[johnjen]

Progress report on my full mod traction-action on my RN3.
 
I added a SRQ slowblow fuse, added a WAQy chip to the fuse and added a transformer chip in the SMPS and the silver goo'd a bunch of known useful spots.
 
After ≈100hrs+ the SQ is rising and being able to hear these sorts of changes at this early a stage is most telling.
 
For instance I heard the air handling system kick in during a 'quiet' passage of a Grieg piano concerto.
 
I would say that being able to hear this, and easily identify it for what it was is 'Better' in my book.
 
JJ

 

[jabbr]

Something is just not right in that pic .. some of you guys are replacing the old, awful 5devices+20cables Usb chain with a 5devices&10cables Ethernet chain. Why oh why?!
And those Usb thingies were at least small and not so hard to hide. The new Aoip chain is a monster .. made of chritmas-trees-of-leds. The WAF on that stuff is probably strongly negative .. even most IT server racks rooms look better than that stack.

Experimenting is good and fun .. and in the end is your money, your ears, your choice .. but still, that stuff has no future in a living room

 
Well the sound quality is vastly better than the USB chain, so there is a lot to be gained.
 
Further it requires just some skills in stacking & hiding.
All this does require a proper Hifi rack though.
It is a definite no go just stacking a lot of devices directly on top of each other, the radiation among the devices will have an impact as well, so should  be avoided or managed.

 

[prot]

Hahahahahahahahaha…

And that's a 'simple' stack…

Wait till the dual Mutecs with a word and 10M clock and a pair of TP-Link FMC's and a Rnx, are all stacked up…


Bwuuhahahahahahaha

JJ  :atsmile:

Well, for anyone reading this thread it's clear that the pic is quite 'simple'. Didnt even want to mention the extra clocks, fibre-eth converters, the tens of "must" have LPSes, gold power cables, diamond fuses and groundboxes filled with the sand of audiogods.

Many of you guys are doing a great job riding the Aoip trend. But you gotta remember that this stuff should be used by people with eyes .. and spouses .. and wallets .. and limited time.
The connection between a transport and a Dac should be a cable .. *not* an awfull, mega expensive rack full of leds!
The only good news around here are those ravenna-to-i2s boards by Mivera-Audio. Hope they'll work as expected and will be followed by many similar.

 

[jabbr]

Well, for anyone reading this thread it's clear that the pic is quite 'simple'. Didnt even want to mention the extra clocks, fibre-eth converters, the tens of "must" have LPSes, gold power cables, diamond fuses and groundboxes filled with the sand of audiogods.

Many of you guys are doing a great job riding the Aoip trend. But you gotta remember that this stuff should be used by people with eyes .. and spouses .. and wallets .. and limited time.
The connection between a transport and a Dac should be a cable .. *not* an awfull, mega expensive rack full of leds!
The only good news around here are those ravenna-to-i2s boards by Mivera-Audio. Hope they'll work as expected and will be followed by many similar.

I don't think my stack looks bad at all, at least my wife doesn't think so. Even though there is a RedNet and a master clock in the stack.
The DAC and the Mutec all nicely put out of view
 

 

[johnjen]

snip
Many of you guys are doing a great job riding the Aoip trend. But you gotta remember that this stuff should be used by people with eyes .. and spouses .. and wallets .. and limited time.
The connection between a transport and a Dac should be a cable .. *not* an awfull, mega expensive rack full of leds!
snip

That certainly is one way to view all of this activity.
 
Another is when all of this AOIP gets sorted out, there will probably be no box, just a CAT6 cable from the computer to the dac, or perhaps just a single box the size of, lets say the Mutec feeding our dacs.
 
And what we're doing is helping to set the parameters that have a direct and significant impact on the SQ.
We're the guinea pigs, the envelope pushers, those who dare to 'find out', and get to listen to some killer tunes while we're at it… 

 
JJ

 

[jabbr]

....
The connection between a transport and a Dac should be a cable .. *not* an awfull, mega expensive rack full of leds!
.....

