Why such a difference? Tidal on MacBook vs PC

[PHC1]

Why does my MacBook Pro sound so much better vs my windows 10 PC (Dell Alienware) when using a USB DAC like the Audioquest Dragonfly (no USB decrapifying circuitry built in) and streaming Tidal? Is the Windows PC that much grungier and noisier??? This always puzzled me.

[essjay]

cleaner OS as its based on Free BSD ( kernal). Its just a better kernal and more suited to music as it is graphic manipulation.

The easiest way to explain it is it takes less commands & thus code to carry out a command in unix based environments then it does in windows which depends heavily on a DLL library that is somewhat tacky at times.

[PHC1]

Originally Posted by essjay

cleaner OS as its based on Free BSD ( kernal). Its just a better kernal and more suited to music as it is graphic manipulation.

The easiest way to explain it is it takes less commands & thus code to carry out a command in unix based environments then it does in windows which depends heavily on a DLL library that is somewhat tacky at times.

Ok, kind of makes sense (I’m your average computer user without too much in depth knowledge ) Thank you!

[Masterlu]

Originally Posted by PHC1

Ok, kind of makes sense (I’m your average computer user without too much in depth knowledge ) Thank you!

vs

[PHC1]

Originally Posted by Masterlu

vs

Makes perfect sense now. While on topic of kernels, will Stillpoints under the microwave pop better popcorn?

[2fastdriving]

Originally Posted by PHC1

Makes perfect sense now. While on topic of kernels, will Stillpoints under the microwave pop better popcorn?

Only with a premium power cord

[PHC1]

I am quite certain I also notice a difference in sound quality when I quit all the other programs in the background on my MacBook Pro. Of course when I get my hands on a better DAC (should be soon) this may all be irrelevant.

[SCAudiophile]

Originally Posted by essjay

cleaner OS as its based on Free BSD ( kernal). Its just a better kernal and more suited to music as it is graphic manipulation.

The easiest way to explain it is it takes less commands & thus code to carry out a command in unix based environments then it does in windows which depends heavily on a DLL library that is somewhat tacky at times.

+1 on this!

[PHC1]

Got my JitterBug today. Keep in mind, this is being used only with the DragonFly Black DAC and a MacBook Pro at the moment. I don't plan on incorporating this into my system as it will be used on vacations and travel with the MacBook and or iPhone/iPad with headphones.

Plugged it in between the MacBook and DragonFly and heard an immediate improvement. Was listening to Shelby Lynne "Just a little lovin" album on Tidal. DragonFly was displaying a green light, meaning it is decoding at 44100Hz.

I played the first song just with the DragonFly and it is a very good recording, not much to fault here. Plugged in the JitterBug, plugged the DragonFly into the JitterBug and right away noticed how much deeper I can hear into the soundstage... Less veil, more transparency due to what seems a lower noise floor. Can't say the dynamics improved any but that would not be expected. Listened to a few more albums of various recording quality and was impressed that the music through my Sennheiser HD600 took on an even smoother, more relaxed presentation with improved transparency and clarity.

Moved on to the Master section on Tidal. DragonFly lights up Magenta, indicating 96000Khz, MQA is being pumped through and OH, WOW, improvement once again on those few tracks that I was using to compare. Improved clarity of sound, less veiled and smooooth.

Bottom line. JitterBug is a keeper for my purposes. Removes some of the grunge and noise and takes away the sour, hard notes and grain caused by what I assume is the internal laptop USB noise.

Of course I would not expect anyone with a half decent DAC to hear any improvement with the JitterBug. If you do... Send your DAC back and get a better one as any good DAC should be able to clean up the sound without external help from such a device as a $50 JitterBug.

[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by PHC1

Got my JitterBug today. Keep in mind, this is being used only with the DragonFly Black DAC and a MacBook Pro at the moment. I don't plan on incorporating this into my system as it will be used on vacations and travel with the MacBook and or iPhone/iPad with headphones.

Plugged it in between the MacBook and DragonFly and heard an immediate improvement. Was listening to Shelby Lynne "Just a little lovin" album on Tidal. DragonFly was displaying a green light, meaning it is decoding at 44100Hz.

I played the first song just with the DragonFly and it is a very good recording, not much to fault here. Plugged in the JitterBug, plugged the DragonFly into the JitterBug and right away noticed how much deeper I can hear into the soundstage... Less veil, more transparency due to what seems a lower noise floor. Can't say the dynamics improved any but that would not be expected. Listened to a few more albums of various recording quality and was impressed that the music through my Sennheiser HD600 took on an even smoother, more relaxed presentation with improved transparency and clarity.

Moved on to the Master section on Tidal. DragonFly lights up Magenta, indicating 96000Khz, MQA is being pumped through and OH, WOW, improvement once again on those few tracks that I was using to compare. Improved clarity of sound, less veiled and smooooth.

Bottom line. JitterBug is a keeper for my purposes. Removes some of the grunge and noise and takes away the sour, hard notes and grain caused by what I assume is the internal laptop USB noise.

Of course I would not expect anyone with a half decent DAC to hear any improvement with the JitterBug. If you do... Send your DAC back and get a better one as any good DAC should be able to clean up the sound without external help from such a device as a $50 JitterBug.

Serge, nice review. Your observations are very consistent with my experiences. I would like to add some additional context, though, if I may. I found Jitterbug improved the sound of my (delta-sigma) Gungnir in the ways you describe. And Gungnir is a very good DAC; even the D/S version. What Jitterbug did was to improve the signal going from my Mac Mini in to the USB interface of what was already a good DAC (but not the magnitude of improvement I got with the Sonore microRendu, FWIW).

So, it may be more accurate to say that if Jitterbug improves your DAC (regardless of cost), it may be the implementation of the USB interface on the DAC that may be "suboptimal" rather than the DAC itself. As I mentioned in my Schiit Eitr review, I had never heard how good Gungnir D/S was until I started using it's SPDIF interface.