QA660 SD Card transport approaches very best as a digital source

Julf

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Nov 27, 2011
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No, I really don't think you are curious! Just a sniper in the long grass

So far the sniping seems to be rather one-sided. How about actually discussing Hi-fi instead of engaging in silly ad-hominems?
 

Julf

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Nov 27, 2011
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Oh, no I am not ! There, the balls in your court now - your turn :)

In what way does your message(s) add value to the conversation?
 

MylesBAstor

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Apr 20, 2010
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What I find more interesting is that this was a one and done post. Sounds more like an advertorial to me than anything else.
 

Ronm1

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Feb 21, 2011
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The QA660 ($550) has choices of 5 digital outputs (optical toslink, spdif coax, bnc, aes/ebu, and i2s) which interface directly to the QA100 ($390) digital amp w/ 5 matching digital inputs. This amplifier is equal in greatness, and the QA100 and QA660 interface symbiotically with perfect clock timing and synergy. They sound terrific together.
!
What style I2S connector are they using?
 

Julf

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Nov 27, 2011
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What I find more interesting is that this was a one and done post. Sounds more like an advertorial to me than anything else.

Indeed. The first posting does seem to be a fly-by promotional posting by a user who hasn't posted anything else. That is then almost immediately supported by another new-ish user, who's only 3 postings are all praising or promoting the same product. The interesting part comes when I ask what actually makes the product "revolutionary". Instead of anyone really addressing the question, we are led down the usual path of insinuation and aggressive add hominems.

Do we have to conclude that audiophiles, or at least audiophile vendors, take any questioning of the claims of one vendor as an attack against the whole industry, requiring a strong defensive reaction?
 

Phelonious Ponk

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Jun 30, 2010
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I'm interested in hearing more about the Q100 digital amp. Which digital amp technology does it use? How is the signal converted to analog and what point?

Tim
 

agisthos

Well-Known Member
Oct 14, 2012
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The only benefit of a blatant shill is sometimes being introduced to a new product. I would have not have heard of this if it wasn't for QLS... I mean Digimusic :) thanks!!

Here is some interesting FEATURES that set it apart from other cheapo transports /streamers

Dedicated design with single thread application processing (= less jitter)
2x 1ppm TXCO clocks (most cheap sources use a single 10ppm clock)
Torroidal Power supply with lots of regulation stages (not a noisy SMPS)
Read data directly from SD CARD (Even Resonance Labs, makers of the Invicta DAC admitted this sounded better than other inputs, but could not explain why)

The only other product on the market that tries to do this sort of thing is the ultra expensive and (in)famous Memory Player. And yet QLS has made a custom design for only $550. They are to be saluted for effort.
 

agisthos

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Oct 14, 2012
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Indeed. The first posting does seem to be a fly-by promotional posting by a user who hasn't posted anything else. That is then almost immediately supported by another new-ish user, who's only 3 postings are all praising or promoting the same product. The interesting part comes when I ask what actually makes the product "revolutionary". Instead of anyone really addressing the question, we are led down the usual path of insinuation and aggressive add hominems.

Do we have to conclude that audiophiles, or at least audiophile vendors, take any questioning of the claims of one vendor as an attack against the whole industry, requiring a strong defensive reaction?

Julf I am going to be straight here, you were just borderline trolling and now playing the victim. You tried to claim this product was similar to a RIO MP3 headphone player, declared we must prove why its so 'revolutionary', and have not bothered to even research/understand the product, just dismiss it.

The real reason why you are acting like this is obvious - you don't think a low jitter front end source like the QLS makes any difference to sound quality - as evidences by your comments. If this is the case then obviously the 'features' I listed above are not going to convince you this product may be worth checking out. Just be clear with everyone what your critique actually is.
 

Julf

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Nov 27, 2011
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Here is some interesting FEATURES that set it apart from other cheapo transports /streamers

Yes, they are "features". None of them "revolutionary", or things we haven't seen before. Yes, the combination might be great, but what makes it "revolutionary"? Or is "revolutionary" a similar audiophile term as the phrase "night and day difference"?
 

agisthos

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Oct 14, 2012
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Yes, they are "features". None of them "revolutionary", or things we haven't seen before. Yes, the combination might be great, but what makes it "revolutionary"? Or is "revolutionary" a similar audiophile term as the phrase "night and day difference"?

I agree 'revolutionary' was too strong a word to describe this product.

But what is cool about it..... it MIGHT give the same performance increase as an extensively tweaked J-Play PC media server, or a Memory Player 64. If this is the case, for $550, it is a price revolution ;)
 

Julf

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Nov 27, 2011
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Agistos, I am going to be straight here - you seem to read the spaces between my lines more carefully than the actual lines I wrote.

You tried to claim this product was similar to a RIO MP3 headphone player

No. I pointed out that what seemed to be the "revolutionary" part of this product was exactly the same as in most portable players, ever since the Rio PMP300.

declared we must prove why its so 'revolutionary'

No. I questioned the claim that it was "revolutionary". I still haven't seen anything justifying that description.

and have not bothered to even research/understand the product, just dismiss it.

No. I am really trying (but struggling) to understand what is so "revolutionary" about this product.

The real reason why you are acting like this is obvious - you don't think a low jitter front end source like the QLS makes any difference to sound quality - as evidences by your comments. If this is the case then obviously the 'features' I listed above are not going to convince you this product may be worth checking out. Just be clear with everyone what your critique actually is.

It might seem obvious to you. You have listed some features - none of them very unique.

