Gentlemen,
I have been doing quite some research over last few weeks regarding building DIY audiophile music server/streamer.
The topic that comes back to me is actually which software to choose in order to secure best quality of streaming to DAC.
My initial conclusion is that at the end of the day in case of streamer with USB output it is a matter of:
-securing high quality USB output card (JCAT XE USB as an example) or potentially some USB reclocking device (like Ideon Audio3R USB Renaissance)
-securing a software that: properly controls USB asynchronous transmission and at the same time is pleasant with user interface/library management/integration with Tidal/Qobuz/Spotify
So the options are multiple when it comes to hardware:
- dedicated streamer from Taiko, LDMS, PinkFaun, and few others
- DIY server/streamer - as one or two boxes (server one box and streamer another box or combined together)
- dedicated streamer and DIY server (for instance Lumin U2 Mini or ifi ZenStream as dedicated streamer)
Has anyone of you tried/compared some of these and can share experience of what sounds best?
When thinking of software functionality there is Roon, Audirvana and few other options. To me Roon is by far the best: control from Tablet, integration with Tidal, super nice library management, roon server on headless linux server which is perfect. Difficult for me to imagine Windows based server - however many claim that Windows LTSC based music server sounds the best.
When thinking of software to control USB transmission then options are multiple. Myself thinking of trying at least few options:
Daphile as Roon endpoint,
HQPlayer on Roonbridge as endpoint,
JPlay as Roon endpoint,
HQPlayer on Roon Server without endpoint,
there are other options like Fidelizer, Audiolinux, Windows LTSC and XDMS alike solution etc.
At the moment I still play from Roon server (one box Intel NUC i5 with Ubuntu 22.04 LTS optimized for USB audio priority) directly to Lampizator Pacific via USB.
If you have some good hints or experiences - please share which way to go in order to improve it.
I have been doing quite some research over last few weeks regarding building DIY audiophile music server/streamer.
The topic that comes back to me is actually which software to choose in order to secure best quality of streaming to DAC.
My initial conclusion is that at the end of the day in case of streamer with USB output it is a matter of:
-securing high quality USB output card (JCAT XE USB as an example) or potentially some USB reclocking device (like Ideon Audio3R USB Renaissance)
-securing a software that: properly controls USB asynchronous transmission and at the same time is pleasant with user interface/library management/integration with Tidal/Qobuz/Spotify
So the options are multiple when it comes to hardware:
- dedicated streamer from Taiko, LDMS, PinkFaun, and few others
- DIY server/streamer - as one or two boxes (server one box and streamer another box or combined together)
- dedicated streamer and DIY server (for instance Lumin U2 Mini or ifi ZenStream as dedicated streamer)
Has anyone of you tried/compared some of these and can share experience of what sounds best?
When thinking of software functionality there is Roon, Audirvana and few other options. To me Roon is by far the best: control from Tablet, integration with Tidal, super nice library management, roon server on headless linux server which is perfect. Difficult for me to imagine Windows based server - however many claim that Windows LTSC based music server sounds the best.
When thinking of software to control USB transmission then options are multiple. Myself thinking of trying at least few options:
Daphile as Roon endpoint,
HQPlayer on Roonbridge as endpoint,
JPlay as Roon endpoint,
HQPlayer on Roon Server without endpoint,
there are other options like Fidelizer, Audiolinux, Windows LTSC and XDMS alike solution etc.
At the moment I still play from Roon server (one box Intel NUC i5 with Ubuntu 22.04 LTS optimized for USB audio priority) directly to Lampizator Pacific via USB.
If you have some good hints or experiences - please share which way to go in order to improve it.