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CD Players, Digital Music & Servers Aurender, dCs, Esoteric, Lumin. |
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#11
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Am just getting started with my "Roon Adventure" (being primarily vinyl/analog).
Thus far I've discovered that digital is far more demanding in order to achieve the best SQ (and usually not quite up to good vinyl to my ears). The biggest thing I've noticed (after how important a good power source & power cords are - Shunyata in my case) with digital is that the SQ is every bit as dependent on how well done the source may be as is vinyl. A poor recording is just as poor on digital as it is on vinyl. Perhaps more so. At least I seem to pick up poorly done source more quickly. I'll give digital 2024 before making a final decision, but my journey thus far (with excellent help from criwilli & Puma Cat - thank you) has been about what I expected going in - complex (compared to vinyl/analog) and interesting, to say nothing of $cost (just ordered a WW Platimum USB cable from Ivan). Probably the most frustrating has been the on-going technological change with digital (MQA, for instance) and the on-going cost of maintenance (subscriptions, back-ups, etc.). Agree with Kubla36 - streaming radio is an excellent source of new music I would not normally be aware. Once I get further into Roon, am sure it will be a source of additional finds.
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Glenn... Canton Reference 9 Clearaudio SM Pro Focal Bathys JLA 10" Dominion Kuzma Stabi S w/MC & MM Magnepan 1,7i McIntosh MA8950 & MR88 Oppo 203 Roon Nucleus Rose Hifi RS150B Shunyata Gemini-4 Sony ST-A6B, TA-F6B, ST-J75 & PS-X75 Sorane SA1.2 & TA-1L Stillpoints LP1v2 WW Pt, Au & Ag Last edited by Formerly YB-2; 12-31-2023 at 09:03 AM. |
#12
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Quote:
Here's a pic from back in the day... Around this time one of my audio buddies did a comparison between various USB cables in his system, and he had rented in an AQ Diamond USB, and over the course of an evening, we did a direct comparison of different USB cables. I was once again shocked at how much better the Diamond was than my Carbon, and kinda p*ssed off that now I had to buy a Diamond USB cable. I found one used locally, but it was still like $550, used. I used that until Shunyata released their series of USB cables in 2019...see the continuation of that story below. Quote:
To continue from the story above, I used that AQ Diamond USB until Ivan posted here in 2019 what a revelation the newly released Shunyata Alpha USB cable was. Curious, I rented one in to compare to my AQ Diamond, and the Shunyata Alpha USB competely blew the AQ Diamond into the weeds! It wasn't even close. It was literally a premplifier-level improvement for the system. I wrote up a comprehensive review of the Alpha USB cable here at AA, which I'm sure Ivan remembers. Richard at Shunyata read the Alpha USB cable review and contacted me about beta-testing their soon-to-be released Ethernet cables. So, while they were building up the beta-test Ethernet cables, I rented in some Ethernet cables from The Cable Company, and bought some others, and, with my "DFSS MBB hat" on, I did a full-on formal product evaluation known as competitive benchmarking of Ethernet cables, including AQ Cinnamon, Belden Cat6A, Supra Cat8, AQ Vodka, and WW Starlight CAT8. Of these, my faves were the WW Starlight CAT8 and AQ Vodka. The Starlight CAT8 had more absolute transparency, and the AQ Vodka had more body and warmth. Until the Shunyata beta Ethers arrived that is...I remember I had the Vodka in the system when these arrived and I put the entry-level Venom Ether in and.. Once again, it blew everything else in-house into the weeds. Then...the Alpha Ethernet cable. OMG. I remember I invited my audio buddy Gregory over one evening to evaluate these Ethernet cables, and Gregory has really good ears, and when I put in the Alpha to replace the AQ Vodka, he blurted out-loud: "Oh, my God! Who took the kink out of the hose?" Long story short, I've found that digital music playback requires a lot of control and mitigation over a number of significant noise factors, including ground-plane noise, deterministic jitter, low- and high-source leakage impedance current, threshold jitter, common-mode noise (which is why Shunyata puts C-Mode filters on their Alpha, Sigma, and Omega Ethernet & USB cables, BTW) and phase noise.
