Spdif purifier IFiAudio

[Pedro2]

Anyone using one of these? Just bought a google chromecast audio and read that this gizmo can improve sq considerably. Review by Darko who seems to know a thing or two.

 

[abacus]

Another load of hyped up junk, don’t waste your money, as the difference will be none to zero. (Just ask any pro music engineer, or get your school science books out)

Why are there so many con merchants in Hi Fi?

Bill

 

[drummerman]

This seems somewhat similar to Audioquests Jitterbug albeit in powered form and for a slightly different purpose ... SPdif as opposed to USB.

AQ's offering has been lab tested by PM/HifiNews and the difference was graphically shown and in measurements.

Subjective listening also prooved to be largely successful.

That doesn't mean the device mentioned by the OP will necesserly give meaningful (audible) improvements and Darko's negative impression of the CCA is well known. I am not sure if there are any lab tests been carried out on that Spdif 'purifier'. Not all good reviews over at HeadFi, with both the 'purifier' and its power supply criticised, others love it. Apparently it takes about 3 weeks to come on song ... ahem . Problem with these guys (HeadFi) is that they are natural borne tinkerers, some with complicated digital set-ups incorporating just about every filter and filter of filters etc. (you get the idea) on the planet. After a while even they are not sure anymore what actually makes a difference or what causes problems.

Personally, I think the CCA sounds good as is, slightly improved by a Hifime ESS Sabre DAC but I don't have any expensive streamers to hand to compare.

If you buy one please write about your impressions here.

 

[Pedro2]

Will give it some thought and pop over to HeadFi. My problem stems from Linn not having Spotify Connect built into their streamers so I have to work around it. It's especially annoying in that Spotify is now my main music source and I love its convenience, catalogue, and phone app/interface.

Much as I love the quality of Linn streamers (they are very good), the company needs a kick up the a*** over this omission. They only currently support Tidal and Qobuz. I don't know whether its just Linn snobbery or a business reason and they refuse to offer reasons why (a number of complaints on their forum over this one). I also have an Amazon TV stick plugged into the HDMI input on the Linn and this streams as a Spotify Connect device. Will eventually get round to comparing the two but at the moment, just getting over the 'queen's cough' which has left me partially deaf in one ear!

 

[davedotco]

Will give it some thought and pop over to HeadFi. My problem stems from Linn not having Spotify Connect built into their streamers so I have to work around it. It's especially annoying in that Spotify is now my main music source and I love its convenience, catalogue, and phone app/interface.

Much as I love the quality of Linn streamers (they are very good), the company needs a kick up the a*** over this omission. They only currently support Tidal and Qobuz. I don't know whether its just Linn snobbery or a business reason and they refuse to offer reasons why (a number of complaints on their forum over this one). I also have an Amazon TV stick plugged into the HDMI input on the Linn and this streams as a Spotify Connect device. Will eventually get round to comparing the two but at the moment, just getting over the 'queen's cough' which has left me partially deaf in one ear!

As a Spotify connect user I am wondering why you simply do not shift your allegiance to Tidal and get 'native' support?

This is a genuine question, I use Spotify Connect and I am generally very happy with it but would be happy to move to an alternative if necessary in functional terms.

I assume you have thought about this, I would be interested in your views.

 

[steve_1979]

They even call themselves 'ifi' audio.

Come on guys, they're taking the piss. Anyone who buys these is the punchline of a bad joke.

 

[drummerman]

They even call themselves 'ifi' audio.

Come on guys, they're taking the piss. Anyone who buys these is the punchline of a bad joke.

Its highly likely it does something to the signal but I haven't seen a test such as with for the Jitterbug yet.

It has been said the human ear is far less able to accommodate or compensate for varying distortion (of which jitter in all its forms is part of) than frequency anomalities.

I think it is highly plausible we can detect minute amounts of distortion but perhaps not consistently enough to always pin point it.

As these may be so small on oocasions and dependant on hearing ability (and perhaps even moods which heighten or diminish receptive capabilities) it is likely the reason that these subjective auditions of these devices ie. ifi/jitterbug are not consistent or, as in the Headfi reference I made earlier, change over a period of time. - In both cases it's probably difficult to find anything that 'improves' (changes) sound for that amount of money, assuming you already have a DAC (which you would, in both cases, why else would you add either device)?

This raises the thorny issue of 'value for money'. My take is that 39 quid in case of the JB or even a hundred odd pounds for the ifi thingy is not a lot of dosh in the realms of hifi plus I believe you can send the latter back if not satisfied ... so there's little risk of being screwed.
I am sure wishful thinking comes into it too Steve but I wouldn't dismiss the whole thing out of hand

 

[iMark]

Its highly likely it does something to the signal but I haven't seen a test such as with for the Jitterbug yet.

If this actually does something to the signal it's faulty.

 

[drummerman]

Its highly likely it does something to the signal but I haven't seen a test such as with for the Jitterbug yet.

If this actually does something to the signal it's faulty.

Not necessarily. Audioquests Jitterbug reduced jitter and changed the squarewave. Miller Labs report.