Looking at the dictionary, I see these 3 definitions for the word "revolutionary":

1. Of or pertaining to a revolution in government; tending to, or promoting, revolution; as, revolutionary war; revolutionary measures; revolutionary agitators.
2. (advertising) pertaining to something that portends of great change; overthrowing a standing mindset
3. (sciences) pertaining to something that revolves

Of those, 1. clearly doesn't apply, 3. probably wasn't what was intended, but meaning #2, the advertising one, is the one I assume was intended. So in what way does this product portend of great change or overthrow a standing mindset?

So instead of actually proving my point by attacking what you think I was thinking, and my possible motives (as if I was a heretic attacking your belief system), how about addressing my actual question?
 

Julf

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Nov 27, 2011
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I agree 'revolutionary' was too strong a word to describe this product.

Thank you.

But what is cool about it..... it MIGHT give the same performance increase as an extensively tweaked J-Play PC media server, or a Memory Player 64. If this is the case, for $550, it is a price revolution ;)

And do you feel a $35 Raspberry Pi with a real-time optimized linux kernel and a stripped-down audio player wouldn't be able to do the same?
 

agisthos

Well-Known Member
Oct 14, 2012
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Thank you.



And do you feel a $35 Raspberry Pi with a real-time optimized linux kernel and a stripped-down audio player wouldn't be able to do the same?

Oh yes, in fact I was thinking about buying a Raspberry Pi a few months back to go head to head against the CAPS media server. I think it would be a great option.

However the QLS looks more exciting as it includes a low noise PSU, screen with remote control, better TXCO clocks and apparently has a custom single thread operating systems which should be closer to the metal than the Linux kernel. All this for no ridiculous audiophile markup.
 

Julf

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Nov 27, 2011
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However the QLS looks more exciting as it includes a low noise PSU, screen with remote control, better TXCO clocks and apparently has a custom single thread operating systems which should be closer to the metal than the Linux kernel. All this for no ridiculous audiophile markup.

Fair enough - but for real audiophile use, I prefer something that does *not* have a built-in display (if you worry about electrical noise, most LCD/plasma displays/display controllers are much noisier than a SMPS supply) and a properly prioritized multitasking operating system. I also prefer to manage my music collection using a proper user interface (and 128 G wouldn't go very far with my music collection) - but those are my personal preferences/prejudices.
 

agisthos

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Oct 14, 2012
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Fair enough - but for real audiophile use, I prefer something that does *not* have a built-in display (if you worry about electrical noise, most LCD/plasma displays/display controllers are much noisier than a SMPS supply) and a properly prioritized multitasking operating system. I also prefer to manage my music collection using a proper user interface (and 128 G wouldn't go very far with my music collection) - but those are my personal preferences/prejudices.

Yeah I have heard OLED displays give much less noise than an LCD display. For a component this cheap OLED would not be an option yet, but apparently these displays are coming down in price.

I too would prefer to stream music from a much larger device than a 128GB SD card. But the theory is, the extra chips required to have wireless, SATA hard drive interface, HDMI output, LAN port e.t.c are a contributor to the extra noise on the motherboard. I tend to believe this theory after testing J-Play with its minimalist mode, where it turns off video and powers down all motherboard functions except for the streaming USB output.

But it is a joke to use, losing control of keyboard functions and any other function, having to wait until a track is finished before the system coming back alive. Despite the sonic gains - the lack of user friendliness is a step too far for me.
 

Julf

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Nov 27, 2011
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apparently these displays are coming down in price.

True.

But the theory is, the extra chips required to have wireless, SATA hard drive interface, HDMI output, LAN port e.t.c are a contributor to the extra noise on the motherboard.

But you can isolate yourself from motherboard noise - if the player uses a galvanically isolated, digital asynchronous interface, motherboard noise (and other noise inside the player) doesn't affect the DAC.

I tend to believe this theory after testing J-Play with its minimalist mode

How did you test it? And do we know it isn't just a trait of J-Play?

But it is a joke to use, losing control of keyboard functions and any other function, having to wait until a track is finished before the system coming back alive. Despite the sonic gains - the lack of user friendliness is a step too far for me.

Indeed. For me, having to trim down my music collection from 500 G to 128 G would be a step to far.
 

eltech

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Sep 21, 2013
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Hi Jkeny, I see you are back on this thread. I asked you a question earlier, and I hope you can answer.
Is the QA660 better than CMP + cPlay, Jplay, etc?

Its not a trick question or anything, I would just like to know your opinion.

thanks
Erin
 

jkeny

Industry Expert, Member Sponsor
Feb 9, 2012
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Hi Jkeny, I see you are back on this thread. I asked you a question earlier, and I hope you can answer.
Is the QA660 better than CMP + cPlay, Jplay, etc?

Its not a trick question or anything, I would just like to know your opinion.

thanks
Erin

I Pmed you back then!!
 

cowboy

New Member
Jan 3, 2013
4
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0
Hi Jkeny, I see you are back on this thread. I asked you a question earlier, and I hope you can answer.
Is the QA660 better than CMP + cPlay, Jplay, etc?

Its not a trick question or anything, I would just like to know your opinion.

thanks
Erin

I tried Jplay, Lubuntu with latency kernel and QA660 side by side. The usb sound card is WaveIO, and DAC is 1794 DDDAC.

Lubuntu with latency kernel is better than Jplay, smoother and more details. QA660 is slight better than the Lubuntu setup with firmware 1.50. There is a huge improvement if switching to firmware pure wav 1.0, however it only plays wav files. So I think QA660 is a very interesting player in this price range, it's not perfect but you can use it for serious hearing, especially for the pure wav 1.0 firmware.

If you are considering to buy something similar to QA660, I would say why not take a look at QA860. QA860 has AD1955 DAC and headphone amp integrated, the digital player part is boosted by better TCXO (0.5PPM TCXO vs 2PPM TCXO), and DSD directly support without worrying about the matched DAC.
 

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