Introduction of my new Antipodes K50 Music Server

[clive101]

Yes, I know somthing is wrong.
I have tried two fuse ratings as per Antipodes.
More fuses from coming from the dealer to get it working again, and waiting for tech to come up with an answer.
If the new fuses blow I will be sending back for a new K50.

 

[Pb Blimp]

Yes, I know somthing is wrong.
I have tried two fuse ratings as per Antipodes.
More fuses from coming from the dealer to get it working again, and waiting for tech to come up with an answer.
If the new fuses blow I will be sending back for a new K50.

I am just saying to make sure they do not just send fuses with greater resistance than spec without giving you a good engineering reason why the unit is behaving this way and why its not a problem.

 

[Tuckia]

Yes, I know somthing is wrong.
I have tried two fuse ratings as per Antipodes.
More fuses from coming from the dealer to get it working again, and waiting for tech to come up with an answer.
If the new fuses blow I will be sending back for a new K50.

Oh dread! And start the break in process again?

The fuses blew on mine blew only after disconnecting the power cord from either the back of the unit or from the power conditioner. This is different scenario than a power outage where the drain to ground remains intact.

What happened that both fuses blew?

At almost three weeks of continuous play, it is sounding much better. The first week is pretty erratic and only interesting for academic break in observation purposes. 10 days in it became worthwhile again to just sit and listen. At 19 days it’s good, well beyond the EX/CX, which I believe was holding the rest of the system back.

 

[Lxgreen]

Antipodes development focus is (to my understanding), to bring the best signal to a DAC.
I learned from them, that Ethernet and USB carry too many distortions to become the digital connection to a DAC.
I2S ist best, followed by AES/EBU and SPDIF and a separate clock connection.

K50 is their best interface to connect internet and HD files to a DAC,
providing I2s and AES/EBU and SPDIF plus a separate clock connection

Using Ethernet or USB as connection to the DAC does sound significantly worse than I2s, AES/EBU or SPDIF.
(Using the Ethernet, USB and AES/EBU or SPDIF connections on Brinkmann Nyquist II)

According to their own goals, K40 cannot be more, than just a compromise .

So I decided to go for K50. Using the K50 for all rendering and decoding, sending only uncompressed files to my DAC.

I’m getting ready to get either K40 orK50. I would upgrading from a Sonictransporter i7AP using Ethernet to Bricasti M12 DAC/player. I could use Ethernet from K40 to Dac or use K50 to one of the Dac digital inputs and bypass internal player. in your analysis you concluded K50 would be better solution. After having it for a while do you think that is still the best way to go? I currently use optical connections and EtherRegen to feed good signal to Dac use the sonictransporter with Uptone JS-1 power supply Getting very good sound. So I’m curious to see if moving to one of the Antipodes would be a big difference

 

[Pb Blimp]

I’m getting ready to get either K40 orK50. I would upgrading from a Sonictransporter i7AP using Ethernet to Bricasti M12 DAC/player. I could use Ethernet from K40 to Dac or use K50 to one of the Dac digital inputs and bypass internal player. in your analysis you concluded K50 would be better solution. After having it for a while do you think that is still the best way to go? I currently use optical connections and EtherRegen to feed good signal to Dac use the sonictransporter with Uptone JS-1 power supply Getting very good sound. So I’m curious to see if moving to one of the Antipodes would be a big difference

I had the same dilemma and then just decided the only way I will truly know the optimum connection from the Antipodes in my system was to change my order from K40 to K50 so I can test all 3 outputs with my system and my cables. They say options have value; only one way to find out in this case.

 

[Lxgreen]

I had the same dilemma and then just decided the only way I will truly know the optimum connection from the Antipodes in my system was to change my order from K40 to K50 so I can test all 3 outputs with my system and my cables. They say options have value; only one way to find out in this case.

Thanks. I see you used Acoustic Frontiers to design your acoustics. I used Nyal For that as well and probably made a bigger improvement than anything I had done before. Highly recommended

 

[Pb Blimp]

Yes my room is flat as a pancake. Nyal knows his stuff.

 

[Brucemck2]

Nyal did a nice job for me dialing in PEQ on two subwoofers for a stereo setup. He recommended FabFilter Pro running in J River, which proved highly transparent, and did the work remotely after helping me set up a measurement chain.

 

[Tuckia]

Here’s an update after a couple weeks.