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Lumin P1 streamer/DAC/preamp, Constellation Inspiration integrated TT: Michell Gyro SE MkII, SME V, Koetsu Urushi Vermilion, EAR324. Harbeth 30.2s, REL R-305, Shunyata Alpha V2 ICs, Alpha V2 SPs, Sigma XC, Sigma NRv2, Omega QR-s & Alpha NRv2 PCs, segmented Altaira SG stack w/ Alpha & Omega CGCs, Everest 8000 PD. Remote Server Room: Uptone EtherREGEN, AfterDark Master Clock & LPS, Alita, Battle Angel, (Akasa NUC Roon Core), iFi DC Purifiers (for SMPS used for Alita & router), Shunyata Gemini combo power distributor & Altaira-type CG GP-NR hub, Venom & Alpha CGCs, Shunyata NRv14 power cords for digital components. Last edited by Puma Cat; 12-31-2023 at 04:32 PM. |
#13
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Glenn, Stephen, lots of great feedback! Thank you! I must admit the PC maintenance may be intimidating but I suppose one step at a time.
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Main System: Sf Amati Tradition, B&W DB1 sub, McIntosh C2300, MC501s, MA12000, MCD500, HiFi Rose RS150B, Oppo 105, Niagara 5000, AQ Tornado/Thunder/Blizzard PCs, Robin Hood BiWire (zero+bass), Gibraltar SCs, Water ICs, Cinnamon RJ/E, Solidsteel HF-3 racks. 2nd System: Sf Cremona Auditor M, McIntosh C50, MC275(VI), MA6600, Node 2i, Oppo 95, AQ NRG-4 PCs, Robin Hood Zero SC, Cobra/Nordost Heimdall ICs. |
#14
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I gave up on the PC and added a Roon Nucleus. So far it has been a smart move for me.
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Glenn... Canton Reference 9 Clearaudio SM Pro Focal Bathys JLA 10" Dominion Kuzma Stabi S w/MC & MM Magnepan 1,7i McIntosh MA8950 & MR88 Oppo 203 Roon Nucleus Rose Hifi RS150B Shunyata Gemini-4 Sony ST-A6B, TA-F6B, ST-J75 & PS-X75 Sorane SA1.2 & TA-1L Stillpoints LP1v2 WW Pt, Au & Ag |
#15
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Quote:
The Mac Mini just has all this unecessary circuitry, fans, boards, chips, interface circuitry, etc., in it that is not required for simply sending a music file to ER that adds an incredible amount of noise, crap, and grunge to the presentation.
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Lumin P1 streamer/DAC/preamp, Constellation Inspiration integrated TT: Michell Gyro SE MkII, SME V, Koetsu Urushi Vermilion, EAR324. Harbeth 30.2s, REL R-305, Shunyata Alpha V2 ICs, Alpha V2 SPs, Sigma XC, Sigma NRv2, Omega QR-s & Alpha NRv2 PCs, segmented Altaira SG stack w/ Alpha & Omega CGCs, Everest 8000 PD. Remote Server Room: Uptone EtherREGEN, AfterDark Master Clock & LPS, Alita, Battle Angel, (Akasa NUC Roon Core), iFi DC Purifiers (for SMPS used for Alita & router), Shunyata Gemini combo power distributor & Altaira-type CG GP-NR hub, Venom & Alpha CGCs, Shunyata NRv14 power cords for digital components. |
#16
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Did something similar here but instead of a nucleus I’m using a transport from Small Green Computers. Coupled that with a opticalrendu to my DAC and life has been good. Although I’m thinking 2024 my bring a Lumin U2.
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Doug 2-Channel McIntosh C2700, (2X)MC601, MEN220 Lampizator Baltic 3 Sonore opticalRendu, SGC sonicTransporter i5 (Gen 3), Roon Thorens TT TD318 B&W 803D3 JL Audio (2x)f110v2 Shunyata Denali/S v2, Alpha v2 PCs, WW Gold/Silver Eclipse Interconnects, Platinum USB Whole House Music Listening Bluesound Vault2i, PowerNode2, PulseMini2i, Pulse2, (3x)Flex 5.2 System Above using Passthru Marantz SR7012 Oppo 205, Apple TV (4th gen), Sony XBR850e65 B&W HTM2 D3 Second 5.1 System Castoffs from Upgrades LRC Paradigm Millenia 20, Velodyne MiniVee 10, KEF surrounds, DefTech AW6500 |
#17
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Quote:
And, Doug, the Lumin U2 is a fantastic streamer with a superb engineering specification. I'm going to be starting on writing my review of it this coming week. The SFP optical input on the U2, is in my experience, the best way to receive files from your upstream music server (just as with your OpticalRendu), and the U2's new direct-coupled "audio component-only" USB-A port to connect to your DAC is really superb. The U2 also has it's own linear power supply, which is shielded from main circuit board in it's own completely-shielded compartment. Love it, just a terrific product. Oh, and the U2 has a proper chassis ground terminal, so you can make the best possible connection to an Altaira hub.
