[delirium]

the roon nucleus has been a godsend for me...works flawlessly

Better than a laptop right...my point...

 

[jlbrach]

Far better

 

[delirium]

It's not a bug, but a sensitivity.

Do DACs that need isolation tables have bugs?
Or different digital cables?
Or mains treatment?
Or better interconnect cables?

All that has happened on the Hugo M scaler is I have managed to reduce the need for ferrites, by improving the galvanic isolation at 2GHz. It is not a bug. And remember this is a miniscule effect compared to the changes that the M scaler gives.

And yes, RF noise is everywhere, and analogue components are extremely sensitive to it, as it increases noise floor modulation, making things sound harder or brighter. It's RF noise that accounts for digital sources different sound quality.

Rob

so you see..source matters...?!

 

[jscmd2000]

The source absolutely matters.
I heard noticeable improvement even by just adding Singxer SU-1 to my computer set up connected to hms/dave although many have stated that there is no benefit to adding another clocker.
A dedicated music server or streamer could be even better and choices are growing, but I still like the convenience of being able to play directly out of my computer and sometimes watch youtube or movies.
I would consider, instead of purchasing another desktop or laptop, going the roon nucleus or something like innuous route since computers keep getting more complicated, faster, and noisier. I do wonder about the level of improvement, but I guess I will never know until I hear it with my own ears.

 

[rkt31]

Out of j river asio, foobar asio, foobar asio2, music bee asio , I found foobar asio to be most rounded and better than even asio2. I play through memory and advance reading in foobar. Audioquest Jitterbug in all usb ports remove last bit of EMI RFI and I even replace usb power line by 4xAA NiMH batteries through ifi idefender. Cable is oyaide neo A class 1m. I don't think anyone need more than this or it can be bettered. Using fidelizer can be slightly more beneficial.

 

[Chester Rockwell]

Out of j river asio, foobar asio, foobar asio2, music bee asio , I found foobar asio to be most rounded and better than even asio2. I play through memory and advance reading in foobar. Audioquest Jitterbug in all usb ports remove last bit of EMI RFI and I even replace usb power line by 4xAA NiMH batteries through ifi idefender. Cable is oyaide neo A class 1m. I don't think anyone need more than this or it can be bettered. Using fidelizer can be slightly more beneficial.

A £5.75 KabelDirekt optical cable......I just bettered it.

 

[Chester Rockwell]

so you see..source matters...?!

Yes source matters, but I think it is more accurate to say source matters less with Chord dacs. The reason I say this is because for the first time (to my knowledge) we have the option of a source agnostic, decoupled input that works perfectly......optical.

Although it is mentioned on Chord threads, I don’t think the fact that Chord dacs/M scaler are jitter immune gets as much acknowledgment as it should. That is a game changer for me and what drew me into the chord camp. It means I can complexly isolate my sources, from a power perspective and then forget about them. I could have a £20 ASDA DVD player playing cds as a source if I wanted and I don’t think anyone would be able to tell the difference if they compared it to high end streamer connected via optical.

That leaves me with only background mains and environmental rf noise to worry about and the M scaler seems to deal with this very well.

Ok, optical doesn’t do dsd, and to some this may be a deal breaker. I have some dsd albums but I let Roon downsample those and although the m scaler could technically probably do a better job of this, they sound really good, so for me it will suffice.

 

[delirium]

Well l have a nucleus...and to reduce rf noise i have ordered lush2 usb? Does anybody know if this is helping. Nucleus sounds ok do..thanks in advance....crazy this hobby!!!

 

[dmance]

When the digital side of the MScaler processing can be fully isolated from the D/A stage ...then source does not matter ...in my professional opinion and observed experience.

I use a 400Wh battery for everything MScaler, source and networking ...plus I have a custom optical bridge for the DX link from MScaler to my DAC....which being a Hugo2 is also on battery. In this case there is the total and complete electrical isolation.
In this case I hear zero difference between my sources (subject to their own bitrate issues)...and optically isolated DX sound quality is stunning good.

 

[rkt31]

A £5.75 KabelDirekt optical cable......I just bettered it.

Many use dac for movies and dsd. For streaming also usb is far simpler choice than using a usb to optical converter. Though I also use optical out of xduoo x10t V1 transport via optical out which is extremely good but usb is a bit more fluid. The difference though is extremely less.

 

[Amberlamps]

A £5.75 KabelDirekt optical cable......I just bettered it.

Those are the optical cables I use, for the price they are excellent quality.

I also don’t understand why folk will spend stupid money on an optical cable, aslong as it can transmit a 192khz signal with 0 problems/glitches, there is no reason to splash out on an expensive optical cable.

 

[Amberlamps]

Double post by axe I dent.

 

[musickid]

A 200 pound laptop roon bridge will satisfy all your needs IMHO. Bit perfect audio to dac.

 

[ray-dude]

That's a big ass laptop!!

Kidding aside, snag a used Chromecast Audio for $30 and combine it with Roon.

 

[jscmd2000]

Has anyone honestly a/b test computer vs roon nucleus into hms/dave or similar? Using decent interconnects?