AudioQuest JitterBug USB Filter Review

[Veri]

Hi Sal,

Nothing measurable ... just by ears

Just in case you don't realise. Nothing about this set-up is scientific, nothing about your claims are anything more than anecdotes. Note the audio"science"forum name... it's not audio"anecdote"forum, there is head-fi and other forums for that..

Your ears and brain are not the best tools to get any worthwhile conclusion. Thinking otherwise would be utter arrogance. At the very least you should do proper testing.

Tried already blind test already and 10 out of 10 times I get it right ... perhaps something wrong with my setup and something right that the jitterbug does in my use case ..

Anything to back this up? Or is this a case of us having to take you on your word?..

 

[richard_crl032]

Just in case you don't realise. Nothing about this set-up is scientific, nothing about your claims are anything more than anecdotes. Note the audio"science"forum name... it's not audio"anecdote"forum, there is head-fi and other forums for that..

Your ears and brain are not the best tools to get any worthwhile conclusion. Thinking otherwise would be utter arrogance. At the very least you should do proper testing.



Anything to back this up? Or is this a case of us having to take you on your word?..

Hi Veri,

Point taken.

Thanks.

Richard

 

[Veri]

Hi Veri,

Point taken.

Thanks.

Richard

Thank you for considering my words. It's just, products like this jitterbug are sold almost entirely on word of mouth. It does not sit well with me to promote them. If you like, check out the EtherRegen thread for a good example of another one such product lots of online reviews around, but it does not seem to do anything

 

[richard_crl032]

Hi Amir,

With apology .. posts without measurement had deleted.

Cheers.

Richard

 

[richard_crl032]

Thank you for considering my words. It's just, products like this jitterbug are sold almost entirely on word of mouth. It does not sit well with me to promote them. If you like, check out the EtherRegen thread for a good example of another one such product

Hi Veri,

Not promoting the jitterbug .. just sharing my experience and recent trials but point taken was on your mentioning on this forum titled "audioscience" and sharing to be backed by measurements.

Despite Hons deg but some 30 yrs ago, I had not progressed with equipment to share then.

Cheers.

Richard

 

[Veri]

Hi Veri,

Not promoting the jitterbug .. just sharing my experience and recent trials but point taken was on your mentioning on this forum titled "audioscience" and sharing to be backed by measurements.

Thank you have a nice day richard! my apologies if I was harsh to you!

 

[sotiridaf]

Jitterbug is the best

 

[BDWoody]

Jitterbug is the best

You like Wham?

 

[SKBubba]

All this reminds me of my late 90s .com startup idea (be sure to see the investor info link at the bottom):

https://www.knoxviews.com/esharp.htm

 

[howard416]

What would be the difference between the Jitterbug and an actual USB isolator like the JL Sounds I2SoverUSB?

 

[solderdude]

What would be the difference between the Jitterbug and an actual USB isolator like the JL Sounds I2SoverUSB?

The galvanic isolation would be the most important difference.
When you have a groundloop the isolation is important.

The jitterbug is merely a common mode filter + 5V differential mode filter.
It basically does nothing in practice that is of any significance.

 

[Sal1950]

It basically does nothing in practice that is of any significance.

It does exactly what it was designed to do!
It lightens your wallet and fattens Bill Low's.

 

[erittainvarma]

So, is there something that could help in a situation where USB makes a horrible background noise to the sound all the time and especially when I move my mouse? My DAC is Dragonfly Red, so might even this help with it? As I understood they might have cheaped out on even basic isolation.

 

[Sonny1]

Jitterbug is the best

I believe they are now claiming it makes the sun shine brighter than Doris Day. I need to get one of these. Is the review sample available for sale?

 

[RickSanchez]

So, is there something that could help in a situation where USB makes a horrible background noise to the sound all the time and especially when I move my mouse? My DAC is Dragonfly Red, so might even this help with it? As I understood they might have cheaped out on even basic isolation.

It's worth reading Amir's conclusions about this USB filter, which is generally applicable to devices of this type:

Conclusions
We can easily demonstrate that devices like JitterBug cannot work. USB is a high-speed bus. You cannot filter it without causing the data to be corrupted. So any filtering that JitterBug performs there must be well into Megahertz region and hence outside of audible band. Since data transmission to a USB DAC is highly reliable anyway, filter does no good. As to filtering of the USB power, the DAC itself has a regulator and filter of its own. Adding the tiny bit of filtering JitterBug has is like spitting in an ocean and expecting its level to rise.

But it is always good to confirm our understandings using precise measurements. Measurements that can dig way, way deeper than levels we can hear. There, across four different DACs, there is no difference that can be detected in any measurement from distortion to noise and jitter. The only differences were seen were negative in the form of tiny output level and increased jitter in Modi 2.

Bottom line, the AudioQuest Jitterbug does one only one thing: it filters your bank account, reducing your balance by $60.

As such I'd recommend spending your money on a better DAC; there are many good ones in the sub-$200 range.
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?pages/Audio_DAC_Performance_Index/

 

[amirm]

So, is there something that could help in a situation where USB makes a horrible background noise to the sound all the time and especially when I move my mouse? My DAC is Dragonfly Red, so might even this help with it? As I understood they might have cheaped out on even basic isolation.

No, it won't fix that sort of problem.

 

[erittainvarma]

Well, thanks guys, saved me from throwing any more money away, at least for that kind of stuff. As it seems that pretty much every decent DCA around the same price range seems to be sold out, I'm going try out if PCI-E USB card fixes this problem (or at least dampens it a bit) as I'm needing one high speed USB slot anyway.

 

[ninetylol]

Well, thanks guys, saved me from throwing any more money away, at least for that kind of stuff. As it seems that pretty much every decent DCA around the same price range seems to be sold out, I'm going try out if PCI-E USB card fixes (or at least dampens it a bit) this problem as I'm needing one high speed USB slot anyway.

I got a Asus PCIe 3.1 card and the background noise was even worse than all other USB slots. You can try to use all your other devices on 3.0 slots and save a single 2.0 for your DAC (which got its own internal USB controller then)

 

[AudioSceptic]

Well, thanks guys, saved me from throwing any more money away, at least for that kind of stuff. As it seems that pretty much every decent DCA around the same price range seems to be sold out, I'm going try out if PCI-E USB card fixes this problem (or at least dampens it a bit) as I'm needing one high speed USB slot anyway.

It's the same with all USB ports?

 

[erittainvarma]

It's the same with all USB ports?

It's the same for all USB ports in my motherboard.

The card I ordered (https://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=643&bno=116&tb=51&area=en ) has its own USB controller, some capacitors and inductors and is powered by independent SATA cable, so I'm having some hopes up that it might actually do something for this.