The Tube Anti-Vibration/isolation Discussion

i think additional weight does increase damping factor. I will take the one that is heavier but do consider the weight bearing limit of the bottom four isolators.

Also do consider which material looks nicer?

 

Thanks. They are 2x2 and rated as 50 psi, so I think the 5lbs board and a few more for the crack will be ok.

 

Pretty useful information in this pdf on page 4 and 5,
http://www.sorbothane.com/Data/Sites/31/pdfs/product-guides/Sorbothane-SPG.pdf

Looks like the hemisphere sorbothane feets should be pointing up(page 8):

 

Well my sorbothane hemisphere has arrived and now they sit below my yggdrasil dac along with ikea bamboo board:

Spoiler: large image size

Subjective Perceived difference: Slight improvements to sound stage depth, slightly blacker background, slight improvements to 3D imaging, tiny increase in plankton. Bass seems to sound slightly deeper than before. Main Singer's vocal seems to pop out of background more.

Is it worth a buy? 3 to 4 percentage improvement. This tweak is probably best for those who have reached their end game setup, recommend to save up for better gear.

Will deploy them on my Synology NAS to reduce vibration and increase HDD lifespan.

 

are your sorbothane feet 70 duro? if not the improvement will not be optimal, if they are 70 duro, you must compress them with a heavy load , this is the way... to a transformation of the speakers, and you must also glued many pieces around the membranes of the tweeter or the woofer.... My own speakers were COMPLETELY transform by the sorb. not 4 percent...

 

I didn't deploy them on my speakers, just using them as vibration isolation feets for my yggdrasil dac, master 9 preamp & furman power conditioner.

They didn't specify the duro:
http://www.edmundoptics.com/optomec...eadboard-accessories/sorbothane-mounts/35264/

But it looks like my Yggdrasil dac is only 25lbs which is 1/4(due to four feets deployed) of the min. load range. I guess I need to look for additional mass loading.

 

On my Sansui i some weeks ago added near 20 pounds of load to the 28 eight pound of the Sansui amp. and the results of this added compression of the duro 70 feet were nothing short of extraordinary ...Duro 70 after many experiments is the best for audio and it must be compress where possible...

 

How is this possible? Sorry, but this must be expectation bias.

 

@AllanMarcus

It may seem absurd to you and many others but many of us with high end audio equipment do pay special attention to isolating vibrations on non-mechancial audio equipment.

It has been published by Analog Devices(dac chip inside the Yggdrasil) that this chip performance is very sensitive to all forms of noise, including physical stress(flexing), temperature stability and etc:

http://www.analog.com/library/analogdialogue/archives/44-04/ad5791.html


Please read this article with an open mind:
http://www.mother-of-tone.com/vibration.htm

 

Yes, but those topics are not addressed by Sorbothane testicular implants. Electrical noise and temp drift are mitigated by PCB design techniques and component selection. And physical stress - Yggdrasil's chassis isn't exactly a wet paper bag. Mechanical vibration sources of interest might exist in speaker setups or apartments next to railroad tracks, but even there I suspect blind testing would present a formidable challenge. A 'YMMV' label needs to be attached to these claims.

 

Alot of thing in this audiophile world is subjective and ymmv even with measurements where test site envoirmental factors and equipment setup procedure can influence results, even abx testing does not take into account human fatigue levels, state of mind and the test subjects listening abilities.

Good thing about this sorobthane is that there's plenty of useful non-audio application like isolating washing machine vibrations.

 

Sorry, but I still call bullshit. This is such an easy test to reproduce. just play some music while facing away from your equipment. Have a second person gently knock on your solid state equipment. Do a simple AB test to determine if you can tell the difference between the music when there is obvious external vibration and when there isn't. I'll bet no one can tell the difference.

 

No doubt about it at all. Genuinely useful stuff. Not crystals, not fairy dust, never been near a unicorn in its life (Oh wait... sorry, silly me: sorbothane hooves, of course!).

But yes, when it comes to solid state equipment, I am a doubter. And doubters are going to doubt...

 

I know it seems really absurd to suggest that solid state equipment like DACs can be affected by small random vibrations or large shocks.

Also it may seem like I am doubting Schiit's audio hardware engineering and build quality, but this is far from the case. I have ultmost respect for their product and I am confident that the Yggdrasil DAC is a well designed top quality product right down at the PCB level to the quality power supply and rock solid aluminium case. I won't hesitate to recommend Schiit gear to anyone in this hobby of ours.

