LawshrinkMD said" I have already tried RPi3 over USB, it sounded like a cheap cassette tape. "
I was using JRiver Id Pi, and the same Audioquest Carbon cable connecting USB to the Nuwave DSD. It sounded terrible, I was hoping it would sound great (for a $60 streamer) but it didn’t. Even DSD 128 sounded lifeless and dull, when previously I had been raving out it to some friends when I was playing the same tracks over my crappy laptop.
LawshrinkMD said Since I already have lots of music, much in SACD iso format on my NAS, I am not interested in any music servers which have hard drives, etc. I need JRiver to make it all work, since it effortlessly handles SACD iso.I'm in the same situation with SACD ISO and I'd like to stream via i2s in full spectrum...
BTW, Cocktail Audio got back to me as following:
I just heard back from Audiophonics. They are actively working on the LVDS HDMI I2S HAT board, and hoping for something in 2 months! If this becomes reality, I wonder how it would sound compared to USB solutions such as the PS Audio Lan Rover, which I am also contemplating. I still like the idea of playing around with the room correction and upsample to DSD128 options using a full powered computer making it’s fan and electrical noise in another room, but $150 vs $600 is compelling.
I think I will wait and see for a bit!
/\
Excellent news from audiophonics, thanks for passing it on.
So, the ‘hat’ would have to provide its own clock to be a viable product, wouldn’t it? unless this product is being specifically designed to interface with an exisiting brand of reclocking hat, which we would then have to buy unless we wished to rely on our i2s dac for cleaning up the jittery signal… I suppose it all will become clear in a couple of months!
I run SPDIF from Pi3 with digi+pro using Runeaudio software (which sounds pretty darned good to my ears, coaxial sample rate restrictions notwithstanding). Still, Im VERY keen to try the i2s option with my upgraded dac, which i recently purchased partly with this possibility in mind.
at last!
And I hope it will be compatible with their Al enclosures, or they will at least make a new one!
LawshrinkMD saidI just heard back from Audiophonics. They are actively working on the LVDS HDMI I2S HAT board, and hoping for something in 2 months! If this becomes reality, I wonder how it would sound compared to USB solutions such as the PS Audio Lan Rover, which I am also contemplating. I still like the idea of playing around with the room correction and upsample to DSD128 options using a full powered computer making it’s fan and electrical noise in another room, but $150 vs $600 is compelling.
I think I will wait and see for a bit!
From my side, I’ve tested very quickly to plug the AudioGD HDMI module on a HECATE Armature board. It doesn’t work at all but the concern is may be the 3,3V required by the HDMI module. I used the 3,3V output available on the HECATE board, may be not done for that purpose, and I’m not sure at 100% about the wires I used to plug the module. Had no time to investigate further more. So my test is not to take into account.
Besides that, I found the digital coax output of the Hecate board (with an Atlas Ascent cable) very valuable over my USB output. I hope to do more tests in one month or two may be with a better 3,3V PSU or, why not, with the new Audiophonics HDMI/LVDS solution…
^
I reckon we know exactly what it is that we want - a high quality (reclocked) signal in i2s/LVDS format (HDMI adaptor) from our (modified) single board computers, so that we can keep using our favorite customized bit-perfect playback software (especially with our phone app controls - is this not surely the ‘golden age’ of music playing?!)
But… Patrick’s last post reminds me of how many different ways there are to go wrong when trying to hook up separate circuit boards!
I have zero confidence in my ability to be an audiophile ‘pioneer’ so I’m going to do nothing, until a clever person figures this all out and then I will try to copy exactly what they do. Unless of course I get an unexpected ‘rush of blood to the head’ in the meantime and try to work it out myself anyway hehe!
I’m a little surprised there isn’t a basic device like the MicroRendu that does ethernet -> I2S. If they can make the USB form that small, surely I2S could also be in the same league and not need a gargantuan box…
Potentially wishful thinking.
That would be the Sonore Signature Series Rendu.
Not a physically small device, like the microRendu, but it contains its own special power supplies.
It was before the microRendu and I believe no longer offered.
MrDerrick saidThat would be the Sonore Signature Series Rendu.
Not a physically small device, like the microRendu, but it contains its own special power supplies.
It was before the microRendu and I believe no longer offered.
I wonder what they’d go for secondhand these days?
msommers saidI’m a little surprised there isn’t a basic device like the MicroRendu that does ethernet → I2S. If they can make the USB form that small, surely I2S could also be in the same league and not need a gargantuan box…
Potentially wishful thinking.