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Lumin P1 streamer/DAC/preamp, Constellation Inspiration integrated TT: Michell Gyro SE MkII, SME V, Koetsu Urushi Vermilion, EAR324. Harbeth 30.2s, REL R-305, Shunyata Alpha V2 ICs, Alpha V2 SPs, Sigma XC, Sigma NRv2, Omega QR-s & Alpha NRv2 PCs, segmented Altaira SG stack w/ Alpha & Omega CGCs, Everest 8000 PD. Remote Server Room: Uptone EtherREGEN, AfterDark Master Clock & LPS, Alita, Battle Angel, (Akasa NUC Roon Core), iFi DC Purifiers (for SMPS used for Alita & router), Shunyata Gemini combo power distributor & Altaira-type CG GP-NR hub, Venom & Alpha CGCs, Shunyata NRv14 power cords for digital components. Last edited by Puma Cat; 12-31-2023 at 09:26 PM. |
#18
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Quote:
Happy New Year.
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Doug 2-Channel McIntosh C2700, (2X)MC601, MEN220 Lampizator Baltic 3 Sonore opticalRendu, SGC sonicTransporter i5 (Gen 3), Roon Thorens TT TD318 B&W 803D3 JL Audio (2x)f110v2 Shunyata Denali/S v2, Alpha v2 PCs, WW Gold/Silver Eclipse Interconnects, Platinum USB Whole House Music Listening Bluesound Vault2i, PowerNode2, PulseMini2i, Pulse2, (3x)Flex 5.2 System Above using Passthru Marantz SR7012 Oppo 205, Apple TV (4th gen), Sony XBR850e65 B&W HTM2 D3 Second 5.1 System Castoffs from Upgrades LRC Paradigm Millenia 20, Velodyne MiniVee 10, KEF surrounds, DefTech AW6500 |
#19
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On Feb 7th Enno posted on the Roon community this post describing where Roon is headed in the future. Interesting read for those of us who have Roon.
https://community.roonlabs.com/t/a-m...ounders/264251
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Doug 2-Channel McIntosh C2700, (2X)MC601, MEN220 Lampizator Baltic 3 Sonore opticalRendu, SGC sonicTransporter i5 (Gen 3), Roon Thorens TT TD318 B&W 803D3 JL Audio (2x)f110v2 Shunyata Denali/S v2, Alpha v2 PCs, WW Gold/Silver Eclipse Interconnects, Platinum USB Whole House Music Listening Bluesound Vault2i, PowerNode2, PulseMini2i, Pulse2, (3x)Flex 5.2 System Above using Passthru Marantz SR7012 Oppo 205, Apple TV (4th gen), Sony XBR850e65 B&W HTM2 D3 Second 5.1 System Castoffs from Upgrades LRC Paradigm Millenia 20, Velodyne MiniVee 10, KEF surrounds, DefTech AW6500 |
#20
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This is significant and great news! If I'm reading it correctly, Roon's new directive would be to focus on its core business; music libraries, music and audio enthusiasts.
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Main System: Sf Amati Tradition, B&W DB1 sub, McIntosh C2300, MC501s, MA12000, MCD500, HiFi Rose RS150B, Oppo 105, Niagara 5000, AQ Tornado/Thunder/Blizzard PCs, Robin Hood BiWire (zero+bass), Gibraltar SCs, Water ICs, Cinnamon RJ/E, Solidsteel HF-3 racks. 2nd System: Sf Cremona Auditor M, McIntosh C50, MC275(VI), MA6600, Node 2i, Oppo 95, AQ NRG-4 PCs, Robin Hood Zero SC, Cobra/Nordost Heimdall ICs. |
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