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Jitterbug-It Works

Ishmael

Ishmael

Super Member
After reading favorable reviews in Stereophile and HIFi News and given the small entry fee I decided to try out the Audioquest Jitterbug in our computer system, HRT microStreamer DAC feeding Denon PMA 7.5L integrated and Wharfedale Denton (80th Anniversary) in near field listening on our computer desk.

First up was a song we are very familiar with "Je Ne Serai Jasmais Ta Parisienne" by Nolwenn Leroy from her CD Bretanne. Adding the Jitterbug was not a subtle change. This song is all about her voice and the accompanying guitar. With the Jitterbug her voice and the plucked guitar notes came into greater clarity by a noticeable degree.

I suspect that power supply noise is what this little device removes allowing more of the signal to come through. This is very much akin to what we have experienced with our Naim gear (CD player/Integrated amplifier) when we have added a Naim power supply, suddenly there is more music, details, clarity that just wasn't there before. Once you've heard it there is no going back.

Now listening to Marvin Gaye "My Love is Waiting" from his Midnight Love CD, again more clarity, in his voice and the accompanying instruments, detail.

Wow Sexual Healing, the the percussion and bass notes are just there, his voice floating above the beat. :thmbsp: No going back.
 
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It would be interesting to run the output of your USB into a Oscilloscope and see exactly what the wave form looks like. You could do an A/B with and without the Jitterbug and see just exactly what it is doing.
 
I've also found the Jitterbug to be effective - quite dramatically so used on my computer-based setup in the office, and worthwhile when plugged into an unused USB port on my music server at home (which is connected to the system via CAT6 through a router).
 
I've used the JB with the new iFI iPower and was amazed at what I heard. I guess I had better jump on the REGEN banwagon!
 
Measurement or hearing? For us it has always been the latter which has driven our purchases in this wonderful hobby.

Snake oil? I think not, the effect of placing this device into the computer USB socket just before the DAC isn't like fishing with cables and interconnects where changes occur that often are both quite subtle and variable according to the source material. Here the change is not subtle and applies so far in all cases of music type and poor to good recording and mastering of the actual performance.

Having experienced a similar change for over a decade with the input of high quality power supplies added to the pre-amplification or CD/DAC play back and having heard a similar improvement through this device I speculate that the noise floor has been reduced allowing details hidden in it to become available to be heard.

Can someone measure this? Who knows, so far a very mixed result. But can you hear an actual improvement, absolutely. If we can't enjoy our senses then what is left, Schrodinger's box where like it's poor cat we are both dead and alive, until a measurement tells us which we are?
 
Great write up my Michael Lavorgna thanks for posting Tomlinmgt. What he describes is what I hear, but maybe a little more out of the Jitterbug given our source, old Vista computer running Windows Media, which has probably put a lot more noise into the sound, than what Michael’s system has.

So for my system using Michael’s scale I would say the improvement was more a 15-20 than a 10 because it moved the bar that far in this system. But therein is the joy, for a pittance of outlay (we live in the age of jewelry store priced 1 meter interconnects, “here honey for your anniversary a lovely necklace of $5,000.00 per foot speaker cable…WHAT you wanted pearls!!!”) depending on the system you have you will get a noticeable improvement in the music whether 10 to 20 and that’s the wonder.

This is snake oil you can actually drink.
 
tomlinmgt said:
Right there with ya, Byron. Save me a seat in the waiting room. :thmbsp:

Audiostream just did an interesting comparison between the Jitterbug, Wyrd and Regen.

http://www.audiostream.com/content/...est-jitterbug-schiit-wyrd#0xJW1U6OBPe345ky.97
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Great write up! Thank you for posting! I especially like the part I quoted.

