ANALOG vs DIGITAL - Ultra High Fidelity Magazine

I enjoyed reading your review on the
Simaudio 100D and 300D converters. I
am planning on following your advice
and getting a 100D, especially after I
was made aware of Simaudio’s current
exchange program.
In review of the 300D, you mentioned
that USB may not be the best input
source for it. I wonder if you have looked
further into this subject. After checking
in other sites, I find that the Moon uses
adaptive USB while some companies
like the Wavelength uses asynchronous
type. I just wonder if you have a chance
to check the Wavelength Brick, which is
similar in price to the 300D, as well as
the Proton which is around $900. There
are also product like the Musical Fidelity
V-Link that provides a asynchronous
connector to SPDIF.
My CD player just died and I have
decided not to replace it. The way things
are going, the computer is a lot more efficient
in producing good and convenient
music reproduction. I wonder if you can
devote a bit more time and sections to
develop more in this area.
Its been a pleasure reading your
magazine in the last number of years.
Robert Choi
EDMONTON, AB
Several companies are now adopting
asynchronous USB connection, Robert,
and oddly that includes Simaudio itself.
The low-cost 100D has an asynchronous
USB circuit, thus presumably sidestepping
a major source of jitter. The more
expensive 300D does not, simply because
it is of slightly older design. However it
is still limited to 16 bits, as are the USB
circuits in a number of other converters.
To the best of our knowledge, opening
USB to higher definition would
require developing drivers for the many
computer platforms in circulation, with
8 ULTRA HIGH FIDELITY Magazine
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of course ongoing support. There are
actually third-party drivers available, but
they don’t always do what is claimed.
We now consider USB to be a mere
convenience, to be used when no other
interface is available, rather than as a
first choice. We will, however, be doing
further testing, and in any case we expect
to review more converters in the issues
ahead.
Years ago, pre children, when I had
more time and seemingly more budget,
I used to read your fine publication with
the hopes of building a great sound
system within my snack bracket. In fact,
I purchased a pair of 3a MM’s back then,
based upon your stellar review, and I’ve
enjoyed them every day!
I’m looking to purchase speakers
that would form the beginnings of a
home theatre system. In my search I was
exposed to a brand that was unfamiliar
to me — ELAC, specifically, the 207A
model. I was impressed enough to race
home and try to find out more about this
German company. I was disappointed
to discover there isn’t a lot on line other
than a few (very positive) reviews and
their spec sheets.
While I realize that “beauty is in the
ear of the beholder,” I was wondering if
you could share any perspective that you
or your team may have on these speakers.
Mark Augustin
RICHMOND HILL, ON
Mark, we’re also impressed with
ELAC speakers, and in fact an ELAC
speaker was featured on the cover of
UHF No. 89. ELAC is one of a very few
companies to use a variation on the Heil
tweeter, whose superiority over the usual
dome tweeter has long seemed evident to
us. Though early Heil loudspeakers had
bottom ends that couldn’t match the top,
ELAC has nicely balanced the spectrum.
The speakers may be difficult to find,
because ELAC has since dropped its
Canadian distributor, Tri-Cell. It had
announced plans to distribute directly
from its headquarters in Kiel, Germany,
but wiser heads prevailed, and a new
North American distributor has since
been named.
I have a question I hope you can help
me with. It refers to something I vaguely
remember (I think) you commented on a
long time ago, possibly in the Free Advice
column.
I have a five-channel amp (ATI
1505), where the LED on the power
switch, when turned on, randomly and
constantly flickers. It drives me nuts! I’ve
searched through back issues but can’t
find it. I’m (almost) certain I read about
this somewhere in UHF. Do you recall?
Jim Chiga
NEW WESTMINSTER, BC
We do recall talking about flickering
pilot lights, Jim, though we don’t remember
in which issue (it would indeed have
been in the Free Advice section). These
problematic lights are neon bulbs, not
LED’s, and we have never seen one that
didn’t start to flicker within six months
of going into service.
If you want to try a little experiment,
train a flashlight beam on the flickering
neon…and it will cease flickering! Turn
the flashlight off, however, and it will
flicker again. We’ve seen attempts to
explain this odd phenomenon scientifically,
but we can’t say we found them
convincing.
We are told that a radioactive source
can also keep a neon bulb from flickering,
but judiciously-applied black electrical
tape is both cheaper and safer!
An audiophile friend of mine was
kind enough to give me a 1 TB drive with
a nice collection of high-quality music
files that he ripped himself. To access his
music conveniently, he utilizes an oldermodel
Squeezebox (pre-Logitech-era)
that he sent away to be modified to “up”
the sound quality.
I’m looking at configuring a similar
setup. I’ve been trying to determine
whether to go Squeezebox or SONOS. It
looks like the Touch’s DAC is superior to