Audioquest Jitterbug
mantis
Posts: 17,194
Hello all,
Soon I should have this on the way. I read about it and I'm not completely sold on the idea but I'm curious is it would have any effect on jitter. Jitter seems to be one of the issues with digital transfer. Now if your USB device and cable are as good as they can be for this job, can this device make any difference? Well I'm gonna find out.
Currently I'm using a Carbon Level USB cable but honestly I found great value in the Forest level model. For the money the forest level cable IMO can't be beat. When I did my shootout a while back , I had an incredibly hard time hearing differences with all the higher end cables I tested and when I went back to the Forest, I was shocked how it stood up to all others. The only real night and day difference I heard in my shootout was a cable that was built by a member here. I contacted him as he sent me these 2 cables to try, he told me he screwed that cable up when he built it and had to repair it or something like that. So the termination on that cable was not perfect and I heard it right away. It was the worse cable in my shootout and I didn't know about the termination when I was testing. I just thought it was a poor cable and rightfully so.
So This jitterbug thing again I read it , I think about it and then I question it. But I'm absolutely willing to test it.
I'll post my findings after I spend a great deal amount of time with it, listening with and then without for days weeks or whatever it takes to discover or uncover if this product is worth it or not.
Soon I should have this on the way. I read about it and I'm not completely sold on the idea but I'm curious is it would have any effect on jitter. Jitter seems to be one of the issues with digital transfer. Now if your USB device and cable are as good as they can be for this job, can this device make any difference? Well I'm gonna find out.
Currently I'm using a Carbon Level USB cable but honestly I found great value in the Forest level model. For the money the forest level cable IMO can't be beat. When I did my shootout a while back , I had an incredibly hard time hearing differences with all the higher end cables I tested and when I went back to the Forest, I was shocked how it stood up to all others. The only real night and day difference I heard in my shootout was a cable that was built by a member here. I contacted him as he sent me these 2 cables to try, he told me he screwed that cable up when he built it and had to repair it or something like that. So the termination on that cable was not perfect and I heard it right away. It was the worse cable in my shootout and I didn't know about the termination when I was testing. I just thought it was a poor cable and rightfully so.
So This jitterbug thing again I read it , I think about it and then I question it. But I'm absolutely willing to test it.
I'll post my findings after I spend a great deal amount of time with it, listening with and then without for days weeks or whatever it takes to discover or uncover if this product is worth it or not.
Dan
My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time.
My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time.
Comments
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subscribed!Klipsch The Nines, Audioquest Thunderbird Interconnect, Innuos Zen MK3 W4S recovery, Revolution Audio Labs USB & Ethernet, Border Patrol SE-I, Audioquest Niagara 5000 & Thunder, Cullen Crossover II PC's.
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Anything yet?Klipsch The Nines, Audioquest Thunderbird Interconnect, Innuos Zen MK3 W4S recovery, Revolution Audio Labs USB & Ethernet, Border Patrol SE-I, Audioquest Niagara 5000 & Thunder, Cullen Crossover II PC's.
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No we haven't received any of them yet but I might go ahead and just order one to try out. I'm not feeling all that great about this product but at it's price point I think it's worth the try.Dan
My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time. -
I'm a bit shocked we are still waiting on this piece. I just want to try it out.Dan
My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time. -
I am suprised.Klipsch The Nines, Audioquest Thunderbird Interconnect, Innuos Zen MK3 W4S recovery, Revolution Audio Labs USB & Ethernet, Border Patrol SE-I, Audioquest Niagara 5000 & Thunder, Cullen Crossover II PC's.
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I'm waiting for my 2 units to come as well..
ATC SCM40's,VTL TL 2.5 Preamp,PSB Stratus Goldi's,McCormack DNA 500,McCormack MAP-1 Preamp,Pro-Ject Xtension 10 TT,Ortofon Cadenza Red/Nordost RedDawn LS Speaker cables, Bryston BDP-2, Bryston BDA-2,PS Audio AC-3 power cables -
I got word from our Rep, these are severely back ordered. We will be getting them in about 3 to 6 weeks Hopefully
Dan
My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time. -
That might mean something good I hope!Klipsch The Nines, Audioquest Thunderbird Interconnect, Innuos Zen MK3 W4S recovery, Revolution Audio Labs USB & Ethernet, Border Patrol SE-I, Audioquest Niagara 5000 & Thunder, Cullen Crossover II PC's.
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Everything I have heard about it is all positive. The going talk is that it lowers the noise floor, makes everything seem to float better. Like a new level of clarity. I'm assuming that is IF your current rig has some unknown Jitter. I can't see it doing anything to a rig that doesn't have any issues.
Like everything else Audioquest does, they try to be as neutral as possible. It was the topic of our conversation when I was asking all about the Jitter bug since I couldn't have on in my hands.
