[devilboy]

Thank you!

 

[devilboy]

So if I use the Amber, it only has LAN input. I don't have roon, so how would I control my music from my mac?

 

[AndyTheGreatest]

Quickly chiming in to say that there shouldn't be much difference between the Ambre and the Hermes you originally pointed out. I'd do whichever you get the best discount on

 

[devilboy]

Quickly chiming in to say that there shouldn't be much difference between the Ambre and the Hermes you originally pointed out. I'd do whichever you get the best discount on

 

[Chianti]

Quickly chiming in to say that there shouldn't be much difference between the Ambre and the Hermes you originally pointed out. I'd do whichever you get the best discount on

I can confirm this - was directed by Metrum to just by the Hermes when the Ambre wasn't available. Works great with my Metrum Adagio DAC3 via I2S (which was my major reason to get a Metrum streamer in the first place). Difference between Hermes and Ambre may just be the RPI board used, not the HAT that provides the digital outputs.

 

[kumar402]

So if I use the Amber, it only has LAN input. I don't have roon, so how would I control my music from my mac?

I guess you can use Airplay from Mac

 

[Chianti]

I guess you can use Airplay from Mac

Yes - this would require using another Linux distribution (the SD card that comes with Hermes is configured as Roon endpoint only). I am using the free RoPieee XL which supports Airplay, DLNA, HQPlayer, and Spotify (besides Roon). Installation is easy and does not require advanced technology skills

 

[devilboy]

Thanks for all the input.

 

[lithiumnk]

I'm using pi2aes rj45 i2s(20cm cable) with pavane L3. For me i2s>coax>AES.

So if I use the Amber, it only has LAN input. I don't have roon, so how would I control my music from my mac?

Use Roon or upnp on audirvana.
Volumio has support for both.
For more customization you can use gentooplayer.

 

[Chianti]

I'm using pi2aes rj45 i2s(20cm cable) with pavane L3. For me i2s>coax>AES.

Use Roon or upnp on audirvana.
Volumio has support for both.
For more customization you can use gentooplayer.

Again: Several of the available sd card images that work with Hermes (including the ones you mentioned) also support Airplay - which is the universal method of redirecting audio from any Apple device

 

[kumar402]

Again: Several of the available sd card images that work with Hermes (including the ones you mentioned) also support Airplay - which is the universal method of redirecting audio from any Apple device

It’s more about the audio player you use. For eg with Roon you can use RAAT, Audirvana supports UPnP, iTunes will use Airplay

 

[ken6217]

There used to be an option when ordering the Pavane of Level 1,2,3. Now the selection is DAC2 and DAC3 chips. So are both of these chips considered Level 3?

 

[Chianti]

Pavane L1 was discontinued a while ago. Difference between L2 and L3 used to be higher USB bit rate of 384khz (L3) vs. 192khz (L2) (irrelevant if you go with I2S, as then you have to remove USB). Unknown if this was purely the USB module (I suspect: yes).
Think of DAC 3 as "L4".
If you buy DAC 2 it is my understanding you get L3.

As per previous conversations in this thread, it appears that the creator of all of these DACs, Cees, has provided bread crumbs to indicate relative performance (for the digital part) of Pavane L2 = L3 = Adagio DAC 2 <= Sonnet Morpheus <<< Pavane/Adagio DAC 3 <= Sonnet Pasithea

They are all based on the same digital R2R ladder concept. Nominal performance in some dimension is fairly similar, e.g. noise floor:
Original L2/L3 Pavane/Adagio DAC 2: -145db
Morpheus/Pavane/Adagio DAC 3: -155db
Pasithea: -160db

Cees claims progress on distortion (THD):
Original L2/L3 Pavane/Adagio DAC 2: 0.01% (likely same for DAC 3; not published - but this is in the analog domain so should not depend on DAC2 vs. DAC3)
Morpheus: 0.004%
Pasithea: 0.001%

THD improvements are nice to see but not sure if audible under real world circumstances. For comparison with other gear: All of the top Metrum/Sonnet DACs are somewhere in between my WA33 (0.05%) tube amp and my Chord Hugo 2 (<0.0001%) or Wavedream Signature XLR (0.0008%).

 

[jamca]

Is Pavane L1 relative with today standards? How could it be compared with oversampling famous dacs as rme adi 2, aune s16 or chord dacs as qutest?

 

[Chianti]

Is Pavane L1 relative with today standards? How could it be compared with oversampling famous dacs as rme adi 2, aune s16 or chord dacs as qutest?

I would put Pavane L1 in a similar mid-range performance tier as the RME and Qutest. Matter of personal preference.
Not top tier anymore.