Squeezebox Touch with AudioQuest Jitterbug

[navlefnuller]

The Jitterbug from Audioquest promises a lot of things, and according to many a reviewer, it actually works. Not only connected in serial, but also in parallel. So that makes me wonder how much of an improvement it could make if attached to the USB port of a Squeezebox Touch.

So, before you ramble on about snake oil and fire water, and link to numerous reviews, that are not able to measure any significance with the Jitterbug plugged in or not (I have read them all), many still claim to hear an audible difference. Most misunderstand the difference, as most often when noise is removed from a digital signal, it will become less bright, which many - if you look at Amazon user reviews - interpret as less detailed, dull sounding. A thing to conclude from the many reviews is the success of the Jitterbug is highly dependent of the equipment you are using, as for some with an already very clean digital signal it may even degrade sound, while others have found, that if run in parallel with your attached USB device it works better. Give or take, it seems to have some sort of impact, whether you like it or not.

So, have any of you tried one with a Touch, will it improve the sound?

[Zombie]

Expectation bias is a powerful force

[v2k]

Well for once it ought to be rather easy and straight forward to see if it will do anything for you as it is a noise suppression device.

Have your music computer (or all devices in the sound chain, depending on setup) do something, copy a lot of files or run a benchmark anything that keeps it busy as long as it is not playing music. Next turn up the volume, if you hear any blips or hisses, similar to old modem sounds, then yes it might be something to try. If not then it wont make a difference.

As for the ins and outs of digital signals, the wiki provides a good read.

[ismarketing]

Tried it - no meaningful difference

Tried it - no change for better or worse. Left it in for as long as I was using the Touch. FWIW - I also heard no improvement from a linear PSU on the Touch in my system.

[chicks]

It's been measured. It does nothing. Worthless waste of money.

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/audioquest-jitterbug-usb-filter-review.10205/