I’ve tried in both JRiver and Foobar and I’m getting the same issue. I’m beginning to think it’s an issue with the driver for the card. It uses a generic “High Definition Audio Device” driver. I’ll email Pink Faun and see what they have to say.
Can any of the Simaudio Moon MiND units be used? Sorry if this is a daft question, but I am struggling to understand what goes with what in which order, particularly for Tidal access.
John, the Simaudio Moon product info says it supports Tidal directly. You can also use another device (like a computer running Tidal or a Roon core) to get Tidal audio from the Internet and relay it on to the Moon and then to the DAC. From the Moon to the DAC you can choose AES/EBU on XLR, SPDIF on RCA or SPDIF on Toslink connections.
dvorak saidJohn, the Simaudio Moon product info says it supports Tidal directly. You can also use another device (like a computer running Tidal or a Roon core) to get Tidal audio from the Internet and relay it on to the Moon and then to the DAC. From the Moon to the DAC you can choose AES/EBU on XLR, SPDIF on RCA or SPDIF on Toslink connections.
So, if you have a Moon MiND box, you don’t need Bridge II? Or is Bridge II going to offer some form of MQA and the MiND won’t? Is it one or the other depending on needs…
Since my original post I have been obsessing and researching all the different avenues for delivering Tidal to my DS. Whoda thunk it, an audiophile obsessing 
Anyway when I first approached the issue it was all about optimizing USB from my PC. I was looking strongly at the Intona USB isolator as it seemed to be the best candidate at protecting the stream from the nasty noise of the PC. Then I dont know if I read it somewhere or if it just dawned on me but why fight all the noise in the first place? Get rid of the noisy computer and stream with something that is specifically designed to stream. DUH! 
Wonderful one obsession now replaced with another. What is the best streamer for my purpose? In my net scouring so far there are two candidates that are on my radar. Auralic Aries and Sonore Microrendu. I am still a newb but I am leaning toward the Aries because it seems to have the best interface with the Lightning DS. I would need to buy an IPAD again to control everything. Wondering which of the two is going to yield the best SQ per dollar invested. I also want as little futzing around as possible. Am I missing any other obvious choices? To be clear I want the highest SQ possible with the least expense. “I’m not gonna pay a lot for my muffler!” Another reason I like Aries is it is “tweakable”. By that I mean it seems to have upgrade avenues available to it. eg you can start with an SE, add a better power supply etc. I am sure the Sonore unit has such avenues but that top of the line power supply costs more than twice what the rendu does. Aye AYE Aye. I found an old thread here on the PSA where frode was exploring an addon device that provided I2s connection to the DS. Unfortunately the thread lapsed into inactivity before he spilled the beans about how it performed. What a journey.
Quick question for Dr. Smith. One of the main differences between the Aries and the Aries LE is that the Aries has a femto clock on the USB and another for the other digital inputs. Wondering what you think. The DS is great with jitter so if it was you would you opt for the one with the clocks or save some money and go with the one w/out the clocks. Thanks Ted! BTW have only had my DS a couple of months and am loving it! YOUDAMAN!
If the only difference is the femto clocks I’d skip them. Especially I wouldn’t care about one on the USB.
Euphonite said ...In my net scouring so far there are two candidates that are on my radar. Auralic Aries and Sonore Microrendu. I am still a newb but I am leaning toward the Aries because it seems to have the best interface with the Lightning DS...
...To be clear I want the highest SQ possible with the least expense. "I'm not gonna pay a lot for my muffler!"...Then why would you not just buy an Aries Mini?
If I used them Auralic mini would I still be able to try roon?
Ah… there’s the rub. No.
Technically you could using the Airplay emulation in the Mini. But it’s not going to have the quality of a true RoonReady device. If all you want is good quality rendition of Tidal content, IMO it’s throwing money away to buy a full Aries where most of the cost is tied up in a DAC that you don’t need. Thus the Mini becomes a great choice.
But once you toss Roon into this, the whole conversation/evaluation criteria changes.
IMO you need to know if you MUST have Roon before you make this Tidal decision. Were I in your shoes, I’d install a trial version of Roon on a Mac or PC, run a long USB cable from it to your DS (dirt cheap on Amazon), and see if it is a “must have” for you, as it is for so many others (including major players here, apparently).
if so, then what you are looking for changes. All your criteria remain the same EXCEPT it’s not good quality - at a reasonable price - Tidal you are looking for, it’s Roon. And you don’t have to worry about Tidal, 'cuz any setup that has quality Roon, will get quality Tidal by definition.
At this point in time I could probably be happy with just the mini since I don’t own a lot of cd’s or flac/alac most of my music collection resides on vinyl that I bought long ago in the 80’s and my tastes have changed quite a bit since then. I don’t think the Aries has a dac in it. My main reason for going the route of either a microrendu or an aries is “future proofing”. I really don’t know which way to turn where these units are concerned as they both seem to be very similar. I havent had my DS for all that long and at some point I would like to get my feet wet in DSD downloads. So in time I may need to add a NAS. For now all music files would be stored on my PC. My interest in Roon lies in my love for classical music. I am hoping that the combination of Roon’s search abilities coupled with lossless/MQA streaming from Tidal’s large catalogue could be a good pairing to that end. While I am pleased with the SQ that tidal offers, it is fairly evident that classical is not there forte’. I am hoping that the way that Roon is designed that this will help me “discover” more of what is seemingly hidden in the Tidal catalogue.
Update: found a thread on this forum from June where Frode did a head to head between Microrendu and Aries quote
I prioritized a setup of a uRendu portable solution today and in this setting I did some SQ comparison between my Aries and the uRendu.
"The uRendu was battery powered. The Aries was hooked up to a Regen which was powered by the same battery. TorreysB was loaded in the DS.
The competition was close however personally I preferred the slightly warmer, analog and fuller sound from the Aries. Also the reverb was more pronounced with the Aries. At loud volumes the uRendu sounded a little harder but also tighter and somewhat less smeared than the Aries (but never anemic and harsh). I can imagine that in the longer run the Aries trump the uRendu on PRaT and foot tapping factor. One might say that the listening session with the Aries was more joyful and relaxing. It might be that the uRendu is more correct from a high fidelity standpoint.
My source was NAS, serving Roon with both streamers using RAAT."
Thanks Frode that helps a lot. Also got an email from Underwood Hifi and he has All Auralic on sale at the moment. If he can give me a decent deal on the Aries LE I may not be able to pass it up.