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digilog5

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  1. I missed this thread.. In any case, since the original question was for I2S (via HDMI-LVDS) sources for a dac, one that really works exceptionally well for me, was the Sonore Signature Rendu. It is a bit on the expensive side but considering the stability, no use of computer at all, extremely low jitter and of course the option for I2S output, it may be worth to take a look at it. Total cost of a super low noise PC plus a soundcard with low jitter clocks may add up to comparable costs. I use mine with a W4S Dac2/ PSA AC12 silver HDMI for a couple of years now with excellent results. Sure a computer will probably give you more streaming options (practically any streaming service) but if you'd like to exclude a PC from the chain, then a streamer like this may be the ticket. However it does require you to host a NAS somewhere in the network.
  2. Well although I don't know the exact network protocol nomenclature related to DLNA, it is a standard for shared network media availability. The SSR does connect to a network similar to the bridge and is visible as DLNA renderer by Upnp/DLNA controller points (applications) such as PlugPlayer, bubble, Synology DS Audio Etc... I am using the SSR with i2s to a W4S Dac2 for a year now and I think its an amazing playback system. I am not sure why you are using the Jriver in the chain though. If your files reside in the Qnap NAS, then that's all that should be needed. My chain is: Synology DS1515+ (runs DS-Audio server and BubbleUPNP/Tidal) HP Gigabit switcher / Asus router MOCA adapter in server room (sender) MOCA adapter (receiver) on IFI power supply to Sonore SSR Cat6a (Benden cable supplied with SSR - this is important) to SSR and I2S to DAC Everything from URL radio streams, to 24/192k and Tidal play near instantly. Track to track changes are also near instantaneous. I cannot offer an opinion on Roon compatibility. I don't believe it is compatible. Although once you hear the quality of this as transport, with DLNA or good radio streams you will be very impressed to say the least. Space, air, natural timbre, focus are all there. Very few times, if I overdo it with changing tracks very quickly my IOS app might hang for few moments but that's rare and I just restart the app. For the majority of playback I use Synology's DS-Audio app on IOS for anything DLNA and Linn's Kazoo for Tidal.
  3. I also do the same thing with an Oppo 93 modified by EVS and using a W4S Dac2 with a very good coax SPDIF. I am streaming up to 24/192 from a ReadyNas wirelessly via an Asus RT-N66U. No issues since 2011 no shuddering. Very reliable and very very good streamer too. Sure there are many other alternatives, but this is a very good starting point. I am thinking perhaps in the future to try the Auralic Aries or the Krell Connect or even the Rendu via i2s but for now this fits the purpose and from day 1 it was significantly better than the old Async in the Dac2 and Jriver. I've never used Jriver since then.
  4. I have been using the 93 in two occasions as a transport only. Actually I have two of these in two different places, for different tasks. I have one, paired to a W4S Dac2 (using an Atlas Cables 75ohm 1.5 m coaxial). I've been using the Dac2 originally with USB (WW Starlight usb, win7 x64 loaded on SSD, Jriver) but was not impressed. It was ok, but felt there was always something significantly missing from the music, especially in soundstage space and air. Tried the same usb route, the Apple-way for a while with a MBP and a trial version of PM but it was close to the Win7. I didn't like too much the idea of using my laptop all the time. The Oppo 93 + Dac2 was a wonderful combination, provided that a very good cable is used in between. I started with an old Theta Digital coax, went to Apogee WydeEye (that really opened up things) and moved to the Atlas. Open, spacious, very articulate. Then I had my Oppo modified by Rick at EVS with a new processor clock and smps mods (no analog mods as I don't use them). This really took the transport function up few notches. I am streaming via Wifi from a Netgear ReadyNas to the oppo. Even with good 16/44.1 recordings (ripped by dBPower amp) there is a "you are there" spooky feeling and dead quiet back ground. In my setup it greatly surpassed the USB. However, I am not using it as a CD-transport. I rip everything to the NAS and stream from there. You may say that there is an added benefit of using it as a "file transport" rather than a cd transport as you remove the spinning disk from the jitter equation. In all cases, the I2S information for audio is generated by the Oppo's CPU be it disk or file. So there is always some inherent jitter with these chips. I have another 93, stock (unmodified) connected with an Apogee WydeEye to an old Theta Digital Casanova Pre-amp, which also serves as DAC. It is very good even with an old dog like the Theta (with no special circuit to deal with jitter). It sounds decent for 2 channel playback but not as refined or focused as my older Theta Carmen II transport but again all these are with the Casanova as DAC-pre. If you really want to push the envelope with low jitter output from the Oppo (if the downstream dac cannot handle it) then there is a buffer-reclocking solution by Audiopraise (Vanity93 board for the 93) with independent clocks for the desired frequency. Best,
  5. Hi Jesus, Will the i2s (in HDMI) not be an option anymore in the upcoming updates to the Sonore Server? I've been looking at various options of a low jitter server based i2s output transport for my W4S Dac2 (not PC based solution) and have read many great things about the Sonore i2s server. Thanks
  6. I agree with the above comments. I think at this pricepoint both the 93 and 95 are absolutely great. An ipad/iphone app or at least a web interface would be super welcome, so that you don't have to use a monitor to see your files. That is exactly the first thing that got my attention when they released the specs less than year ago: FLAC and WAV playback and conversion to pcm all the way up to 24/192. DLNA aside (which works ok for me with my NAS), one area where they still need to improve a bit, is external media compatibility. I experienced some incompatibility with certain drives and relayed my experience to their support. For example some e-sata drives work and some don't. Oppo retains a list but it is not public. My OWC Mercury Elite Pro doesn't. Tried the little Oyen 2.5 usb/e-sata and Eagle tech 2.5 FIT enclosures and they work fine. Overall I think its greatest strength is that it is a great self contained transport platform which relies on its SoC Mediatek chip, perhaps with some room for improvement (specially the 93). Here is an interesting mod to connect the 93 by i2s to an external DAC: http://www.review33.com/avforum/index.php?topic=29100429210508&page=12
  7. New here but this is a great and very informative forum. I am also interested in hearing other people's experience with the Oppo as a media player. I've been enjoying my PC based system alot for the past year (see sign.) and when I picked up my Oppo 93 I was very impressed when I used it with a coaxial spdif with my W4S Dac2. I’ve tried it with external drives and my ReadyNas and the quality is very very decent. My digital coax was an old Theta Digital coax I have (very old but very smooth btw). In my setup, my impression was that the Oppo offered a more centrally positioned image and not as much ultimate resolution or inner details as the Async USB, but it was very musical and decently fluid. Lately I’ve been enjoying this setup more and more, as I need my laptop for work, so I let the Oppo and Wyred dac play in the back ground. I’ve been thinking of having an LVDS i2s HDMI output installed on the Oppo 93 and send out i2s straight to the DAC2. The DAC2 supplies its own master clock so this could be worthwile perhaps. Have been busy and haven’t done it yet. This would be essentially the same logic as the internals of the Oppo95. The CPU processing board is the same on both machines the 93 and the 95 (the DAC board is connected with an i2s/dsd ribbon to the processing board). The main difference is that in the Oppo (as with most media players) there is a main CPU (Mediatek in this case) which does the flac/wav conversion-decoding and translates this to i2s. My only fear is how much noisy this CPU can be… Any thoughts? Thanks in advance
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