I am new to the world of personal audio. I come from a background of music appreciation/collecting/archiving and a bit of hobby digital DJing (yes, I am not a "real" DJ lol). I decided to introduce my wife to DJing and my first step was to purchase two V-Moda M100 Master headphones (for shared listening) and Pioneer DJ VM-80 speakers. In order to connect these to my laptop, I bought a Zen DAC 3 and an iFi Audio 4.4mm to XLR cable one month and a Zen CAN 3 the next month. I use an iFi Audio 4.4mm Pentaconn analog cable to connect them. After I did that, I bought two iFi iPower X power adapters. Each step in this process brought even better audio to the setup.
I joined a message board and began to look for ways to improve this setup even more and came across information about what is the best USB cable to purchase. I was informed that isolators/regenerators/reclockers were good to have as part of the chain between laptop and DAC, and I was recommended to purchase an Altor T1 from Alex Torres.
The small .070 gram USBISO arrived after a month and both Alex and I were challenged to figure out exactly what was wrong with it. In the end, I realized that nothing was wrong with it! This is how we figured out together what I had to do to get it running.
When I first plugged the USBISO to the DAC, there was no connection, but its red LED light was lit (even before connecting it to the first iPower adapter that came with the Zen CAN 3). I used a Gothic Audio Semper Fi The Outsider .3m cable for both before and after the isolator. So, that was strange. Later, Alex suggested that I should connect either a removable storage or mouse to the isolator, which I did, and there was "energy" but no "data" running between these.
Alex didn't know why and suggested that I should return the device, but I decided to run a diagnostic because I didn't want to give it up so easily to return it for a refund or exchange. I chose to run this particular diagnostic by connecting the isolator to my wife's laptop and I noticed that immediately the cursor worked. So, that was interesting.
Here's the key part of this story:
My laptop is relatively new, purchased in January of this year. When I got it, I did something kind of geeky and tried to remove everything that I thought was nonessential, however, in the process I most certainly removed something that communicates data between laptop and devices. I am not sure, then, why the DAC worked, but I decided to save all my data and reinstall_Windows. That allowed my isolator to work. Problem solved! I am not sure how the Isolator sounds without the Gothic Audio cables but the entire setup sounds great. I am very glad for this tiny device, but most of all for Alex's patience and guidance because I tend to overreact and send multiple panicky messages before he gets a chance to write back.
There is so much more that I can do with the setup, but given a limited budget, I am going slowly and step by step to try to have the ideal setup for our little jam parties at home.
I joined a message board and began to look for ways to improve this setup even more and came across information about what is the best USB cable to purchase. I was informed that isolators/regenerators/reclockers were good to have as part of the chain between laptop and DAC, and I was recommended to purchase an Altor T1 from Alex Torres.
The small .070 gram USBISO arrived after a month and both Alex and I were challenged to figure out exactly what was wrong with it. In the end, I realized that nothing was wrong with it! This is how we figured out together what I had to do to get it running.
When I first plugged the USBISO to the DAC, there was no connection, but its red LED light was lit (even before connecting it to the first iPower adapter that came with the Zen CAN 3). I used a Gothic Audio Semper Fi The Outsider .3m cable for both before and after the isolator. So, that was strange. Later, Alex suggested that I should connect either a removable storage or mouse to the isolator, which I did, and there was "energy" but no "data" running between these.
Alex didn't know why and suggested that I should return the device, but I decided to run a diagnostic because I didn't want to give it up so easily to return it for a refund or exchange. I chose to run this particular diagnostic by connecting the isolator to my wife's laptop and I noticed that immediately the cursor worked. So, that was interesting.
Here's the key part of this story:
My laptop is relatively new, purchased in January of this year. When I got it, I did something kind of geeky and tried to remove everything that I thought was nonessential, however, in the process I most certainly removed something that communicates data between laptop and devices. I am not sure, then, why the DAC worked, but I decided to save all my data and reinstall_Windows. That allowed my isolator to work. Problem solved! I am not sure how the Isolator sounds without the Gothic Audio cables but the entire setup sounds great. I am very glad for this tiny device, but most of all for Alex's patience and guidance because I tend to overreact and send multiple panicky messages before he gets a chance to write back.
There is so much more that I can do with the setup, but given a limited budget, I am going slowly and step by step to try to have the ideal setup for our little jam parties at home.