Why such a difference? Tidal on MacBook vs PC

[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by krustycat

Yes, very true. The CAPS machine that I use is very powerful and runs on DC current connected to a UPS and the USB is connected to the special PCI card with filters, etc, etc.

Well....there you go, then. Just so. Chris Connaker took a lot of this into account when he designed the CAPS.

[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by PHC1

Stephen, I saw that adding a second one to an unused USB port will improve sound on their website but I am skeptical. Of course I will try the JitterBug just to see what happens. Not sure if I will waste another $50 for a second one. I may just look for an alternative setup for portable travel companion solution.

Q: Does JitterBug require a device driver installation?
A: Nope. JitterBug is a passive device. There are no active circuits or logic systems.
*
Q: How many Jitterbugs can I use on my computer?
A: In our observations, we have found that positive improvements are obtained with up to two parallel JitterBugs per USB bus. For example, a typical laptop will have two to three USB ports, but only one bus. So, using two JitterBugs and leaving the third port open will yield positive results, but installing a third JitterBug, in our opinion, takes a step backwards. When going beyond more than two JitterBugs per bus, the sound becomes dark and congested.

However, some computers may have more than one bus. Custom gaming laptops and PC towers are two examples of computers that may have more than one USB bus. In these cases, using two JitterBugs on each bus will yield extraordinary results. That said, if you don’t know how many buses are on your computer, err on the side of caution and assume there is only one bus.

Q: Will JitterBug make me smarter, thinner, taller, and more attractive?
A: Absolutely! … Not. But it will make your audio system sound fuller, richer, and far more musical, which in turn will make you far happier. And isn’t that what life is really all about?

The second Jitterbug will help, but not as much as the first one. If you're going to be using this rig while traveling, I would just use the one Jitterbug with your Dragonfly.

[crwilli]

I have a Jitterbug and from my experience, it is simply an inert protuberance off the back of my SilenZio.

I have tried it ‘inline’ the signal from the SilenZio to my K03x and could never hear any differences.

FWIW - my suggestion is to buy a nice SACD with the $50. Or PM your address and I will send you mine if I can find it.

[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.

[PHC1]

Originally Posted by crwilli

I have a Jitterbug and from my experience, it is simply an inert protuberance off the back of my SilenZio.

I have tried it ‘inline’ the signal from the SilenZio to my K03x and could never hear any differences.

FWIW - my suggestion is to buy a nice SACD with the $50. Or PM your address and I will send you mine if I can find it.

Thank you for the offer, I already got my JitterBug and will keep it. There is no way, no how, this little passive USB bus noise decrapifyer would do anything for your system with the SilenZio and K03x in place.

[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.

[PHC1]

Originally Posted by Puma Cat

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.

Stephen, this warrants further investigation and a trial once I get the Schiit Gumby DAC going. If you say you noticed a difference with an outboard, dedicated DAC then this little JitterBug is even more impressive.

[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by PHC1

Stephen, this warrants further investigation and a trial once I get the Schiit Gumby DAC going. If you say you noticed a difference with an outboard, dedicated DAC then this little JitterBug is even more impressive.

Serge, just a point of clarification. My comments about the Jitterbug were based on using it with my 2014 D/S Gungnir, not my recent Gen 5 USB/Multibit upgrades.

I would not expect Jitterbug to make much of an improvement on your Gumby because the new Gen 5 USB that your Gumby has shipped with is so good that I doubt (as you mentioned in your review comments) that that it would bring much, if any, benefit.

That was NOT the case though, with the original Gen 3 USB interface/implementation for the original 2014 version of my delta-sigma Gungnir. Jason and Mike at Schiit kept saying at that time they didn't like USB and they were right. As I mentioned in my Eitr review, I used Gungnir with USB for almost 3 years and never knew how good it actually sounded until I used its SPDIF input with Eitr.

But's that all taken care of now with the Gen 5 USB of Gumby.

[PHC1]

Originally Posted by Puma Cat

Serge, just a point of clarification. My comments about the Jitterbug were based on using it with my 2014 D/S Gungnir, not my recent Gen 5 USB/Multibit upgrades.

I would not expect Jitterbug to make much of an improvement on your Gumby because the new Gen 5 USB that your Gumby has shipped with is so good that I doubt (as you mentioned in your review comments) that that it would bring much, if any, benefit.

That was NOT the case though, with the original Gen 3 USB interface/implementation for the original 2014 version of my delta-sigma Gungnir. Jason and Mike at Schiit kept saying at that time they didn't like USB and they were right. As I mentioned in my Eitr review, I used Gungnir with USB for almost 3 years and never knew how good it actually sounded until I used its SPDIF input with Eitr.

But's that all taken care of now with the Gen 5 USB of Gumby.

Makes sense and thanks for clarifying that Stephen.