Thunder240

@DM How did that Aqvox perform? I have one, which I’m using between my Mac Mini and a Peachtree X1 USB-SPIDF converter. I certainly prefer the sound with it in the signal path to the sound going direct from Mac Mini to Peachtree X1, though I haven’t tried any other USB signal cleaners (eg Schiit Wyrd, iFi iPur or iUSB, etc.) Also, if you are still gathering LPSes to test, I’m curious about the TeraFak DC-30W (new version). Many thanks, and great review! I bought an iFi iPower for my Raspberry Pi and couldn’t be happier.

If cost is a driving factor for you, you can install Kodi on your iMac, which is free, and use an RaspberryPi with a Hifiberry Digi+ to provide you with streaming via digital coax out into your DAC. For the RPi, pick the free OS you like the most. (Currently I'm running Moode.) If you are concerned about noise from the power supply, you can add an iFi iPower 5v to power the RPi. Round it off with one of Hifiberry's enclosures. This option would cost you well under 100 and provide you with very high quality audio, on the order with many of the other options listed in this thread. The downside is it's definitely DIY (you will have to assemble the streamer), so if you are the kind of person who wants a plug and play solution, you are probably better off with the SonicOrbiter SE or the Bluenote Node 2 as your streamer. Kodi will work with either of them via DNLA. Kodi has a Spotify addon. I'm not sure about Tidal.

Can anyone tell me what my RPi3B/Digi+ Pro (running Moode 3.1) is doing when it decodes and processes this MP3? What sort of resampling operations are being performed (see first image), and are they being performed by the RPi3B by the DNLA server, or both? The track is a 192 Kbps MP3 downloaded from Freegal (a service offered by many public libraries in collaboration with Sony Music Group). It's encoded with LAME, I'm not sure whether constant or variable bitrate. I'm fairly confident that it is 16 bit, not 24 bit. (I've never heard of a 24 bit MP3.) The server is a Mac Mini running El Capitan, and the Apple MIDI control panel is set to 24 bit 192 kHz output, with an Ethernet connection to my home router. Server software is Kodi 17.1 configured for DNLA. DNLA control point is 8player running on iOS. (The reason for the MIDI control panel setting is that I occasionally use the Mac Mini for direct playback.) For comparison, the 2nd and 3rd images show playback of an ALAC ripped from a CD and a hi-res FLAC downloaded from HDtracks using the same setup. Thanks for any insight!

Thanks for the response! I was overthinking what it means that the Sonicorbiter 'doesn't do any processing', and whether that means no decoding either. Can I assume that it can decode MP3 and AAC in addition to FLAC and ALAC files? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hi there, I'm considering buying a Sonicorbiter SE. My intention would be to use it in Mode 3 with a Mac Mini running Kodi configured as a DNLA server. The Sonicorbiter would be connected via Ethernet to an Airport Express and so connected to my home 802.11n network, and USB output to a Hegel HD12 DAC. My question is in this mode can I send FLAC and ALAC hi res music files to the Sonicorbiter SE as bitstream and let it do the decoding? Or do I need to decode on the Kodi server and send PCM? Given my preference for sending bitstream over my wifi network, am I better off spending more on a uRendu? Thanks! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hi, I own an HD12, and I prefer to use it with a preamp in the signal path for exactly that reason. IMO, when I run it direct to the amp and use the Hegel's built-in digital volume control, it doesn't sound as multi-dimensional as when I run it at 100 (reference level) into my Adcom GFP-750 preamp using balanced connections and use the Adcom to control volume in the analog domain. But of course I couldn't say to what extent use of a preamp could have closed the gap with the Berkeley reference DAC. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

In that case, you're already realizing most of the improvement to be had by reconstructing the USB signal. I think at this point you just need to compare your current setup against whatever new component you'd use that has Tidal built in and judge SQ for yourself. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

From the perspective of overall listening experience, Apple products work well together, and given that you have an Apple-centric home, you may be giving something up by moving away from using your computer as a source. (For example, perhaps you use your iPhone as a remote control?) From the point of view of strictly sound quality, your USB connection is a source of noise and jitter. Some folks go to great lengths to clean it up (signal reclocking, isolated power supplies). Personally, I use my Mac as a source, and I run USB into a Peachtree X1 USB/SPIDF converter, which reclocks the signal, and then SPIDF from the converter to the DAC. However, all things being equal, cutting out the connection altogether by using a DAC that has Tidal integrated can only improve things further. I'd start by making sure that you are happy with the Lumin UI (or whatever alternative you are considering). Assuming yes, go for it! If not, and if you are looking for ways to improve SQ, try adding a USB/SPIDF converter that includes a reclocking capability such as the Peachtree X1. Just make sure your DAC has a SPIDF input! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Quick update -- for the last 2 weeks I've been running Kodi for Mac instead of JRMC. It seems to have all the features I need, and it crashes less often than JRMC. Of course, other Mac processes that would interrupt JRMC also interrupt Kodi, so it's not a complete fix. Still, for the time being I'm happy with the stability improvement. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

