usb isolator

[doitttt]

usb isolator
1: gadget adum 3165

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005008002656441.html

probably better than audioqest jitterbug
2: gadget
ISOUSB211DPEVM board if you use a really good powersupply external the sound will be even better you have to solder it yourself
3: ADUM OCXO-3166 USB

Pardon Our Interruption...

4: JDS Synapse & Neutron V1 USB Isolators Review

'JDS Synapse & Neutron V1 USB Isolators Review'

Dec 9, 2024

This is a review and detailed measurements of the JDS Labs Synapse and Neutron Hifi V1 USB isolators. They were both sends to me by the respected companies. Synapse costs US $69, and Neutron US $118.

As you see, the styles are very different. Synapse comes in a playful red color. Neutron in a more serious case, resembling a USB power supply.

Some background: USB bus carries data, power and ground. Data is used by all downstream devices naturally (e.g. DACs). Power may or may not be used. The ground however, is always used as the reference for both data and power. Being...

• amirm
• Replies: 200
• Forum: DACs, Streamers, Servers, Players, Audio Interface

• 

so the expensive lhy uip

LHY UIP | Beatechnik

In Stock: Ready to ship within 2-3 business days.

www.beatechnik.com

Galvanic isolator
should give better sound

 

[Roland68]

usb isolator
1: gadget adum 3165

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005008002656441.html

probably better than audioqest jitterbug
2: gadget
ISOUSB211DPEVM board if you use a really good powersupply external the sound will be even better you have to solder it yourself
3: ADUM OCXO-3166 USB

Pardon Our Interruption...

4: JDS Synapse & Neutron V1 USB Isolators Review

'JDS Synapse & Neutron V1 USB Isolators Review'

Dec 9, 2024

This is a review and detailed measurements of the JDS Labs Synapse and Neutron Hifi V1 USB isolators. They were both sends to me by the respected companies. Synapse costs US $69, and Neutron US $118.

As you see, the styles are very different. Synapse comes in a playful red color. Neutron in a more serious case, resembling a USB power supply.

Some background: USB bus carries data, power and ground. Data is used by all downstream devices naturally (e.g. DACs). Power may or may not be used. The ground however, is always used as the reference for both data and power. Being...

• amirm
• Replies: 200
• Forum: DACs, Streamers, Servers, Players, Audio Interface

• 

so the expensive lhy uip

LHY UIP | Beatechnik

In Stock: Ready to ship within 2-3 business days.

www.beatechnik.com

Galvanic isolator
should give better sound

What are you trying to say or achieve with this post?

You only need a USB isolator if you have an audible problem; otherwise, you won't hear any difference.
You can get professional USB isolators from Intona; they also beat anything else in the audio sector, provided there's a problem to solve; otherwise, it's a waste of money.
I've experienced three times among friends where USB isolators from the audio sector didn't solve USB problems, but with an SMSL PO100 Pro (and an optical connection to the DAC) or an Intona USB isolator, the problem disappeared completely.

 

[solderdude]

so the expensive lhy uip

LHY UIP | Beatechnik

In Stock: Ready to ship within 2-3 business days.

www.beatechnik.com

Galvanic isolator
should give better sound

You may have misinterpreted Amir's remarks about the ground always being connected.

USB isolators disconnect the ground, signal and power supply lines between the input and the output of the device.
There are also devices that just re-clock or use other 'tricks' but real isolators truly isolate all 4 wires.
Not all 'isolators' are equal and some are limited in max. bitrate.
Choose wisely.

These devices are to solve problems with weird noises, hum etc and not to 'improve' sound quality due to 'cleaner' bits etc.

What Amir means is that for a USB 4 wires are used. One of them being power (+5V) opposite ground (common is the better terminology) and 2 (differential) data lines that have its signal opposite common wire.

What USB isolators do is basically 'cut' the USB connection.
The common on the output is used for the data and power supply.
The common on the input is used for data and power supply.
There is NO connection between the common of the input and the common of the output.

The 5V (coming from the PC) is going into a galvanic separated DC-DC converter (4-6V in to 5V out) and the 5V output is going to the device (a DAC) and that 5V thus also is separated from the 5V out of the PC.

So both the 5V as well as the common (ground) is disconnected. This thus breaks a possible ground loop between PC/laptop etc. and DAC.

That leaves the data lines... these also are separated by using chips that either use opto electronics or small data transformers to separate the data lines.

So no ... one will not sound better than the other and as Roland68 already mentioned it will do NOTHING if there isn't a ground loop issue.
Granted, there are some older DACs that may have poor USB jitter rejection that may actually improve performance but that may well not be due to galvanic isolation but may well occur as well when a simple USB hub is used.

 

[doitttt]

what i'm trying to say.
that there are many usb isolators.
when the noise is gone, you get better clarity in the sound.
also better transient in the bass.
requires sc-cut oxco clock with low phase noise
if in doubt read this forum

LHY UIP USB audio isolator

Creating a new thread for discussion of and owner/user experiences with this recently released USB isolator by LHY. [placeholder for product info]

www.head-fi.org

 

[Roland68]

what i'm trying to say.
that there are many usb isolators.
when the noise is gone, you get better clarity in the sound.
also better transient in the bass.
requires sc-cut oxco clock with low phase noise
if in doubt read this forum

LHY UIP USB audio isolator

Creating a new thread for discussion of and owner/user experiences with this recently released USB isolator by LHY. [placeholder for product info]

www.head-fi.org

Please do your homework on digital technology. And do some truly blinded tests, and then you too will stop believing in fairy tales.
How are these devices supposed to audibly change something when there's no problem at all?
- Do you think that without these devices, data would be missing or transmitted incorrectly? This has been measured and verified countless times, and it's nonsense.
- If these devices change anything in the data coming from the source, then they're defective, because that shouldn't happen under any circumstances.
- It's just zeros and ones being converted from digital to analog. If something is missing in this data, it can't be decoded. But if something changes in this data, it can definitely be measured, even on the digital side.
Do you notice anything?

I've had all these DDCs and USB isolators here before, including the LHY, and with a modern DAC with a well-implemented XMOS XU316 and no serious USB issues, these devices do absolutely nothing. Three owners of Audio-GD DI-20 HE, Audio-GD DI-20, and LHY are still angry with me after a year because no one was able to hear the difference with and without these devices.

Noise reduction in modern DACs is now more advanced than in these devices; development is simply advancing everywhere.

In tests with very dirty USB connections with additional grounding issues, the cheapest Intona USB 2.0 isolator, which cost €254 at the time, was clearly better than the devices listed.

 

[A Surfer]

what i'm trying to say.
that there are many usb isolators.
when the noise is gone, you get better clarity in the sound.
also better transient in the bass.
requires sc-cut oxco clock with low phase noise
if in doubt read this forum

LHY UIP USB audio isolator

Creating a new thread for discussion of and owner/user experiences with this recently released USB isolator by LHY. [placeholder for product info]

www.head-fi.org

No thanks, sorry to be blunt, but Head fi is rarely a source of much more than audio mythology and the gushings of people who engage in magical thinking about audio devices.

 

[solderdude]

what i'm trying to say.
that there are many usb isolators.
when the noise is gone, you get better clarity in the sound.

They can only remove unwanted 'noises' travelling through the screen/ground of a USB connection if they are present and the DAC is not well made and susceptible to it.
They cannot remove any 'noises' other than that.

also better transient in the bass.

Nonsense, this is just subjective babble.

requires sc-cut oxco clock with low phase noise
if in doubt read this forum

LHY UIP USB audio isolator

Creating a new thread for discussion of and owner/user experiences with this recently released USB isolator by LHY. [placeholder for product info]

www.head-fi.org

It's nonsense, and not objectively verified.

 

[doitttt]

hear it for yourself and you'll change your mind
there's a difference

 

[solderdude]

The clock in the DAC determines the jitter, not the one of the incoming data.
That one just determines the general speed.
Jitter of the incoming signal is removed because it is re-clocked in the DAC.

What you are hearing is confirmation bias.
Now if you were able to detect this in a well performed blind test that would be great.

 

[XpanD]

hear it for yourself and you'll change your mind
there's a difference

"It pays to keep an open mind, but not so open your brains fall out."