Until the ideal transport is designed and the ideal, most perfect and suits-everybody DAC is invented, there will never be just a transport with just a cable to the DAC solution.

The Mivera devices are an interesting development, but are a multi-box and multi cable solution as well and still have to prove themselves.

 

[mourip]

Something is just not right in that pic .. some of you guys are replacing the old, awful 5devices+20cables Usb chain with a 5devices&10cables Ethernet chain. Why oh why?!
And those Usb thingies were at least small and not so hard to hide. The new Aoip chain is a monster .. made of chritmas-trees-of-leds. The WAF on that stuff is probably strongly negative .. even most IT server racks rooms look better than that stack.

Experimenting is good and fun .. and in the end is your money, your ears, your choice .. but still, that stuff has no future in a living room

 
I can only speak for myself but my only goals are sound quality and sharing what I learn with others. So far just adding a D16 beat out a well conceived USB chain and that is a simple solution, more so than the USB chain with LPS etc.. Adding the Mutec and an Antelope boosts SQ way beyond that. I doubt that any of us are overly concerned about appearance at this point and certainly none are thinking about ourselves as pioneers for creating a product to sell...just enjoying feeling the thrill of discovery.
 
BTW. Perhaps you might say ".. but still, that stuff has no future in MY living room." 
 
Perhaps we can revive your spirit of adventure?

 

[mourip]

  I don't think my stack looks bad at all, at least my wife doesn't think so. Even though there is a RedNet and a master clock in the stack.
The DAC and the Mutec all nicely put out of view
 

 
Nicely laid out. Luckily I have a cabinet with doors but with an open back to let heat out. It is getting crowded though...

 

[rb2013]

Something is just not right in that pic .. some of you guys are replacing the old, awful 5devices+20cables Usb chain with a 5devices&10cables Ethernet chain. Why oh why?!
And those Usb thingies were at least small and not so hard to hide. The new Aoip chain is a monster .. made of chritmas-trees-of-leds. The WAF on that stuff is probably strongly negative .. even most IT server racks rooms look better than that stack.

Experimenting is good and fun .. and in the end is your money, your ears, your choice .. but still, that stuff has no future in a living room

"The new Aoip chain is a monster .. made of chritmas-trees-of-leds. The WAF on that stuff is probably strongly negative..."
 
Oh you got that right.  Wifey is not a happy camper right now.  Add in a big silver Antelope with glaring SR window.
 
The good news is we are all set for Christmas decorations...I see red, blue, green, yellow, more red leds lit up all over the place.

 

[rb2013]

   
no wonder. if Rednet can come out with a strip down version (with external PS option) at USD 400 it will sell like Pokemon Go.

I will come eventually.  Watch XMOS.
 

  I am getting a fuse for digital equipment, will a hifi tuning supreme "slow blow" fit for rednet ?

Don't forget vibration control and isolation - this made a nice improvement on the Mutec and Antelope.  I use plastic cans filled with BB's on top for weight and vibracones and feet underneath.
 
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Daisy-6000ct-BB-Ammo/15729973

 

[gldgate]

  "The new Aoip chain is a monster .. made of chritmas-trees-of-leds. The WAF on that stuff is probably strongly negative..."
 
Oh you got that right.  Wifey is not a happy camper right now.  Add in a big silver Antelope with glaring SR window.
 
The good news is we are all set for Christmas decorations...I see red, blue, green, yellow, more red leds lit up all over the place.

​Ha. Have to keep a sense of humor about this stuff. From an audio perspective we are the crazy uncle people want to keep upstairs away from "normal" people. But hey, it's still a lot of fun.

 

[rb2013]

  Progress report on my full mod traction-action on my RN3.
 
I added a SRQ slowblow fuse, added a WAQy chip to the fuse and added a transformer chip in the SMPS and the silver goo'd a bunch of known useful spots.
 