 

[Electro]

This product seems like a budget version of what I have been using for many many years, the Monarchy Audio Digital interface Processor or DIP.

http://www.monarchyaudio.com/DIP_Classic_Main_Frame.htm

I have three of them now and believe me they make a significant improvement to any digital source when placed beween source and Dac, and yes I have done a blind test with 100% accuracy as I believe anyone could.

The biggest improvement I have found is between my ipad and Cambridge Audio id100 spidf output to my Electro Dac using spotify premuim .

The MA DIP takes the spidf output and isolates the digital signal then re-clocks and boosts the strength of the signal to the Dac , the Electro Dac then up samples the signal to 24 / 192 and converts to analog at this frequency.

This makes spotify premium a very good quality source indeed.

A Stereophile review.

http://www.stereophile.com/digitalprocessors/339/#HldcGTpwlChoHHOF.97

 

[Pedro2]

Davedotco:

I think the reason for staying with Spotify is that it's what my wife moved to after her initial love affair with Itunes ended. I started to listen myself and then the playlist building began. We became Spotify Premium members after about 12 months and now also stream into other rooms using two Gramofon units with powered speakers. I did try Tidal briefly as Linn had a free one month trial offer. I really liked the sq but the interface and usability just didn't seem quite up to Spotify standard. There was also no way that my better half would jump ship!

The alternative is to run both Tidal as well as Spotify Premium but it's then a price hike with Tidal only getting aired in one room. I have considerd treating myself to a one year subscription but the motivation isn't quite there yet! The ideal solution would be for Linn to run Spotify Connect but I've nearly given up on this one. That's why, I'm investigating these awkward alternatives....

 

[ID.]

This product seems like a budget version of what I have been using for many many years, the Monarchy Audio Digital interface Processor or DIP.

http://www.monarchyaudio.com/DIP_Classic_Main_Frame.htm

I have three of them now and believe me they make a significant improvement to any digital source when placed beween source and Dac, and yes I have done a blind test with 100% accuracy as I believe anyone could.

The biggest improvement I have found is between my ipad and Cambridge Audio id100 spidf output to my Electro Dac using spotify premuim .

The MA DIP takes the spidf output and isolates the digital signal then re-clocks and boosts the strength of the signal to the Dac , the Electro Dac then up samples the signal to 24 / 192 and converts to analog at this frequency.

This makes spotify premium a very good quality source indeed.

A Stereophile review.

http://www.stereophile.com/digitalprocessors/339/#HldcGTpwlChoHHOF.97

This alone rings alarm bells "And the music sounded louder, more dynamic—almost startlingly so, as if I'd cranked up my preamp's volume control. Could boosting the digital signal to 5V have such an effect?"

 

[muljao]

If you plug CCA directly into your Linn with optical, the Linn dac takes over processing duties so you get your Linn sound. Does it not sound good enough to you or are you just hoping for an improvement if it is possible?

I always thought these jitterybuggy thingies were more for suppressing unwanted sound coming from computer electronics. If you use CCA as a spotify connect, it independently runs itself off the net with no other electronics other than its own, but I am not sure if gizmos can improve this

 

[avole]

This alone rings alarm bells "And the music sounded louder, more dynamic—almost startlingly so, as if I'd cranked up my preamp's volume control. Could boosting the digital signal to 5V have such an effect?"

the Stereophine review is meaningless as it's a) Sam Tellig and b) hasn't been tested in their lab, which JA normally does.

 

[Gazzip]

This alone rings alarm bells "And the music sounded louder, more dynamic—almost startlingly so, as if I'd cranked up my preamp's volume control. Could boosting the digital signal to 5V have such an effect?"

the Stereophine review is meaningless as it's a) Sam Tellig and b) hasn't been tested in their lab, which JA normally does.

...and c) reviews by others are evidentially secondary and therefore have no significance other than to act as "signposts" for where to start ones own auditioning/testing. I would recommend the OP buy one and decide for his/her self whether the gizmo actually works for them in their system. If it does then happy days. If not then send it back and exercise your distance selling rights.

 

[ellisdj]

It does come with the ifi Ipower a filtered smps psu, not a bog standard wall mart smps - let us know how you get on this please?

If you have a 5v linear supply or battery supply to try it with also please feedback on any effect they might have?

Thanks - all the best

 

[drummerman]

This alone rings alarm bells "And the music sounded louder, more dynamic—almost startlingly so, as if I'd cranked up my preamp's volume control. Could boosting the digital signal to 5V have such an effect?"

the Stereophine review is meaningless as it's a) Sam Tellig and b) hasn't been tested in their lab, which JA normally does.

...and c) reviews by others are evidentially secondary and therefore have no significance other than to act as "signposts" for where to start ones own auditioning/testing. I would recommend the OP buy one and decide for his/her self whether the gizmo actually works for them in their system. If it does then happy days. If not then send it back and exercise your distance selling rights.

Pretty much sums it up.

 

[avole]

This alone rings alarm bells "And the music sounded louder, more dynamic—almost startlingly so, as if I'd cranked up my preamp's volume control. Could boosting the digital signal to 5V have such an effect?"

the Stereophine review is meaningless as it's a) Sam Tellig and b) hasn't been tested in their lab, which JA normally does.