Life's too short for this stuff when there's actual meaningful frontiers to tackle, like room acoustics and speaker directivity.

 

[doitttt]

when using optocoupler and adum
remove noise gives greater clarity in the sound
also using clock with adum removes jitter
clock makes more realistic sound
that's what clocks are made for

 

[Roland68]

when using optocoupler and adum
remove noise gives greater clarity in the sound
also using clock with adum removes jitter
clock makes more realistic sound
that's what clocks are made for

Seriously? Now we're also talking about the crystals?

This is all utter nonsense. The clocks in the DACs and the jitter reduction have been at a completely inaudible level for years.
In the industry, we use a 10 MHz clock for measurements, which is x times more accurate than anything built into these devices. We've connected it to DACs with a clock input several times, and it has made absolutely no difference.
The clocks that LHY uses are also completely standard industrial crystals that anyone can buy, and there are better ones.

Do you have these devices? Which ones exactly, and with which DACs?
Have you already conducted real blind tests with them, with multiple runs, controlled and evaluated by someone else?

 

[DVDdoug]

what i'm trying to say.
that there are many usb isolators.
when the noise is gone, you get better clarity in the sound.

IF you have audible noise (hum, hiss, or whine in the background) and IF the isolator removes it, of course the sound is better!

Note that noise is an ANALOG problem. Noise can sometimes get into the analog electronics through the USB power or ground.

also better transient in the bass.
requires sc-cut oxco clock with low phase noise
if in doubt read this forum

You can't near jitter or the effects of jitter unless it's artificially generated, making it way worse than you get even with cheap audio equipment. So I've never heard jitter but from what I've read, when it's made bad-enough it sounds like noise. It's a made-up problem by audiophools who "don't believe in" blind listening tests.

And "phase" isn't an issue with digital data. It's rarely an issue with analog either. If you think about the wavelength of sound waves, the distance between the speaker and your ear creates a few thousands degrees of "phase shift" at high frequencies!!!

The digital-side is rarely a problem. It's just ones and zeros. One bit flipped in your bank account, switched from a zero to one or vice-versa, is equally likely to cause a 1-cent error or a billion dollar error. Or think about this forum... The data goes all around the world through all kinds of wired & wireless connections and if there is a typo or misspelling in my post, you can can be sure that it was my mistake and the data didn't get corrupted.

To be fair, audio (and video) is a bit different because the data has to "flow" continuously without being interrupted (although there are buffers so that interruptions or errors are often corrected). And, CDs or other "shiny discs" can sometimes have errors or damage. But usually if an error gets-through it's obvious, like a click, pop, or dropout. And unlike if you have a spreadsheet file on a CD, the audio usually keeps-on playing, whereas if your spreadsheet file get's an error the operating system usually won't open the file at all.

 

[solderdude]

when using optocoupler and adum
remove noise gives greater clarity in the sound

When the USB connection is good and there are no ground loops no 'noise' is removed.
Where noise = unwanted crap from the music source traveling through the signal ground connection and making it into the ground of the analog out.

also using clock with adum removes jitter

As I stated before. jitter in the signal to a DAC is removed IN the DAC.
Jitter in the signal is NOT the same jitter that the DAC has.
I hope you realize that ADUM chips (with their internal coupling transformers) also have jitter.
These chips do not re-clock.

clock makes more realistic sound
that's what clocks are made for

No... external (word) clocks are made for studio usage so one can sync all the connected ADC and DAC.

As I already mentioned .... you can make the clocks for data transmission perfect so the signal is absolutely jitter free (not possible in practice) and free of LF and other noise (frequency modulation) and with no phase noise .
This WON'T change the sound as the DAC chip inside is clocked by its own clock. When that has jitter than regardless how jitter free its input is it won't matter.
The incoming data is buffered (stored temporarily) and that's where it looses the jitter that came before. Data is not clocked directly to its output using the incoming (and derived) clock.

When you have an older DAC (or some poorly built one) then clock from the source can have some influence.
With any modern DAC it does not matter ... because of jitter rejection.