I will add that the degree to which these devices will improve the sound of your system will depend on your system. I appreciated the improvements offered by all three devices in my main system more than in my desktop system.
Read more at http://www.audiostream.com/content/...est-jitterbug-schiit-wyrd#P1gjHYXaJMFjM0w3.99
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All these devices just like everything else is system dependent. I think we all would do well to remember that.
 
olson_jr said:
John Atkinson did some testing to try to understand what he was hearing...

http://www.stereophile.com/content/audioquest-jitterbug-usb-noise-filter-measurements
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Very interesting and illustrates that until the audio processing software in the human brain is understood all of this will still be a mystery. Some audiophiles dismiss musicians, such as myself, as not being qualified to judge things like interconnects, speaker cable and devices like the Jitterbug. They say that because our brains are filled with the memories of what musical sounds heard on a live basis our brains "error detection" subroutines fill in the blanks. I am not so sure of this knowing first hand what the sizzle of brushes on a Tophat sounds like I can sure hear the difference if a music system is not delivering.:yes: I am onboard with interconnects I was totally blown away with I redid everything with cables from Blue Jeans Cable.
 
SWL3600 said:
Same here....and they have great customer service.
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If you have head phones with a detachable cable have BJC make you a custom. I did for my AKG 240 MkII's. They made me 25 foot cable it has a much better quality Mini XLR on one end and an a equally good 1/4 inch phono plug on the other. They build them for audio engineers for use in recording studios the improvement in sound was astonishing combined with my Asus Xonar Essence STX sound card was magical, they sound like I don't even have headphones on.
 
Ishmael said:
So for my system using Michael’s scale I would say the improvement was more a 15-20 than a 10 because it moved the bar that far in this system.
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I'd say the Regen gave me a 15-20 as well. Combined with EQing in the digital realm....I can't say enough about the two. Does it rival the difference between what a preamp or speakers can make? The Regen by itself....no. The digital EQ....yes. Both of them combined....without a doubt.

I think I remember reading on CA that some guys were using a Jitterbug in addition to the Regen. Anybody here doing this? For the price of the JB ($50?) I just may try it.
 
transmaster, I totally agree with you it's all about listening, and you just can't get enough live music listening experiences. The greater the variety, symphony hall, literally underground blues club, two stadium rock performances (the Paul McCartney at Safeco Field is a life time memory), jazz club, the greater the discernment and appreciation for your system at home, it lets you have moments of history in the music of your life.

I understand your thoughts on interconnects, but kind of worry about the warning of Yoda “If once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will,…”. I know interconnects, speaker cables, everything makes a difference in the reproduction of audio, but here’s the rub on tweeking, where do you stop? And When does it replace the music? So while I tried the Jitterbug and have enjoyed it immensely, I am wary about heading into the dark side of tweeking. Life is short, sing, dance, listen.
 
And yes slippers-on, your system will set the benchmark of the changes you get, and then there's what we call the "95% Rule". By this we mean for the different uses of our four systems, main, bedroom, garage, desktop computer, there comes a point where to us we hear that Wow moment and given the different budgets and uses and don't forget the different "ROOMS", it just sounds great, but can it be improved, sure, but here's where you start adding extra zeros, or multiple zeros, to the cost for single digit improvement in sound.

We found this out when our stereo store got in the $30,000.00 plus TOL speaker manufactured by the same company who made our main system speakers. Were they better, yes, of course, but here's where the 95% comes in, in our room with our system our speakers had about 90%+ of the music these TOL speakers reproduced. We came home with a new and greater appreciation for what we had and the decade of careful listening we had put into creating this system.

So happy listening and really trust your own ears and your own tastes, nothing else really matters.
 
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Ishmael said:
transmaster, I totally agree with you it's all about listening, and you just can't get enough live music listening experiences. The greater the variety, symphony hall, literally underground blues club, two stadium rock performances (the Paul McCartney at Safeco Field is a life time memory), jazz club, the greater the discernment and appreciation for your system at home, it lets you have moments of history in the music of your life.

