HiFi Subjectivist ¦ Audio Forum ¦ NVA User Group

Must be this :

https://intona.eu/en/products/7055-b

Yes that is the one I ordered. I also realized that I need another USB cable. So I contacted Wireworld and have gotten two of the new Starlight cables coming, and I will move my Silver Starlight over to the Purestream DAC so I can have both units set up side by side and be able to compare between the two in real time. Yes the set ups are slightly different, and I will try the Intona with the Purestream also, but this way I can see if there are fundamental differences that I can work at minimizing with the Purestream or if its a lost cause.

To be honest, I am listening to the Kukama DAC now and on the Mac Mini with Audirvana it sounds quite nice. I enjoy it quite a lot, and it baffles me that a 12 year old DAC is still relevant in the digital world. I would like to think I can get an improvement as technology marches on, but when I listen I get a different answer. I have tried replacing it with a PS Audio Directstream and now the Purestream, and have failed so far. Perhaps I should avoid DACs with "stream" in its name in the future.

Thank you.

So this package is scheduled to arrive today. Shipping from Germany is cheaper and faster than going across country here. Go figure.

you know what they say about the Germans and trains

I hooked up the Itona device after I got off work, and I ended up having to use a generic USB cable that I had in my wire box. Its probably more suited for hooking up printers, but I know there are folks who feel that a USB cable is a USB cable since its only passing packets of digital code. My experiences have not echoed that, so I take a different perspective.

Out of the box it sounded disjointed, and there were certain aspects that were intriguing, but it clearly was not right. So I let the system run and had dinner, and came back to it later in the evening. At this point it had settled down, but had that grey sheen. I have heard this before, this is how the Purestream sounds! Well, I put the system into a loop and turned the volume down and let it play all night.

This morning things are improved. That grey haze is gone, and there is tone again. The top end is not as defined and intricate as I expect, but to be honest, I have heard this kind of issue before when using an OEM USB cable with these components. The Wireworld USB cables will be here at the end of the week, maybe the beginning of next week. So its a matter of waiting and being patient. I am going to let this run longer so I know the Intona is broken in, and ready to start with the new USB cables when they arrive.

I think I am going to be listening to analog this week.

So I ordered an Intona 7055-B US isolator from Germany and have had it here for a couple of days now. I hooked it up to make sure my system would recognize it, and break it in. Of course you cannot help but listen to it, and make some initial judgments. The problem is I need an extra USB cable to install it, and I ended up dragging a generic one out of my miscellaneous wire box. This cable is probably more suited for hooking up a printer than anything else. Now I know there are many people who feel a USB cable is a USB cable, and since its carrying packets of digital information it should have no influence on audio. I really want to agree with that, however, whenever I listen to my system with one installed I can never come to that conclusion. That holds true here too.

So I broke the 7055B in with abut 48 hours of constant playing. I found positive effects, such as a greater degree of focus to performers, and a more expansive soundstage in all dimensions. What I did also notice is the sound became a bit grayer, with a loss of harmonic texture and decay. I decided to check the OEM USB cable against the Wireworld one with both cables coming straight from the computer to the DAC, one in the chain at a time. I got the same results with the OEM cable as when I had it as one leg of the wiring with the 7055B installed. To understand what the device is capable of I have to wait for the new Wireworld USB cables to arrive so I can get this properly installed.

If things work as I suspect they may, this device will be the linchpin of getting good sound out of this digital rig again. The contributions of the 7055B were significant in many respects, but hobbled by that generic USB cable. Of course this is just conjecture at this time, I won't really know till I get this all wired in and a bit of time on the new USB cables.

A poor-quality USB link into the Intona or from it to the DAC will cause degradation of the data synchronicity (jitter). The Wireworld cables should fix that.

Doing a little shoot-out, a while back, of the USB cables lying around here from Audioquest, Inakustik and DH Labs, I heard distinct differences in the presentation of each cable.

Fretless wrote: ↑Wed Apr 21, 2021 6:12 pm A poor-quality USB link into the Intona or from it to the DAC will cause degradation of the data synchronicity (jitter). The Wireworld cables should fix that.

Doing a little shoot-out, a while back, of the USB cables lying around here from Audioquest, Inakustik and DH Labs, I heard distinct differences in the presentation of each cable.

I am glad to hear that I am not the only one experiencing different presentations of USB cables. I would hate to think my imagination has run amok. Supposedly thing generation of USB cable is an improvement over my old one, even though its less expensive. So we will see how that turns out. Just trying to get some information on when its been sent out, so I can get an ETA here.

Yesterday afternoon the Wireworld package arrived, it had two of the starlight USB cables, and my tone arm cable for the Dynavector DV505. I unboxed the USB cables, and compared to my previous generation Silver Starlight 7 USB cables these are skinny, and frankly look cheap. I had my doubts, but they were here and it was time to get on with it.

I shut down the Mac Mini and installed the cabling along with the Intona 7055B USB isolator and turned things on. I had sound so there were no immediate issues. I then proceeded to let music play and had dinner with the family. After watching a movie with the wife after dinner I came back to the stereo for a bit of listening.

I hate listening to a stereo while cable breaks in. In this case the sound was not half bad. The mids were pretty respectable, and spatial characteristics were expansive. A very decent start indeed. I listened to music the rest of the evening, and typically during a cable break in I will absolutely hate what I am hearing at this point. Not this time. So I put the computer on repeat and went to bed. The last time I did this was with a Wireworld Silver Eclipse interconnect, and an evening of playing brought about noticeable changes.

So I am up now, its almost 6 AM, and I am having a cup of coffee and listening to a bit of music. The thickness that existed in the midrange from last night is gone, the sound is more balanced from top to bottom. Even with only 12 hours of play time the sound is quite livable. If the break in progress tracks with what the XLR interconnect went through it will take about 100 hours to be reach the majority of its potential, and 200 hours to be fully broken in. Fortunately with digital it means just leaving the player on repeat, so its a pretty painless process. Now breaking in this tone arm cable, that is something I am not looking forward to.