 

[A Surfer]

when using optocoupler and adum
remove noise gives greater clarity in the sound
also using clock with adum removes jitter
clock makes more realistic sound
that's what clocks are made for

Ridiculous. Please stop, you're embarrassing yourself.

 

[doitttt]

audiosciencereview they just contradicted themselves
see here

'JDS Synapse & Neutron V1 USB Isolators Review'

Dec 9, 2024

This is a review and detailed measurements of the JDS Labs Synapse and Neutron Hifi V1 USB isolators. They were both sends to me by the respected companies. Synapse costs US $69, and Neutron US $118.

As you see, the styles are very different. Synapse comes in a playful red color. Neutron in a more serious case, resembling a USB power supply.

Some background: USB bus carries data, power and ground. Data is used by all downstream devices naturally (e.g. DACs). Power may or may not be used. The ground however, is always used as the reference for both data and power. Being...

• amirm
• Replies: 200
• Forum: DACs, Streamers, Servers, Players, Audio Interface

• 

clean sound with low noise gives cleaner sound

 

[antcollinet]

hear it for yourself and you'll change your mind
there's a difference

Come with evidence - measurements at the audio ouput, or a properly controlled blind test, and we might have something to talk about.


Actually we won't - because as pointed out - these devices can't change the sound - only remove ground noise if it exists.

So if you hear anything else with a blind test - then the test is not properly controlled.

 

[Honken]

audiosciencereview they just contradicted themselves
see here

'JDS Synapse & Neutron V1 USB Isolators Review'

Dec 9, 2024

This is a review and detailed measurements of the JDS Labs Synapse and Neutron Hifi V1 USB isolators. They were both sends to me by the respected companies. Synapse costs US $69, and Neutron US $118.

As you see, the styles are very different. Synapse comes in a playful red color. Neutron in a more serious case, resembling a USB power supply.

Some background: USB bus carries data, power and ground. Data is used by all downstream devices naturally (e.g. DACs). Power may or may not be used. The ground however, is always used as the reference for both data and power. Being...

• amirm
• Replies: 200
• Forum: DACs, Streamers, Servers, Players, Audio Interface

• 

clean sound with low noise gives cleaner sound

Reading comprehension is at an all time low.

No, "ASR" has not contradicted "itself". The review of the Synapse and Neutron shows exactly what those devices do, and in what circumstances they'd help.

Unless you notice an issue with the USB input of your device, it's fairly safe to say that you won't notice any difference if you stick a USB isolator between your source and your DAC. In other words, it'd be a waste of money unless you are experiencing issues with your current setup. But they do what they say that they do, they do isolate the USB input - no voodoo there.

 

[Roland68]

audiosciencereview they just contradicted themselves
see here

'JDS Synapse & Neutron V1 USB Isolators Review'

Dec 9, 2024

This is a review and detailed measurements of the JDS Labs Synapse and Neutron Hifi V1 USB isolators. They were both sends to me by the respected companies. Synapse costs US $69, and Neutron US $118.

As you see, the styles are very different. Synapse comes in a playful red color. Neutron in a more serious case, resembling a USB power supply.

Some background: USB bus carries data, power and ground. Data is used by all downstream devices naturally (e.g. DACs). Power may or may not be used. The ground however, is always used as the reference for both data and power. Being...

• amirm
• Replies: 200
• Forum: DACs, Streamers, Servers, Players, Audio Interface

• 

clean sound with low noise gives cleaner sound

You've shown by now that you can't properly read Amir's review and, above all, don't understand it properly.
The same applies to USB and digital technology in DACs.
You keep repeating the same nonsense without any foundation or even a shred of evidence for your claims.
You also basically don't answer any of the questions anyone asks you.

This means you 100% meet the requirements of a troll, and without any substance.

And again, if there were an audible difference, it would be quite simple to record music through the DAC output with and without these devices and make them available for everyone to compare. Then everyone could hear the difference. Just do it and provide us with these audible differences; it shouldn't be difficult if the difference is so significant.

Every manufacturer would conduct blind tests and sell the devices like hot cakes.
But the truth is, at such demonstration events, you'll get kicked out if you insist on blind tests too much. I know this from repeated experience.

 

[A Surfer]

It looks like deliberate trolling.