I understand your thoughts on interconnects, but kind of worry about the warning of Yoda “If once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will,…”. I know interconnects, speaker cables, everything makes a difference in the reproduction of audio, but here’s the rub on tweeking, where do you stop? And When does it replace the music? So while I tried the Jitterbug and have enjoyed it immensely, I am wary about heading into the dark side of tweeking. Life is short, sing, dance, listen.
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Oh....if you've been into audio as long as I have....from the 70's when my pops would sit beside his Magnavox console and spin country blues 45's after 45's and I was right there enjoying the music....well you grow and learn things about music reproduction....you learn things about internal vibrations and smearing and how to use tweaks to take care of such problems...and on the way to learning.....you know to tweak to get rid of the problem while not letting the tweak into the music.
 
slippers-on said:
I've used the JB with the new iFI iPower and was amazed at what I heard. I guess I had better jump on the REGEN banwagon!
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Brotha B,

You just might want to hold off for a minute, as I've heard that the newer version of the iFi Audio IUSB Power that's in the works is adding regeneration to said device..........., yet that might just be a rumor?, but you know that you'll be the first person I report to once mine comes in next month.

Good or bad, it's here long term as I've only noticed a few cases where it or the AQ Jitterbug's don't perform..........., and since I've 4 Jitterbug's in home awaiting the other few pieces, it seems promising enough to say, I'm once again very happy with this thread, yours and the one on the Regen for opening my eyes|ears to what I now hear as a very very very strong alternative to vinyl, as subjective as that sounds.........., it sounds good enough to hold my attention, and then some.
 
Great thread, as I've been meaning to lay my ears on one for a bit now.

Strangely, I seldom dedicate an internet streaming appliance to be direct coupled to my amplifiers/preamps/receivers. I have some Bluetooth 4.0 receivers that I Bluetooth to for streaming. This actually amazes me as I'd never think I would ever do this with audio, but I do. I've been amazingly happy with Bluetooth introduced into my audio streaming chain. And it's made me lazy. iPhone or Android to Bluetooth receiver and I'm done. The smartphone just became my armchair remote.

But I'm jumping on the JB platform anyway. I just have to try it. You know what I mean.

Thanks for the thread, OP.
 
slippers-on said:
Oh....if you've been into audio as long as I have....from the 70's when my pops would sit beside his Magnavox console and spin country blues 45's after 45's and I was right there enjoying the music....well you grow and learn things about music reproduction....you learn things about internal vibrations and smearing and how to use tweaks to take care of such problems...and on the way to learning.....you know to tweak to get rid of the problem while not letting the tweak into the music.
Click to expand...

As to add to what Brotha B, has mentioned above..........., Tweaking for me has become a way of life after letting so many components in my past go, only to hear them months later in the persons system to which I sold them to and found myself amazed and stunned by their sound, only to see that said owner had changed the isolation footers, tubes, cables and power cord which only mad me sick to my stomach knowing I had messed up big time.

As of mid 2004, every single component that enters our home gets the works from the source to the speakers ( mini-monitors in my case ) interfacing devices between them and their stands, and even the stands from the flooring get their own decoupling disc according to which material sounds best underneath them.

It's a mean I believe of enhancing, as well as understanding the limit of said components which are built to a certain price point regardless of cost, unless of course they were voiced around 50 cent rubber bumpers by design, because otherwise every component vibrates at certain nano frequencies which in tales alters the inner most resolution of said musical notes and as Byron mentioned above smears the sound and affects transparency and neutrality in ways many can't imagine until one addresses it, it's when this sense of noise has been removed from ones system, that you then realize what's been missing all along............, an organic flow to the notes themselves as well as an extra sense that layers and layers of muck has been removed from your speakers grills.

Subjective as always, but such commitment to one system goes a very long ways in assuring one doesn't have the need to replace things that aren't broken, and enjoy their system long term of say upwards of 6 - 20 years ( God forbid in some people's case whom like to buy stuff every other month or so ) but the foundation begins at one AC outlets and stops by selecting that last IC at the source that makes or breaks the system to begin with............, just food for thought, and of course only one persons opinion based upon enough mistakes to know better nowadays.

Be well,
O_o scar
 
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