wanted to get rid of but again snake oil.

 

[Eirikur]

Just love the What-Hi-Fi wording: "Encourages a weightier, more solid and precise sound."

Come on you lazy bits, put your backs into it --- Left, right, left, right, in step you lowly maggots!

 

[KxDx]

Maybe you should way a few hours of burn-in?

Has anyone invented the USB Cooker yet?

https://www.thecablecooker.com/

 

[August]

There are a large number of such cheap snake oil production on the market

 

[milosz]

Capitalism encourages profit above all other factors. We should not be surprised that companies take advantage of buyers with more money than sense. This is what they teach at Harvard and Stanford business schools.

 

[AudioSceptic]

What is a crime is how few components are in there:

View attachment 41221

A couple of capacitors, inductors and chokes and they charge $59? The total manufacturing cost must be under $10.

Why anyone is at ease putting aside common sense to think the DAC designer couldn't include this bit of filtering is beyond me.

That could be exactly the point. I wonder if the logically challenged who claim that it works are in fact using DACs that are so bad that it does make a difference? A similar situation might exist with amplifiers and power cables...