Empirical Audio Off-Ramp 4 USB format converter Associated Equipment

Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment

Digital Sources: Ayre Acoustics DX5 universal player; G4 Mac mini running OS X 10.5.8, iTunes 10.4.1, Pure Music 1.82; Logitech Transporter, dCS Debussy, Bricasti M1 DAC D/A converters; Halide S/PDIF Bridge USB-S/PDIF converter.
Preamplifier: Ayre Acoustics K-5xe^MP.
Power Amplifiers: Classé CTM-600 monoblocks.
Loudspeakers: Sonus Faber Amati Futura, TAD Compact Reference, Vivid B1, BBC LS3/5a.
Cables: Digital: Kimber Orchid AES/EBU. USB: AudioQuest Coffee. Interconnect (balanced): AudioQuest Wild. Speaker: AudioQuest Wild. AC: PS Audio Lab, manufacturers' own.
Accessories: Celestion Si 24" speaker stands, Target TT-5 equipment racks, Ayre Acoustics Myrtle Blocks; ASC Tube Traps, RPG Abffusor panels; Shunyata Research Dark Field cable elevators; PS Audio Power Plant 300 at 90Hz (preamp), Audio Power Industries 116 Mk.II & PE-1, APC S-15 AC line conditioners (not power amps). AC power comes from two dedicated 20A circuits, each just 6' from the breaker box.—John Atkinson

Comments

Berkeley Audio Design Alpha USB

Submitted by VandyMan on December 10, 2011 - 12:54pm.

Very interesting review. I look forward to seeing a comparison to the Alpha USB. I thought it was too expensive for a USB converter ($1600), but it looks like a potential bargin compared to the Offramp 4.

Logitech Transporter

Submitted by thestewman on December 13, 2011 - 11:46am.

Did I miss something in your article ?

"Up to this point I'd been using a generic USB cable with the Off-Ramp. I now substituted the expensive AudioQuest Coffee cable ($295/1.5m). If I heard a difference, it was very small, but if I had to swear on J. Gordon Holt's unwritten autobiography, I'd say that the AQ continued in the same direction the improvement I'd heard with the battery supply."

"I spent the rest of that day trying to measure the differences between these two USB cables. It proved as frustrating as a snipe hunt, though I did find a very slight difference in jitter between the AudioQuest and generic cables with the Transporter: The generic USB cable was better."

The Transporter does not have a USB input.