@Cebolla, thanks for the suggestions. Makes sense that JRiver, being a one size fits all platform that performs all DNLA functions, might be less stable than lighter weight software that do individual functions very well. I'll definitely look into Minimserver. Do you think switching from OSX to Umbutu or Debian would get me better stability? I get the sense that a significant percentage of the errors are from OS X rather than JRiver. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Apologies up front if there is a more appropriate forum to post this in. It crosses several topics (networked audio, equipment, software). Bottom line up front: I’m looking for an alternative to my current Mac Mini / JRiver - based music server setup that is more stable. I leave the computer on 24/7, with JRiver running, and I expect to be able to playback music using my iPhone running JRemote whenever I want to listen to something. This works more often than it doesn’t, but too often I attempt to play music via JRemote and get nothing, at which point I turn on the TV only to discover the Mac has thrown a dialog box or an error or JRIver has crashed. Once I clear out the dialog box / error window and if necessary relaunch JRiver or reboot, the system works as designed. This happens often enough that I want a solution that is more stable, preferably using the same hardware I already own, but if necessary I’d switch hardware. To be very clear, I’m not looking for new functionality or improved sound quality, just better stability. Setup: Mac Mini (2011) with 8GB RAM running OS X El Capitan and JRiver MC 21. The monitor is my main TV which I use to watch video. Music is stored on a 3TB local external hard drive that is connected to the Mini via Firewire 800. The Mini is connected to a 802.11ac router via ethernet cat 6. It feeds two separate music systems via USB 2.0 (one home theater / stereo, one headphone rig). Additionally, there is a 3rd system that I stream music to over my home network via DNLA. I use an iPhone running JRemote as my primary controller, again via DNLA. Uses: 90% listen to 2ch music stored on the hard drive on one of the three systems I already mentioned (two connected to the Mini via USB, one remote system that streams from JRiver). 9-10% streaming video over the internet (I do the vast majority of my video watching using a Roku rather than the Mini, but I’ll use the Mini to watch sources that aren’t compatible with the Roku). 0-1% Multi-channel video content. On those rare occasions where I watch multi-channel via the Mini, I use XBMC for OS X rather than JRiver. I do this infrequently enough that I don’t mind the process of quitting JRiver, modifying the necessary configurations on the Apple MIDI utility, and launching XBMC, then when I’m done reconfiguring the system for music / 2ch. Any suggestions? Would running XBMC on Linux and using it for music playback offer me the stability I’m looking for? (I could always boot back into OS X when I want to use the computer to stream video over the internet.) Other ideas? I really am hoping to avoid buying a dedicated music server, though that’s probably the solution that would offer the most stability. Thanks, and if anything in my description is unclear, or if there is additional info you need me to provide about my system or how I use it, just let me know.

Yeah, I agree. We'll have to see what happens with the next OS update. If the NuForce gets buggy again, I may have to ditch it. It would be a shame, though. I do like it (now that it's got a working driver), and for 49 it's a great deal. Heck, I'd pay that just to have a sample rate display!

I got my Peachtree X1 and am using it in a different rig from the NuForce U192S. Haven't had the time yet to do a critical comparison between the two, so for the moment I'll keep my comments limited to features and useability. For a while I was having problems with the U192S getting dropped as a USB device by my Mac Mini running El Capitan. The only thing that would fix this was unplugging the U192S (to power it down) and then plugging it back in. However, NuForce put out an updated driver a few months ago, and since I installed it, I haven't had this problem. I may be the exception rather than the norm (just based in the number of comments out there bashing the U192S for not working cleanly), or it may just be that no one has commented on the U192S since the driver update. Either way, I'm perfectly happy with the device running the new driver. One thing I particularly like about it is that it displays the sample rate of the signal it is passing. The Peachtree perfectly great out of the box. Unlike the NuForce it does not display the sample rate, but it does have an LED that changes color depending on whether or not it sees a signal. (The NuForce continues to show the sample rate of whatever was the last signal it saw, so there is no way to know if it sees a signal other than to infer based on whether or not there is sound coming out of the speakers). Both devices have SPIDF and TOSLINK outputs, one of each. The NuForce is a bit smaller. I consider both of them to be very useable (I wouldn't have said this about the NuForce before the driver update.) Finally, I haven't had reason to contact either company's tech support, but others have said that NuForce is hard to reach in regards to problems they have experienced with the U192S. I own another NuForce device (an Icon HDP headphone DAC/amp combo), and I had no trouble reaching NuForce customer service via email when this device experienced a problem. The device was out of warranty, but they offered me a reasonable price to have the device fixed, issued me an RMA, and sent me back a device in perfect working condition. It's unfortunate that others haven't had the same experience dealing with NuForce as I have. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

CrushingIt, i use a Sony BDP S7200 as a DNLA renderer to play hi res music that I stream to it from a Mac Mini running JRiver. The Sony has a SPIDF out and does fine playing FLAC, ALAC, AAC, and MP3 at all resolutions up to 192/24. It may play other file types as well, I'm not sure. (Actually, I'm sure it plays WAV, although it does the choppy clicky thing with WAVs above 48/16) for my needs it works great. The fact that it's also Blu Ray player is strictly bonus . MSRP is 180. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

+1 for the Peachtree X1, although I admit I haven't tried any of the more expensive converters on the market and can't say whether they offer any audible improvements in sound quality. Among the more expensive converters, often recommended are those by Audiophileo. I say this only to steer you toward reading other reviews, as I have no experience with them and so can't recommend them myself. Canare makes great cables and isn't too expensive -- I use their XLR interconnects. Another brand that's good and that is priced reasonably is Belden. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk