Looking at upgrading my digital, and thinking of changing the streamer that feeds my DS Dac.
But given the Dacs FPGA, fact that it “ignores” the incoming clock, does all its upsampling…etc…will a different external streamer really make a difference with the DS?
Guess I’m asking on experience from those who have tried different streaming solutions into their Directstream, DOES the choice of streaming front end make a worthwhile difference with our favourite Dac?
I started off streaming from a Bridge II card, which I found I didn’t like as much as my current modded Oppo 203 connected over an I2s connection.
Can’t play DSD from Roon with it, or MQA so looking to change this for long term future proofing.
The Octave is a while away so looking primarily at the dCS Network Bridge.
But really, with the Directstream, will the choice of EXTERNAL streamer make enough of a difference with Directstream to warrant the cost, given it will hook up over AES from the dCS Bridge, and not i2s from the Oppo.
Ultimately a demonstration comparison at my local dCS dealer will decide, but wanted to glean some wisdom and personal experience from us DirectStream users too if I can.
Some streamers are $20K+. Some are $200. Of course there is a difference. You get what you pay for. Whether you feel the higher end stuff is worth spending the money, only you can decide that for reasons that are best known to you. I don’t think demonstrating at a local dealer will shed much light on the question for you.
Was thinking in more specific terms of how the Directstream would interact with different streamers, given its unique way of converting to analogue.
But yeah, of course there’'s differences between em, know my Oppo bettered the Bridge II card I used.
But thats internal i2s vs external, hence me wondering about comparisons between external streamers?’
Its all about the subjective sound that graces my ears with different kit, if theres no 'real difference between the dCS and my Oppo - theres no real difference.
Just trying to get a bit of perspective about how the DS dac handles different streamers going into the demo at my local dealer.
I agree with Kyle on the Aries and you should get the same level of improvement with the Lumin U1 or the U1 Mini with the optional Sbooster LPS upgrade kit.
