Which digital source?
May 18, 2020 at 1:30 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 10

marcus2704

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I have a Sennheiser HDV820, I use an Astel & Kern SR15 which I exclusively use for Tidal and connect to the DAC using a USB-B > USB-A > Micro USB cable chain. I have on occasion used my laptop as the digital source, with no audible difference to the sound, at least to my ears. I am interested to know what you use as your digital source, be it a computer, Mac or so on. I see so many beautiful setups here but in many cases the digital source is not included, as I am always open to new ways of doing things in a more elegant fashion.

As a sidenote, I today received an Audioquest Cinnamon USB-B to USB-C cable which I intended to use with my DAC direct into my Samsung S20 Ultra phone, however there was continuous static 'pops' and any slight movement in the cable caused sound cutouts. Is this to be expected? Using my phone as the source is for me the preferred option so its unfortunate that didn't work for me, although I am not clear as to why.
 
May 18, 2020 at 1:46 PM Post #2 of 10
I have a Sennheiser HDV820, I use an Astel & Kern SR15 which I exclusively use for Tidal and connect to the DAC using a USB-B > USB-A > Micro USB cable chain. I have on occasion used my laptop as the digital source, with no audible difference to the sound, at least to my ears. I am interested to know what you use as your digital source, be it a computer, Mac or so on. I see so many beautiful setups here but in many cases the digital source is not included, as I am always open to new ways of doing things in a more elegant fashion.

I moved from a PC to a dedicated music server,the Aurender N100H. I like it though it does have a learning curve. The SQ is better than a PC,though the 2000 file limit in playlists is quite annoying. I chose it over a myriad of other servers because the software is generally regarded as the best of the bunch.
As a sidenote, I today received an Audioquest Cinnamon USB-B to USB-C cable which I intended to use with my DAC direct into my Samsung S20 Ultra phone, however there was continuous static 'pops' and any slight movement in the cable caused sound cutouts. Is this to be expected? Using my phone as the source is for me the preferred option so its unfortunate that didn't work for me, although I am not clear as to why.

No,it shouldnt be doing that. I would ask for a new cable.
FWIW I think the Cinnamon is a pretty overrated cable. I had it along side 4 other cables and it was by far the worst of the bunch. Lots of grain in my system.
 
May 19, 2020 at 2:38 AM Post #3 of 10
Thanks, I will request another.

Given that the digital signal is just binary, would I be right to say that the digital source does not matter and it comes down simply to ease of use, convenience etc?
 
May 19, 2020 at 3:43 AM Post #4 of 10
Thanks, I will request another.

Given that the digital signal is just binary, would I be right to say that the digital source does not matter and it comes down simply to ease of use, convenience etc?
I wont get into that debate here.
 
May 19, 2020 at 12:24 PM Post #5 of 10
As a sidenote, I today received an Audioquest Cinnamon USB-B to USB-C cable which I intended to use with my DAC direct into my Samsung S20 Ultra phone, however there was continuous static 'pops' and any slight movement in the cable caused sound cutouts. Is this to be expected? Using my phone as the source is for me the preferred option so its unfortunate that didn't work for me, although I am not clear as to why.

I have found that this problem is not evident on a Samsung S8 which I used to test. From research, it would appear to be an issue with the S20 Ultra (at least) of which I can get round by using USB Audio Player Pro until Samsung release a fix. As USB Audio Player uses its own drivers, I would imagine this is a samsung software issue. Others report the same issue with this handset.
 
May 19, 2020 at 9:52 PM Post #6 of 10
I have a Sennheiser HDV820, I use an Astel & Kern SR15 which I exclusively use for Tidal and connect to the DAC using a USB-B > USB-A > Micro USB cable chain. I have on occasion used my laptop as the digital source, with no audible difference to the sound, at least to my ears. I am interested to know what you use as your digital source, be it a computer, Mac or so on. I see so many beautiful setups here but in many cases the digital source is not included, as I am always open to new ways of doing things in a more elegant fashion.

