sorry for the delay, been house decorating. It is generally agreed that the digital output of the Touch is superior to the Analog output. It has been measured that improving the power supply has a effect on the Analog output but not the Digital. It has also been measured by Phil Leigh that Soundchecks mods have a very slight effect on the Analog output but not the digital. So this would explain the boost in Analog performance when using the SBooster
Now the fact that you hear no audible difference between Analog output and Digital feeding a V-dac means that you have some limiting factor in your system. The reason I say this is that the V-dac is a very good Dac (better than Touch built in Dac) and has had some brilliant reviews in Hi End (The 'Oh My goodness How much!!!' sort) Magazines as has the Touch. There has also been plenty of people who do notice an audible difference between Analog and digital with the Touch even with improved power supplies. Therefore it seems that you have hit a resolution wall on your system, so lets look at how to improve that. 1) Change the V-dac to better PSU (dont spend money on an expensive linear, i am telling you a better low ripple SMPS fixed at 12v will improve the supplied wall wart for around £10). 2) Ask a dealer if you can try out some different cables. I recently changed from a QED to Vovox and the difference was substantial. ( If you hear no changes between cheap to expensive then it indicates the speakers) It could be that your cables from the Dac to the amp may need changing, i tried several cables and was very suprised by the sound change between cables, some were very bright and not nice. 3) Your Amp/Speaker combo has maxed out its ability to discriminate. i would suggest that your speakers are the culprit here. Cost: depends on your budget. I have a reasonably good system with the Moon i1 and CD1, PS Audio Power Plant Premier with Vertex AQ Jaya shunt, Moon Lp3 phono stage, Acoustic Solid Wood Black turntable and AudioMods arm, with Grado Prestige Black cartridge, all feeding a pair of Sonus Faber Domus speakers. The sound coming out my Vortexbox via ethernet to the Touch and V-Dac is excellent just pipped the lovely sound of my vinyl setup. see link for picture. http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=77125&page=4 So basically you should here a difference between the DAC of the Touch via analog and the Output of the Vdac via Touch digital ( I am using SPDIF cable) and its just a case of finding out whats blocking you from hearing the difference. Hope this helps? -- c3p0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ c3p0's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=20721 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=81454
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