In the past anything under 1% THD was considered Hi-Fi, most people cannot even discern the 1% THD so the difference between 0.00011% and 0.002% is pointless. I also doubt the "whopping" signal-to-noise ratio difference between the streamer and the pre-amp would be audible for most people in normal listening conditions.
It's a little more complex than what's in this video. Just comparing those measurements don't tell the whole story and aren't really useful for anything. The differences in those measurements likely aren't audible. Cheap preamps can degrade the sound. A good preamp will make the signal better. I'd switch interlinks by hand before putting that switching box in my system. Just spend the money a get a decent pre.
Ok that is fine but not necessarily the best option, I own a modern AVR it controls all my switching ASR and others have confirmed the clean signal paths, Each input has a PAD circuit that can be boost or lowered in decibels to match equipment. In truth there are completely different ways to fix all those problems you just chose a very narrow path to a solution
While I appreciate that you are being very scientific and I do not dispute your observations, you do seem to have overlooked a few key variables. You also have to take the abilities of the human ear and the listening environment into consideration. If you have, for example, a system that can produce 100dba in a room with a 30dba noise level (both of which are about average) any noise or distortion below that 30dba threshold would be lost in the room noise... so the actual range of audibility (dynamic range) in the average room is probably closer to 70db at maximum volume, even less at more reasonable listening levels. Converting the distortion to decibels, 0.03% is -70db. So, you would not likely hear less than 0.03% distortion, even if you were keened to it. In truth, I've never met anyone who can actually hear 1% distortion, never mind the tiny fractions you are discussing. Then consider that your speakers probably run around 2 or 3% distortion and the tubes are likely close to 1%. So, would you actually hear a degradation in sound because you chose to use a pre-amp? Not unless the pre-amp is faulty. Second, in that RCA switchbox the resistors you found on the RCA shield rings are called "ground lift" resistors and they are there to prevent ground loops and the hum that goes along with it. Without them any variation in ground potentials in your equipment could cause a clearly audible hum at your AC power line frequency (60hz or 50hz) that nothing short of disconnecting the offending device would cure. For electrical safety you should consider including 10 ohm resistors in the grounds of your homebrew switchbox. You will want to use low power resistors so they would burn out instead of damaging your equipment, should a problem arise.
Thanks for the explanations. Makes sense to me. I read that the best SNR of CDs is 80 dB so the quest for the lowest SNR in audio components is just for competitive advantage? In that RCA AV switch all the - ve terminals go thru a resistor and then common ground. With my DIY -ve terminals are switched and not tied to a common gnd point. Would adding a resistor prevent a current surge when switching sources?
@@AudioTnT Signal to noise ratios for the actual Rebook 44,100 samples per second and 16 bits per sample actually approach 96db. Of course this is often degraded somewhat by the electronics. The SINAD (Signal Interference Noise And Distortion) measurement has become something of a points game since analytic sites like Audio Science Review started using it to rank the quality of components. That's true. But common sense should tell you that beyond a certain point all of it will be inaudible and thus meaningless. ASR commonly pins the lower threshold of hearing in their tests at -110dbfs ... In my experience, it's more like -85 to -90 (ignoring room noise for the moment). If I might dare to advise for a moment, my suggestion would be to not sweat the small stuff. Choosing components on the basis of things you will never hear is something of a fools game, and if you get too carried away with it (as many "audiophiles" do) it can become a major source of dissatisfaction, and trying to fix problems you don't actually have can and sometimes does cause major upheavals in people's lives. In general, your best bet is to set up a convenient system, with reasonably priced components then just settle back to enjoy your music. I have about $1500 invested in my system. A tiny NUC computer feeding a small USB DAC feeding a TB10d amplifier in turn feeding a pair of Pioneer towers and the sound quality is excellent. I'll probably use it like that until something outright fails. ===== On your switch box. First, in the interest of electrical safety, the grounds should always be connected. The 10 ohm resistors are optional but they are a good idea unless you have everything grounded in the same power bar. The RCA design had it right... for a simple 2 way selector all you should need is a Single Pole Double Throw (SPDT) switch to flip between the signal wires.
In the past anything under 1% THD was considered Hi-Fi, most people cannot even discern the 1% THD so the difference between 0.00011% and 0.002% is pointless. I also doubt the "whopping" signal-to-noise ratio difference between the streamer and the pre-amp would be audible for most people in normal listening conditions.