Before going down the rabbit-hole of reducing vibration on solid states, please do take into consideration there are many other factors(e.g. EMI/RFI, Electrical noise, Crap USB implementation, high jitter transport, bad equipment synergy and etc) that could possibly be the bigger performance disrupting factor in your audio system. Take care of those first.

The thing is all DACs operate off a tiny vibrating crystal which is highly sensitive to temperature changes and vibrations.

From what I have gathered(I'm no engineer or scientist, just a mad audiofool), it seems that vibration don't affect amplitude of the signal, but affect the phase noise(which is commonly called jitter in our audio world of ours). Unlike loudness changes or frequency changes, Jitter in all aspects is something that is difficult to discern as it's time domain based.

phase noise graph can be found Page 5:

http://lib.dr.iastate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2910&context=etd

http://www.wenzel.com/documents/vibration.html


End of the day it is really up to you to decide if this vibration reduction is worth your time and money.
It might even cause performance reduction if the resonating frequencies is not properly controlled.
Or It might be one of the few last step towards a great sounding audio system.

Hope you guys can understand that I try my best to tread carefully on this topic so as not cause major controversy over this type of non-logical tweaks. I have added a new signature, do read it up

 

I got my paint shaker pretty quiet by mounting it on sorbothane feet.

 

Yes, appreciated. Being a doubter on this, I would say that, even with some scientific justification, you are on a wild goose chase. It leads us to one one those areas where it is hard to deny, because it isn't impossible... but that is a feature of a lot of this stuff, like...

... most of which is vastly and hugely exaggerated, or picked on as some reason to cure problems that really don't exist.

I've already hoisted my genuine colours as a doubter, but do understand that I am not a rationalist from another planet who has just come to earth and landed in Audiohphillia: I'm a human who has been around that land for quite a few years, and still struggling with its understandings, misunderstandings, misconceptions, illusions etc etc.

Obviously, we won't agree on this: but, sure, you are the one doing the stuff and claiming results, and I am not, although, yes, I have actually made a sorbothane purchase or two.

I'm not a tube man, and never will be. There are a number of reasons for that, not relevant to this thread not much to do with actual sound, as I don't have a preference on that basis. I only mention it because I admit that some tube amps are microphonic. Long-estabished fact. Bring on the Sorbothane! Again, same for turntables. And probably speakers.

But hey... I'm repeating myself, not adding anything new or useful. So I'll move over and leave it to those, for or against, who can...

 

Finally got some pads from Supplyhouse to reduce the tinging I was getting with my Valhalla 2 every time I bumped my desk. They work! I can knock the desk or even my Bifrost and get no tinging. Only a direct hit on the Valhalla 2 will cause a much reduced tinging. I don't notice any differences in sound quality. Yay for cheap solutions to actual problems.

 

«Curious. Can you try mass loading without the sorbo? Just curious about the different effects of each type of loading.

Also, I would like to hear more sonic qualifiers other than "better" or "extraordinary".» Marvey



Any mass loading would be a theoretical improvement for any piece of gear, especially speakers ( though not always concretely audible for all ears ) .. This fact is well established , and known all across the internet...And i apologize for my poor vocabulary, but this is (my english mastering is poor) the truth of my experience... For the record, my adjunction of nearly 20 pounds of load on top of my Sansui with sorbothane duro 70 under his feet was FOR MY EARS, spectacular, because when you listen to a way better imaging, and natural timbre, it is evident immediately.... Sorry if i dont speak about subtle nuance of frequencies measurable on an apparatus, for me it was only and simply that, better, way better imaging, more natural instrumental timbre and voice...BUT Remember that for me sorbothane is already applied in EACH AND ALL piece of my gear, hence this final effect of the load on my amplifier is very audible..

Like i have already said, each and every one piece of audio gear vibrate, and give some internal resonance because of the complex mechanical and electronical topology of the enclosure (be it the power conditioner, the amp, the dac , the headphone etc), hence this destructive resonance is always destructive of the positive resonance of the instrument enclosure and of the room where the sound is mastered , it is that positive resonance that construct the perception of the musical timbre... The only remedies i know of for the moment is application of sorbothane in all my pieces of gear, and some people dont seem to understand this simple elementary fact about sorbothane: this product is the only product that absorb vibration and transform a great part of it into heat...The problem of vibrations with any audio product is not only ISOLATION, but elimination of negative resonance caused by the complex topology of the enclosure... That is my experience with the sorb, applied in all of my 10 pieces of gear, headphone included...