No blown fuses despite many power cycles and cord changes. The trick is to let the power supply completely discharge prior to unplugging the cord. A minute will do.

Following Kennyb123’s Shunyata recommendations, I’ve acquired a couple Sigma v2 NR power cords to try out. These are simply awesome cords used on the K50 and Pacific. The result is much better when both are used rather than just one or the other. You can really hear into the recording with such a low noise floor. Very natural and stress free. Excellent low end and overall resolution. I really have to wonder about the omega usb. Thanks for sharing Ken.

 

[kennyb123]

Here’s an update after a couple weeks.

No blown fuses despite many power cycles and cord changes. The trick is to let the power supply completely discharge prior to unplugging the cord. A minute will do.

Following Kennyb123’s Shunyata recommendations, I’ve acquired a couple Sigma v2 NR power cords to try out. These are simply awesome cords used on the K50 and Pacific. The result is much better when both are used rather than just one or the other. You can really hear into the recording with such a low noise floor. Very natural and stress free. Excellent low end and overall resolution. I really have to wonder about the omega usb. Thanks for sharing Ken.

Really glad to hear that blown fuses can be avoided. Even more glad to hear the Shunyata v2 cords impressed you. They really are wonderful.

The Omega USB is cut from the same cloth. You will hear the same kind of improvements though I think clarity gets an even bigger boost. I still had my Zenith Mk3 when the Omega landed and it absolutely blew me away. Dropping it in on a K50 should be even more profound.

Really interesting that you found the result much better when both components were using v2 cords. I observed something similar. I guess my next move is to complete my loom and get a Delta v2 for my K30. Thanks for sharing that observation as I really wasn’t sure it would be worth upgrading.

Ken

 

[Tuckia]

After this Sigma v2 NR experiment I didn’t have much choice but to buy one. The greatest effect with only one was heard when used on the K50, so this is where it will go. The effect was quite meaningful on the Pacific too, but if you don’t have another upstream you can’t regain what was lost. The other new PC, the Zenwave PSR-14 will go on the Pacific. This cable was still going through a lengthy break in while the two Sigmas were here, so it’s hard to say anything meaningful in comparison. It is turning into a swan, as the demo cable was. It definitely has an ugly duckling phase in the middle of the process. The Sigmas were a completely unplanned detour, but I was offered a 4-day demo by another generous WBF member (who wanted to see me spend more money, WBF - a support group of enablers)

 

[kennyb123]

The greatest effect with only one was heard when used on the K50, so this is where it will go.

I wasn't expecting that but I guess you likewise want to see me spend more money. HAHA

Seriously thanks for reporting this. Shunyata hasn't been as crisp with their recommendations for all-digital components as they have been for components with an analog stage. I think I had mentioned a while back that I'm using an Alpha HC on my K30 but this was leftover from the Zenith and the Zenith got it from a preamp that went to another owner. I hadn't put that Alpha up to any competition on the servers. I think I will address that next.

 

[Tuckia]

I wasn't expecting that but I guess you likewise want to see me spend more money. HAHA

Seriously thanks for reporting this. Shunyata hasn't been as crisp with their recommendations for all-digital components as they have been for components with an analog stage. I think I had mentioned a while back that I'm using an Alpha HC on my K30 but this was leftover from the Zenith and the Zenith got it from a preamp that went to another owner. I hadn't put that Alpha up to any competition on the servers. I think I will address that next.

Yes, by all means you should spend more. You don’t know what you are missing. Actually, I’ve never heard the earlier Shunyatas that you have, so I can’t comment on the delta between an Alpha and Sigma NR, or a Delta v2 for that matter. But I’m waiting for my new cable to arrive and am quite aware of what I’m missing just by aural memory. I was floored by how much resolution the K50 has. My previous cords have been strangling it, and consequently the performance of everything downstream. Not a case of diminishing returns as everything improved. But that’s what happens when you find the weakest link.

 

[WAVE High Fidelity]

Can I ask is there any consensus of which outputs people are using with their K50 etc?

For connection to my Chord Mscaler I am tending to use the BNC spdif output and Squeezelite controlled by the Material web app.

I wonder if Antipodes are going to do a fully functioning app themselves the same as Innuos with their 2.0 app? (Which looks like a proper replacement for Roon!!). Looking at the competition for Antipodes it does seem that they might be left behind if they continue to rely on clunky third party apps whilst selling server/players with prices that are at the premium end of the market. Has anyone heard any whispers?

