Hi Rick,

Thanks for your explanation of jitter. I don't believe that I am experiencing jitter (or at least "excessive jitter"). My system does not sound harsh to me. I believe I might be able to detect undue harshness, because I attend live musical performances and because I frequently sing in these performances as part of large choral groups. These opportunities provide me with a benchmark for comparison.

The fascinating thing about this whole quest for audio nirvana is that it's all subjective and interactive. When I auditioned the Triton References at the dealer in Raleigh, I had him play selections from several CDs which I had brought along for the occasion. I did not have the "wow" reaction that I expected. I know that his setup contained excellent equipment. But, I was comparing what I was hearing at that moment to my "tonal and musical memory" of what that music sounded like on my system.

I will probably return to the dealer for another audition during a future visit to Raleigh. But, at this point, I am not ready to invest in the References as replacement for my Ones. The only way for me to be able to determine if the References would be worth the cost to me would be for me to place them in my current setup in place of the Ones, while making no other changes. That approach is not an option.

I am as interested in achieving audio nirvana as anyone in our little GE group here on this forum, but I am just not willing to make the additional funds investment on the chance that I would be enough pleased with the results to warrant that investment. Perhaps being 76 plays a role.

It would certainly be fun to be able to visit everybody and hear their systems. Fun, but not practical. So, we continue to swap ideas and impressions, which is also much fun.

Best,

Art

ArthurDaniels wrote: ..... I don't believe that I am experiencing jitter (or at least "excessive jitter"). My system does not sound harsh to me. I believe I might be able to detect undue harshness, because I attend live musical performances and because I frequently sing in these performances as part of large choral groups. These opportunities provide me with a benchmark for comparison.

The fascinating thing about this whole quest for audio nirvana is that it's all subjective and interactive.....

Art

Hi Art -

I'd just like to add something for you to be aware of. While I'm in a similar camp as you as far as jitter (i.e. whatever jitter is in my system ultimately gets cleansed by my DAC, and I don't worry excessively over it), note that jitter *CAN* be measured and, therefore, it is not completely subjective.

If you are interested in pursuing the measurement aspect, I can recommend that you contact Steve Nugent of Empirical Audio
www.empiricalaudio.com/about-empirical-audio/contact

He typically posts oscilloscope images of cable and various gear performance where jitter is concerned. And he is extremely knowledgeable in this subject matter.

Just a friendly recommendation

Hey Art,

Funny I had the same problem when I auditioned the T Ones - wasn't wowed at the dealer.
The dealer however let me borrow them and try them in my environment and that's when the WOW happened

Not sure how far you are from Richmond so if that is practical or not, but generally dealers will let you do an overnight-ish trial...

--Peter

Thanks to everybody for your inputs to this discussion. I have installed the Wyred 4 Sound Remedy, and here's a summary of the problem and what I found.

My Samsung Smart TV was hooked up via Toslink to my Auralic Vega DAC via an Amazon Basics 1 meter Toslink cable.

The original signal path was TV > 1m Toslink > DAC.

With this setup my DAC displayed a 48 kHz sampling rate. However, I was having quasi-periodic interrupts where the DAC would lose lock on the signal, the DAC’s sampling rate display would blank, and then lock on again. This blank would happen roughly every 20 seconds or so and last about a half second. (Note that when I ran the TV Toslink to my Oppo 105 first, and then took Oppo digital coax to my DAC, there was no interruption problem.)

I had an email conversation with Auralic suggesting a reclocker might help, and they responded that this is a common problem and their recommendation was to use a reclocker. So I ordered a standard Wyred 4 Sound Remedy with a 96 kHz output. I also ordered another 1 m Amazon Basics Toslink cable. I plugged in the standard Remedy power wart into my PS Audio Dectet.

After installation, the signal path was TV > 1m Toslink > Remedy > 1m Toslink > DAC.

When I fired everything up, the DAC displayed 96 kHz, and the interrupts were gone. In several hours of operation I never experienced a single interrupt. So far so good.

The real surprise was in the change in quality of the sound. I noticed an immediate and significant improvement in higher frequency definition. Everything seemed “crisper”, much crisper, and imaging precision was also improved. Dialog tracks were clearer. I did not hear any change in low-frequency amplitude or high frequency smoothness.

When running at 96 kHz instead of 48, my DAC shifts the reconstruction filter corner (I use a slow minimum phase version) up an octave, which should flatten the frequency response above 10 kHz. However, I did not notice a clear change in “smoothness”. My hearing goes away above 4 kHz, so I wasn’t surprised at this; others with better hearing may hear a difference up there.

It makes sense that jitter is more likely to affect the quality of high frequency components in the signal. Jitter is a high frequency phenomenon, and timing changes are more likely to cause noticeable variations in the high-frequency components in the signal. The higher the frequency, the more likely jitter will cause a problem. Low-frequency signals will tend to average out the jitter-caused sampling variations. Also, being a timing issue, it makes sense that transient edges will be more affected.

Hans Beekhuyzen has some excellent videos on YouTube, and some discuss problems with digital signal connection. He has a good discussion of what can go wrong connecting to a DAC – more than just jitter – here:
thehbproject.com/en/articles/41/0/Connec...digital-can-go-wrong

Now I’m wondering about my Oppo 105’s digital coax output. Since the Remedy also has coax connections, I’ll try seeing if using it in that chain will make a difference.

I now have no doubt that USB can suffer the same kinds of problems, probably more so because, being a wired connection instead of optical fiber, it will be more susceptible to outside electromagnetic interference.

Charlie

Whoa, Charlie, you lost me at your TV is your music source????????

Is this just for playing TV shows or are you somehow talking about music in a VERY foreign way to me???????

Happy listening,
God Bless,
Wayne

Hi Peter,

We're probably an 8 hour drive from Richmond. We regularly visit Raleigh where our daughter and grandson live - about 5 hours drive.

I bought my Triton Ones from Audio Advice in Raleigh and auditioned the References at the same location. Borrowing a set is probably not possible unless they let me keep them for a couple of months.

The real irony in this story is that there is a GE Dealer right here in Johnson City, TN where we live. I bought my SuperSat 3s and my Triton Sevens from him. I auditioned the Ones at his location, but then he and I got to a "loggerheads" status over a couple of points and I have not been back since. The problem for me is that I fundamentally do not trust what he tells me.

I have been considering giving him a call, but so far, I have not felt inclined to do so.

Thanks for your suggestion.

Best,

Art