As a sidenote, I today received an Audioquest Cinnamon USB-B to USB-C cable which I intended to use with my DAC direct into my Samsung S20 Ultra phone, however there was continuous static 'pops' and any slight movement in the cable caused sound cutouts. Is this to be expected? Using my phone as the source is for me the preferred option so its unfortunate that didn't work for me, although I am not clear as to why.

If you have a PC or a laptop why not use it? Unless you have a 10 year old PC, it usually has a better spec then a server/player. Unless you're constrained by space/location or need a wifi streamer for your setup, I would stick w/ PC or a laptop. If you're using an external DAC, in which case you are w/ the HDV820, then there's not going to be any noticeable difference in SQ. Unless you want to avoid running your PC 24/7 as a roon core, I would just stick w/ your PC or a laptop.

Keep it simple. USB A to B from your PC to HDV820 and you have access upto DSD 256. Matter of fact, I had HDV820+HD820 as my desktop setup for a little while until I returned them, and they were fantastic.
 
May 19, 2020 at 10:07 PM Post #7 of 10
I have a Sennheiser HDV820, I use an Astel & Kern SR15 which I exclusively use for Tidal and connect to the DAC using a USB-B > USB-A > Micro USB cable chain. I have on occasion used my laptop as the digital source, with no audible difference to the sound, at least to my ears. I am interested to know what you use as your digital source, be it a computer, Mac or so on. I see so many beautiful setups here but in many cases the digital source is not included, as I am always open to new ways of doing things in a more elegant fashion.

I just use Androids. I'm on an S9 now.

1589940362450.png



As a sidenote, I today received an Audioquest Cinnamon USB-B to USB-C cable which I intended to use with my DAC direct into my Samsung S20 Ultra phone, however there was continuous static 'pops' and any slight movement in the cable caused sound cutouts. Is this to be expected? Using my phone as the source is for me the preferred option so its unfortunate that didn't work for me, although I am not clear as to why.

Could be the plug isn't getting a tight fit into the socket. Did you try it without the case first and see how tight the fit is?
 
May 20, 2020 at 2:14 AM Post #8 of 10
Could be the plug isn't getting a tight fit into the socket. Did you try it without the case first and see how tight the fit is?

I tried without a case, its the same thing. What people are saying is that this was an issue that was around since the S10 that Samsung have known about but never fixed.

Nice setup by the way, hopefully others will share the digital sources they use also :)
 
May 20, 2020 at 2:38 AM Post #9 of 10
I have a Sennheiser HDV820, I use an Astel & Kern SR15 which I exclusively use for Tidal and connect to the DAC using a USB-B > USB-A > Micro USB cable chain. I have on occasion used my laptop as the digital source, with no audible difference to the sound, at least to my ears. I am interested to know what you use as your digital source, be it a computer, Mac or so on. I see so many beautiful setups here but in many cases the digital source is not included, as I am always open to new ways of doing things in a more elegant fashion.

As a sidenote, I today received an Audioquest Cinnamon USB-B to USB-C cable which I intended to use with my DAC direct into my Samsung S20 Ultra phone, however there was continuous static 'pops' and any slight movement in the cable caused sound cutouts. Is this to be expected? Using my phone as the source is for me the preferred option so its unfortunate that didn't work for me, although I am not clear as to why.
Interesting question! For me, as a side project I like building digitally connected transportable frankenstacks so I dont miss out on some good streaming services.

My current one is Samsung Galaxy phone connected micro usb to micro usb to a stack that's an Oppo HA-2>Aune B1>Sony PHA-1 . The amps are connected by two ALO Audio braided interconnects. My head phone it's connected to currently is the Aeon Flow Closed and Bgvp DM6.

Incredible sound using the Onkyo Player and any other streaming app. Listening to San Holo on Amazon Music HD right now and it's bliss!!
 
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May 22, 2020 at 4:16 PM Post #10 of 10
I use a Sotm SMS 200 Streamer with a Sbooster power supply fed from Tidal or Music from my Phone via Mconnect (DLNA) feeding my DAC via USB. The sound improvement over a laptop is significant in my experience.
 

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