[ArthurPower]

Obviously my "prediction" is dictated by the fact that the Cen Grand streamer will be connected to the Cen Grand DAC with its proprietary connection so whether the USB is there or not it will be useless. And yes, I don't think the streamer will have a connection for an external clock, but that's just my prediction...

You do not have to use the proprietary connection between the DAC and streamer, you can still use USB if you prefer. It will be interesting though to compare USB against the proprietary connection which by the way is called POW and has been patented.

 

[Traiguen]

DSDAC Super Clock is in the house!!!!
Connecting it was super easy, even my RIVO streamer recognized it using AES or USB interfaces.
It is a beautiful silver box which is now connected to my Silver Fox!!!! - This stack is nothing short of glorious.
Some time ahead to break it in, but I am enjoying it right out of the box. I cannot really imagine how much better can this sound get!!!!
Thanks to Arthur at Power Holdings for making it so easy to get these 2 beauties.

 

[project86]

Beautiful setup you have there! That little Volumio box looks intriguing too, will have to read up on it.

Cen.Grand stack plus Caldera is one of my most used combos lately, just so satisfying on so many levels.

 

[Traiguen]

Beautiful setup you have there! That little Volumio box looks intriguing too, will have to read up on it.

Cen.Grand stack plus Caldera is one of my most used combos lately, just so satisfying on so many levels.

Caldera is so amazingly good on this set up that I am considering returning the Susvara!!! (heresy ?) Doing A/B I get just as much pleasure from Caldera. This was unexpected....

 

[project86]

Caldera is so amazingly good on this set up that I am considering returning the Susvara!!! (heresy ?) Doing A/B I get just as much pleasure from Caldera. This was unexpected....

It's not heresy at all - I sold my Susvara a while ago and have not missed it. Caldera helps fill the void, plus there's so many other interesting headphones out there to enjoy. No need to hang on to something if you don't absolutely love it!

 

[Jermi37]

With my Cen Grand DSDAC Deluxe, I feel the unbalanced output (RCA) more dynamic than balanced output ((XLR). I know it's difficult to compare because the level of first is more important than second but it's a big feeling. Do you have the same feeling?

 

[project86]

With my Cen Grand DSDAC Deluxe, I feel the unbalanced output (RCA) more dynamic than balanced output ((XLR). I know it's difficult to compare because the level of first is more important than second but it's a big feeling. Do you have the same feeling?

I have not noticed that but of course it depends on your system or even your cables to some degree. What amp are you using? Some do better with one connection or the other, so that might explain it.

 

[TheMiddleSky]

With my Cen Grand DSDAC Deluxe, I feel the unbalanced output (RCA) more dynamic than balanced output ((XLR). I know it's difficult to compare because the level of first is more important than second but it's a big feeling. Do you have the same feeling?

Could be because of your amplifier. Some Amps by default use single ended input (most Tube Amps), some others use balance input, but still accept RCA then later converted to balance signal (like Silver Fox).

----

Anyway, been 10 days in Japan. Now I'm back on my desktop set up. DSDAC Deluxe, Ultrasonic Amp and ZMF Caldera for the win.

 

[2mas]

People often have different opinions and preferences which are best...

 

[Vincent_Amsterdam]

OK, the ION DAC is simply put in a ‘different league’, but not a 13k increase investment wise. Most noticeable win in performance is adding the reclocker to the DSDAC (even more so than switching DACs)

Maybe interesting for someone: my Ideon Absolute Time (USB reclocker) is up for sale. Send me a DM for info.

 

[leylandi]

 

[Traiguen]

My Silver Fox just got a new companion.... an OTL Amp to server as a Pre-Amp and provide an interesting "twist" to the sound!. Very, very enjoyable & beautiful to look at.

 

[project86]

Nice!

Decware makes great stuff, and I imagine the contrast between those two amps is big enough to make them both worthwhile under specific circumstances.

 

[Aibek]

The Innuos ZENith Mk3 server was paired with a CEN.grand DSDAC 1.0 Deluxe DAC, a Flux Lab Acoustics Volot headphone amplifier, and DCA Stealth headphones.
The sound from ZENith is very good, I would say a wonderful musical sound, so pleasant, free (not tiring) and dynamic. The peculiarity of the ZENith sound for my ears is its saturation - expressed in the richness of the sound without loss of realism (naturalness).

The sound became more defined, the bass was emphasized, the level of detail rose slightly, and the resolution received the highest marks, the stereo effect became more noticeable. What’s most interesting is that the sound “s” now sounds the same as other sounds, i.e. not emphasized

Let's wait for CEN.grand GLD1.0 media player.

 

[Jake2]

oh yes,

it would be even difficult for me to say what gives a greater increase to the sound. LHY uip alone or ock-2 as an addition to uip.

and perhaps I would lean towards the second variant. Apparently the clock inside ock-2 is much better than what is standard ocxo in most of LHY devices.

Thanks for this feedback. I ordered an LHY UIP and it arrived today. I don't have a CenGrand DAC though I enjoy following this thread and it is a leading contender for when I am in a position to upgrade.

My experiences mirror yours with the UIP, I hope folk don't mind me sharing them here in case it is useful - there is no other thread in which it has been discussed to any extent.

(Happy to move this comment to somewhere more appropriate and link to it to if need be)

The UIP isolator by itself is very effective, the first DDC type device that gave my externally clocked DAC's LAN input /internal HQPlayer NAA renderer a run for its money, even direct from my modest, and likely not the quietest, Mac Mini M1 Roon/HQP server. A more saturated and full bodied sound than my DAC's NAA and much more so than say the Gustard U18 DDC (always a little grainy and edgy to my ear even externally clocked), if perhaps a touch overly warm and smooth vs the former at the cost of a tiny bit of resolution and transient impact. But very enjoyable, a lovely natural aound. Previously anything connected to my DAC's USB input was thinner and more grainy than the LAN input/internal streamer even when using the couple of USB isolators in series I refer below.

Adding the OCK-2 to the UIP improved the scale and resolution of its sound - both soundstage and transients/dynamics - significantly, but whilst retaining most of the saturation and body. Quite the step up again I concur. The internal OCXO must be rather modest vs the OCK-2's, but how interesting to hear such a sonic delta from clocking for an asynchronous data source - twas beyond my expectation, even having experienced the benefit of OCXO switches.

Adding a couple more USB isolators in series at the server end before the USB cable to the UIP increased the refinement and focus further - a modest AliX USB galvanic isolator feeding a Holo Titanis USB regenerator. Then powering the AliX isolator with an IFI Power X was another incremental step up, further adding a DC iPurifier2 inline to reduce the ripple on the X's 5v supply to negligible levels produced the best sound yet. Super refined, lovely and expansive, but retaining that body and sweetness.

This with the just the stock power cable to the UIP and no vibration damping or grounding. Gothic Audio SemperFi Outsider pure silver USB cable to DAC. From my experience tweaking LHY's other products that share the one piece alloy chassis, Talema LPS and DC filtering stages there is almost certainly still a decent amount of untapped potential in the UIP waiting to be unlocked.

I'd love to hear an Innuous Phoenix USB as a point of reference. I'd like to think my USB chain gets a lot closer to it than any sub $1k (OK, $1.5k if you include the OCK-2) USB regeneration setup has any right to.

OT ends /

Thanks for your time and hopefully of some interest. Rock on.