It's funny to as I'm kinda sick of my current High Rez music library and I don't see anything right now I want to own. I might look over the catalog again and see if anything jumps out at me. I could maybe use some Kanasas stuff or maybe some New Dave Mathews if available. I still have the same old issue with High rez as I did with SACD and DVD AUDIO years ago but the high rez files are much better in offerings then back then with disc's.
But I don't spin disc's hardly never anymore and play all my music from my hard drive.
As soon as I a jitter bug , i'll let you know man.Dan
My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time. -
Thanks I appreciate it!Klipsch The Nines, Audioquest Thunderbird Interconnect, Innuos Zen MK3 W4S recovery, Revolution Audio Labs USB & Ethernet, Border Patrol SE-I, Audioquest Niagara 5000 & Thunder, Cullen Crossover II PC's.
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Funny thing, the new Kansas lead singer is from a local band from here called Arra.Klipsch The Nines, Audioquest Thunderbird Interconnect, Innuos Zen MK3 W4S recovery, Revolution Audio Labs USB & Ethernet, Border Patrol SE-I, Audioquest Niagara 5000 & Thunder, Cullen Crossover II PC's.
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I have two of these on back order, I call the store once a week all they tell me is they are back ordered..
Since it's an Audioquest product I will ask this question.
I am using regular USB A-B cables I believe there was a thread on here comparing different USB cables, I am thinking of getting a couple of Audioquest Forest or Cinnamon cables if they make a difference..
One going from my laptop to Harddrive and the other going from laptop to DAC..
ATC SCM40's,VTL TL 2.5 Preamp,PSB Stratus Goldi's,McCormack DNA 500,McCormack MAP-1 Preamp,Pro-Ject Xtension 10 TT,Ortofon Cadenza Red/Nordost RedDawn LS Speaker cables, Bryston BDP-2, Bryston BDA-2,PS Audio AC-3 power cables -
I heard a difference when I went from a stock cable to a better aftermarket usb cable. I say go for it!Klipsch The Nines, Audioquest Thunderbird Interconnect, Innuos Zen MK3 W4S recovery, Revolution Audio Labs USB & Ethernet, Border Patrol SE-I, Audioquest Niagara 5000 & Thunder, Cullen Crossover II PC's.
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Thanks Erniejade I will pick a couple when the Jitterbugs are in stock.ATC SCM40's,VTL TL 2.5 Preamp,PSB Stratus Goldi's,McCormack DNA 500,McCormack MAP-1 Preamp,Pro-Ject Xtension 10 TT,Ortofon Cadenza Red/Nordost RedDawn LS Speaker cables, Bryston BDP-2, Bryston BDA-2,PS Audio AC-3 power cables
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Go for the Forest , it's the best overall value in USB cables today.Dan
My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time. -
I don't think I'll ever get my hands on one of these. Put in an order months ago and I haven't seen one yet.Dan
My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time. -
Dang!!!!Klipsch The Nines, Audioquest Thunderbird Interconnect, Innuos Zen MK3 W4S recovery, Revolution Audio Labs USB & Ethernet, Border Patrol SE-I, Audioquest Niagara 5000 & Thunder, Cullen Crossover II PC's.
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Ok FINALLY IT;'S HERE.
Seems like a year ago I ordered it and it's finally in. I played with it for awhile and honestly I didn't hear any difference yet.
I'm using my new Macbook Pro which has a Solid State drive in it so I'm wondering If I'm gonna get any issues with transfer at all?
Also I'm using a Asynchronous DAC. Time will tell as I got tons of testing and breaking in to do.
I will snap some pic's and report back if this little gem as it's called in the industry is worth buying or a waste of time.Dan
My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time. -
Thanks!!! It could be your not needing correction.the reviews I have been reading have been all over the place from great to I don't hear a difference.Klipsch The Nines, Audioquest Thunderbird Interconnect, Innuos Zen MK3 W4S recovery, Revolution Audio Labs USB & Ethernet, Border Patrol SE-I, Audioquest Niagara 5000 & Thunder, Cullen Crossover II PC's.
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What I'm thinking is exactly that. I'm running a Solid State drive in a 6 month old Macbook Pro top of the line loaded 15.4 Retina , I'm using a Audioquest Carbon USB cable so the transfer is probably as good as it's going to get.
I have tried 16/44 and 24/192 stuff.
To me so far this just proves my personal theory that I have learned from many high end Audio engineers and personal experince that once you are able to send the signal correctly, NO more can be done to improve on it.
To further test this, I'm gonna break out my old 2008 Macbook Pro which has a 7200 Standard hard drive in it and see if using that I notice any improvements in the sound.
What I'm doing is listening to a complete song without the Jitterbug. Then with the Jitter back in , I listen to that same song. Take it out and listen again.
