You have often posted about wanting to buy only Stellar level and Stellar-Looking products.
Yes that is right. But if you read the posts carefully there is talk about a Stellat Octave server, it was kind of announced in a different thread too. It would be great to benefit from the I2S input, connected to a native I2S source, as opposed to a USB to I2S converter. One of the reasons I bought the Stellar Gain Cell DAC. I did read most Threads about Octave, but I couldnāt put it all together, so I posted the questions which are satisfactory answered. Especially that the servers are under direct control of PS Audio and that they keep developing with the I2S interface.
Hope this explains.
@Paulās replies to @Rudolf_Appelās questions included:
How proprietary the software is, does it interface with other music servers, or a we buying into PS Audios Recordings only?
Paul did not answer, but this is a basic feature of servers to index libraries elsewhere on the network and for files stored in Octave to be indexed by other streamers on the network. Unless you have these features, you cannot have a single music library for one house/property with more than one system in it.
The software I thought is clever is Lightning DS on Auralic devices, because you can attach any size or type of usb hard drive and the software makes it a network visible drive, so you can have one library of effectively unlimited size visible over the whole network.
The Octave software will not be better than Roon, it will be different. As I explained above, Roon is primarily multi-user music distribution software that has a pretty good player and streaming manager. It is certainly not the best, and the search facility is mediocre, but the overall package is pretty much unique.
Itās fairly obvious, but the reason why Roon is so popular is because people with 2 or more systems usually have systems from different manufacturers. So such people, like me wants software that works on all systems.
Auralic dealt with the multi-system issue by building the Aries Mini, a streaming DAC that can have a usb drive user-fitted inside and networked, sounded great and the thing cost under $500. So it was a very sensible option for a 2nd or 3rd system, and it worked off the same app as your main system.
Roon allows you to switch playing/paused music from one system to another, Auralic Lightning does not.
ā¦ The option is to use uPnP, a player like Bubble that can attach any number of network libraries, so long as your server or streamer has uPnP capability.
Uh, jeebus, Steven - actally didnāt really read all of the above, butā¦take a pill. The whole, āYou, Paul McG, are clearly so much less informed than I am, and BTW, we Brits have sorted this all out 50 years agoā thing, is getting old.
I do not know how popular Roon is in overall terms, I know no one personally who has it, but my impression is most who have Roon do so because of the interface.
I have multiple systems and care not a whit whether they all can access a single library.
@Elk - I have (3) systems that access a single library and care about this a lot. I walk into one room and in seconds continue listening to the same song or any song in that library or streaming service. I know quite a few that have my view of multiple systems from multiple manufactures all tied together with a common platform. Since I could care less how you listen to music, I do care how I like to construct systems. It comes down to each personās personal preference; however, donāt think for a minute you view is the most common. Hey - we need a poll on this one!
I do not doubt this; stevensegal already stated this is important to him.
But I suspect Roon is popular more for its GUI, the point I am making.
Sheesh. This is a bit unpleasant. Nerve struck?
But at least you ācould care less.ā If you could care less, this means you care at least a little. 
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@Elk - all good and I get itā¦ that is what is great about being an audiophile. There are so many different ways to construct systems and pick manufactures. Roon is one platform, there are many. I have zero illusion it is the best. We have this battle at work all the time MOSA versus proprietary SW architectureā¦ for the uninitiated: Modular Open Software Architectureā¦ some refer to it as Modular Open System Approachā¦
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So - interesting point, as far as it goes. None of us essentially care one way or another what Steven or Elk or Cardri or I prefer in this regard, and what a given system does or does not do.
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Actually I am very interested in Cardriās USB cable shootout results.
I also feel similar to Badbeef about how some folks speak from on high when in fact, they do not.
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Al
An interested cable to try if you have extra USB ports like you do on the PTS is the Triode Wire Labs split power and data cable. And the price is fair.
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Steven was just clarifying differences in server functions between different server options. I Actually found it informative.
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I do, putting a library together with metadata allowing playlists to be grouped and having all cover arts in place is a lot of āworkā. I find it very useful to access the music in every room in a similar way, that is, if I donāt decide to put the disk on. Which, if I am in the mood is still much more of an occasion than selecting one of the thousands of songs from a smartphone library.
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Funny you should mention this, as the PTS has so many USB ports I recently bought a Audiocadabra Ultimus3 USB cable. It too is multi headed. I use it to connect to a Chord Qutest I couldnāt resist. I will read up on the Triod Labs cable. Thanks!
There are tons of USB cable threads on this forum, this thread says āOctave Questionsā in the title.
As if you ever pay attention.
Yes sir!
Please forgive my insolence!
Maybe not always, but I do, and if I donāt I am told likewise.
According to the web, a server is āa computer or computer program which manages access to a centralized resource or service in a networkā.
If the Octave unit cannot manage an external music library, or provide network access to its internal library, it is not a server. It would be a streamer.
I referred many times to it as a server/streamer because it remains unclear what it is. I posted above because Paul demurred on whether it is a server or not.
Many people have a server and want their streamer to be able to access it, and others want a streamer that acts as a server.
Donāt know what itās got to do with Brits, the best software Iāve used is Lightning and last time I looked Auralic was Taiwanese. I assume Roon is American, I have no idea.