Analog Sources: Continuum Audio Labs Caliburn, Cobra, & Castellon turntable, tonearm, & stand; VPI Super Scoutmaster Reference turntable, Graham Phantom tonearm; Lyra Titan i, Clearaudio Goldfinger, MySonic Hyper Eminent cartridges.
Digital Sources: Musical Fidelity kW DM 25 transport & DAC, Cary CD 306 Professional Version SACD player, BPT-modified Alesis Masterlink hard-disk recorder, Sooloos music server.
Preamplification: Manley Steelhead, Einstein Turntable's Choice, Audia Flight Phono phono preamplifiers; darTZeel NHB-18NS…
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Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
The speed with which audiophiles have adopted a computer of some sort as their primary source of recorded music might be thought breathtaking. But with the ubiquitous Apple iPod painlessly persuading people to get used to the idea of storing their music libraries on computer hard drives, the next logical step was to access those libraries in listening rooms as well as on the move. A few months back, I wrote a basic guide to the various strategies for getting the best sound from a computer: "Music Served: Extracting Music from your PC." Since then, Minnesota manufacturer Bel Canto Design has…
USB-sourced audio data do not necessarily have low jitter, though Bel Canto does claim that the USB Link 24/96 offers low-jitter clock recovery from the USB data (footnote 3). This may be a moot point with the Benchmark and Bel Canto D/A processors, of course, which are modern designs featuring superb rejection of timing errors in the datastreams they're fed. But what about older products? I retrieved from storage a sample of the Assemblage DAC-1 that I'd built from a Parts Connection kit in early 1995, when we published a review by Wes Phillips (Vol.18 No.4). Costing $449 back then, the…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Bus-powered USB-S/PDIF converter for use with PCs and Macs (no third-party driver software required). Input: USB 1.1–compliant, Type B. Output: S/PDIF electrical on BNC jack. Sample rates supported: 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96kHz. Input bit depth: 16–24. Output bit depth: 24. Supplied accessory: 9" Stereovox XV2 BNC/BCN S/PDIF datalink with one BNC/RCA adapter.
Dimensions: 2.2" (56mm) W by 1" (25.4mm) H by 4.2" (107mm) D (including BNC jack). Weight: coupla ounces, tops.
Finish: aluminum, black plastic.
Serial Number Of Unit Reviewed: L-018.
Price…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital Sources: Ayre C-5xe universal player; Benchmark DAC1, Bel Canto e.One DAC3, Assemblage DAC-1 D/A converters; E-Mu 0404 USB, M-Audio Transit USB, dCS 972 digital format converters; G4 Mac mini running OS10.4.11, Dual-Core Pentium PC running Windows XP SP3.
Preamplifiers: Simaudio Moon Evolution P-7, Parasound Halo JC 2.
Power Amplifiers: Musical Fidelity 750K Supercharger monoblocks, Simaudio Moon Evolution W-7.
Loudspeakers: Revel Ultima Salon2.
Cables: Digital: Kimber Illuminations Orchid AES/EBU, Stereovox XV2 electrical S/PDIF.…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I examined the measured behavior of the Bel Canto USB Link 24/96 using the Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see www.ap.com and "As We See It" in the January 2008 issue) and the Miller Audio Research Jitter Analyzer. I played back test tones at various sample rates and bit depths from Audacity on a dual-core Pentium PC running Windows XP, and from Audacity and BIAS Peak Pro 6 on a Mac mini running OS10.4.11.
To check whether the USB Link was bit-transparent, I fed its S/PDIF output to an RME soundcard fitted to a second PC and recorded the data using Adobe…
John Atkinson returned to the USB Link in May 2010 (Vol.33 No.5):
In May 2009 I reviewed Bel Canto's USB Link 24/96...I found that the USB Link 24/96 had quite a high level of jitter on its S/PDIF output, but with a modern DAC like the Benchmark DAC 1 or Bel Canto's own e.One DAC3, both of which have superb jitter rejection, this wasn't an issue. The USB Link 24/96 became a regular member of my system, and Stereophile writers Wes Phillips and Larry Greenhill are also fans. A drop in price from $495 to $249 at the beginning of 2010 made it an even better value, though it no longer comes…
If high-end audio were to carve its own Mt. Rushmore, whose faces would appear there—besides that of Stereophile founder J. Gordon Holt, of course? It's likely that no two audiophiles would ever come up with identical lists of subjects, but I wouldn't be surprised if they could agree on at least one name: Nelson Pass.
Pass's influence has now spanned three decades and shows no signs of stopping. Card-carrying audio junkies and the more-power-is-always-better crowd have long lusted after his megawatt beauties. The flea-power amp and open-baffle types drool over the Zen models of his First…
Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen.—Hebrews 11:1
What could possibly sound worse than an unclean record? A record that was ruined by cleaning—whether through bad luck, carelessness, or a poorly chosen cleaner.
There are two or three such discs in my own collection. One is a British compilation LP by the Move, Shines On, which I bought in 1986 just so I could have the singles "Tonight," "Do Ya," "Chinatown," and "California Man." After listening to the record once or twice, I decided to "improve" it by washing it on my pricey, audiophile-…
Setup was a breeze, and comprised just a few things more than releasing the pump: I had to set the downforce of the vacuum wand, fine-tune the height and angle of the scrubbing brush, and fill the reservoir jar with cleaning fluid. That's pretty much all.
And none of that tripped me up, for one very good reason: I've had the pleasure of living with an older Keith Monks RCM for nearly two years—a generous loan in exchange for my having fixed it for a friend. (I replaced the Delrin vacuum head, the fluid-collection tank, and the pinion gear on the motor that drives the thread-dispensing…