After a confusing beginning I spent almost 5 hours listening to digital last night for the purpose of evaluating the Innuous PhoenixUSB reclocker. I put the reclocker in and took it out -- back-and-forth -- several times.
When I first plugged in this device the sudden edginess on female vocals was horrifying. It was totally unmistakable. It was unlistenable. WTF? Is this what this device sounds like? A increase in resolution accompanied by a tilted up tonal balance and terrible edginess?!?! No thank you!
Almost 100% of audio reviewers and audiophiles report positive sonic improvements with this PhoenixUSB. So my anomalous result was very confusing.
But I have had so many issues with components in my system and so many sonic gremlins that I was fully prepared to chalk it up to the evil audio poltergeists which have taken up residence in my listening room. I went to sleep flummoxed and annoyed, as I have many times from this hobby in the last two years.
I have a lot of prejudicial skepticism (arising from my amateur radio and Heathkit-building days when things could be figured out objectively using formulas) about a lot of things in our hobby, but my skepticism is subject to easy refutation via subjective listening.
15 hours later all, or almost all, of the edginess was gone, leaving only improved resolution and a bit of a sense of slightly greater energy and "aliveness." Just to make sure I wasn't deluding myself with careless volume differences towards the end of the evening I played the stereo louder than I had at the beginning of the evaluation to confirm that the edginess largely evaporated.
I am highly confident that something in the PhoenixUSB or the $39 Audioquest Pearl .5m USB cable I bought as a temporary wire, or both, "settled in" after they were plugged in for about 15 hours. Does the frequency reference "clock" in the PhoenixUSB need time to stabilize? Is there something in it that needs to warm up for a long time? I have no idea. This is a wacky hobby.
Bottom line: I am happy with what the PhoenixUSB is doing (higher resolution), and I am keeping it.
My entire digital playback leg of my source triad is very modest ($13,600 MSRP including DAC, streamer, CD transport, reclocker, power supply and cables) compared to that of almost everybody else here. I have to say digital was sounding darn good last night! (no alcohol involved)
But this reclocker episode, I am sorry to report, gave the rabbit the opportunity to start digging a hole.
What's the best ethernet buffer for less than a $1,000?