Antipodes Oladra into Lampizator Horizon

[Charlie B.]

Following the discussions nearly every Horizon owner seems to be using a Taiko server.
For those who don´t, I have an Antipodes Oladra Gen. 3 (not the latest version) on loan for a week.
Here are my findings:
Fresh out of the box and using USB (with Innuos Phoenix USB) I hear a very significant improvement over my Innuos Zenith Mk III in all the usual sound aspects, much better dynamics, deeper and broader room, sharper, more natural contours of singers and instruments, deeper bass, more details, better precision all over. But the sound balance lacks some mids for my taste and the hights seem a little bit sterile. (I´m exagerating here.) This is good Hifi but it does not touch my soul. What I hear is - for me - not worth the exra money. (We are talking the price of a good car here!)
After a day of listening (and running it through the night) I switch to AES/EBU and hear improvement, the mids are filling out, everything sounds a bit more natural. I still think for me it´s not worth the money.
Another day and I switch to I²S via a short length of Audioquest Cinnamon HDMI (no connection problem). Now this is the real deal!
There is so much more of everything, another layer of information, the music flows, my emotional reaction is what I was looking for. So highly recommended to give it a listen.

Some questions:
What do I loose with a Antipodes Kala 50?
What do I get more with the latest Oladra model?
What I²S cable can get me further, be it HDMI or RJ45?
Which other (Roon!) music server is better below 25.000 €?

 

[heihei]

LDMS

 

[shakti]

Following the discussions nearly every Horizon owner seems to be using a Taiko server.
For those who don´t, I have an Antipodes Oladra Gen. 3 (not the latest version) on loan for a week.
Here are my findings:
Fresh out of the box and using USB (with Innuos Phoenix USB) I hear a very significant improvement over my Innuos Zenith Mk III in all the usual sound aspects, much better dynamics, deeper and broader room, sharper, more natural contours of singers and instruments, deeper bass, more details, better precision all over. But the sound balance lacks some mids for my taste and the hights seem a little bit sterile. (I´m exagerating here.) This is good Hifi but it does not touch my soul. What I hear is - for me - not worth the exra money. (We are talking the price of a good car here!)
After a day of listening (and running it through the night) I switch to AES/EBU and hear improvement, the mids are filling out, everything sounds a bit more natural. I still think for me it´s not worth the money.
Another day and I switch to I²S via a short length of Audioquest Cinnamon HDMI (no connection problem). Now this is the real deal!
There is so much more of everything, another layer of information, the music flows, my emotional reaction is what I was looking for. So highly recommended to give it a listen.

Some questions:
What do I loose with a Antipodes Kala 50?
What do I get more with the latest Oladra model?
What I²S cable can get me further, be it HDMI or RJ45?
Which other (Roon!) music server is better below 25.000 €?

Hi Charlie,
the older Oladra Generations do not have a good USB out, as no real reclocking is happening,
Only AES/EBU or SPDIF or I2S do benefit from the better clock.

The latest Oladra model will have a reclocked USB as well.

the Kala 50 ha a much cheaper chassis.
Using the music server in a room with significant bass energy, the Oladra performs much better.
Kala 50 has a more simple clock, which has an effect as well.

I definitely would prefer Oladra in a "big" system.

I2S wohl be preferred for both of them.


I have no recommendation for cables

Jürgen
(schön mal wieder etwas von Dir zu lesen)

 

[Charlie B.]

Hi Charlie,
the older Oladra Generations do not have a good USB out, as no real reclocking is happening,
Only AES/EBU or SPDIF or I2S do benefit from the better clock.

The latest Oladra model will have a reclocked USB as well.

the Kala 50 ha a much cheaper chassis.
Using the music server in a room with significant bass energy, the Oladra performs much better.
Kala 50 has a more simple clock, which has an effect as well.

I definitely would prefer Oladra in a "big" system.

I2S wohl be preferred for both of them.


I have no recommendation for cables

Jürgen
(schön mal wieder etwas von Dir zu lesen)

Today I bought the Oladra used for a very good price, I could turn in the Zenith and got an Aundioquest Firebird HDMI in the deal as well. Very happy!
( Hi Jürgen, dein Besuch hier in Marburg steht weiter aus, du bist eingeladen!)