I’m on day 1 of breaking in my new DS DAC, so my listening acuity is limited for awhile. The DS has the installed bridge, but I am using a Lumin U1 mini to stream (also still in early break in stage). Has anybody experienced how the bridge SQ compares with the Lumin or similar outboard streamer? This is a headphones only system, with a Pass Labs amp. I would expect the Lumin to sound better than the bridge but not sure.
I have a Lumin U1 but I would expect my experience to apply. First the DSD is going to have to burn in. My DSD was used and mature when I purchased it so others here will have to speak to how long the DSD takes to become stable. I too expected the Lumin to be an improvement over the Bridge. For the first week I was very disappointed with the Lumin. If anything it sounded worse than the Bridge. Then I REMOVED the Bridge from the DSD. The improvement was immediate and dramatic. The Bridge soon went on the For Sale forum and I have been a happy camper since. I did purchase an upscale USB cable(Wireworld Platinum 7). Give it a try.
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The DS is going to take a couple of hundred hours itself as will the Lumin so they will be working on it together. Quickest way to get through it is to put the Lumin of a radio station or a playlist on repeat and let them run 24/7 for a couple of weeks when your not using them. On it’s own when it’s broken in there will be no contest between the U1 and the Bridge so I would take the Bridge out and sell it or put it away for a rainy day in case it’s needed at a later date.
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OK. The Bridge is out. I reattached the face plate that was attached to the bridge, but that leaves a small “hole” where the Ethernet socket used to be. Any serious concern about leaving that open? I’ve seen suggestions for copper tape to prevent noise “leakage” elsewhere on this forum, but I assumed that would be to cover the larger hole left by having no face plate at all.
Mine came with the Bridge still in it’s own box so I had the faceplate. You can e–mail jamesh and see if he can get you the cover plate or just put electrical tape over that small hole for now.
And in the interim, use a small piece of tape to stop dust anything else from entering the DS.
After updating the firmware of the senior DS in sunlight, I compared the Bridge II with the Lumin U1 mini. I can say that the differences are minimal. I personally prefer the Bridge II to the Lumin. SQ with bridge is more engaging.
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Sunlight made Bridge II remarkably better. Adding an audiophile network switch made things much better. But I am impressed that it rivals U1 now. That says a lot.
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Can it assume the same for a Sonore Rendu Signature SE?
Does removing the bridge II cut down on any interference?
Based on feedback from a number of users, removing Bridge II, and using I2S ports from Matrix X-SPDIF2 or a Disc transport had remarkable results. I share that view too. However, adding inline LAN tweaks, narrowed the gap between Bridge II and the above solution, I may settle with Bridge for streaming from both local server and subscription.
Depends. I have an ultraRendu feeding a Matrix X-SPDIF2, going into the DSD via I2S. In my system this sounds greatly superior to the BII after Sunlight.
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Does the Matrix 2 require power or does it use the ISB power? I see others have upgraded to LPS but just curious if it requires that from the start.
From what it seems, it can work via USB power, but I’m using an outboard LPS. I know. More freakin’ boxes. 
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