AudioQuest JitterBug USB Filter Review

[Raindog123]

About ten years ago I was getting a new pair of nice large “upper middle class” speakers. With that I needed a decent pair of cables - went through all the usual suspects - Monsters, JBL, solid core, oxygen free, silver plated... and also (shamefully) for that RadioShack one (fat, clear one, that they scare you turns green)... Had huge listening parties, myself and with my friends... “clearly heard the difference”... Until a buddy of mine who worked at that disgusting Magnolia department of BestBuy brought a speaker switching/distribution contraption they use to showcase speakers by instantly switching between them... We set all my and some Magnolia’s cables (about 7 sets) and there were five of us (plus girlfriends and wives)... Long story short, we went through exhaustive blind comparison of all those cables - a few sessions, probably a few thousand switchings, with writing down results... could not distinguish shit. Neither one of us! Again and again... and again. In total disbelief of what was happening... And this is how I became what I am. And here is my cable, to this day...

 

[Navlefnuller]

When one speaks of a "weight" or "tone density", not at all seen in the as you say, nice flat frequency response, I do wonder what it is we're supposed to hear though. I believe that in a nice controlled A-B test versus a no-brand but also excellent DAC, the perceived density will vanish as if it was never there in the first place. That's what previous tests have shown me at least...

Take away the bias and I reckon the magic disappears along with it

But they do actually measure something else, the sidebands, so there might be an explanation, even if they say it shouldn’t effect the sound, as the frequency response is flat.

 

[Raindog123]

@AdamG247 Sorry, mod, I’ve clearly digressed from the Jitterbug topic. (But I’ve compensated by comparing @mansr ‘s clever idea/prototype to the said Jutterbug in that other thread... A hard day’s work. )

 

[AdamG]

@AdamG247 Sorry, mod, I’ve clearly digressed from the Jitterbug topic. (But I’ve compensated by comparing @mansr ‘s clever idea/prototype to the said Jutterbug in that other thread... A hard day’s work. )

Thread drift is part of the process of discovery and edge of disaster. Keep your dancing shoes on at all times during this flight!

 

[amirm]

I know, I have seen that argument used on many a fora. As a curiosum, I found an interesting article about my Rega DAC, which have a nice flat frequency response when measured, and yet adds more oomph to the sound, which puzzles the reviewers. Very interesting, and with a reply from Rega if you read on at the bottom. Something about sidebands at 120 and 240hz https://www.stereophile.com/content/rega-dac-da-processor-measurements
Could be interesting with @amirm s take on this.

Thanks for asking. The levels of those sidebands are too low to be audible even beyond masking effect. So I would say it is not a factor in someone hearing differences in bass.

 

[dc655321]

But they do actually measure something else, the sidebands, so there might be an explanation, even if they say it shouldn’t effect the sound, as the frequency response is flat.

Are you referring to these side-bands measured at -105dBFS?

I would venture to guess you may not have an appreciation of how low in level those are...

(image from https://www.stereophile.com/images/212Regfig11.jpg)

 

[Jimbob54]

I know, I have seen that argument used on many a fora. As a curiosum, I found an interesting article about my Rega DAC, which have a nice flat frequency response when measured, and yet adds more oomph to the sound, which puzzles the reviewers. Very interesting, and with a reply from Rega if you read on at the bottom. Something about sidebands at 120 and 240hz https://www.stereophile.com/content/rega-dac-da-processor-measurements
Could be interesting with @amirm s take on this.

You fell into the trap. People say there is more oomph with a device, you hear more oomph, you try and figure out where the oomph is in the measurements.

Read what JA actually writes and interprets from the measurements as opposed to what he recounts from others.

 

[Sal1950]

The analytical personality types will swear by measurements and the sensory types will swear by listening. The twin shall never meet because personalities are for the most part baked in to us.

