Lynx PCIe AES interfaces: AES16 and E22

When I use WASAPI with foobar, it functions in exclusive mode. No other audio channels are audible.

 

That suggests grouping streams from a single application, not an arbitrary number of different ones.

Not "possible", lol. I can tell if other sounds are playing. Note that it is up to the application to open an exclusive stream. A stream with any mixing is not bitperfect by definition.

 

This is partly a system anti-synergy sort of situation, I have a neutral DAC and a pair of monitors flat to 20khz. I can dial the treble down with room correction switches on the monitors but it is bad for resolution. I could change Yggdrasil or my monitors but I really like them both and it would be throwing the baby out with the bathwater. So I have learnt to live with the fact that any nasty shit in the treble is going to get spotlit, and am prepared to work a bit to sort things out. This speaker setup is way more finicky about treble than, for example, the HD800s through a Jotunheim.

My problems were not just with 6khz. Also the top octave was bad with abnormal amounts of sibilance. Anything with a harmonica was unlistenable. The Smiths sounded like V/VM had gone at them with a bit crusher. I know ground loops are supposed to be 50/60hz hum, and I know that AES is transformer balanced, but nonetheless the results are as they are. Disconnecting pin1 on the AES cable into Yggdrasil; and also on the XLRs between Yggdrasil and my (transformer balanced) monitor ins has fixed up the treble so that I can actually listen to it. Quantity is the same, it's just much smoother and less distorted. Mind you, my system is super sensitive to all sorts of shit. If I don't turn my PC display off at the socket while listening then the treble gets more distorted.

I have a hunch that part of the problem is that Yggdrasil output stage is not quite beefy enough. I could dump the Yggdrasil, or get a preamp as unity gain buffer, but I'd rather sit it out until a mk 2 output board comes along.

 

What monitors and what was your DAC/source prior to Yggdrasil? Just curious. On some of these brittle or forward transducers, violins, tv static guitars, and harpsichords make me want to kill myself more than the percussion or glare-filled Sabres.

 

Monitors are K+H O300D. I wouldn't call them brittle or forward, they just fail to roll off. Prior to Yggdrasil I had a Gungnir Multibit and before that a Lavry DA10. The Gungnir Multibit was warmer but still had a bit of digititus over SPDIF. The Lavry as I recall sounded good but I wasn't an insane audio obsessive when I owned that, I just listened to it and enjoyed it.

 

Maybe you're hearing the effects of your room causing a peak in certain frequencies that in turn amplify distortition that should normally not be so noticeable. Just a theory but there are so many variables when listening to speakers.

 

Well, I'm reporting in good faith that I hear a difference. It doesn't seem implausible to me. The card firmware and the drivers together are controlling an embedded system which is tasked with producing as jitter-free a signal as possible. The player fills the buffers, the card drivers and firmware have to empty them and send them out as AES. Small changes in the way this is done could affect the stability of the clock signal. WASAPI wouldn't have existed when cards like the Lynx or RME launched, so the ASIO drivers would be the original ones and more mature.

I had a similar experience with an iBasso DX90, using it as an SPDIF source for a Chord Mojo. The open-source Rockbox firmware sounded like total shit compared to the stock firmware, super digititus with ultra-scratchy and unpleasant treble. Presumably because of differences in the way they handle the very limited embedded system which comprises the DAP.

Different audio players on a PC, I have never heard a difference. That doesn't surprise me as there is no low-level hardware programming involved. But I gave it a quick go anyway because why not?

I agree, my room is a piece of shit, I can retune it significantly by opening and closing doors and windows
Nonetheless, if it highlights some bit of distortion that is normally not noticeable, then it isn't creating that distortion out of nowhere, it's just making it more apparent. In some sense, this is better than not being aware that it was there in the first place. I thought my headphone setup sounded pretty fine already but being forced to deal with these issues at the speaker level has made the headphone setup more betterer as a result.

 

Haha yeah sounds like a fun room to deal with. Maybe we should have a big thread with tips and tricks for room correction and treatment, with an increased focus on 2 channel stuff it doesn't seem out of place.

About your distortion problem i wouldn't be suprised if it's a combination of things. Have you tried playing with eq? I know this won't fix your distortion but if your room sounds more flat it might be easier to hone in on whatever might be causing it. Like dimmers, a nasty smps etc

 

Well it's system dependent. If you heard the effect in my system you would not call it nervosa. I literally did not listen to my speakers for a few months until I found a way to fix the distortion, and in my case lifting ground pins was that fix. Now the treble is way smoother and I can happily listen to them. It's not a subtle difference.

Well, the problem is now fixed! At this point it is still slightly bright for my tastes, and I might try to EQ it down slightly if I can find an EQ which is transparent enough.

 

Good to hear! Equilibrium is very transparent when setup properly and allowing it to hog the cpu a bit. I'm using it on my HD800SD's to great effect.

 

No noise, no hum, everything is dead silent. Key problem was that the leading edges of transients in the treble were harsh and crispy. Eg, tracks with strummed acoustic guitar had unnaturally prominent plectrum noise.

Quite possible, I don't know what the mechanism could be here. But practically speaking, if I can make changes which are correlated with things sounding better, then I am not too fussed about the causation.

 

It's an erroneous presentation of multiple tape hiss noisefloors probably caused by whatever causes the weird Yggdrasil row 3 but in your face at the same time like in front at a bar show staging. The Gungnir Multibit doesn't do this and has a more normal staging.