[mantraone]

I’ve had the DI 24HE since yesterday. I immediately connected him and the Gustard r26 to my master clock Afterdark. Very happy like that

nice! but No DSD files management via I2s or it works?

 

[Dusan]

Carino! ma nessuna gestione dei file DSD tramite I2 o funziona?

Ti rispondo in italiano no, non ancora testato il DSD

 

[mantraone]

Ti rispondo in italiano no, non ancora testato il DSD

ti ho scritto un messaggio privato, penso sia meglio...

 

[Jake2]

Hi all, it's the start of the work day here so only brief comments in response to qns for now:
- prelim enthusiastic impressions, will listen more in coming days (edit - also been getting over illness last month which impacted my hearing, pretty much back to normal now so don’t think it impacted these impressions as we’re not talking minor/subtle diffs here, but another reason to take a bit more time)
- will try ahead of U18 and SU6
- will remove and add back upstream isolators
- will try with Zen Stream as well as direct from my Mac Mini M1 (used for initial impressions), and eventually the Afterdark Rosanna Diretta.

To be fair to the U18 the comments were not based on a direct comparison yet but on AB of R26 NAA vs USB input/UIP and my well established existing pecking order after a lot of ABing:

SU6 < U18 (+ OCK-2) << R26 LAN (OCK-2)

..where prelim impressions I described above are LHY UIP (OCK-2) >> R26 LAN (OCK-2)

And finally I'd just note it's not only owners of modest Gustard DACs (with limited if any USB isolation) noting these improvements, there's a Meitner MA3 ($10k) owner with a rave review and multiple positive CenGrand DSDDac Deluxe ($6k) owners, both of which I'd expect to have pretty solid USB sections.. not bad for a $500 device.

Catch you later.

Cheers
Jake

 

[OCC7N]

Bridges/reclockers are the new rabbithole. I love them and want them all

I am even building my own on the network chain

 

[Jake2]

Bridges/reclockers are the new rabbithole. I love them and want them all

I am even building my own on the network chain

Something like this perchance? it'd match your X1 quite nicely...

My mission this month is to finish setting the damn thing up, if only it didn't take a degree in rocket science.

 

[Jake2]

What kind of computer/streamer do you use?

Hi Fred, for those initial impressions I was just going direct from my Mac Mini. Having used the R26 NAA internal streamer for the last while I had no other streamers setup (Zen was packed away and Rosanna was waiting patiently for a rainy day/month). The fact the UIP directly connected to a noisy non-optimised server (ok, it has a ground box and a bit of damping etc) beat the SW-8 fed R26 (+OCK-2)'s internal streamer, which in turn had comfortably trumped the Zen Stream - U18 (+OCK-2) - i2S - R26 chain was pretty impressive out of the gates. In the past anything Mac-directly-connected was at the bottom of the pecking order, even with the Holo Titanis USB regenerator in the mix which narrowed the gap quite a bit (the V1 Titanis, as reviewed and rated by Hans Beekhuyzen, as distinct from the V2 board in the Spring and May). Ie. Mac - Titanis - U18 not as good as the Zen Stream - U18.

So pretty confident there's more potential to be unlocked once the UIP is hooked up to a good streamer.

 

[OCC7N]

Something like this perchance? it'd match your X1 quite nicely...

My mission this month is to finish setting the damn thing up, if only it didn't take a degree in rocket science.

Yes I will be using my X1 for the DIY bridge. It will also have a share for NAS file playback. I will receive the Broadcom NICs today. I have heard rumours broadcom chips sounds great. Maybe thats why Afterdark also likes/mods the R7000

Hmm what do you have in that box?

I like AfterDark and have the S1 in mind also.

 

[Jake2]

Yes I will be using my X1 for the DIY bridge. It will also have a share for NAS file playback. I will receive the Broadcom NICs today. I have heard rumours broadcom chips sounds great. Maybe thats why Afterdark also likes/mods the R7000

Hmm what do you have in that box?