 

[kennyb123]

Actually, I’ve never heard the earlier Shunyatas that you have, so I can’t comment on the delta between an Alpha and Sigma NR, or a Delta v2 for that matter. But I’m waiting for my new cable to arrive and am quite aware of what I’m missing just by aural memory. I was floored by how much resolution the K50 has. My previous cords have been strangling it, and consequently the performance of everything downstream. Not a case of diminishing returns as everything improved. But that’s what happens when you find the weakest link.

The Delta v2 was a big step up from the Alpha HC on my DAC and amp. I now expect the same with my K30.

Tough to know what might be strangling things. It took placing a Delta v2 on my DAC to hear how much it could bring to my amp. I tend to go with the loom approach in hopes of creating a level playing field. Hence three Delta v2s vs fewer of either Alpha or Sigma.

 

[Pb Blimp]

Can I ask is there any consensus of which outputs people are using with their K50 etc?

For connection to my Chord Mscaler I am tending to use the BNC spdif output and Squeezelite controlled by the Material web app.

I wonder if Antipodes are going to do a fully functioning app themselves the same as Innuos with their 2.0 app? (Which looks like a proper replacement for Roon!!). Looking at the competition for Antipodes it does seem that they might be left behind if they continue to rely on clunky third party apps whilst selling server/players with prices that are at the premium end of the market. Has anyone heard any whispers?

I ordered the MSB Pro-USB Module and all Nordost digital wires (spidf, usb and ethernet) to use with my Reference Dac (existing Renderer2 and Spidf inputs) to test my K50 upon arrival. Very interested to get started.

 

[sbnx]

Yes, by all means you should spend more. You don’t know what you are missing. Actually, I’ve never heard the earlier Shunyatas that you have, so I can’t comment on the delta between an Alpha and Sigma NR, or a Delta v2 for that matter. But I’m waiting for my new cable to arrive and am quite aware of what I’m missing just by aural memory. I was floored by how much resolution the K50 has. My previous cords have been strangling it, and consequently the performance of everything downstream. Not a case of diminishing returns as everything improved. But that’s what happens when you find the weakest link.

Since you are in a spending mood try an Everest. It is very cool what it does. Be warned, if you try one you likely will not be able to listen without it.

 

[Tuckia]

Since you are in a spending mood try an Everest. It is very cool what it does. Be warned, if you try one you likely will not be able to listen without it.

It’s on my radar
Which power cords are you using on your K50 and Pacific?
Ever try your Callisto yet?

 

[sbnx]

I am using shunyata sigma NR V1’s. I have a couple of V2’s on the way to compare.

 

[sale]

after a week of copying data, the time had finally come, I could Antipodes K50 music server put into operation.

Means that I was the first to rebuild Roon from my backup.
Compared to last time, Roon even remembered my Tidal Abo Password this time.
My favorite albums were also back in the appropriate folder very quickly.

I have the K50 over - Ethernet - USB - AES / EBU connected to my Brinkmann Nyquist II DAC so that I can compare the individual connections in interaction.

The comparison with my Oracle DC drive, which is connected to SPDIF, serves as a reference point to my previous music servers.

First of all, I would like to say that no music server has yet managed to match the sound quality of this CD drive.

All digital cables used are of the corresponding Wireworld Platinum quality, so that the cable influences are minimized as far as possible.

On the advice of CM-Audio, I set the Antipodes to Squezelite as a player, which probably sounds better than the Roon interface itself.

First I let the K50 play over the ethernet connection.

The first sound impression is good and confirms my previous Antipodes experience that these devices belong to the dynamic and forward-playing devices. My Innuos Zenith III / Innuos Phoenix clock played from memory via USB but not much worse, which the cross check with the CD drive confirmed. Obviously, Ethernet is not the preferred input on my Nyquist DAC. Compared to the original CD in the Oracle CD drive, the version ripped in WAV format played significantly more pale over the K50 LAN connection. I suspect that this behaves significantly differently with devices such as the Linn Streamer, as these are designed for LAN as the main entrance. Accordingly,


I didn't bother with the LAN route and switched to USB.

