I had a total nightmare with the K40 , it wouldn’t find server and core on my network. I had Antipodes dial in and they were unable to resolve. I then had a very difficult distributor shaft me on a refund. I was a long drawn out sorry saga. On the music side of things when the damb thing did decide to work I found the sound it produced to be on the bright side with a definite digital feel to the music. The easeful timbre you’d expect on a server this price was not there and my analog set up costing half the price outperformed it by a good margin. In my experience and I’ve tested many servers the best sound is achieved from Aurender with the N20 being the sweet spot in the line up.
My Pachanko Server is here. A bargain at 16k Euros?!
- Thread starter Bogan88
- Start date
Allow me to add my personal experience with Pachanko- and Diretta, as I recently received my Pachanko Constellation Mini SE CAT (Computer Audio Transport), Pachanko Stellar Dual LPS combined with a Diretta OlioSpec DUB.
Pachanko’s local distributor in the Netherlands, Piet de Vries, from AudioTweaks kindly offered to lend me his demo Mini server to use for testing purposes.
Allow me to first give you some background and describe the rest of my setup. I use Qobuz streaming, as my only musical source (no vinyl, no CD’s, no local file storage) as we are fortunate to have a stabile high speed fiber-to-the-home connection. Roon is my favorite musical librarian. Although purely streaming digital, I have a strong preference for an analoge soundstage, achieved by means of using tubes in my system where I can.
Let me guide you backwards from ear-to-source. My speakers are Avalon Transcendent’s on Townshend isolation podiums, connecting through MIT Oracle V2 speaker cables to my two mono power amps, built by a local tube amp ‘artist’, each with 4 x KT150 tubes.
MIT Oracle V2.1 interlinks connect back into my Lampizator Pacific Balanced DAC with volume control/pre-amp (plus remote). The fully brass Pacific DAC uses a 5U4G KR Audio rectifier tube and 242 KR Audio signal DHT tubes.
Some months ago I decided to look for a replacement of my Innuos Zenith Mk2 server/streamer and, after an audiophile friend pointed me at the Diretta protocol, I decided to take a look at the Pachanko Constellation Mini SE server, because it offered the option of dual ethernet ports, combined with the Diretta protocol and HQ Player in one purpose built platform.
The distributor’s smaller demo unit (already including Diretta) provided a considerable upgrade in SQ over my old Innuos/Roon-based server. The meanwhile purchased Constellation Mini SE (adding HQ Player to the mix) boosted my setup to an even higher level. I appreciate the option to select within Roon to use MQ Player, or leave it out.
Now mind you, in my opinion my earlier rig already sounded impressive, but adding the Pachanko server/Diretta protocol/HQ Player lifted the musical experience to an impressively higher level. The overal sound image has become even more refined with very balanced mid’s and high’s, but what this upgrade did to my bass is simply amazing. It oozes power and control. The sound image has opened up further yet has not become ‘digital’ and in fact maintains the pure analogue character that I so much appreciate. The silent passages are ‘black as night’. I dare to say that my current system matches a very costly (and high maintenance) turntable/vinyl system, (something I never had the patience to work with anyway). In my opinion, streaming has reached the same SQ level.
Lastly, let me also testify that Pachanko’s support is of absolute world class. Chan from Pachanko, like others here have testified, is always available to jump in and assist remotely, supporting its customers in ways that are so seldomly seen nowadays.
When looking for a robust high-end computer audio platform, I can only advice to take a look/listen.
Pachanko’s local distributor in the Netherlands, Piet de Vries, from AudioTweaks kindly offered to lend me his demo Mini server to use for testing purposes.
Allow me to first give you some background and describe the rest of my setup. I use Qobuz streaming, as my only musical source (no vinyl, no CD’s, no local file storage) as we are fortunate to have a stabile high speed fiber-to-the-home connection. Roon is my favorite musical librarian. Although purely streaming digital, I have a strong preference for an analoge soundstage, achieved by means of using tubes in my system where I can.
Let me guide you backwards from ear-to-source. My speakers are Avalon Transcendent’s on Townshend isolation podiums, connecting through MIT Oracle V2 speaker cables to my two mono power amps, built by a local tube amp ‘artist’, each with 4 x KT150 tubes.
MIT Oracle V2.1 interlinks connect back into my Lampizator Pacific Balanced DAC with volume control/pre-amp (plus remote). The fully brass Pacific DAC uses a 5U4G KR Audio rectifier tube and 242 KR Audio signal DHT tubes.
Some months ago I decided to look for a replacement of my Innuos Zenith Mk2 server/streamer and, after an audiophile friend pointed me at the Diretta protocol, I decided to take a look at the Pachanko Constellation Mini SE server, because it offered the option of dual ethernet ports, combined with the Diretta protocol and HQ Player in one purpose built platform.
