EXPEriences with using the Audiopraise Avarice product
I have been using two versions of the Audiopraise Avarice, both to great satisfaction.
One was a version with a coaxial Spdif input, the other a version equipped with an optical input.
Setup:
Signal sources;
-PC built for multimedia purposes, ITX format motherboard Intel Mount Olive, soundcard ESI JUli@,
- Logitech (formerly Slimdevices) Squeezebox Classic optical output
- Old Panasonic DVD video DVD-AUdio player
Lavry DA-10 Black DA converter
DIY power amp, DIY speakers
I was initially sceptical of this product. I thought this would be another unnecessary boxes I was supposed to add to my signal path.
The Avarice promises to galvanically isolate the DAC from the sources of digital input, and, most importantly, to ensure that the signal on its output, (which is fed to the DAC) has a lower jitter level than the signal appearing at the end of the digital interconnect coming in from the source (in my case, the DVD player, the PC or the Squeezebox)
All my sources have problems that the Avarice is supposed to alleviate.
The DVD player is old, my son destoryed its DVD drive so it clics and rattles all the time, it is my lowest quality source, soon to be discarded.
The PC , even though the JUliet is a great card, is only a PC with all its problems when used as a digital transport (interference, all the noise created by the cirquitry, some people also allege they can hear the difference depending on various Windows settings , corruption of the signal introduced by Windows).
The Squezebox is perhaps the best source, but still it is not much more than a gadget, so certainly it makes sense to try isolate the rest of the chain galvanically from the Squeezebox output.
The most dramatic improvement occured when I placed the Avarice between the DVD player output and the DAC input.
Without the Avarice, the player was almost unlistenable as a transport for music. I only used it to play film audio for the DVD video discs.
For audio, the sound from the DVD player showed the worst signs of high jitter - annoying glare in the sound, irritating highs and very blurred, hollow, ugly bass lines.
With the Avarice , I could pleasurably listen to classical music.
The horrible sound was upgraded to sound remining me of reasonably good cd players costing 1000 / 2000 Usd. This in itself is a great achievement, which can bring high benefits to a budget to mid-level system.
This was useful, as my wife does not very much like using the IT gadgets for music, like the squeezebox or the PC. Also, it is practical to have a signal source that does not rely on the network. Sometimes the router is down and it is useful to have the ability to play a disc in good quality.