After ≈100hrs+ the SQ is rising and being able to hear these sorts of changes at this early a stage is most telling.
 
For instance I heard the air handling system kick in during a 'quiet' passage of a Grieg piano concerto.
 
I would say that being able to hear this, and easily identify it for what it was is 'Better' in my book.
 
JJ

You forgot a few of these...SR HFT's

 

[rb2013]

Well, for anyone reading this thread it's clear that the pic is quite 'simple'. Didnt even want to mention the extra clocks, fibre-eth converters, the tens of "must" have LPSes, gold power cables, diamond fuses and groundboxes filled with the sand of audiogods.

Many of you guys are doing a great job riding the Aoip trend. But you gotta remember that this stuff should be used by people with eyes .. and spouses .. and wallets .. and limited time.
The connection between a transport and a Dac should be a cable .. *not* an awfull, mega expensive rack full of leds!
The only good news around here are those ravenna-to-i2s boards by Mivera-Audio. Hope they'll work as expected and will be followed by many similar.

Well in theory you are right - but the ears don't lie...and mine are telling me that all this evelope pushing has really paid off..and you forgot the Graphene power cords.

 
Here would be my current ratings and rankings (the numbers are just a relative number - they are not percentages).  The Breeze Audio (Talema) DU-U8 = 100
 
Obviously these are my subjective ratings YMMV - and yes I have owned (had a loaner) all these for an extended period of time:
 
REDNET 3/Cerious Graphene/Mutec 3+ USB (SPDIF)/Antelope OCX (RN wClock)           270
REDNET 3/Cerious/Mutec 3+ USB/Audience au24 se digital cable                               250
REDNET 3/Cerious/Mutec 3+ USB (SPDIF reclocker)/AS Sliver Statement dig cable        240
REDNET 3/Cerious Power Cord                                                                              220
Singxer F-1 DC30W/Cerious/Recovery/DCiPur/ iPur2/Startech GB LAN Iso USB              170
Mutec 3+ Smart Clock USB/Cerious Power Cord                                                       155
Singxer F-1 DC30W/Cerious/Recovery/DCiPur/ iPur2                                                 145
PUC2 Lite TeraDak DC30W/Cerious/Regen                                                              135
Singxer F-1 DC30W/Cerious                                                                                  135
DXIO Silver/TeraDak DC-30W/Cerious                                                                    130
Singxer X-1 DC30W/Cerious/Recovery/DCiPur/iPur2                                                  125
PUC2 Lite - USB power                                                                                        110
Singxer F-1  Stock feed                                                                                        110
Breeze/Cerious Graph/WBT RCA Nexgen                                                                 109
Breeze DU-U8 with Cerious Graphene                                                                     108
 Breeze DU-U8 (Talema version)                                                                           100
Breeze DU-U8 (BingZi version)                                                                               95
Hydra Z with LPS                                                                                                  92
Melodious MX-U8 (upgraded caps)                                                                           85
Melodious MX-U8 (stock)                                                                                        81
Gustard U12 (upgraded caps)                                                                                  76
Gustard U12 stock                                                                                                 72
iDAC DAC2 (used as a DDC)                                                                                    65
Musiland USB3.0 US Dragon                                                                                    65
M2Tech EVO with LPS                                                                                            60
Audiophileo 2  USB Power                                                                                       50
M2Tech Hiface                                                                                                       40
 
Note the two major leaps - one by adding the ICRON/Startech GB LAN Iso Audio USB Extender into the chain.  Then the bigger leap away from USB completely to the REDNET3 Dante AES67 AOIP.  The Mutec 3+ did not help as an ext Word Clock to the RD3 - but after the RD3 as a SPDIF reclocker - excellent.

 

[rb2013]

 
​Ha. Have to keep a sense of humor about this stuff. From an audio perspective we are the crazy uncle people want to keep upstairs away from "normal" people. But hey, it's still a lot of fun.

