Yeah, all of this is being fed by the Mojo Illuminati V3 power supply, which in itself is highly regarded. I’m wondering if I run this off of the P10? I don’t see why not.
So you’d recommend I keep the core on my Mac Mini and run through the music server? That seems counter intuitive that I’m bringing up the relatively noisy Mini back into the chain.
Ben at Mojo recommends the Ethernet port to the DSD. But then again he scoffs at I2S as a protocol saying it has the potential for too many errors. Sometimes it’s hard to know what to think! 
No if I go with a Music Server like the Deja Vu/Nucleus/NUC I would run Roon Core on them and remove my Mac Mini. Also for me I would try USB to the DSD and Ethernet via the Bridge directly to the DSD to see which one I like.
I heard back from Pink Faun that reports of drop issues with the I2S bridge related to having Intel-Linux-I2S bridge combinations. But Intel-Windows-I2S bridge has been fine, which is what I would do with a NUC with Foobar. They report that AMD has been fine both with Linux and with Windows. They have not heard of anyone actually putting the I2S bridge in a Thunderbolt 3 enclosure attached to a NUC as of yet. But they received the question before, and although they cannot confirm it working, they see no reason why it should not work.
I find it ironic though that we are having this discussion about buying non PS Audio kit on the PS Audio forum. I tried looking through the latest postings relating to Octave, Bridge III and Audio Servers in general, to get a better idea of what PS Audio have in the planning. But I could really do with some updated info to help me wait.
For my part, I’d like to know when PS Audio plan to have what for a digital audio serving product combination that I can put upstream of my SGCD. How it would relate to PCM and DSD containers on NAS servers and SSDs as well as to streaming services like Qobuz und Tidal, as well as to Roon vs. not Roon over WiFi, Ethernet, USB or I2S-HDMI etc I am sure we want to know as part of this. I guess those could be the follow-up questions.
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I use ethernet out from Innuos and the result is excellent.
@umiami91 My Innuos is currently sitting in my office next to my modem, connected by a 1m ethernet cable. The server is connected to my audio system downstairs by a 25m fibre-optic cable. I had it the other way round with the server next to the audio system and there is no difference to the sound, and the unit is fanless anyway.
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From what I understand the noisiest part of the DSD is the Bridge so I would think keeping the Bridge installed in the DSD so you can connect via Ethernet wouldn’t be the cleanest approach.
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For best results, IMO, remove the bridge from your DSD.
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I hate to hear that! I do rather like the bridge functionality with MQA decoding with Tidal. I’ll try both.
Here is what Ben from Mojo says about USB vs Ethernet… “Ethernet is subtlety better in an ultimate sense you are going to be very impressed with either the USB or Ethernet input from this server. You would have to compare the Ethernet to the USB input side-by-side to hear the most subtle of differences.”
I have run my DSD with and without the bridge 2. I find no evidence that removing it improves anything. I also find listening to the bridge 2 enjoyable as well. Normally I listen via Matrix to I2S. But when I want to listen to Tidal MQA switching to the bridge 2 is never a sad thing.
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That’s great to know! I hadn’t thought of using both inputs.
That makes sense. Innuos have a power supply dedicated to the USB output and I think Auralic do the same in the G1. I recall your machine does as well. The result is excellent sound from the USB, and I tried it with a $50 Chord C USB cable - nothing fancy. I happily used a PWD Mk2 DAC with USB and no bridge for several years.
I use ethernet as much because my system’s auto-detection “wake up and play” only works on streams (Roon, Spotify, uPnP, AirPlay), not on usb or RCA signals.
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Well I received my Deja Vu server from Mojo Audio. It is solidly built and low key in an industrial black kind of way, but I like the aesthetic a lot. It set up easily and Ubuntu Linux is bare bones but fairly self explanatory. I just hooked up the main board ethernet port to my router and the PCIE card dual ethernet port to my DSD. I deauthorized Roon on my Mac Mini and selected the core of the DejaVu and I was in business! It worked straight away without a hiccup. Although in typical fashion, I can’t really tell how good this thing sounds since I’m recovering from a cold which progressed to sinusitis and currently have fluid in both ears!! 
