jayrammusic

That's interesting - my source is utter cr*p at the moment. A cheap mini pc running roonbridge. I ordered a Metrum Ambre, which arrives on Thursday. Loking forward to that!

To be fair, i saw the interview where the owners initially started talking about their new USB implementation - the reason they think it is better based on their internal testing is that they are free to develop completely on their own implementation. Specifically they were talking about the output side of the equation - gen5 is an input that has to deal with whatever output is thrown at it. With their own implementation they can work on a source with their own usb output. Nothing is perfect, of course, including gen5. I have the Gen 5 Gumby and I prefer the s/pdif input.

Yup.. came to the same conclusion, but the lack of understanding I had of this at the outset had a positive outcome - I ended up with a DAC that I really really like.

Now had the Schiit Gungnir MB for 2 weeks. Search over. I found the DAC I want to keep. Love it.

Hmm. If I compare , say, the $20k plus Moon 870A Power Amp, it has a 47.5k Ohm input impedence compared to the Vidar's 22k Se / 44k Balanced. Or at a lower scale the Meridian G Series stereo power amp, still 3 times the price of 2 Vidars - 16k SE and 32k Balanced input impedences. Not that any of that is very important. 'Loading down' your pre-amp as you put it doesn't really explain things very well, but I suspect pointing to the input impedence is not really what is 'loading down' your pre amp. Maybe you just prefer the sound of the SP14. I don't think you'll find a scientific reason as to why in the spec sheets, nor will comments like 'lacking drive', 'loading down', 'overhyped' and 'no balls' help people very much. Terms like that are should be a red flag to people seriously researching their next audio purchase.

Sounds like you mismatched your equipment. Using the Freya with a poorly matched power amp and using the Vidar with a poorly matched pre amp. Which power amp and pre amp were you using in combination with the Freya and Vidar, respectively? By the way, the input impedence of the Vidar using SE is 22k ohms and 44k using balanced. What were the Freya and Vidars together like?

Great article. Schiit certainly seem to be shaking things up, from nervous manufacturers to consumers who spent $20k on a system and realise their next door neighbour can better it for $4k. Love it.

X-Sabre Pro has gone back along with the x-spdif. I heard no big difference between this combination and the cheap Topping D50. Live and learn. I think, perhaps, I am too hung up on DSD and upscaling. The search continues, but opening up options to include many more models that don't do DSD, like Schitt. In fact, I may steer clear of anything that markets as a DSD x 'whatever' or 'High Definition'. I am trying to get a listen of a Schitt Gungnir Multibit.

Thanks - joined.

Qutest, Hugo 2 and Topping DX7s. I didn't manage to listen to the Mytek or the RME ADI-2. It's still all subjective to be honest - I heard the exact set up (albeit in a friends system) - and really liked how it sounded to me. Also did notice a difference in sound between USB and I2S, so hearing that made me very keen to include the I2S interface in my set up. To be honest I can't really explain my preference, just that i enjoyed the x-sabre pro more.

I finally landed on my DAC choice Matrix X-Sabre Pro (MQA) fed by I2S from a Matrix x-spdif2 powered by a Keces P3. I blew past my budget, but couldn't thought - what the hell, I earned it.

Well, distortion is not really the correct description, which I tried to clarify in a later post. Cranking the volume up doesn't make the low end distort at all - it's more that it all sounds like a wall of noise, but the bass is still tight. I actually think I am getting this all wrong. The issue is not the amp or the DAC or the speakers. At my normal listening volume the Elicit-R sounds wonderful. Often a quick listening sessions turns into 3 hours. I think this is just a case of me turning the volume up to 3/4 in a room that is just too small (16ft by 12ft). I only did this once just to test...and got the wall of noise. In other words, i was being a bit dumb - ahem. Bottom line is I am not sure, without a serious upgrade to the Elicit-R, I will better it's sound at normal listening levels for my room. I remember how much listening and research i did before buying it. I couldn't find anything better, for my ears at least, for less than £5k. So, I am going back to the original plan - the Topping D50 was a stop gap as before I was using a Chromecast Audio fed directly into the amp. Sounded OK, but since adding the D50 and upscaling redbook (mainly) to DSD512, it's the difference between mildly entertaining and a grin. For a big grin I am going to upgrade the DAC and - maybe - improve the W10 Roon Bridge to DAC set up I currently have.

Hi, could you clarify something here, when you say that the SMS200Ultra will only output DoP, does the iDSD still remaster it to DSD512 or DSD1024. I am just wondering what the purpose is of sending upsampled DSD from Roon to the SMS200Ultra in the first place if the iDSD Pro can do it's thing anyway... aren;t you just hogging bandwidth by doing conversions in Roon... or are you sending native DSD not upsampled from Roon to the SOTM?

Nova300 would offer a better upgrade path for later down the road... Tough choices, but the advice above about the Rega being a little underpowered has given me second thoughts about spending my next lot of hard earned cash on a part of the chain that might not be the weakest link (hence the thought about the Nova300)...not sure where to get hold of one in the UK, though.

Thank you - good to know...Nova300 might be just a little too beefy for the R700s but I have no intention of cranking the volume up over half way. Might also be a good route for when i eventually upgrade my speakers to the B&W 800s that I always wanted - haha!