[Whazzzup]

I'm not trying to push this system, antipodes audio ds Gt on anyone but upping the discussion around what player server desktop tech is about. Have I heard it, no. There is no system in my area but the sonic principles and reviews seem positive, but of course hearing from those that have these, by any number of brands will be appreciated.
After talking to various in store audio owners antipodes audio came up as the best. Here is the review of their top line dx system, it's out of my range but the GT is at 90% of capabilities at 1/3 less cost...
https://www.stereophile.com/content/antipodes-dx-reference-music-server

Hope this gets more discussion going

 

[Whazzzup]

also for those unfamiliar with roon core

https://roonlabs.com/howroonworks.html

 

[jcn3]

I'm not trying to push this system, antipodes audio ds Gt on anyone but upping the discussion around what player server desktop tech is about. Have I heard it, no. There is no system in my area but the sonic principles and reviews seem positive, but of course hearing from those that have these, by any number of brands will be appreciated.
After talking to various in store audio owners antipodes audio came up as the best. Here is the review of their top line dx system, it's out of my range but the GT is at 90% of capabilities at 1/3 less cost...
https://www.stereophile.com/content/antipodes-dx-reference-music-server

Hope this gets more discussion going

You definitely seem to be pushing this solution.

You said in your first post that you're streaming at 320k with your Mac. It would certainly be cheaper to simply stop doing that and stream bit perfect.

Of course of you're wedded to this solution then I'm cool with that.

 

[Whazzzup]

You definitely seem to be pushing this solution.

You said in your first post that you're streaming at 320k with your Mac. It would certainly be cheaper to simply stop doing that and stream bit perfect.

Of course of you're wedded to this solution then I'm cool with that.

I guess what i am trying to do, and yes i appreciate any software advice about bit perfect, is what the title of this thread implies. THE BEST DESKTOP PLAYER SERVER FOR YOUR DAC.
now if its your iMac and channel d, pure music, audivarana etc.. then please chime away about your favs. There are a ton of brands like auralic, bryston bdp3, etc... the best in my limited research was a antipodes audio, as part of the desktop separates or all in one solution. I was getting little feedback so i pushed the agenda. the hopes to strive for audio nirvana is the goal, if the whole category of desktop players is an overkill then i would love to hear from those that have tried, if like my research and speaking with various audio experts suggests that there are sonic benefits, folks do concur, then their testimonials are also value. At the very least maybe some lurkers learn something as i have done at the begging of this journey and thus posted links.
The cheapest solution may in fact be best, but for the purpose of discussion budgets are set aside, after all this is the place of dreams.
any rate thanks for the feedback it is much appreciated i just hope we have audiophiles out there in head fi who have sat on both sides of this audio fence, for their opinions.

 

[uzi2]

The auralic mini plus linear power supply is not ten times less than GT and the Aries which could be a comparable is 2.25 times less cost, that is true. The software on auralic is something to be desired and the antipodes system runs roon core.
Quiet is the mantra with whisper ssd drives and solid tech, I'll post a link on research.
Although there was a kerfuffle on software upgrade this in 2017 stock is rectified.
http://www.digitalaudioreview.net/2016/01/antipodes-audio-ds-music-server-review/

There is no point in putting a hard drive in the unit as it's function is to stream from a NAS. When this is in another room it does not matter whether it uses silent SSDs or older spinning discs. My AK100ii will do this with pretty good interface and I'm sure they can be picked up for a fraction of the cost .
My question is why do the streamers provided to match your existing HiFi gear cost so much? Power supply and isolation from electromagnetic interference will be factors in this. They all have DACs which we don't need (this also applies to the portable units).
My conclusion is that the Hugo2poly will be the answer when it becomes available.

 

[Whazzzup]

There is no point in putting a hard drive in the unit as it's function is to stream from a NAS. When this is in another room it does not matter whether it uses silent SSDs or older spinning discs. My AK100ii will do this with pretty good interface and I'm sure they can be picked up for a fraction of the cost .
My question is why do the streamers provided to match your existing HiFi gear cost so much? Power supply and isolation from electromagnetic interference will be factors in this. They all have DACs which we don't need (this also applies to the portable units).
My conclusion is that the Hugo2poly will be the answer when it becomes available.

Antipodes don't have dacs, neither does Bryston, auralic,...many others, naim does tho. The highest quality interface is hd USB to your galvanized USB port for up to 32 bit 784 fr from the ssd. The wifi is for the iPad or iphone as a remote. There are specific hardware advantages to running tidal say through roon core via antipodes.

I'm glad you have identified the slution for your dac. This thread is exploring the concept of the best desktop player server for your dac. Poly may or may not be the best desktop player but it's now on the wall of fame here, as with auralic mini.

The advantages of premium desktop players are many with noise reduction as the goal. The tech is extensive but I'm sure like all things in this hobby the premium is paid by the customer. But here is a brief quote on the tech.

Every stage of an Antipodes digital source is designed to minimise electronic noise, and then the whole is fine-tuned to avoid noise nodes (when two noise sources generate a noise peak at the same frequency). Antipodes expertise in this field is what makes our products sound better. Our unique approach means we can avoid the noise filters used in other products. A perfect square wave needs infinite bandwidth, and noise filters inherently limit bandwidth, impairing impulse response, and thereby damaging the fidelity of the digital signal. This is particularly important for high resolution files that require even wider bandwidth. The result is not just digital without the nasties, but music that captures both the life and the subtle expression in music

 

[ecwl]

For OP, I would argue that the best music streamer should have two requirements: great user interface and great sound quality. I think for people used to iTunes, there is an assumption that the user interface will be great and I often find that not to be true. I have never tried Antipodes so I cannot comment. I did find for a lot of streamers, I'm adapting to its user interface quirks rather than the user interface adapting to me. I personally settled with JRiver and never switched because I just really like JRemote on the iPad.