Then I cut the time back to 30 seconds each way , study the track in every detail back and forth and see if there is anything different, if the sound quality is richer or more dynamic.
I also perform these test when no ones home so I have no distractions. I find this necessary as someone always closes a door , makes some kind of noise and to me that kills my focus.
Dan
My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time. -
Got some time to play with this thing. I let it run all morning to break it in some and see if sending current through it makes any difference.
I also broke out my old 2008 Macbook for new testing as said above it has a standard style 7200 hard drive in it.
When playing with the Jitterbug, everything sounds as it does with my 2015 Macbook Pro with a Solid State hard drive. Warm inviting and comfortable.
When I remove the Jitterbug from the 2008 Macbook Pro, I noticed a difference in sound. This time I noticed that my sound quality changed. I had to switch back and forth a few times to confirm what I was hearing. Basically without the Jitterbug my sound sounds slightly higher in the higher end. Like someone turned up the treble a bit. With the Jitterbug, things seem to warm up like someone put the treble back on "0" for a lack of a better term.
It also seemed to blacken the back ground meaning more air between sounds. Again switching back and forth I heard this.
I see now the purpose of this little device, if you have some issues with your signal transfer or if you have some interference, this thing can clean that up and make things as they should. It's not an enhance device, basically it preserves the signal and allows you to transfer your signal to your DAC the best possible way. I'm digging this thing but unfortunately it doesn't do anything with my new Macbook at all.
I'm wondering IF running off the battery or the wall makes the difference here? When I was using my new Mac, I was on battery, when I was using my Old Mac , I was on the power cord as the battery was fully dead in it and I didn't want to wait for it to charge back up.
Now I gotta test both ways again due to the difference in power transfer. Maybe that damn power cord is emitting a slight amount of RFI into my signal chain.
Back to the drawing board.Dan
My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time. -
If you have the inclination you should get the iFi version of this to compare them.
afterburnt wrote: »They didn't speak a word of English, they were from South Carolina.
Village Idiot of Club Polk -
You can tell the difference as my new Mac has a case on it and the old one does not.Dan
My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time. -
What is the IFI version? Never heard of thatDan
My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time. -
http://www.musicdirect.com/p-364758-ifi-ipurifier-2-inline-usb-audio-conditioner.aspx
You can even pick which type of USB connection you want to use. DSkip sells iFi products.afterburnt wrote: »They didn't speak a word of English, they were from South Carolina.
Village Idiot of Club Polk -
Thats badass, Audioquest should make this version of USB as well. I like it a lot. Hit it right at the point of entry, excellent. I'm gonna give Audioquest a cal about this and see if they are making one or take my suggestion and make one.Dan
My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time. -
On my windows pc it does make a difference between battery and ac. The AC is noisy.
I am also using an external drive, are you using internal on the new mac book? I wonder if you had an external on the new MacBook if that would make a difference? I would probably need 2.
On a side note, I am still waiting to go to SS for the drive. I need 1tb min. The price of the 1tb and up for SS are still a bit $$$ for me.
Klipsch The Nines, Audioquest Thunderbird Interconnect, Innuos Zen MK3 W4S recovery, Revolution Audio Labs USB & Ethernet, Border Patrol SE-I, Audioquest Niagara 5000 & Thunder, Cullen Crossover II PC's. -
On a side note, I am still waiting to go to SS for the drive. I need 1tb min. The price of the 1tb and up for SS are still a bit $$$ for me.
Good lord man? 1TB? What do you have that you need that much storage...
"....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963) -
It's not that hard to fill up, really. 192/24 FLAC are pretty large, DSD albums are 2-3Gb a piece, 8+Gb for 5.1 DSD albums...
Can't have too much space.afterburnt wrote: »They didn't speak a word of English, they were from South Carolina.
Village Idiot of Club Polk -
LOL. For my regular flac stuff, I have a lot of cd's. I am at a little over 1/2 tb currently and I have another 400-500 cd's to go. If I ever convert my LP's and 45's over......... LOL I admit, I have more then I can listen to in a lifetime.
This does not include my dj mp3's that I keep separate. I know I know mp3 but, in an echo sounding hall, on a PA, I could hear a difference between mp3 and flac but, it wasn't a huge difference and a lot of DJ software either doesn't read flac or is slower loading. Besides, I say 90% of the people cannot hear the difference or even know that there is a difference in a wedding hall or I call some of them big echo chambers with glass on all sides of the room. I do use either usb DJ dac or on my old rig a card slot dac, headphone amp combo. Yes I know this is another subject completely so back to the regular scheduled programing.Klipsch The Nines, Audioquest Thunderbird Interconnect, Innuos Zen MK3 W4S recovery, Revolution Audio Labs USB & Ethernet, Border Patrol SE-I, Audioquest Niagara 5000 & Thunder, Cullen Crossover II PC's.