It's a little more complex than what's in this video. Just comparing those measurements don't tell the whole story and aren't really useful for anything. The differences in those measurements likely aren't audible. Cheap preamps can degrade the sound. A good preamp will make the signal better. I'd switch interlinks by hand before putting that switching box in my system. Just spend the money a get a decent pre.
Ok that is fine but not necessarily the best option, I own a modern AVR it controls all my switching ASR and others have confirmed the clean signal paths,
Each input has a PAD circuit that can be boost or lowered in decibels to match equipment.
In truth there are completely different ways to fix all those problems you just chose a very narrow path to a solution
Would you mind sharing what AVR you’re using? I’m doing the same thing with a NAD AVR
@@richm4402 Yamaha RX-A3080 the have a new series but no significant changes were made
@@thinkIndependent2024 thanks for the info!
Yeah, it's a horrible solution
While I appreciate that you are being very scientific and I do not dispute your observations, you do seem to have overlooked a few key variables.
You also have to take the abilities of the human ear and the listening environment into consideration. If you have, for example, a system that can produce 100dba in a room with a 30dba noise level (both of which are about average) any noise or distortion below that 30dba threshold would be lost in the room noise... so the actual range of audibility (dynamic range) in the average room is probably closer to 70db at maximum volume, even less at more reasonable listening levels.
Converting the distortion to decibels, 0.03% is -70db. So, you would not likely hear less than 0.03% distortion, even if you were keened to it.
In truth, I've never met anyone who can actually hear 1% distortion, never mind the tiny fractions you are discussing. Then consider that your speakers probably run around 2 or 3% distortion and the tubes are likely close to 1%.
So, would you actually hear a degradation in sound because you chose to use a pre-amp?
Not unless the pre-amp is faulty.
Second, in that RCA switchbox the resistors you found on the RCA shield rings are called "ground lift" resistors and they are there to prevent ground loops and the hum that goes along with it. Without them any variation in ground potentials in your equipment could cause a clearly audible hum at your AC power line frequency (60hz or 50hz) that nothing short of disconnecting the offending device would cure.
For electrical safety you should consider including 10 ohm resistors in the grounds of your homebrew switchbox. You will want to use low power resistors so they would burn out instead of damaging your equipment, should a problem arise.
Thanks for the explanations. Makes sense to me. I read that the best SNR of CDs is 80 dB so the quest for the lowest SNR in audio components is just for competitive advantage? In that RCA AV switch all the - ve terminals go thru a resistor and then common ground. With my DIY -ve terminals are switched and not tied to a common gnd point. Would adding a resistor prevent a current surge when switching sources?
@@AudioTnT
Signal to noise ratios for the actual Rebook 44,100 samples per second and 16 bits per sample actually approach 96db. Of course this is often degraded somewhat by the electronics.
The SINAD (Signal Interference Noise And Distortion) measurement has become something of a points game since analytic sites like Audio Science Review started using it to rank the quality of components. That's true. But common sense should tell you that beyond a certain point all of it will be inaudible and thus meaningless. ASR commonly pins the lower threshold of hearing in their tests at -110dbfs ... In my experience, it's more like -85 to -90 (ignoring room noise for the moment).
If I might dare to advise for a moment, my suggestion would be to not sweat the small stuff. Choosing components on the basis of things you will never hear is something of a fools game, and if you get too carried away with it (as many "audiophiles" do) it can become a major source of dissatisfaction, and trying to fix problems you don't actually have can and sometimes does cause major upheavals in people's lives.
In general, your best bet is to set up a convenient system, with reasonably priced components then just settle back to enjoy your music.
I have about $1500 invested in my system. A tiny NUC computer feeding a small USB DAC feeding a TB10d amplifier in turn feeding a pair of Pioneer towers and the sound quality is excellent. I'll probably use it like that until something outright fails.
=====
On your switch box.
First, in the interest of electrical safety, the grounds should always be connected. The 10 ohm resistors are optional but they are a good idea unless you have everything grounded in the same power bar. The RCA design had it right... for a simple 2 way selector all you should need is a Single Pole Double Throw (SPDT) switch to flip between the signal wires.