I like AfterDark and have the S1 in mind also.

Nice. It is a largely empty box tbh - I took the lid off a while back, just a few pretty CF boards with the streamer on one and the networking stuff on another down one end. No internal clock or power supply, both required externally. It's this guy, got it as part of an AS group buy.

https://www.adark.co/products/afterdark-project-clayx-rosanna-diretta-network-bridge

 

[OCC7N]

Nice. It is a largely empty box tbh - I took the lid off a while back, just a few pretty CF boards with the streamer on one and the networking stuff on another down one end. No internal clock or power supply, both required externally. It's this guy, got it as part of an AS group buy.

https://www.adark.co/products/afterdark-project-clayx-rosanna-diretta-network-bridge

Ooh. It is the diretta part thats challenging setup?

 

[sajunky]

Bridges/reclockers are the new rabbithole. I love them and want them all

I am even building my own on the network chain

Reclockers? LOL
I told you guys about new generation of USB isolator chips, you didn't listen.

And now there is an example of a decent quality DAC +clock system with a direct (non-isolated) USB port. Even inserting a DDC do not make it better than a cleaned up network connection. On the first look, a combination is OT in this thread, but I think it is relevant.

I know you are trying network route, so I suggest to wait and listen....

 

[sajunky]

Ooh. It is the diretta part thats challenging setup?

Where is dislike button?

 

[Jake2]

Ooh. It is the diretta part thats challenging setup?

Yes, I have had it embarrassingly long time now, and after an initial attempt over a couple of weeks getting it going on Windows but not via the optimised Gentooplayer which is the complex bit I put it in the too hard basket for a wee while. Weeks turned into months, 2023 turned into 2024 etc. I have a job all day on PC in the office so it’s not relaxation for me to spend hours on end night after night trying to troubleshoot this stuff. With the arrival of the UIP, now’s the time for a take 2. Wish me luck.

 

[OCC7N]

Yes, I have had it embarrassingly long time now, and after an initial attempt over a couple of weeks getting it going on Windows but not via the optimised Gentooplayer which is the complex bit I put it in the too hard basket for a wee while. Weeks turned into months, 2023 turned into 2024 etc. I have a job all day on PC in the office so it’s not relaxation for me to spend hours on end night after night trying to troubleshoot this stuff. With the arrival of the UIP, now’s the time for a take 2. Wish me luck.

When I decide for diretta I will have to match two identical pc for A/B.

Only part that is bothering me is the way they treat the licensing. To answer that I use this

Where is dislike button?

 

[FredA]

Hi Fred, for those initial impressions I was just going direct from my Mac Mini. Having used the R26 NAA internal streamer for the last while I had no other streamers setup (Zen was packed away and Rosanna was waiting patiently for a rainy day/month). The fact the UIP directly connected to a noisy non-optimised server (ok, it has a ground box and a bit of damping etc) beat the SW-8 fed R26 (+OCK-2)'s internal streamer, which in turn had comfortably trumped the Zen Stream - U18 (+OCK-2) - i2S - R26 chain was pretty impressive out of the gates. In the past anything Mac-directly-connected was at the bottom of the pecking order, even with the Holo Titanis USB regenerator in the mix which narrowed the gap quite a bit (the V1 Titanis, as reviewed and rated by Hans Beekhuyzen, as distinct from the V2 board in the Spring and May). Ie. Mac - Titanis - U18 not as good as the Zen Stream - U18.

So pretty confident there's more potential to be unlocked once the UIP is hooked up to a good streamer.

Yes. Especially an ext. clocked streamer like the ustars c19. I think the UIP could also be beneficial in my setup. It could likely make the usb signal even more silent. When you reach a great level of silence, every little thing makes a difference. For instance, i have a Zerozone pt-500 to feed my sw8 and usbridge sig (used as file server) and I just replaced the Aucharm receptacles in it by Copper Colour Berylium ones. This made a clear difference. I can't be sure at this point but I think they are as good or better than the Oraide r0s. Crazy hobby.