[bikutoru]

Just ordered Pi2AES HAT (you put it on RPi4) to test if optical out sounds better. According to this YouTube review it is a good network streamer, and much cheaper than aforementioned micro/ultra-Rendu or SOtM sMS-200 Neo/Ultra with linear power supplies. Plan to feed HTT2 with Optical IN, so let's see. In the past, I used Schiit's Unison USB implementation and I found it sound better than Coax, but never tried Optical with it. Will report if anyone is interested.

I still have RPI 3, as my streamer with RoPieeeXL on it, but use Allo Digione hat for coaxial out to my HMS. It is dead silent and the signal is pristine with no artifacts, when I switch to USB out of RPI, I can reproduce what you describe. Again this is RPI 3, I've read that others use RPI 4 usb and it is identical to hats, but haven't tried it myself as my set up serves me well.
Allo's hats and streamers are really well designed if you want to look at them.

 

[mammal]

I've read that others use RPI 4 usb and it is identical to hats

I was very aware of RPi 3's USB problem (shared bus with ethernet), hence I thought RPi4 would fix it. Worth mentioning is that at normal listening volume I can't tell the difference, but with Hugo 2 and BX-2 Plus' max volume level (and gain) I could literally hear CPU OS interrupts (when you type for example), it was so strange to me.

I also saw Allo's USBridge and Digitone, but found it to be more expensive (especially with their recommended power supply) than this Pi2AES, which got good reviews on YouTube, so will start with that, but definitely open to using something else if this does not work out.

Not sure if I remember correctly, but didn't @Rob Watts say that he finds Optical in better than USB in on Hugo TT 2? If that's true, than I am more than happy to use anything that feeds HTT2 with optical (or MScaler when I upgrade to that).

 

[ra990]

Not sure if I remember correctly, but didn't @Rob Watts say that he finds Optical in better than USB in on Hugo TT 2? If that's true, than I am more than happy to use anything that feeds HTT2 with optical (or MScaler when I upgrade to that).

I think he said he preferred optical over USB until TT2, where he can no longer tell much of a difference between the two.

 

[N Quarter]

Will report if anyone is interested.

For sure, let us know what you think of it. I just watched the video you linked to, and it seems like a really good, CHEAP way to stream with isolation from noise. I might try one myself, do they have a complete unit you can buy, with the hat, case, power supply etc? I was holding off buying a streamer, hoping Chord will come up with a desktop streamer only, to match the Mscaler/TT2. For now I have been just using my laptop USB plugged into my Mscaler, but this thing looks like it would fit nicely in between the two. I also have a Naim Core with all my music on it, but need some way to get Tidal, internet radio to my DAC.
Like the guy who made the video, I am skeptical as to whether I need to spend big money on a streamer like a DCS network bridge.

 

[aut0maticdan]

For sure, let us know what you think of it. I just watched the video you linked to, and it seems like a really good, CHEAP way to stream with isolation from noise. I might try one myself, do they have a complete unit you can buy, with the hat, case, power supply etc? I was holding off buying a streamer, hoping Chord will come up with a desktop streamer only, to match the Mscaler/TT2. For now I have been just using my laptop USB plugged into my Mscaler, but this thing looks like it would fit nicely in between the two. I also have a Naim Core with all my music on it, but need some way to get Tidal, internet radio to my DAC.
Like the guy who made the video, I am skeptical as to whether I need to spend big money on a streamer like a DCS network bridge.

Not sure if you saw, but they've had the 2Y in the pipeline which turns the 2go into a ~$2K desktop streamer for the mscaler/TT2

I think it is debatable whether or not Chord has the chops for streamers. They do kill it with the hardware, but the software is very much a WIP. I have a Poly inbound this week to dip my toe in. I'll shut up about their chops until I take it for a spin.

EDIT: The Roon and Audirvana users seem to be universally happy.

 

[N Quarter]

Not sure if you saw, but they've had the 2Y in the pipeline which turns the 2go into a ~$2K desktop streamer for the mscaler/TT2

Yes I am aware of that unit, but I was hoping they would build a one piece desktop streamer, I don’t do portable or headphones.

 

[mammal]

do they have a complete unit you can buy, with the hat, case, power supply etc?

Unfortunately no, you kinda need to know what you are doing and build it yourself. They offer the HAT, power supply and acrylic case, but you still need to acquire and install a Raspberry pi, SD card and all the necessary software. I was too using an USB out of my MacBook but found it annoying since I have two of them (work and personal) and an iPad from which I would like to stream audio (Airplay when watching YouTube) so having a dedicated (preferably cheap) streamer is definitely something useful for my use case. In any case, will report back when I get it (they say it may take up to 6 weeks plus shipping).