I find the second sentence an unacceptable position as in a large percentage of the cases there remains the "facts of the matter, the real truth". If the sensory person declares two speaker cables to sound very different, but then agrees to submit to a well organized DBT and the difference disappears, his position has been shown to be wrong and due some sighted bias influencing his original belief. He may rail against the DBT's outcome with claims that the test must then be in error in some way but that is just a denial of the facts.
If I fly a person that believes the world is flat, all around the globe and he still insists it's flat, he is still wrong.
That's the type of problem we face in todays High Fidelity world. The believers are closed to learning and insist their religion is reality.

 

[Navlefnuller]

You fell into the trap. People say there is more oomph with a device, you hear more oomph, you try and figure out where the oomph is in the measurements.

Read what JA actually writes and interprets from the measurements as opposed to what he recounts from others.

I didn’t try anything, just referencing what the reviewer speculates.

 

[scott wurcer]

where the h… did that bass come from, it was pure imagination.

We have been here before, it is fairly easy to play A1 through your system and measure the difference in the output the mic does not even need to be calibrated.

 

[scott wurcer]

Newton did not discover gravity, he only found a way to quantify and describe it. Gravity existed long before him, even though he could not measure it. Only when challenging old conceptions, do we learn new things.

What on earth does this have to do with my comment?????

 

[pkane]

Newton did not discover gravity, he only found a way to quantify and describe it. Gravity existed long before him, even though he could not measure it. Only when challenging old conceptions, do we learn new things.

What on earth does this have to do with my comment?????

The way I interpret it is: if Newton didn't try to quantify things, and instead believed his ears more, he would've discovered relativity and quantum mechanics, too

 

[AdamG]

What on earth does this have to do with my comment?????

Nothing, absolutely nothing Sir. His comment and he are no more. I gave him room enough. Start preaching at us, time to go!

 

[Sal1950]

The way I interpret it is: if Newton didn't try to quantify things, and instead believed his ears more, he would've discovered relativity and quantum mechanics, too

I like Fig Newton's.

 

[Jimbob54]

What on earth does this have to do with my comment?????

Or anything for that matter.

 

[Dr Schweinsgruber]

If am just trying to add some nuance to a forum, where consensus seems to be that if it doesn’t measure right it must be a bad product. I find it arrogant, yes, that what many people consider a serious hobby, is sidestepped by a childish comment like “Uh huh. Now close your eyes” to a post I wrote in a serious tone, simply because I had “the nerve” to question a review based solely on measurements. I am not saying the review is incorrect, just that I believe, IMHO, that measurements isn’t everything.

The Jitterbug does not remove jitter, as jitter is defined as timing errors. Removing jitter requires re-clocking, which the Jitterbug does not do as it is a passive device.

Therefore, measuring jitter as done in the review, delivers the expected results. A savvy audio engineer should have known better.

But what the jitterbug does is taking on contamination from the VBUS. And it only appears to work for some but not for others. It actually only works for people who actually listen to it .

P.S. What does "uh huh" mean?

 

[USER]

 

[Sal1950]

^^^
I love it when folks post something that I have no idea WTF they're talking about.

 

[amirm]

The Jitterbug does not remove jitter, as jitter is defined as timing errors. Removing jitter requires re-clocking, which the Jitterbug does not do as it is a passive device.

Why do you think they say this about it then:

"Insert into the USB input of any computer, laptop, DAC, receiver, streamer, car, or smartphone significantly minimizes jitter and packet errors"

 

[Dr Schweinsgruber]

Why do you think they say this about it then:

"Insert into the USB input of any computer, laptop, DAC, receiver, streamer, car, or smartphone significantly minimizes jitter and packet errors"

Probably because of miscommunication between their marketing department and their consultant/product designer Gordon Rankin...or did you find a reclocking device in the Bug?

Strangely enough, there is no jitter claim in the manual (only on the website as cited by you above). Also not in the new one.

Did you know that the real life Jitterbug is not an insect either?