bbreneman

I'm both an engineer and a trained and actively playing orchestral musician. Music, both listening and playing, is my necessary escape from the former, so I tune out the moment the charts and graphs appear. I apply a simple test to hardware when I'm evaluating it: how much does it sound like sitting in an orchestra? The more that I hear what I expect to hear, the more I value the solution, regardless of cost, technology, or whether it looks perfect on a scope. I will also add that I believe a well-played performance, properly recorded and mastered, makes more difference than any other single factor. No amount of technology can rescue a lousy recording, and a great recording sounds great on pretty much any higher-end playback setup. As always, one man's opinion.

I use the BorderPatrol DAC SE (USB only version). NOS DAC with R2R chip and no filtering. I haven't heard every DAC by a long shot, but this is the most natural sounding one I've ever heard, and is amazing with Classical (85% of my listening) and Jazz (20%). http://www.borderpatrol.net/DAC.htm. Highly recommended.

I'll second the Actiontec MoCA solution. I was using the TP Link AV-2000 for my uRendu like you were and when I switched to a Backert Labs preamp I was suddenly hearing all kids of noise from the EoP adapter. I switched to MoCA and it's been perfect - better and more consistent speed and no more power line noise.