I was asking for an i2s output for the sMS-200 but no answer from SOtM.
bertie1 saidI run SPDIF from Pi3 with digi+pro using Runeaudio software (which sounds pretty darned good to my ears, coaxial sample rate restrictions notwithstanding). Still, Im VERY keen to try the i2s option with my upgraded dac, which i recently purchased partly with this possibility in mind.
There is a Runeaudio thread full of people who suffered the same fate with digi+pro, which seems to be highly sensitive to EMF surges. Anyway, without boring people with my attempted workarounds, I can assure you that the same setup works great over Toslink (I cant hear the difference)
and i can even listen to hifi with the heater on
Holzohr saidI was asking for an i2s output for the sMS-200 but no answer from SOtM.
SOtM should be all over this. I’d buy an i2s solution from them.
Holzohr saidWhy doesnt microrendu have built-in i2s output
I was asking for an i2s output for the sMS-200 but no answer from SOtM.
Doesn’t sound like they’ll be doing I2S anytime soon but they’re not ruling it out.
Personally I added an SU-1 to my Microrendu to get I2S and loved the sound. I’ve just used the Kitsune DC conversion kit to mod my SU-1 and power it by an Uptone Audio LPS-1 and the jump in SQ is really noticeable.
It’s been a convoluted journey but my microrendu > LPS-1 powered SU-1 > I2S into my Directstream is knocking it out of the park for SQ. Albeit that’s over $2k once you factor in good cables.
Cheers,
Alan
Yes, the Signature Series Rendu was close to $3k,I purchased one of the last available just before the release of the microRendu.
I have seen used SSRs listed for $1300 too $1800, but not very often.
There are some dedicated discussions in the Sonore forums on CA and AC.
Roon is also doable now with the addition of a SonicTransporter and Roon Bridge App, I think?
According to Jesus at Sonore there are 4 main reasons for not including I2s:
Cost issue
Increased complexity
Noise issues
4 Increased footprint
Well, for now I went LANRover because I didn’t want to wait any longer, and kept reading good things about it.
So far I am very happy and impressed with the sound. I have it connected over the house LAN, so the sound goes from my main computer downstairs into a switch, another switch, into the router, back out again, probably through another switch, and then up a long cat5e cable upstairs, and then another cat6 15 ft from the wall to the other LANRover box. I luckily have pre-existing whole house wiring, so no point fussing over Audioquest ethernet cabling, since the signal is passing through multiple boxes and cables.
I do have my Audioquest Carbon running from the receiver box into my Nuwave DSD for good luck however.
I have been trying upsampling everything to DSD128, and it sounds great. I have distinctly heard better soundstage and air around instruments, which is most noticeable on percussion in quieter portions of songs. I also noticed that 16/44 material sounds much improved, less of that digital glare, and sounds more similar to hires content. The 24/192 files converted over to DSD128 doesn’t seem to make as much of a difference so far, but it is nice not having to leap for the volume when changing from DSD to flac, due to the 6db difference!
So far, so good…
LawshrinkMD saidI have been trying upsampling everything to DSD128, and it sounds great. I have distinctly heard better soundstage and air around instruments, which is most noticeable on percussion in quieter portions of songs. I also noticed that 16/44 material sounds much improved, less of that digital glare, and sounds more similar to hires content.
I have often wondered whether such would be worth trying on the basis that delta sigma dac architecture is supposedly better suited to dsd format - but until reading your post I’d assumed that the lossy conversion from pcm to dsd would outweigh any likely benefit.
unfortunately I cant try this for myself right now since I use MPD-based software (on RPi) which as far as I know doesnt cater to such conversion (only allows the reverse direction) but thanks for posting, it all adds to the database of knowledge!
In the case of the DS doing a conversion from PCM to DSD outside the DAC probably isn’t going to do better than letting the DS do it. 1) Conversions from PCM to DSD are even less well defined that PCM upsampling (and we know that there are a lot of different sounding upsamplers out there.) 2) A PCM to DSD conversion involves a sigma delta modulator and doing one modulation outside the box and another inside the DS isn’t optimal (tho not necessarily lossy in the sense that you might have meant.)
A good sigma delta modulator adds less noise in the audio frequency band than doing 24 bit dithering - that’s not really an issue. Doing a DSD conversion at at least 128FS doesn’t need to add significant noise above the audio band that won’t be filtered out by any DSD dac downstream…