My suggestion to OP would actually be to try Roon on the iMac first. It seems odd because it has nothing to do with buying the best music streamer. If you enjoy Roon on the iMac as a user interface (and maybe even start subscribing to Tidal HiFi to get even more music or try the Roon for iPad app), you should then buy microRendu or ultraRendu next with the LPS-1 power supply so that you can stream from Roon on your iMac to the microRendu to your DAC. After that, if you enjoy the experience (and maybe the Roon iPad app), you can then buy a separate NAS or pre-built Roon server to transfer all your music from your iMac to your Roon server.

And if you hate the Roon user interface, you can do the exact same thing with JRiver in theory.

If your mind is set for a streamer from Bryston/Auralic/Naim/Antipodes/SoTM, etc. I think you should really try to find a friend or a dealer who can show you the user interface of the streamer and really play with it extensively before committing to it.

 

[Whazzzup]

For OP, I would argue that the best music streamer should have two requirements: great user interface and great sound quality. I think for people used to iTunes, there is an assumption that the user interface will be great and I often find that not to be true. I have never tried Antipodes so I cannot comment. I did find for a lot of streamers, I'm adapting to its user interface quirks rather than the user interface adapting to me. I personally settled with JRiver and never switched because I just really like JRemote on the iPad.

My suggestion to OP would actually be to try Roon on the iMac first. It seems odd because it has nothing to do with buying the best music streamer. If you enjoy Roon on the iMac as a user interface (and maybe even start subscribing to Tidal HiFi to get even more music or try the Roon for iPad app), you should then buy microRendu or ultraRendu next with the LPS-1 power supply so that you can stream from Roon on your iMac to the microRendu to your DAC. After that, if you enjoy the experience (and maybe the Roon iPad app), you can then buy a separate NAS or pre-built Roon server to transfer all your music from your iMac to your Roon server.

And if you hate the Roon user interface, you can do the exact same thing with JRiver in theory.

If your mind is set for a streamer from Bryston/Auralic/Naim/Antipodes/SoTM, etc. I think you should really try to find a friend or a dealer who can show you the user interface of the streamer and really play with it extensively before committing to it.

Thx for that. I guess I could trial roon as that's at the core of the antipodes system running roon remote. I have read positive things from folks about roon. The incremental movement to an out of Mac use is what the solution in binary terms is jumping to. In the ds GT solution the noisy iMac is taken out of play. There is no need to roon the iMac, roon is installed with other proprieatary software right on the GT, its roon core. The idea of quiet player is the rub. Possibly running the noisy iMac is the best value decision, but is it the best?

 

[bmichels]

Question is, will an Aries feeding a Hugo II sound better than a DAP?.

Today at home I have . Aries > HUGO > BHSE > Stax SR009, and I am happy with it but of course I am considering changing my HUGO and then later my Aries for better source to make better justice to my BHSE/Stax

And while waiting, waiting, waiting.... for the perfect DAC (I know, don't laugh at me), the A&K Ultima SP1000 + XLR analog Docking station is an alternative that I will try as soon as I can get a A& SP1000 at home (in july)

 

[Whazzzup]

let us know what happens when you test. A poster on the dave thread through out another desktop solution, innous.

http://www.hifiplus.com/articles/innous-zenith-mkii-music-server/

 

[uzi2]

let us know what happens when you test. A poster on the dave thread through out another desktop solution, innous.

http://www.hifiplus.com/articles/innous-zenith-mkii-music-server/

There's a few more that can be found here

 

[Whazzzup]

Thx for that, there are those antipodes

 

[uzi2]

Thx for that, there are those antipodes

Yes they keep cropping up. Another thing that pushes prices up is a precision clock, which is unnecessary with a Rob Watts' design DAC.
The other decision we need to make is storage, I noticed on one of the Antipodes models you could add 12GB SSD for £7.5k. Using a NAS with HDDs in another room is a huge saving.

 

[Whazzzup]

Yes they keep cropping up. Another thing that pushes prices up is a precision clock, which is unnecessary with a Rob Watts' design DAC.
The other decision we need to make is storage, I noticed on one of the Antipodes models you could add 12GB SSD for £7.5k. Using a NAS with HDDs in another room is a huge saving.

Actually robb stated multiple times no clock is necessary, there are no clocks or dacs on antipode. the ds gt comes with 1 tb standard ssd so does dx and you can order increments above that, my library is 125 gig so lots and lots of room for storage.

 

[uzi2]

Actually robb stated multiple times no clock is necessary, there are no clocks or dacs on antipode. the ds gt comes with 1 tb standard ssd so does dx and you can order increments above that, my library is 125 gig so lots and lots of room for storage.

The description of the Dx is

The best sounding music server available!

Flagship integrated digital audio source, providing the ultimate in digital audio sound quality. By providing your DAC with a high bandwidth, ultra-low-noise, precision-clocked digital signal, your DAC can perform to its full potential.

That suggests a clock to me.