[kumar402]

I actually did try the whole fiber optic media conversion, I could just never get the streamer to work well, so I decided to go the USB route
I read good things about the C2 thats why I mentioned it. Although the LMR-400 are talked about here, I could not really find any good reviews
I agree, I also read about plugging directly into the wall, but I dont have enough outlets for all those components. I read good reviews of this furman elite 15 dmi unit

Which streamer have you tried and what issue did you face? May be we can help here

 

[mikeypas]

Which streamer have you tried and what issue did you face? May be we can help here

For academic discussion: I was using my Audirvana on my imac to stream to the R26.
Sometimes played beautifully, other times massive dropouts.
Audirvana also couldn't seem to keep up with what the R26 was playing (in terms of what song was playing, how many minutes have been playing etc)
I connected the R26 directly to my router, as well as the imac.
I tried the fiber optic converters as well - the current discussion with the fiber has people buying equipment almost close to the price of the r26!

I said for academic reasons because I've already invested in the U18, cabling etc., and am quite happy with sound, but of course, would like to tweak it a bit more with a clock. (possibly the line conditioner too?)

 

[kumar402]

Old Audirvana always had issue with UPnP. Not sure if they have improved with new version.

 

[Dandoudou]

For academic discussion: I was using my Audirvana on my imac to stream to the R26.
Sometimes played beautifully, other times massive dropouts.
Audirvana also couldn't seem to keep up with what the R26 was playing (in terms of what song was playing, how many minutes have been playing etc)
I connected the R26 directly to my router, as well as the imac.
I tried the fiber optic converters as well - the current discussion with the fiber has people buying equipment almost close to the price of the r26!

I said for academic reasons because I've already invested in the U18, cabling etc., and am quite happy with sound, but of course, would like to tweak it a bit more with a clock. (possibly the line conditioner too?)

The problems that you have are dues to Audirvana that is not a reliable UPNP player.

 

[mikeypas]

I agree with everyone! I tried A3.5 and A-origin. Anyway, that's my setup and therefore I chose the USB pathway.

 

[Jake2]

There's been debate on this. At first I did the slave through the U but felt I wasn't hearing all the goodness clocks have been hyped up to add. To test clocking my X26P directly as well, I ordered a cheap as I could find 50ohm Belden cable. I immediately heard what the clock hype was about. Ordered a LMR-400 cable type to replace the cheapy Belden.

I did the same with my R26. No question that slaving first U18 and then later R26 with OCK-1 brought additive improvements in my system. Very easy to toggle clock on/off with R26 via the remote. I use two C2 cables too. But I can't disagree with @Highfive99 that they're pricey. They're still the best cable of four I've tried and I've tried a particular highly recommended LMR400. Difference may be further burn in on LMR400 needed or a clock synergy thing. Sine is what I use as it sounds clearly better than square.

If I was going to spend C2 money now I'd look at the, IIRC correctly, slightly more expensive silver 50ohm cable that @FredA said on the MasterClock thread beats the C2 (and by extension the LMR400 he also has) by some margin. I am considering trying one.

 

[mikeypas]

I did the same with my R26. No question that slaving first U18 and then later R26 with OCK-1 brought additive improvements in my system. Very easy to toggle clock on/off with R26 via the remote. I use two C2 cables too. But I can't disagree with @Highfive99 that they're pricey. They're still the best cable of four I've tried and I've tried a particular highly recommended LMR400. Difference may be further burn in on LMR400 needed or a clock synergy thing. Sine is what I use as it sounds clearly better than square.

If I was going to spend C2 money now I'd look at the, IIRC correctly, slightly more expensive silver 50ohm cable that @FredA said on the MasterClock thread beats the C2 (and by extension the LMR400 he also has) by some margin. I am considering trying one.

Interesting that you, as well as many others, state you prefer the Sine output. When I emailed Gustard they recommended the Square, but did state its a matter of taste.

 

[Jake2]

Interesting that you, as well as many others, state you prefer the Sine output. When I emailed Gustard they recommended the Square, but did state its a matter of taste.

I expect it is very clock dependent. A scope snapshot of an OCK-1's square wave output over at Audiophilestyle had a very jagged and round leading edge, far from the nice clean square shape you want to give a fast rise time and consistent detection by the clock receiver in the DAC or DDC. Likely due to sub-optimal sine-square conversion employed due to manufacturing cost constraints of OCK-1 (a common feature of cheaper Chinese built clocks per Alex of Uptone and Clockmeister who measured it). There may also be unit to unit variation. I've seen much cleaner scope images of the OCK-2.

Let me clarify that with sine, the OCK-1 seriously elevates my system for a comparatively small outlay, so like @highfive9 I don't have any buyer's remorse.

