WHAT HAS WORKED FOR YOU? ISOLATION PLATFORMS, FOOTERS, ETC. for a DAC?


What is reasonable to expect in SQ gain with respect to a DAC, since there are no actively moving parts?

Footers only? Platforms only? Or is a combination of both best?

Keeping this open ended (as well as budget wise) to see what Audiogon Members recommend and advise.

However, thoughts on Gains v.s. Spend with the specific products you are recommending are welcome and will be very helpful.

The only footers I have used in the past are those from Herbie's Audio Lab.  I have used two different 'audio' racks (which have been dismantled) and I am using their shelves as isolation platforms for my speakers and other components (but not the DACs).

The DACs in use are a Schiit Yggdrasil and an Exogal Comet Plus. The stock rubber footers with the Yggdrasil are as basic as they come; The Comet has an acrylic plate with rounded metal screws.

THANK YOU!
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I used Nordost Sort Kones, which replaced various devices: Tip Toes, Finite Elements rack with Cerabases and then Cerapucs. After the Sort Kones came the Stillpoints Ultra Mini Risers and SS footers. And shortly, the Townshend Seismic Isolation Platform will arrive. The Townshend is the 3rd generation successor to its Seismic Sinks. The first Seismic sinks didn't do much for my equipment, and I missed out on generation 2, which isolated in the horizontal AND vertical planes, something that was not true of the first generation sinks, and which was then supplanted by the Vibraplane (not in my system, just in the affections of the late HP of TAS). I am curious to see - as it isolates down to 3hZ, how the sonics will affect my turntables: an old Rega Planar 3 and a Notthingham Horizon. Unfortunately, my old Versa Dynamics 2.3 is out on the West Coast.
So far, the Stillpoints are the best, but there is a caveat with ALL footers: do not simply put them under the 4 corners and then think you've done everything you need do. You will need to move them around - and it can take a LONG time - to find the ideal spot, which is on in which dynamics have great range and contrast, transient accuracy is evident, low-level detail is at its highest and then - the one most people comment on - the bass is transparent.  Most people who've posted just say, "oh, it was the usual thing, the bass was a bit tighter..." If that's all they got, then they did not wring maximum performance out of their isolation device. TAS did an article in December of 2015, about how the authors experimented with the placement of several devices: Nortost Sort Kones, Stillpoints and several other devices. They found that tiny movements of the foots either improved or harmed the sound. Placement is crucial and you should be prepared to spend at least 20 hours finding the perfect spot. CDs work best for this: turntables will have you jumping up every 30 seconds.
Totally agree with the observation that the location of cones underneath components is a variable. By the same token, cones should always be placed under vibration isolation stands, either in sets of three or four, and those locations affect the sound, too. So, to summarize, we have the variable of cone locations underneath the component, whether the components is isolated by an isolation stand or not, AND the variable of cone locations underneath the isolation stand itself. As the previous poster points out it can take some time to sort out what the very best locations actually are, especially is there are six or more cones involved. Think of it like trying to solve six simultaneous equations in six unknowns. And finally, a big shout out for isolation devices that can isolate in more directions than the horizontal plane and vertical direction. Keep in mind that there are actually six, count em, directions of motion that are involved including three rotational directions. The horizontal plane counts as two.
@gbmcleod and @geoffkait

Very informative and relevant posts for me. Thanks to both of you.

I’ve found out first hand, for the first time, what both of you are referring to with the Anvil Turntable Footers under my DAC. Location does matter!

I believe, in the case of the Anvil Turntable Footers, they are operating in multiple directions. Perhaps @13blm (Bruce) can comment?

Any advice from both of you on keeping track of position and results, especially when one has six footers and two surface areas to cover?
@bg1968  Thanks for your suggestions. I do not have any experience with Myrtle blocks. However, we do have six mature Crepe Myrtle trees on our property. :)  

I'm using Herbie Audio's Giant Fat Gliders to great affect under my speakers.
Hi David. Yes, the footers isolate in all directions but more so in the vertical plane. "Floating" a component only isolates.  We also need to wick away vibration for an isolation/damping device to be effective.  Your footers as you know are virtually infinatily adjustable to find a happy medium between isolation, coupling and damping. It's true that position makes a difference, and sometimes quite dramatic. Pushing them out partially beyond the component perimiter is  also worthwhile. 
Regards,
Bruce
Anvil Turntables