 

[Triode User]

EDIT: The Roon and Audirvana users seem to be universally happy.

No, I stopped using Roon in my main system because of degraded sound quality. I now only use it in the kitchen where it’s interface wins out and the sound quality is not so much of an issue. (There is no point in me not using it somewhere because I got the lifetime sub a few years ago).

 

[Rob Watts]

I think he said he preferred optical over USB until TT2, where he can no longer tell much of a difference between the two.

It depends very much on your system and the source. Power amps can be sensitive to different sources, from the RF put out onto the mains; and of course the DAC is not 100% tolerant of noise from the source. I have had sources where USB was identical to optical (my old MSI lap-top which had an optical output for example). But recently my son built up a desktop PC for me using 11 TB of SSD (8 TB for my music, is on a portable caddy so I can use it on my travels), 64GB RAM, and an AMD 4.7GHz Ryzen 7 5800X. It has a huge Be quiet chassis, 800W PSU and an MSI motherboard - which has optical out. The system now runs my lab, so lots of peripherals are attached. A few weeks ago I thought I would try the optical out - a quick polish of the plastic fibre meant that 192kHz works - but I was surprised how much better optical sounded against USB, in this instance. Instrument separation and focus, and depth were all better on optical.

So for sure USB can be identical to optical, but with nosier sources, optical will win out.

 

[ra990]

It depends very much on your system and the source. Power amps can be sensitive to different sources, from the RF put out onto the mains; and of course the DAC is not 100% tolerant of noise from the source. I have had sources where USB was identical to optical (my old MSI lap-top which had an optical output for example). But recently my son built up a desktop PC for me using 11 TB of SSD (8 TB for my music, is on a portable caddy so I can use it on my travels), 64GB RAM, and an AMD 4.7GHz Ryzen 7 5800X. It has a huge Be quiet chassis, 800W PSU and an MSI motherboard - which has optical out. The system now runs my lab, so lots of peripherals are attached. A few weeks ago I thought I would try the optical out - a quick polish of the plastic fibre meant that 192kHz works - but I was surprised how much better optical sounded against USB, in this instance. Instrument separation and focus, and depth were all better on optical.

So for sure USB can be identical to optical, but with nosier sources, optical will win out.

Agree wholeheartedly. I have found optical to be warmer out of my PC, even with an ifi igalvanic on the USB. I stick to using optical because none of my music is over 192k. Optical into battery powered MScaler, dual BNC into battery powered TT2 has yielded the least fatiguing audio I have experienced yet from digital.

 

[mammal]

For those interested in using HTT2's XLRs, here is an adapter made by Lavricables (contacted their support and they made it in 2 days). Still waiting on my AB-1266, so cannot comment on how it sounds yet.

 

[CaptainFantastic]

Agree wholeheartedly. I have found optical to be warmer out of my PC, even with an ifi igalvanic on the USB. I stick to using optical because none of my music is over 192k. Optical into battery powered MScaler, dual BNC into battery powered TT2 has yielded the least fatiguing audio I have experienced yet from digital.

Speaking of using a battery for the M Scaler, would this one be good? It has the 12 V option and plenty of power for a day of use (26800 mAh), I believe. In Europe I think we are more limited in what's available via Amazon.

https://www.amazon.de/-/en/gp/product/B07Z8W1BS8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Orlok]

Speaking of using a battery for the M Scaler, would this one be good? It has the 12 V option and plenty of power for a day of use (26800 mAh), I believe. In Europe I think we are more limited in what's available via Amazon.

https://www.amazon.de/-/en/gp/product/B07Z8W1BS8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I believe @ra990 is using this:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B085PYYX2...olid=2J1AMR0IU4OM9&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Do you think you can find this there?

I have it saved on my Wish List so I guess I'll be trying it eventually.

 

[ra990]

Speaking of using a battery for the M Scaler, would this one be good? It has the 12 V option and plenty of power for a day of use (26800 mAh), I believe. In Europe I think we are more limited in what's available via Amazon.

https://www.amazon.de/-/en/gp/product/B07Z8W1BS8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Sure, it should work fine.

 

[mammal]

battery powered MScaler, dual BNC into battery powered TT2

Do I understand correctly you have two different power banks? Or is having one good enough?