New Sonnet Streamer: Hermes

[devilboy]

I just purchased the Morpheus. I want to replace my Audiophilleo 2 USB/SPDIF converter with a Hermes but I don't know how to connect the Hermes to my Mac mini. I don't have roon so I'm assuming I can't use the Hermes?

 

[vulup]

Should also work with Audirvana, for example:

https://www.sonnet-audio.com/Volumio.html

 

[devilboy]

I have no clue regarding what you're taking about. Lol. I have very little computer skills.
Any additional help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[vulup]

Well, I am not the best person to ask since it has been a while since I've had such a setup. You would have to set a Mac Mini/NAS/PC up as your server, install something like Volumio on the Hermes, pick the server instance/library with your music files in Volumio, and use the Volumio app on your smartphone/ipad/tablet to browse through and play your music. There is more to setting up Volumio. You can find their quick start guide here.

It isn't as difficult as it may sound, however. With Volumio, you could also create a partition to locally store your music on the Hermes, I believe. Upload your music library to that partition and the Hermes could be a one-box solution in that regard. I wouldn't do it that way, though. Kind of defeats the purpose of an endpoint.

Volumio is only one of many, many options. Setting a "music server" up isn't hard, either. I used BubbleUPnP + Minimserver. I found results to be highly dependant on the software used. If the endpoint is worth its salt, it is usually worth the effort, though.

 

[devilboy]

Sounds complicated.
I stream Tidal.

I think I'll just look for aDDC that has a USB input.

Thanks though.

 

[hikaru12]

Has anyone compared the Hermes to the Pi2AES with a good LPS? I'm willing to spend more on the LPS than the Hermes if I can because the Pi2AES offers the flexibility of wireless which you can't get with the Hermes (I know wired usually sounds better in most cases).

 

[tesarpa]

I tested Hermes and now I use PI2AES, but not at the same time, so comparison is quite unreliable as it is based only on memory. Feeding my Schiit Yggdrasil via AES cable, both solutions sound great. I decided for PI2AES as it is cheaper and more flexible in terms of software on it.

 

[hikaru12]

I tested Hermes and now I use PI2AES, but not at the same time, so comparison is quite unreliable as it is based only on memory. Feeding my Schiit Yggdrasil via AES cable, both solutions sound great. I decided for PI2AES as it is cheaper and more flexible in terms of software on it.

That’s good to hear. I figure since I power my Pi with a LPS I could just upgrade the power cable if the Hermes sounded better.