Considering an ultra , need help deciding.

[metheny74]

Hi all
I am considering getting the ultra after reading so much about it. I own the wiim mini and am happy to use it in my garage system. It sounds pretty darn good. For my main system, I am using a blusound node n100 with toslink into my SMSL- SU9 dac and it does sound pretty good.

My question is if the ultra with the usb out into the usb in of the smsl su-9 would be an improvement in sound for me ?

Thank you much
Gopal

 

[Saponetto]

Hi,
The Mini is the indiscussed champ of performances/cost ratio, the Ultra is something different.
A lot of people thinks Ultra is just a gimmick-pack with slight improvement despite the huge difference of their DACs for who uses line output.
What the perceived difference lies is of course the vast reliability.
About sound quality if your starting point, as per your own words, is "pretty darn" I'm quite confident that if you stay in digital domain you'll get few improvements.

My 5 cents, of course.

 

[metheny74]

Hi,
The Mini is the indiscussed champ of performances/cost ratio, the Ultra is something different.
A lot of people thinks Ultra is just a gimmick-pack with slight improvement despite the huge difference of their DACs for who uses line output.
What the perceived difference lies is of course the vast reliability.
About sound quality if your starting point, as per your own words, is "pretty darn" I'm quite confident that if you stay in digital domain you'll get few improvements.

My 5 cents, of course.

Thank you. Don't you think that the usb out from the ultra will sound better than the toslink from the node ? I was reading that usb out sounds really good on the ultra. Just trying to decide if I should pull the trigger. Thanks.

 

[Saponetto]

Thank you. Don't you think that the usb out from the ultra will sound better than the toslink from the node ? I was reading that usb out sounds really good on the ultra. Just trying to decide if I should pull the trigger. Thanks.

No.
Toslink and USB are equal, go ahead only based on your reliability needs.

 

[metheny74]

No.
Toslink and USB are equal, go ahead only based on your reliability needs.

Thanks.

 

[adias]

No.
Toslink and USB are equal, go ahead only based on your reliability needs.

Not true. USB is asynchronous and the stream clock is controlled by the DAC. If the DAC has a good filtered USB input and a precision clock, the conversion will be better than SPDIF/Toslink.

 

[hgo58]

Not true. USB is asynchronous and the stream clock is controlled by the DAC. If the DAC has a good filtered USB input and a precision clock, the conversion will be better than SPDIF/Toslink.

Not true. Same data.

The Ultra internal clock is just as good as any external DAC. The jitter noise is below anything humans kan hear.

 

[Saponetto]

Of course, and this also explains the bandpass limit of toslink vs. USB.
It seemed to me that the requisites of Mini and Ultra (max. 192/24) would then leave the OP free hands for both solution.
In favor of optical, clearly there is its rejection of galvanic noises.

 

[adias]

Not true. Same data.

The Ultra internal clock is just as good as any external DAC. The jitter noise is below anything humans kan hear.

What I wrote "USB is asynchronous and the stream clock is controlled by the DAC. If the DAC has a good filtered USB input and a precision clock, the conversion will be better than SPDIF/Toslink" is factual. Your reply is your opinion, subject to debate.

 

[Griff]

Have a look at the test results below. They seem to show some difference for jitter between usb and toslink for the SU9 but highlight a way to tune it out by adjusting the digital PLL setting. However as originally said you are into the world of diminishing returns for any changes. Unless you want any of the additional functions (RC, PEQ etc) or to use multiroom with the mini then change for sound quality purposes is dictated, in the main by the Dac and the settings above, the audible impact of which is dependent on you and your ears. Nice setup though https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/smsl-su-9-balanced-dac-review.16150/

 

[Smartplug]

Not true. USB is asynchronous and the stream clock is controlled by the DAC. If the DAC has a good filtered USB input and a precision clock, the conversion will be better than SPDIF/Toslink.

In paper and theory yes but after switching back and forth between coax and usb I like how coax sound. It could be the dac I have don’t have good usb implementation. Most uses xmos 16 or 32.