[Paul CS]

I'm going to buy one of these...

http://www.tonepublications.com/review/audioquest-jitterbug/

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Quote "Perhaps the biggest improvement was in the car, going from iPhone to the audio system in my BMW Z4, which has a particularly dreadful audio system. The JitterBug's presence in the car cleans up the presentation dramatically, getting rid of a lot of the brittleness and digital artifacts that the system has. A short road trip with a couple of unsuspecting non-audiophiles got the same response: "What does that black thing do? The music sounds a lot more relaxed." Exactly". Unquote.

I've got the Pro Media and HK in my M135i. I'll let you know how I get along.

Paul

 

[Paul CS]

So, now fitted. I bought it from Amazon for £39. I ordered it yesterday and it arrived this morning.

How does it sound? First of all the way I evaluate audio changes is not listen to 30 seconds, make the change, then another 30 seconds and try and here differences in bass, mid and treble. I like to listen to a series of tracks end to end then make the change and see how I feel about the change.

Based in that, I really like the Jitter Bug. If you think lossless clearly sounds better than MP3, FM better than DAB, and wired USB better than Bluetooth, I think the Jitter Bug will be for you. If not, don't bother.

Females vocals have a little more presence and better annunciation. Cymbal work is smoother and less splashy. It made me realise the HK Tweeter are quite revealing and not forgiving of poor sources. Also all music sounds more together as if the musicians are enjoying what they are doing rather than going through the motions - music without the Jitter Bug sound a little boring. That was confirmed when I removed the Jitter Bug and thought "that's not right", put it back in and then all was well.

It's staying.

I'm also going to try it from my Mac Book into my DAC at home and also into some great desk top PC active speakers with an in built USB DAC.

Hope that was of interest.

Paul

 

[icenutter]

Sounds good (ho ho) and thanks for the review. Maybe I'll give it a shot.

 

[Motley2012]

Flubit it through Amazon and save £5.00

 

[Paul CS]

Been out in the car today so had and extended listen. There is no question - much better with the Jitter Bug. Really glad I got it!

Paul

 

[icenutter]

One thing I have noticed on my Naim Uniti 2 is that if I turn off power to USB it gives a marginal improvement in the noise floor.

It sounds like this gadget does the same sort of thing (not to the power).

 

[spl23]

I suspect the effect of this device will vary depending on what you plug into the USB port.

With a passive USB stick or a USB HDD, it's not going to offer any improvement; in those cases, the audio system just reads the compressed audio files from the storage medium and decodes them locally; noise and jitter on the USB link can't affect sound quality in this case.

With an iPod, the USB connection is used to carry actual audio data (I think - this is why the screen of a connected iPod shows which track is playing), so in this situation, reducing noise and jitter may make an audible difference.

Not sure what happens with an Android device or an iPhone - whether the audio system reads compressed data or takes in an actual bitstream. Again, if it's just reading compressed files, it won't make any difference, but if the phone is doing the decoding and playback, then it might.

 

[Paul CS]

I have some friends at DCS. I'll ask them.

Paul

 

[Paul CS]

Just plugged the Jitter Bug in my home DAC (Lindemann 825). It's brilliant. I had a fantastic listening session with everything from Led Zeppelin to Kate Royal.

Think I might be buying another one!

P

 

[Motley2012]

Do you know anyone with an E8 model to see if a Jitterbug can be used with a Y cable without fouling the underside of the armrest without having to use a short extension USB cable?

 

[Paul CS]

I don't unfortunately. Also I'm not sure it will work because I think the Y cable takes an analogue signal from phone and put that into the head unit.

Can someone confirm?

BTW, on the F20, the arm rest just shuts when the jitter bug is in place.

P

 

[Motley2012]

Someone will put me right but the Lightning connection only has a digital signal, only the 30 pin connection on the early models had an analog output.

 

[Paul CS]

Correct, lightening is only digital. You have to feed that into a digital to analogue converter then feed that into an amplifier. The later BMWs have a built in DAC.

The old 30pin connector had an analogue "line out". That can be fed into the "Aux" connector which in the analogue input. The older BMWs don't have a DAC. So the Y cable provides power to the phone via the USB and audio to the car via the headphone socket or the 30 pin connector (your phone has a built in DAC and headphone amplifier).

Paul

 

[Motley2012]

So while it would be of benefit to use the Jitterbug with a USB stick, it would have no benefit with my iPhone due to the signal separation by the Y cable.

 

[Paul CS]

Jitter Bug won't do a thing because you have no DAC in the car. Sorry bud.

However, assuming you have an iPhone, there is another way for your situation that I use in my other car and the result is a big step up. It's this

http://www.hirestech.com/product/?pid=91

" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. I got mine second hand from eBay.

This will take the digital output from your iPhone (30pin - the digital output pins not the analogue line out - or lightening connector) using the standar iPhone data/charging lead. Take power from a 12 volt socket (or even your USB if it is high power output). Then connect the phono output from the iStreamer to the Aux in (in you car) using a good quality 2 Phone - 3.5mm plug. The iStreamer will keep your phone charged too.

It will sound much better and louder than the headphone socket of the phone.

Hope that helps.

Paul

 

[Devil84]

Just to clarify will this make my usb stick sound better? Or is just for iPhone playing lossless tracks?

 

[Paul CS]

Yes. From the manual:

"A USB memory stick can also function as a
portable media device. If you play files from
a USB memory stick, we recommend that you
plug a JitterBug in between the memory stick
and the associated USB input port."

In ADDITION, make sure your files are lossless or at the very least 320kbps.

TOGETHER, that will make a huge difference to the musical reproduction. It all depends on how you like your music. For example, if you think Beats headphones are great and you like a "big" sound from big floor standing speaker, then forget losses files and the Jitterbug because it won't do what you want.

Forgive me if I have opened a can or worms!

Paul

 

[EB135]

Paul,

I don't want to open a can of worms but...

The jitterbug smooths out the power. It appears to be intended to remove the noise from computer to external DAC.

With a modern iPhone the device sends digital data to the head unit where the DAC is. Doesn't this mean the jitterbug is removing noise produced from the battery operated iPhone (I.e low noise). You're biggest culprit would be the alternator

 

[Paul CS]

Nope, the Jitterbug has nothing to do with power or the alternator.

Best read the reviews for a fuller description of what it does.

Cheers

Paul

 

[EB135]

Paul,

I assumed the device is intended to do power filtering. Quote from this review

http://www.head-fi.org/t/777003/review-of-audioquest-jitterbug-usb-data-power-noise-filter

"The attached portable USB audio device is relying on getting its power from USB port, and this "dirty" power reference is used in D/A conversion to extract analog signal. Noisy power reference will cause errors during decoding and consequently will raise a noise floor. That is a reason why all standalone desktop DACs/amps use a massive power supply to provide a clean internal power source independent of the power from a digital cable."
...
"The main function of JitterBug, while utilizing its dual discrete noise dissipation circuit, is to reduce the noise on the data and the power lines of usb cable, to improve the data flow by reducing the jitter and packet errors, and to shield your external DAC from EMI, RFI, and other high frequency noise coming from your PC/laptop usb port."

Hence my comment about the alternator - where the head unit (DAC) gets its power from. BMW would have to put a a filter there else you would hear buzzig all the time.