...and c) reviews by others are evidentially secondary and therefore have no significance other than to act as "signposts" for where to start ones own auditioning/testing. I would recommend the OP buy one and decide for his/her self whether the gizmo actually works for them in their system. If it does then happy days. If not then send it back and exercise your distance selling rights.

and buys something worthwhile. Far too much BS in HiFi, unfortunately, foisted on the credulous.

 

[shadders]

Hi,

All smps are filtered, since that is how they work. There may be differences, but, their EMI may be just as bad as one another. Any ingress from the smps power supply onto the signal output (optical) will be minimal, even for basic smps power supplies.

Examining the Web site, the incoming optical signal does look very bad. This is NOT representative of a signal which you would be receiving from an optical output that has a 2m optical cable connected. I have built my own DAC, and the signal from the optical receiver is very clean.

Any DAC receiver - the chip that accepts the output from the optical receiver - has hysteresis built in, in that, it will clean the signal anyway.

Regards,

Shadders.

 

[ellisdj]

Hence the suggestion to try battery and linear as well - I dont trust any smps not to noise pollute

 

[shadders]

Hi,

The key aspect that the manufacturers are proposing to solve, is to regenerate the optical signal.

The picture of the optical signal before regeneration is not an optical signal. Degradation of optical signals are either attenuation, dispersion, or group delay (not an issue for this area of use). Attenuation reduces the power, and dispersion spreads the pulse. The picture on their website appears to be an electrical signal with severe noise added, or interference.

Essentially, this product is a solution to an issue that does not exist in the domestic environment, with regards to regeneration requirements.

For the jitter aspect (reclocking) -in general, a CD player etc should have less than 200picoseconds of jitter. Without the product, then the jitter would have to be approaching 100x worse than this to cause a bit error. If a CD player or other has such a jitter value on its optical output, then it is probably better to spend £149 on a new CD player which should meet the 200picosecond jitter specification/requirement.

Regards,

Shadders.

 

[ellisdj]

Its an spdif device with optical as an addition though in my eyes ?

 

[Gazzip]

The issue for me with debating products like this is that they are nearly always started (or taken further) by non-scientifically minded members (myself included), who get dragged in to a debate by more scientifically minded forum members. The problem is that every single time that debate takes place within the realm of accepted text book electronics. The discussion becomes an exercise in providing or disproving scientific evidence, and let's be honest here, the scientist is ALWAYS going to be on firmer ground in respect of that "proof", and is ALWAYS going to be better versed in putting forth a scientific standpoint/argument. Straying in to a debate we don't fully understand is very good at making us non-scientific people look very, very stupid, very, very quickly, especially when we start Googling for science to support our standpoints.

Those scientists run easy rings around us because the debate is taking place in their realm. It would be really, really nice if just once one or two of these guys stepped out of that realm and said, "you know what, I'm gonna park the science here and try that jitter thingy or that isolating gizmo in my system and see for myself, 'cos you never know, there may be things that science can't explain...". That is my realm FWIW...

Of course this will never happen, not least because quite often these products are backed up by science that can be easily debunked. Of course the only reason that science is being applied to many of these products in many instances is for the reasons stated above - The need to justify the unexplained with scientific evidence because the debate always seems to end up there. Sometimes I wish that the manufacturers of these products would just say they dunno why it works but it does, so try it yourself and see what you think. Take the whole debate away from science and back in to a more personal experience based arena of judgement.

 

[Al ears]

The issue for me with debating products like this is that they are nearly always started (or taken further) by non-scientifically minded members (myself included), who get dragged in to a debate by more scientifically minded forum members. The problem is that every single time that debate takes place within the realm of accepted text book electronics. The discussion becomes an exercise in providing or disproving scientific evidence, and let's be honest here, the scientist is ALWAYS going to be on firmer ground in respect of that "proof", and is ALWAYS going to be better versed in putting forth a scientific standpoint/argument. Straying in to a debate we don't fully understand is very good at making us non-scientific people look very, very stupid, very, very quickly, especially when we start Googling for science to support our standpoints.

Those scientists run easy rings around us because the debate is taking place in their realm. It would be really, really nice if just once one or two of these guys stepped out of that realm and said, "you know what, I'm gonna park the science here and try that jitter thingy or that isolating gizmo in my system and see for myself, 'cos you never know, there may be things that science can't explain...". That is my realm FWIW...

Of course this will never happen, not least because quite often these products are backed up by science that can be easily debunked. Of course the only reason that science is being applied to many of these products in many instances is for the reasons stated above - The need to justify the unexplained with scientific evidence because the debate always seems to end up there. Sometimes I wish that the manufacturers of these products would just say they dunno why it works but it does, so try it yourself and see what you think. Take the whole debate away from science and back in to a more personal experience based arena of judgement.

Hear, hear!

 

[avole]

Seriously, do you think we live in a world of magic? All these things were researched years ago. If the manufacturers could explain the science behind their soi-disant discoveries, they'd be lining up for the Nobel prize. They don't, for reasons that should be obvious.