thestewman

Where does MQA fit into the Exasound E28-PlayPoint combo ?

Just to clarify a couple of points of interest. You do now you can run Tidal on the Logitech Media Server without having a computer by using Ickstream. You only need a computer for the setup. When you say " I have the Transporter in our family room connected to the preamp via the line out connections, since I found the digital processor of the Marantz doesn't sound as good with streaming as the Transporter (by itself, or with the Transporter feeding it.) In my studio system, I've got the Transporter connected via balanced connections." Do you mean you are using the analog balanced or analog single ended lineouts to the Marantz ? If so, the Transporter sounds much better if you take the transporter's SPDIF output to the Exasound and the Exasound analog output to your preamp..

Interesting setup and glad you enjoy the sound of it so much. I also use a Logitech Transporter to stream Tidal, Spotify etc and Flac sources from my Unraid Nas which runs Logitech Media Server. I wonder how you are routing the signal to the Transporter and then to the Exasound I found the sound is influenced by how it is routed. I found it best to not use any of the Transporters analog connections. They sound bad. I have ethernet into the Transporter form the nas. Then Spdif from the Transporter to my E28. The E28 is used both in Stereo and Multichannel so I have the MC E28 outputs feeding an Audio Research MP1 MC analog preamp in home theater bypass. Flac, Wav, and streaming sources sound very good.

Not exactly sure what where you are going with a small size option but here is a possibility Use Logitech Media Server software on Linux and then control it with your cell phone or other ethernet device [h=1] Logitech Media Server software on Linux[/h]

Elberoth, If you are running haedless You need to connect a PC or windows laptop to the dedicated Ethernet port on the rear of the board. It will be the Ehernet port on top of the two USB 3.0 ports. This will give you direct access to the bios and board setup.

Sounds perfect. I did a search and listened to 2 or 3 versions by Sia

Don't limit yourself to Apple for hiRez. How about a used or new OPPO BDP 103. At the same price as an Apple Mini it does HiRez and DSD and you can feed that to your Marantz if you want. I am sure others can tell you other low cost options

I was at a presentation on Sunday that featured Paul McGowan and the Direct Stream DAC. Mr McGowan was asked directly about how the DAC handles DSD and if there are any changes to the DSD source material after it enters the Direct Stream. I quote, " DSD is not changed to PCM, analog, or any or any other analog format but handled as DSD and upsampled". If Ted Smith the designer wants to comment further please feel free to do so and confirm what Paul McGowan is stating and end this discussion

Exasound E20 for Stereo or E28 for Multichannel exaSound Audio Design > Home

Here are the firmware changes for v1.7.6 / 2013-01-23 Changes: 1. added support for DSD128 via USB2.0 DoP 2. fixed phase issue on SDIF 3. fixed volcontrol issue via Apple Remote 4. fixed meters issue on SDIF with internal sync.

I thought it might be a good idea to reprint Mytek's response to the integer issue

You might want to read and try this. It will cost between $350 to $400 U.S. Building An Absolute Fidelity® Music Server You will be surprised how good this sounds feeding any external DAC I would suggest maybe use Jriver or Foobar

From George at Exasound The channel mapping can be different for different players, that’s why we use numbers. For J River the mapping is: 1 – Front Left 2 – Front Right 3 – Center 4 – LFE 5 – Surround Left 6 – Surround Right 7 – Back Left 8 – Back Right Foobar allows for custom channel mapping, it is configured in the ASIO driver settings. On Mac the channel assignments is controlled by the settings in Audio Midi Setup. If necessary Exasound has two Flac files to trace and confirm the channel mapping

Those speeds sound slow for streaming video. I know it is OT but I am interested u=in the Unraid. Build your own ? Please describe the experience and any problems

No you cannot switch them on the fly. And why would you want to ?