I think it might sound better, but I can’t really say at this point. Oh the humanity!! Anyway, I’ll keep ya’ll posted once this stuff clears and I can hear better.
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I’m interested in hearing if you can tell a difference. I have been thinking of replacing my Mac Mini/Roon Core. Seems like a killer unit.
I do the same, but added 2 TP Links and fiberoptic connection for galvanic isolation. -For $100 on Amazon, it makes a nice improvement.
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Considered adding two iFi 9v power supplies for another $100?
I went down that rabbit hole and even added power Uptone LPS power supplies and didn’t notice a lick of difference. In my system, anyway. Only added complexity and decreasing outlets, haha.
OK so my ears have more or less cleared (FINALLY!!) and I’ve given my streamer from Mojo Audio a close listen. All I can say is WOW! It is so much better compared to my Mac Mini, it’s not even funny. The main thing I notice is that there is less congestion with multiple instruments. Everything is better delineated and defined in space. Percussion is also better defined. Congas, for example, on Santana Abraxas ripped MoFi Ultradisc sounds crisper and I can hear more complexity and texture of the hand strikes. Bass is definitely better defined and there is more air and space around cymbals with better decay. All the usual descriptors, haha. I compared with the streamer>ethernet (WireWorld Starlight)>DSD with B2 versus Mac Mini usb (Nordost Blue Heaven USB)>DSD. Yeah, I know not exactly apples to apples, but previously I couldn’t tell a significant difference between ethernet and USB on the Mac Mini, so… I think it’s a valid comparison. I compared identical Tidal streams and ripped vinyl, BTW. And I also noticed that ripped vinyl sounds so good that it’s basically indistinguishable compared to live vinyl. Only careful scrutiny lets my discern which is vinyl versus reproduction. Before it was pretty easy to point out the ripped digital copy.
So for about $4k I got a bulletproof Linux streamer PC with Roon and the universally acclaimed Mojo Illuminati LPS and it absolutely smokes my optimized old Mac Mini, which I had always thought had good SQ. I’d be curious how it stacks up against the Octave when it comes out, but I think I’ll be happy for a long time with this unit. Very happy with Mojo Audio!! Give Ben there a call.
Adam
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I’m sure I missed this somewhere in your post but what is your final/preferred way? Ethernet via the Bridge 2 card?
So the unit had a high end dual ethernet card that according to Ben is far superior to the generic USB port included on the motherboard. He said that if I want I could swap out the ethernet card for a high quality USB that would rival the ethernet but he said that with the DSD he would stick with the ethernet as it is as good or slightly better. He did say that the USB to his own DAC is better than with the DSD. His latest and greatest is the Mystique v3 balanced DAC which is apparently the be all, end all R2R ladder DACs and he swears it’s phenomenal. I’ve read impressive reviews on them, for sure. It’d be interesting to compare!
Anyway to answer your question, I’m sticking with the ethernet>B2 connection since that slot is optimized on this unit, although I haven’t done a direct comparison yet. Not sure if I need to honestly, since it sounds so right! Maybe when I get some time soon…
And to answer another’s question as to how I got such a good deal on this unit and power supply at $4k, I am technically using a refurbished unit, even though the quality of the components is on par with a new Deja Vu.
So Paul’s dropping the news that there is no app coming whatsoever for the AirLens (aka, Octave Streamer) sent me into a frenzy of googling today. Funny that it only brought me here to a thread in which I participated two years ago. Because I am also into multichannel surround (both DSD and FLAC) as well as ATMOS home theatre, I am back to wondering if I should build a NUC with a Pink Faun I2S Bridge to feed stereo to my PS Audio stereo. Not sure how I would push the stereo signal. Maybe using Foobar on the PC with Monkeymote on a phone or tablet. When playing multichannel music or movies, the PC would output via HDMI to a Marantz AVR, which would send the front left and right channels as analog to the PS Audio in home theatre passthrough. Anyone experienced in sending multichannel DSD from a PC to a receiver? A different alternative would be to go multichannel DAC using an exaSound S82. Views?
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