… the Sortz's interleaved common-mode coils surround the central zirconium bar and are wound atop it in-house. The XLR version doubles up on these parts. Michael did experiment with classic ferrite cores but their limited bandwidth didn't produce anywhere near the same results. While other metals worked, zirconium sounded best. That contains ~5% ferrite impurities to exhibit faint magnetic behavior. When asked about the costly surface treatments in this application, he confessed to not understanding their efficacy. That part is sheer empirical knowledge. We don't know why yet but if you do this, that happens.
One theory he has wonders whether their layered micro skins perhaps operate as miniature faraday cages around the cancellation area, one sleeved inside the other like Russian Matroyshka dolls? Parallel PCB traces downwind from our RCA plugs do create their own stray capacitance which too is susceptible to aerial HF ingress. About using multiple Sortz, their cancellation of HF noise shared between ground and signal plus removal of the antenna function is cumulative so adds up. Each open connector that gets terminated by a Sortz increases the benefits.
Michael would use them first on whatever is our most high-gain component. With vinyl that would be a phono stage. Extreme voltage gain amplifies embedded noise that much more. In my pure digital system with passive-magnetic linestage, obvious targets would be the above amp with two open RCA inputs; then the D/A converter below. As to classic shorting plugs, Michael remembers them from early Luxman gear. "In theory and simulation, shorting an input works very well. In practice it's rarely that effective since shorting doesn't equal cancellation." Theory and practice can diverge. It's our coin's other side for when there is no real theory but an audible success as here is claimed for exotic nano skins of zirconium/tungsten and aluminium-titanium nitride. I'd rather enjoy a benefit with no plausible rationale than a shiny theory that promises things my ears can't hear. If you need shiny theories before lending an ear, stick with the base-model Sortz. Its MO is solidly explained.
Should I need virtual hearing aids to magnify where these miniature barrels work…
By entering this DAC AES/EBU digital and exiting it XLR analog, I had 3 open RCA plugs on the DAC and 4 on the integrated to experiment with Sortz.
…I had recently upgraded my best headfi with iFi's Pro iDSD Signature DAC. It's set to resample PCM to DSD1'024 so 45/49MHz depending on original sample rates. Coming in AES/EBU from a smsl SD-9 SD card transport, converted files hit Schiit's Jotunheim R custom amp for Raal-Requisite's SR1a ribbon headphones. Should our speakerfi lack the resolution required to benefit from the Sortz, the below micro stack would stand in.
But the big downstairs system too had upgraded when for my 60th birthday in this Year of the Tiger, its D/A converter had become Sonnet's Pasithea. I felt properly prepped to host the Ansuz plugs.
Same song, same dance. By using the XLR sockets, I had 3 open RCA plugs on this DAC.
Once the door bell rang, the contents jumped the small package to hustle upstairs and plug three deep into the iFi DAC to kick off. With ~12Vmax on its XLR outputs, it's a high-gain affair. Of course living very rural diminishes airborne noise exposure. Our neighbors are Patrick the roofer, Trevor the plumber and retiree Maloney across the street. A WiFi tower across the Shannon river which takes 20 ferry minutes to cross is out of sight. It reaches none of us. Our Internet connection runs hardwired fiber optics. What's in the air is mostly a whiff of methane from the area's cows when the wind blows right; noiselessly turning wind-farm turbines; and whatever mobiles turn on when the few neighbors return from work. Otherwise our digs are WiFi-free. Shutting down the DAC's antenna action might make far less of a difference than in an urban setting with plenty of overlapping hotspots?