To do this, I chose USB_brinkmann as the output path on the Antipodes user interface. Now it got exciting, the comparison to the Oracle CD drive took place at eye level. The tonal alignment of the two signal sources became obvious. Compared to that, the K50 played a lot more energy in the bass range as well as in the fundamental range. This signature ran over all the pieces heard. But since I have tuned the Oracle CD drive very neutrally over the years, I found this to be discoloring on the K50. Accordingly, I took the CD playback as the "master" and first optimized the setup. If the K50 stood on its original feet on the HRS M3x base until now, it played with significantly more contoured and more precise resolution when 3x HRS Nimbus feet are placed between the HRS base and the K50 base. My attempts with different feet, e.g. Alu Pulsar Points or Cardas Myrtle blocks changed the sound, but not in the desired direction. In terms of tone, it remained with the somewhat "fatter" playback compared to the Oracle drive.

Accordingly, I have taken care of the power cabling. In principle, I like to use the power cables from NBS on the mostly very lean and clean playing digital components, so Oracle, Brinkmann and Antipodes are connected with NBS Black Label power cables. Since the NBS cables do not always fit well, I was already able to determine the Audionet Stern with my current preamplifier, so I got a couple of power cables ready to finally arrive at the Wireworld Platinum power cable, similar to the Stern. With this I find it difficult to distinguish the playback from the Oracle CD drive from the WAV copy on the SSD hard drive. I haven't come that far with any other music server in terms of sound, it's fun that way!


Next I looked at the output board called "Digital Audio" by Antipodes.

To do this, I had to select this from the output path in the Antipodes user interface.

Now the I2S, AES / EBU and SPDIF connections as well as a clock output are available.

At the start I compared the two AES / EBU and SPDIF connections, because I wanted to decide on the optimal one in conjunction with the Nyquist DAC. In terms of sound, I couldn't hear any difference in my setup, but accordingly I stayed with the AES / EBU and left the Oracle CD drive connected to the SPDIF connection.

During a brief comparison of the two connections, it became clear to me that the K50 has made significant gains again via the digital audio interface.

In a direct comparison to the CD drive, this became even clearer. The sound of the K50 now leaves the Oracle CD drive behind.

Tonally (luckily) nothing has changed. The difference lies primarily in the more specific spatial representation. If musicians have played in my room before, you get the impression that with the K50, the recording room comes to the fore, or the recording room becomes noticeable in my room. In this form, I usually only know this from my analog playback chain.

The room becomes deeper and wider without the musicians leaving their position there is just more air around this.

Once you get used to this spatial impression, it becomes clear that the level of micro details has also increased, small head movements on the microphone are easier to understand, and the reverberation of drum cymbals is longer and more realistic.

Percussive elements in the music are precisely reproduced, ie touch noises, actual sound, decay. The whole thing without letting the music drift into the analytical. The context of the music remains and you tend to listen to individual pieces, which is not necessarily a matter of course when streaming music (at least for me).

Now I switch to the DSD format, because I'm interested in whether the USB interface catches up when I transfer DSD natively to the Nyquist. With AES / EBU this is converted into a 24/176 PCM signal.

But even here my preference for the digital audio interface and the AES / EBU connection remains.

This is interesting for me insofar as I always liked the native DSD of the Innuos Zenith III (via USB) more than converting the DSD signal to PCM.

When I was listening for a long time, I noticed a minimal roughness in the high frequency range, so I continued to work on the position of the HRS Nimbus feet in order to finally arrive at 4x HRS Nimbus feet. Most of my devices prefer 3 feet, now the K50 probably the 4.

I also calmed the housing cover with the small Artesania damper, which brought a little more calm to the sound. Not really serious, the K50 housing is well built, but now I don't want to miss the Artesania damper anymore.

The last thing I did on Friday evening was the Tidal Integration. This is also great, although yesterday I had a bad tidal day, the sound quality was significantly worse than, for example, this Sunday morning. Accordingly, I will deal with the tidal sound again on another day compared to the SSD hard drive.

As an interim conclusion, I can definitely say that the K50 is a great device for me if.

I didn't think that music servers could cause such a jump in playback.

Until now, my focus in digital playback has always been primarily on the DAC.

The K50 definitely shifts my future approach.

Mark states that Ethernet is preferable input. He says that the only reason to go with USB is if Ethernet is noisy. Which it should not be thanks to Antipodes servers and players, galvanic isolation etc. Maybe your cables were subpar, or something else.