Boy you got that right.  But then I was talking to my neighbor who just had to spend $35k for new sails for his boat - that he uses a dozen times a year - and his is not a rich man.  So it's all relative I guess.
 
My hope on the BURL project is to combine the DANTE Brooklyn II with a great DAC - that would at least elminate two boxes.  No need for the Mutec or the RN.
 
http://tapeop.com/reviews/gear/79/b2-bomber-adc-dac/
 

Next the B2 DAC travelled uptown to the mastering room of Howie Weinberg at Masterdisc to spend time with Matthew Agoglia. Matt ran the Burl through its paces against their DCS DAC, which they clock off of an Antelope Audio 10M (Tape Op #68). Keep in mind that the DCS cost about $10,000 fifteen years ago and has been a standard in mastering studios for well over a decade. On top of that, the Antelope system runs close to $8000. “Overall, the Burl (whether clocked to the 10M or internally) has a more neutral, smooth and transparent character compared to our DCS. The DCS has a color in its midrange, a tightness in the bass, and a subtle crispness in the highs. We could say that the DCS is more curvy, sounding different in different areas of the frequency spectrum, while the Burl is very smooth and linear, sounding very similar throughout the frequency spectrum. In particular, the Burl’s low end was actually a bit more extended, with sub frequencies a bit clearer, while the DCS had a very pleasant low end focused around 80–120 Hz. The Burl also sounds a bit wider than the DCS. When clocking the DCS off the Antelope 10M, we get that larger-than-life sound that some describe as “hype” — not necessarily a bad thing in mastering because you don’t end up adding too much EQ or other processing to achieve your results. I wondered if I might be inclined to EQ/process more with the Burl handling my DAC duties because I’d want to hear more excitement. Note that when I clocked the Burl to the 10M, it definitely took on more of the excitement I heard with the DCS, bringing the two converters closer in sound. Please keep in mind that we are talking subtle differences here. The Burl at $2500 is a bargain!” 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Burl-Audio-BKII-card-for-B2-DAC-Burl-Audio-BKII-card-for-B2-DAC/401156764482?_trksid=p2047675.c100011.m1850&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D37470%26meid%3D23531578409746d49a18ea3a0928c8dd%26pid%3D100011%26rk%3D5%26rkt%3D7%26sd%3D131803551395

 

[wushuliu]

Made an interesting accidental discovery today. My Blu-ray player broke this week, so I decided to take a look at the oppo players and noticed that the 103 and 105 players are capable of ethernet streaming including using servers and renderers like kazoo and foobar etc. unfortunately there do not seem to be many people who use these players with ethernet streaming, it's mostly USB inputs that are used. But I figured what the hell I love Oppo products and miss my old DVD player so why not try this out. For a movie buff like me any reason to have an oppo is a good one.




So I ordered one from Amazon yesterday and it arrived this morning. A 103. Set up was easy and I used the basic server retrieval option. After a few minutes I got playback going from my PC through ethernet to the oppo and then coaxial out to my DAC. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the sound quality is pretty darn good. I'm going to give it some time to burn in, but so far I think it sounds promising. Now does it sound as good as the rednet 3? Not quite. There is a little bit of a hardness to the sound and it's not quite as wide a soundstage. However to my ears I think the noise floor may actually be lower than what I hear on the rednet 3. I will have to of course listen further and compare some more. But the sound quality difference between the two at this time is not that huge.

Another appealing factor of the oppo is that it is not too hard for a DIY person like myself to either buy a replacement linear power supply or build one for the oppo. There are several companies that offer replacement linear power supplies for not overly expensive amount of money. There are even clock replacement options.

The main take away from this experience as we have learned already so far is that ethernet just trounces USB. There is such a difference in the lack of digital hash and grain and fatigue once you use ethernet. So for those who are considering a budget option to the rednet3, an Oppo may be worth considering. Of course the upgrade options are more limited but again as a budget option at half the price I think it's pretty impressive so far.

Edit: sorry for the damn auto correct spelling errors, should make more sense now.