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5V line a quick spitand polish thanks to its linear powersupply takes away a m ajorsource ofnoise thatm es eswith USB controlers. A second linearpowersupply feedsthe OCXO,or O ven-Controled Crystal O scilator. This runs at precisely24M Hz(oratleastto within three partsper bilion of24M Hz,thanksto thattem perature control) orputanotherway,talks USB like a native.Italso benefits from being a short PCB track from the aforem entioned USB regenerator chip,and not a whole boxand severalcablesand connectionsaway, asm ightbe the case with an external10M Hzclock. Given thatthe physicaldistance and the 10-24M Hz conversion required in such a case can only introduce im precision in a conceptthatisdesigned to im prove the precision of a digital signal, the PhoenixUSB holds the right cards for the right reasonshere. Inotherwords,whiletheInnuosPhoenixUSB doesn’t perform any proces ing to the digital signals its handling,ittreatsthe digitaldatastream to the kind of spa treatm ent and physical fitnes regim e to ensure it’sasgood asitcan get.Thinkofitasa sort of extension of the USB source’s host controler, ensuring that the host’s output is as clean and preciseaspos iblebeforepas ing itto theDAC. If you look at those three elem ents, you m ight conclude thatthere isnothing especialy new in the PhoenixUSB, and you’d be part right twice over. You’d be part right because the PhoenixUSB is basicaly the reclocker board taken from Innuos’ Statem ent server (pos ibly the only USB-based device that doesn’t benefit from what the PhoenixUSB does for a living), and part right in saying al three (technicaly… four)of those basic functionsare available in individualunits.Butifever the phrase ‘the whole isgreaterthan the sum ofthe parts’ringstrue,it’sin the PhoenixUSB.Puting alof those USB signalm anagem ent tasks in the sam e box,giving them the shortest pos ible PCB track distance and giving them al a linearpowersupply dedicated to giving each section its own corect power feed without the risk of one power feed clashing with the others m akes the perform ance of ‘bitza’rivalapproachesrecede into the fardistance.
M ac Book Pro thathas seen beterdays and a M elco N10 thatisin itsprim e.M eanwhile DACs included theM étronom eAudio LeDAC atthetop end and an iFiAudio iDSD Nano at the other. Discus ing the PhoenixUSB here is easy; it im proved alofthem ,whicheverperm utation you chose! W hile there are distinct – and beneficial – commonalities in the performance of the PhoenixUSB,m uch ofitsaction ischam eleon-like. Itm akesthe bestofwhateverUSB source itisfed and gives the DAC les of a hard tim e when receiving aUSB signal.Itdoesn’tchangethebasic tonal,tim braland tem poralcharacteristicsofthat USB hostdevice;itjustbringsthose tonal,tim bral and tem poralqualitiesoutand givesthem a very briskpolish.Ifyou com pare the perform ance ofa com puter-based (‘M ac and DAC’)system with a dedicated USB server, you can stil hear the diferencesand –inm ostcases,Ibelieve–youwil stil think the dedicated server is a beter perform er.It’s just that both ofthem have had theirrespective gam esraised byseveralnotches. W hy thatishard to describe in absolute term sis thatthe sonicperform ance ofdiferentcom puters and diferentUSB-based serversare notuniform . While the PhoenixUSB wil add body and substance to the com paratively thin and reedy sound of a six-year-old M ac Book Pro, it stil soundslike the outputofa six-year-old M acBook Pro… justone thatsoundswaybeterthan itever did.Asto the M elco,thatalso soundsbeterthan iteverdid too,with an even m ore elegantand im m ediate perform ance. There are com m onalities with whatever the PhoenixUSB touches(exceptfortheStatem ent,of
Iprim arily used the InnuosPhoenixUSB with an old
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