Peeling the Digital Onion

nc42acc

nc42acc

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I have experienced the most positive digital reproduction change in my system over the past month. I am sure I am late to the party since this technology isn’t new to the market. Below is an outline of my starting point and where I am at this moment. Each change as it has been added has peeled away layers of ‘grunge’.

Started with a fairly powerful Dell micro computer running Win 10 with Roon. Not bad but not very musical.

Added a Singxer to convert USB to i2S. I think the main reason this created such an improvement was it was isolating the “shitty” Dell usb output.

Next I added a sonicTransporter I7 as the music server which was a definite large step up from the Dell. No Singxer

Last was the addition of a microRendu with Ifi power supply which was another leap of the same magnitude.

How many more layers of this digital onion are left to peel away? Does it get even better than this? Are the next leaps as large? This has definitely slowed my DAC comparison.

The onion reference is for the strictly analog philes who cry at the thought of listening to digital music. BTW my point of reference system I have used has been my friend Greg of UHA personal system and his R2R tapes with all MBL. This is the ultimate in music reproduction IMO.
 
nc42acc said:
BTW my point of reference system I have used has been my friend Greg of UHA personal system and his R2R tapes with all MBL. This is the ultimate in music reproduction IMO.
Click to expand...

You won't get any arguments from me.
 
I am not surprised at the improvement in sound once you ditched the Dell. When I custom built my headless desk top computer with hand picked parts for low noise and ripple, I could not believe the difference in sound from my Dell Laptop. It was like a veil had been lifted.

Congrats on the new sound!
 
I was using a Mac Mini as my digital source. A friend raved about the MicroRendu so I purchased one along with a SonicTransporter to try.
I decided to try the MR without the ST first. Streaming Tidal direct from my router to the MR via ethernet Cat 7 cable.
Not sure if it was the first note or the second but the sound quality was immediately obviously vastly increased.
The Mac Mini now does duty as an office back-up computer.
Good to hear that you have also experienced an increase in the SQ with the MR.
Next is to integrate the ST with my NAS into the mix. But it sounds so good as it is that I am in no hurry.
 
There are many more layers that will all increase sound quality. Your only at the beginning. Having said that, what you have would stun the average Joe with an RP6 or Project table in the $1600 range. Even if they had a Sutherland phono and ok cartridge for $4,000 in analog, your digital would stand proud.

If you want better, the PS is your weak spot. I also found decent cat6 from Blue Jeans Cables cut to length are better than cat5 by a large magnitude and noticeable improve over cat6 terminated with RJ45 jacks, then jumper cables to equipment. The Ultra Rendu is also better but you really need a $500 PS such as HD Plex to go with it. Enjoy what you have for a while. It's a nice start. Upgrade when the itch takes hold.
 
nc42acc said:
I have experienced the most positive digital reproduction change in my system over the past month. I am sure I am late to the party since this technology isn’t new to the market. Below is an outline of my starting point and where I am at this moment. Each change as it has been added has peeled away layers of ‘grunge’.

Started with a fairly powerful Dell micro computer running Win 10 with Roon. Not bad but not very musical.

Added a Singxer to convert USB to i2S. I think the main reason this created such an improvement was it was isolating the “shitty” Dell usb output.

Next I added a sonicTransporter I7 as the music server which was a definite large step up from the Dell. No Singxer

Last was the addition of a microRendu with Ifi power supply which was another leap of the same magnitude.

How many more layers of this digital onion are left to peel away? Does it get even better than this? Are the next leaps as large? This has definitely slowed my DAC comparison.

The onion reference is for the strictly analog philes who cry at the thought of listening to digital music. BTW my point of reference system I have used has been my friend Greg of UHA personal system and his R2R tapes with all MBL. This is the ultimate in music reproduction IMO.
Click to expand...

You already are using a windows computer, Roon and Microrendu. So my suggestion is to try out HQPlayer (they have a free trial period). HQP works seamlessly with Roon. You can keep on using Roon as you currently do and HQP works in the background. Here is the link to HQP:

https://www.signalyst.com/consumer.html

Using HQP I am converting ALL my music to DSD and upsampling it to 512 DSD. It is the most ‘analog’ sound that I have heard from any digital source. Actually, it sounds better than my analog.
 
Good suggestion. He should also have audiophile Optimizer running on his system if not already. There is also a lot of BIOS adjustments that can be done that have a significant impact on the sound quality. He could even alter his operating system to Windows Server 2016 and gained even more noticeable improvements. Using an endpoint such as the micro rendu might limit some of the benefits you gain by adding these software products. But they do have an effect. More important would be installing better ethernet cables such as the blue jeans throughout his audio chain. They are not that much money. Most likely 150 to $200 would connect his entire system including the nas and router. Then there is the question of audiophile switches. I don't use an endpoint, I use a server. I saw a distinct Improvement in streaming and usage of my server with the linear solution switch over having a basic 20 Port switch. There are a lot of layers to this onion. And you have to consider the topology of service you have. Some options are better with others.
 
It is a great thing to have a system with the ability to resolve changes you can readily hear. Changed a 1.5m Wireworld Platinum Starlight 7 USB cable to a Curious Cables USB regen link. I have seen Joe Bonamassa several times in concert but this is the closest to having him in my living room. Life is good in audiophilia.
 
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