The distributor’s smaller demo unit (already including Diretta) provided a considerable upgrade in SQ over my old Innuos/Roon-based server. The meanwhile purchased Constellation Mini SE (adding HQ Player to the mix) boosted my setup to an even higher level. I appreciate the option to select within Roon to use MQ Player, or leave it out.
Now mind you, in my opinion my earlier rig already sounded impressive, but adding the Pachanko server/Diretta protocol/HQ Player lifted the musical experience to an impressively higher level. The overal sound image has become even more refined with very balanced mid’s and high’s, but what this upgrade did to my bass is simply amazing. It oozes power and control. The sound image has opened up further yet has not become ‘digital’ and in fact maintains the pure analogue character that I so much appreciate. The silent passages are ‘black as night’. I dare to say that my current system matches a very costly (and high maintenance) turntable/vinyl system, (something I never had the patience to work with anyway). In my opinion, streaming has reached the same SQ level.
Lastly, let me also testify that Pachanko’s support is of absolute world class. Chan from Pachanko, like others here have testified, is always available to jump in and assist remotely, supporting its customers in ways that are so seldomly seen nowadays.
When looking for a robust high-end computer audio platform, I can only advice to take a look/listen.
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I’ve now owned the masterpiece for half a year and enjoys it all the time. The most important thing to me is it sounds so natural and analog. The other great thing is how stable it is, I never need to restart it. The only time I turn it off is if I need to change cables.
This is a very important ingredient when streaming and in my experience the K40 was anything but
Munich high-End audio show 2023 with Pachanko Labs, Moonriver, Sonner Audio and Oephi Performance Cables
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Must be a big success show for Pachanko Labs, congratulations.
I was really interested to listen to but when I arrived at Saturday morning the guy in the room talked about 15 minutes about the different functions of the phono preamp and I left without any listening
Matt
Fantastic to see the photo of you and THE LEGEND Laurence Dickie!!!! Well done Chan....Hope the show will be a springboard for greater things in audio .
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We also congratulate Pachanko on his success in Munich!
I also want to confirm the high musicality of the MINI SE server, especially in combination with our Sforzato network players that support the Diretta protocol !!
Over two months ago we took the Pachanko Mini SE to try and were really impressed with its musical capabilities. The way Roon is configured on this server, especially in combination with HQ Player via Diretta!!! wow.
Then we decided to show Pachanko with Sforzato and PLIXIR LPS for the first time in the US at AXPONA-2023, where we received a lot of good feedback from visitors and the press.
Bravo Chan!!!
I also want to confirm the high musicality of the MINI SE server, especially in combination with our Sforzato network players that support the Diretta protocol !!
Over two months ago we took the Pachanko Mini SE to try and were really impressed with its musical capabilities. The way Roon is configured on this server, especially in combination with HQ Player via Diretta!!! wow.
Then we decided to show Pachanko with Sforzato and PLIXIR LPS for the first time in the US at AXPONA-2023, where we received a lot of good feedback from visitors and the press.
Bravo Chan!!!
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Nice review of Diretta and Pachanko Mini SE Server:
Diretta，我受教了－Spec RMP-UB1 Diretta USB Bridge 試用報告 - U-Audio 試聽報告
我赫然發現了一個讓我欣賞的要素，Spec RMP-UB1 所增添的，是更多的類比味。是的，就是這個。就是類比位。RMP-UB1 讓數位串流聽起來更類比，不是掉資訊，不是掉細節，不是掉畫面，而是更像真，更像可觸及的，讓音樂更有吸引力...
review-u--audio-com-tw.translate.goog
After 8 years in business, this year is the first time Sonner exhibited at Munich High End Show 2023. Only the best matching server and amplifier to our Legato Duo speaker did we trust our first appearance in Europe. Very pleased using Pachanko Labs Mini SE + LPS, musical well-balanced tonality, articulate vocal, fluid musical flow and good music tempo/attack and sustain. It is a pleasure working with Chan, He is a great guy and adds a lot of value in our High End World. The server sets up a great starting point for Moonriver Ref 404 amp which is paired well with Sonner Legato Duo speaker along with Oephi cable. The system synergy is just magical. Not just from our perspectives, PartTimeAudiophile also shares the same thought. Awarded our room Top 11 Best Sound at Munich 23. https://parttimeaudiophile.com/2023/06/02/best-sound-in-munich-munich-2023/
Just give you guys other perspective, we put together this system with our mid-level products: Server + Amp with inside DAC + Speaker around 20k USD. Best of Sound without breaking bank. It is all about system matching or synergy where sometimes 1 + 1 = 4.
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Thank you Gunny! It was a great pleasure to work with you as well
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