romaz
1000+ Head-Fier
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- Jan 19, 2013
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All good points, Darryl and I'm ok if we have philosophical differences. I've always valued your opinions.
Actually, I believe the foundation to any good digital audio system, headphones or speakers, is not the digital source but good power but since this was a review about music servers, I chose to not mention the importance of power. Good quality AC, proper grounding, etc. I am not a cable person at heart but the better your system gets, the more little things are noticeable. With the monoblocs, I have found them very sensitive to power cables for example. A voodoo topic for some but I am evaluating a variety of power cables now and I can tell you there is a difference. I also believe LPS over switching is not always better. It is the implementation that makes it work. HD Plex makes a fine LPS and in fact I have 2 of them. But the reality is the custom regulators Paul Hynes uses in his supplies is about 1,000 times quieter than the LT1083 regulator used in the HDPlex and with considerably faster transient current response. If you want to see comparative measurements, I can show you but the two really don't operate in the same league. Is this audible? I'll tell you when I get it in for evaluation because I trust my ears more than I trust lab measurements but ask someone like @dan.gheorghe and I think he'll tell you that better power supplies can definitely make an audible difference even to a well constructed DAC like his MSB Analog. In fact, I can show you several reviews where a Paul Hynes power supply can significantly impact how a Logitech Squeezebox sounds (http://hifipig.com/paul-hynes-sr3-power-supply/) and other reviews where the impact with even a router was significant. To really know, you have to be able to compare.
As for the importance of the recorded material, I agree with you here. And the importance of the DAC, absolutely. Why else does a $130,000 MSB Select DAC II exist if this wasn't important but if you feed a DAC a quality recording off of a Mac Mini, it won't do that DAC or the recording justice and no one would call that DAC a scam. If a good DAC could overcome a bad digital front end, then I should be able to get equal quality sound from the digital out of a portable Sony ZX2 player and I can tell you because I tried it, the quality is not the same.
As for building your own server that can compete with something like the N10 you'll be getting in, well I believe if anyone can do it, you can. I've haven't tried the Paul Pang but I have played with the JPlay and SOtM. I've tinkered as you have and the best I've built hasn't come close. When you get your N10 in and if you feel yours is as good, then I would be interested in having you build me one.
I knew your experience with the TotalDac reclocker was less than ideal and I also knew how you felt about your USB Regen. My own experience mirrors yours more than others who have raved about it. I thought the benefit with the TotalDac reclocker was subtle at best and I stated this in my review of it. Easily the biggest part of the reclocker is the Server. I wouldn't get one without the other unless I knew I already had another equivalent or better server on hand. In the same way, with the USB Regen, I look at it as a minor tweak, nothing more. I haven't had the jaw dropping experience that others have reported. With my lesser sources, it makes a small difference but with the the better sources, there was almost no difference, regardless of whether I had the reclocker in place or not. I use a TotalDac USB cable and whether that impacts it, I don't know.
As for audiophile Cat 6 cables, like you, I looked at this as snake oil. Absolute nonsense. Then I got one in for evaluation and compared it against a decent Belden (Blue Jeans brand) Cat 6 cable of identical length and with my skeptical mind, I listened and I heard a difference, even blinded. Again, this is a subtle tweak but since more and more of my listening these days is through Tidal streaming, I felt the improvement was worthwhile. How does it work? It abides by the Cat 6 protocol and so the transfer speeds I am getting are no different compared to the Belden Cat 6 but what it supposedly does is it filters the signal of high frequency noise. Sometimes these tweaks result in change that aren't for the better but in the case of the SOtM cable, I considered it an improvement. The TotalDac ethernet cable works under the same principle and while I have never tried the TotalDac version, I have been told by others that it makes a difference. I have heard from others who have used the AudioQuest ethernet cables that they couldn't tell a difference so YMMV. My experience with AQ has definitely been hit and miss and so I am leery of them in general. I bought a couple of AQ Jitterbugs which I regret. Regardless, these minor tweaks would be among the last things I would do. There are more important areas to channel resources first.
As to the TotalDac monoblocs not outperforming the d1-dual, at no point are they equivalent but the delta with a Mac Mini is smaller. If you want to know the truth, the delta with the monoblocs seem to grow almost exponentially more with every tweak. When I grounded with the Entreq boxes, when I switched to a certain power cord, when I introduced a better digital front end and queued up a better recorded file, the monoblocs distanced itself from the d1-dual all the more. In fact, when the monoblocs are allowed to have all cylinders running, they are simply stunning. It's like owning a Ferrari and being limited to driving it 25 mph. If that's the case, there's no point getting it. That's all I'm trying to say.
This brings up one final thing. If you're going to scale to a higher component, you will have to make sure everything else in your audio chain can keep up because you will always be limited to your weakest link and so the cost of ownership of something like the TotalDac monobloc is not just the DAC but unfortunately also the necessary infrastructure upgrades that come with it. This exercise has taught me that very well. This is why I say that if you're going to limit yourself to something like the Mac Mini with no intention of upgrading it at some point, then save your money.
