Can you please describe your experience on Intona Reference? Do you find it too analytical?
Taiko Audio SGM Extreme : the Crème de la Crème
- Thread starter CKKeung
- Start date
Can you please describe your experience on Intona Reference? Do you find it too analytical?
My findings must be seen in the global vision of my system. The DCS Vivaldi stack is extremely neutral and gets an enormous amount of detail and energy. To my dismay I soon discovered that it needs good matching cables to show a balanced top performance in my system - the solution was the Transparent Audio Reference XL full set of cables - many steps ahead of other sets I tried, particularly in creating an airy and alive sound, with all the nuances and microdetails needed to support its energy. The Extreme is side to side with the Vivaldi transport, I would say it is neutral, the Intona Reference also sounds neutral, not analytical in the sense of pushing detail forward, but I am looking for a less seasoned balance in the treble and more air. In my system, in some sense the Intona has a balance similar to the CC power cords, that although respectable are not my preferred cup of tea.
Remember I have no experience at all with USB cables - just starting to learn on them!
You are correct that the USB Xlll box from Playback Designs is superficially similar to the MSB Pro USB interface but the fiber interfaces flowing out of them are quite different. The Playback Designs interface is based on the very low bandwidth LED fiber transceivers from Avago (https://www.mouser.com/datasheet/2/678/V02-0176EN_2018-03-13-1366199.pdf) that have high intrinsic jitter and lots of dispersion generated jitter due to the multi mode fiber needed for 820nm light. These characteristics are very similar to the well known Toslink fiber optic interface. The MSB Pro ISL uses a very high bandwidth infrared LASER transmitter (1310nm) that has drastically lower intrinsic jitter and virtually zero dispersion jitter because it uses single mode fiber. (Basically the light traveling trough a multi-mode fiber sees several different optical "lengths" so the light that is transmitted all at once does not reach the receiver all at once smearing the receive signal and producing jitter. In a single-mode fiber the light only sees one optical length through the cable so all the light reaches the received end at the same time, adding zero jitter.) PLINK does support a better fiber cable system (glass fiber) and connector system (ST) than Toslink but is otherwise similar. Also there is no clock feedback path to synchronize the source to the DAC like the MSB Pro ISL interface supports. Also the Pro ISL was designed to decode with extremely low noise generated by reception, support strong forward error correction, and support strong CRC based error detection. I would be surprised if the PLINK has any of those features as well. The only area I see the two interfaces as peers is in the electrical isolation they both provide.
steve williams
Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
I appreciate the feedback and understand I am using a 12 yo DAC and technology at the present
My takeaway is your final sentences well as the knowledge that what I'm getting is much better
My takeaway is your final sentences well as the knowledge that what I'm getting is much better
Thanks for the name check Emile. As it happens, I’m presently kicking off on a development programme for my usb cable (whose design has remained unchanged for 3 years now) and have an Intona Ultimate here for comparison.
I have been running that for a day now, I had only one instance where a track from Qobuz stopped halfway, but that has happened on 1.6 as well from time to time, our internet connection at the office is not rock solid.
I wonder if there really is such a thing as a ROCK SOLID internet connection. Rock Solid infers it never goes down and I don’t believe we’re that far yet. And frankly, an occasional ISP hiccup is forgivable as long as it really is only occasional and fairly short
I wonder if there really is such a thing as a ROCK SOLID internet connection. Rock Solid infers it never goes down and I don’t believe we’re that far yet. And frankly, an occasional ISP hiccup is forgivable as long as it really is only occasional and fairly short
I guess if everyone is running Roon through their phone/tablet your always going to have a dodgy wi fi connection but if your using Roon through a wired connection to a laptop and connected to the Extreme would the same thing happen ? I'm guessing everyone who has an Extreme runs it via phone/tablet and not by a wired connection to a laptop which would add further noise into the system.
If you can get hold of a Synergistic Research USB cable (Atmosphere X Ref and up) you should try one. I started with their USB and have since gone right through my system’s ethernet connections, without finding any real identifiable ‘flavor’ or characteristic beyond transparency, neutrality and a very high level of detail that contributes to outstanding soundscape abilities. They also don’t seem to need a lot of time to burn in, so auditioning doesn’t need to be a protracted affair.
steve williams
Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
I have zero doubt that a good USB cable does matter and agree with you regarding transparency and neutrality
I hope this does not look like I’m seeking an argument, I’m really not, but if you had crossed that bridge to spend USD 5200 I would go all the way and get the full monty at USD 6900
what would be in that 6900 usd basket Emile ?
could you please be so kind list it ?
thx
Thank you .
The good question will be if that combo could be better than Telegartner Gold ?
Simplistic question? Did I read above somewhere that the Extreme auto updates Roon to 1.7?
Yes, I am aiming to introduce a revised / enhanced model early in 2020. Although the current model is excellent, there is still scope to lower the noisefloor to hopefully match the resolution of the Intona Ultimate whilst also preserving its existing advantage in musicality.
Hi wil,
It does depend on your Roon settings.
The setting above is the default setting, meaning it will do small updates automatically but you will be prompted for mayor releases (like 1.7). If you set it to Automatically install all updates it will apply everything without asking. The 3rd option does exactly what it says.