 

[mikeypas]

So sorry if off subject, but what are you plugging your equipment into? I only have a wall socket for 2 plugs
Can I leave everything on the CyberPower LE850G or is it worth to get this Furman Elite 15DMi ? Or another suggestion?

 

[Jake2]

Well I've just ordered a Puritan PSM156 that Steve Huff was recently raving about* and favourably compared to the PS Audio Powerplants at many times the cost (not quite as good as the PP20 but nevertheless very good) - will report back when it arrives. Currently using pretty basic boards with some IFI purifiers.

*to be fair he raves about almost everything though he does seem to particularly like this Puritan!

https://www.stevehuffphoto.com/2022/11/12/puritan-audio-psm-156-is-worth-its-weight-in-gold/?amp=1

 

[MartinWT]

I was under the impression that you wanted to run the external clock to the U18 and then let the DAC slave the clock through the I2S link is that not true.

It works for me but not for others, so I'm not recommending it any more.

Pity, as it saves on one clock output.

 

[hobieboyca]

For academic discussion: I was using my Audirvana on my imac to stream to the R26.
Sometimes played beautifully, other times massive dropouts.
Audirvana also couldn't seem to keep up with what the R26 was playing (in terms of what song was playing, how many minutes have been playing etc)
I connected the R26 directly to my router, as well as the imac.
I tried the fiber optic converters as well - the current discussion with the fiber has people buying equipment almost close to the price of the r26!

I said for academic reasons because I've already invested in the U18, cabling etc., and am quite happy with sound, but of course, would like to tweak it a bit more with a clock. (possibly the line conditioner too?)

FWIW - I have similar set up: an old Mac mini with Audirvana 3.5 "connecting" to the R26. While I don't have drop out issues when R26's internal streamer, I did find USB interface from Mac mini -> U18 -> R26 sounds a lot better in my system. I also just downloaded Audirvana Studio as a trial but didn't like the sound at all so back to using Audirvana 3.5.

I am also considering an external clock as the U18 did improve SQ quite significantly.

Though I am also torn if I should upgraded the source (Mac mini) first. Would that give me better bang for buck wrt SQ. I also have a Bluesound Node and it sounds awful when feeding it to the U18 then R26. So a slight off-topic question: has anyone tried comparing mac mini set up with a dedicated streamer that ends up yielding significant improvements?

 

[FredA]

FWIW - I have similar set up: an old Mac mini with Audirvana 3.5 "connecting" to the R26. While I don't have drop out issues when R26's internal streamer, I did find USB interface from Mac mini -> U18 -> R26 sounds a lot better in my system. I also just downloaded Audirvana Studio as a trial but didn't like the sound at all so back to using Audirvana 3.5.

I am also considering an external clock as the U18 did improve SQ quite significantly.

Though I am also torn if I should upgraded the source (Mac mini) first. Would that give me better bang for buck wrt SQ. I also have a Bluesound Node and it sounds awful when feeding it to the U18 then R26. So a slight off-topic question: has anyone tried comparing mac mini set up with a dedicated streamer that ends up yielding significant improvements?

Thiw usbridge signature, if you have some hands on with installing and configuring sw (although it can be ordered with the sw of your choice pre-installed) . It is significantly better than the mac mini. You'll need a 5V psu to feed it and a dc cable. The Shanti which they (allo.com) propose is very good, but i prefer my 150usd zerozone. A good Chinese 50va (3A or more) unit will do fine, generally speaking. I you want to invest even more, the sotm sms200 utlra is even better but costs 4x the money.

 

[System54]

What's the situation with the DC-DC switch regulator between the isolated USB unit and the rest of the board? Has anyone removed it yet? It's a Mornsun B0505S 3WR2 switch regulator. I measured the ripple when U18 is idle. On the Vin side, I measured 12mv ripple and on the Vout (USB) side, 30mv.

If the regulator is removed and a bridge is made from the USB connector to the Vout output of the Morsun, then the USB side would benefit from a clean voltage supply via USB. The input side could also benefit, depending on the disturbance feedback from the regulator. After removing the switch regulator, I measured about 4mv on the Vin side and 20mv on the Vout side of the Morsun.

 

[Highfive99]

They're still the best cable of four I've tried and I've tried a particular highly recommended LMR400. Difference may be further burn in on LMR400 needed or a clock synergy thing. Sine is what I use as it sounds clearly better than square.

If I was going to spend C2 money now I'd look at the, IIRC correctly, slightly more expensive silver 50ohm cable that @FredA said on the MasterClock thread beats the C2 (and by extension the LMR400 he also has) by some margin. I am considering trying one.

Interesting as I've read posts where the LMR-400 was preferred over the C2 which is in part why I decided to go 400. I've tried square and sine into my X26P and heard no discernible difference. All smiles either way!