for 2 months 
1 Like
âbut it still cannot match my turntable in shear realism and involvementâ,
that use to be the case for me also, but since many tweaks and upgrades for my digital chain, only a handful of well mastered LPs in my collection can beat my streaming chain, adding the convenience factor and library selection, I guess my choice of poison is obvious.
Yes, I agree, that would be expensive - I use a Denon AVR for my HT, which works really well. My ARC system is reserved for serious music listening. No need to replace KT150s in that mode for a couple of years+.
1 Like
My experience with Cardas Clear/Clear Beyond the opposite of yours. Havenât found a cable yet which bests them at equivalent price points. But your system is not mine, and everyoneâs taste is different.
To summarize a few points on your feedback to this point:
- I found no SQ difference between my older Mac mini running Roon and a new Roon Rock/NUC 12.
Convenience - Yes! 
- I should try LPS solutions to power my NUC and associated 8TB hard drive.
- There are a lot of quality streamer options I could try between my NUC and DS MKII that many of you favor and have found work well in your systems. I guess Iâm leaning toward an iFi Neo Stream because of multiple technical attributes like optical isolation, price/value, and gobs of favorable reviews.
- What about waiting for the PSA Airlens vv the iFi Neo Stream? I have a nice credit associated with my DS SR trade-in which could be applied to an Airlens purchase?
1 Like
Have you tried WireWorld Platinum 8 cables? I find these cables are much clearer, reveal much for detail, and much higher in resolution than the Cardas. I sold all my Cardas after I got the WireWorld Platinum 8 cables.
I also had the Cardas Clear Beyond power cords and the SR Galileo power cords just walked all over the Cardas in openness and reviewing much more musical information. It wasnât even close. The only one cable I really like from Cardas is the Clear Beyond XL power cord because it was sweet sounding, but it also had great resolution and openness. But itâs still nowhere near the performance of the Galileo.
Currently have a WWSS7 usb. Better than my inacoustik USB. Less harsh edge to it.
In the process of ordering a Cerious USB⌠custom order
I did get a subtle but noticeable SQ improvement with my TP-Link isolation kit.
Nope, havenât tried WireWorld. Have experimented with Nordost, AQ and Iconoclast, as well as a couple of others. At some point you get off the cable merry-go-round and stay happy - as I am with Cardas. When you forget about irritations in how your system sounds (because the irritations are gone) and simply enjoy the music, you are there. 
2 Likes
I have a sonore signature SE, a Holo Red on order (about 3-4 weeks out) and just picked up a used Stack Audio Link II with LPS which should be shipping today I hope. I plan to eval the sonore to the Link II, then the winner to the Red. Since I got good deal on 2 of them, selling them would be ok. The red I would probably take a small loss, but some will pay list for a month old used instead of waiting 2 months. We shall see who the winner is.
Cables I use
WW Silver Sphere HDMI
and
WW Silver Starlight USB
Does anyone care to rate those vs the new 8 series?
1 Like
Thanks for the comments - I do need to add the HoloAudio Red to my list - the specs look pretty good and the price is as well. It is a shame the Airlens is not out yet for consideration.
I upgraded from Silver Sphere to Platinum Starlight HDMI and found an across the board improvement in sonics. The latter is now sitting on the sidelines along with my Matrix) as I wait on the Holo Red. Synergistic Reference USB is now going direct from my Nucleus+ into the DS Mk2 and
Aloha DennyD and all. This may have been covered elsewhere, but couldnât find it. . . I have a Roon Nucleus and the DSD DAC Mk2. Since the Mk2 is Galvanically Isolated on inputs and outputs, would the AirLens still be of benefit?
That is a great question that many want answered. Will there be an improvement in SQ with Airlens vs directly connected to Core.
3 Likes
I canât see any reason to now get the Airlens. My USB connection directly to the MKII from the Nucleus is dead Quiet.
1 Like
1 Like
Welcome to the forum @thad.
There has been some conversations around double galvanic isolation. Some of us have streamers that have USB outputs that are galvanically isolated. Unfortunately in my case my other USB streamer is of lesser quality then the galvanically isolated streamer so I didnât feel the testing was on equal footing.
That said, the double isolation was very good. Far better than a DDC feeding I2S to the MK2.
1 Like
I am still interested in the AirLens. Would help me if it would support NAA. But PS Audio has never responded to my queries or suggestions about how to make it happen. I seem to be almost, though not totally, alone in asking about this anyway.
Connectivity with USB seems more clunky to me. It is ironic, as part of volunteer testing, I put together some playlists to see if I could maximize pops between tracks of vastly different formats and resolutions. SWMBO keeps asking me to âplay that playlist you played the other weekâ. I seem to have fewer track transition problems putting the signal through a bargain DDC (SMSL PO100 PRO) for I2S over HDMI than with straight USB. But the USB sounds better to me (and to my A-B test children). So AirLens could still have a way in. Really need to get some beta test resultsâŚ
In other streaming news: Although the Euphony Stylus software can output to many different endpoints simultaneously, it does not do synchronized multiroom to UPnP endpoints. BUT with WiiM Miniâs, they can be grouped in the WiiM app and appear as one device to Euphony Stylus. So I am in the process of replacing my Raspberry Pi setup with WiiM Minis for multiroom.
2 Likes
Likewise I have asked about LMS/squeezelite.
Iâve no doubt the software was decided on a long time ago (it would be tied to the choice of hardware platform) and DLNA is a âlowest common denominatorâ that most servers/control apps can handle (e.g. LMS requires a plugin to make it a DLNA server).
I would be interested to know what the hardware platform is 
The LMS plug-in for DLNA works quite well.
1 Like