Streamer to kill the big boys for under $250

[DaveC]

So when's your chipless DSD DAC going to be done?

I have a computer that could be the server but a DAC to beat my Sony HAP is going to cost more than the HAP... it blows away any of the less expensive DACs I've tried, and was pretty much equal to an Auralic Vega a friend brought over. I'm always seeking to improve my system but it takes a lot of cash to make a clear improvement over the Sony and not just something a little different. If you're experimenting with a DAC I think a lot of folks would be interested in a turnkey (or close to it) solution that involves a purpose-made DSD DAC, as the system is going to upsample everything to DSD anyway. I payed with the settings a little, but I just have my Sony upsample everything to DSD now. It works for Sony...

 

[Blizzard]

So when's your chipless DSD DAC going to be done?

I have a computer that could be the server but a DAC to beat my Sony HAP is going to cost more than the HAP... it blows away any of the less expensive DACs I've tried, and was pretty much equal to an Auralic Vega a friend brought over. I'm always seeking to improve my system but it takes a lot of cash to make a clear improvement over the Sony and not just something a little different. If you're experimenting with a DAC I think a lot of folks would be interested in a turnkey (or close to it) solution that involves a purpose-made DSD DAC, as the system is going to upsample everything to DSD anyway. I payed with the settings a little, but I just have my Sony upsample everything to DSD now. It works for Sony...

My system is going to be more on the lines of a Devialet. Complete integrated system minus speaker cables and speakers. Ravenna interface, chipless DSD DAC, 100% discrete class A gain stages, and Hypex Ncore power. I'm waiting on 3rd parties atm. Might be Feb, Mar before I have it completely finished.

 

[amirm]

What do you mean by running it on a "server" Mike?

 

[c1ferrari]

Mike,

Have you ever listened to the Grimm Audio LS1/s

Sam

 

[Blizzard]

What do you mean by running it on a "server" Mike?

I mean opposed to a renderer like this streamer. The server with HQplayer installed on it doing all of the heavy computing.

 

[Blizzard]

Mike,

Have you ever listened to the Grimm Audio LS1/s

Sam

No not yet.

 

[amirm]

I mean opposed to a renderer like this streamer. The server with HQplayer installed on it doing all of the heavy computing.

Then that is what I am talking about. That server is completely compute bound other than the bit about sending and receiving audio data. Its workload then is almost completely operating system independent.

 

[Blizzard]

Then that is what I am talking about. That server is completely compute bound other than the bit about sending and receiving audio data. Its workload then is almost completely operating system independent.

I'm not exactly sure what he's done. But he's done things to optimise HQplayer. Jussi the creator says it's better on Linux as well. He hates Windows and OSX. He is Finnish after all.

 

[lateboomer]

Blizz,

Could your new dac/amp product also work as dac/preamp? I have my own amplifiers so if I could use your product as dac/preamp then it would be very flexible.

 

[Blizzard]

Blizz,

Could your new dac/amp product also work as dac/preamp? I have my own amplifiers so if I could use your product as dac/preamp then it would be very flexible.

Sorry it's going to have everything all in 1

 

[adyc]

He hates Windows and OSX. He is Finnish after all.

No you are wrong. He is a Windows guy. He uses Win phone and Windows surface. His first version of HQPlayer is on Windows only.

 

[Blizzard]

No you are wrong. He is a Windows guy. He uses Win phone and Windows surface. His first version of HQPlayer is on Windows only.

Yes because he actually wanted to sell some copies. Very few people run Linux as their main OS. I'm not going to have this argument because I already know what he prefers. I've had several conversations with him about this.

 

[Geardaddy]

So from a purely technical standpoint, what is the difference between running an Auralic Aries (connected via Ethernet) versus your config other than the presence of HQ player? Is DSD upsampling into a chipless DSD the secret sauce?

 

[Blizzard]

So from a purely technical standpoint, what is the difference between running an Auralic Aries (connected via Ethernet) versus your config other than the presence of HQ player? Is DSD upsampling into a chipless DSD the secret sauce?

Yes it's the fact I'm running the NAA Daemon which not only allows taking advantage of all of the SRC/SDM algorithms in HQplayer, it's also a superior way to handle things in the streamer end. The Aries uses UpnP, which is not near as good. The NAA daemon is more like how Ravenna works.

If Auralic decided to make the Aries NAA compatible, then the only advantage of my system would likely be the up to DSD 1024 compatibility, and price.

 

[Blizzard]

Hi Guys,

I should of had everything ready by now, but I'm having problems getting the image downloaded from Piero without corruption. His server is brutally slow, and takes 6-7 hours to download the image. 1 time it failed half way through and had to start over. So he's going to host the image on a better file server and we will try again. Another problem is he made the image so it fit's on a slightly bigger stick than the 16gb Sandisk I have and recommended. These sticks say 16gb, but are actually 14.3. The Sandisk stick he made the image from is 14.9gb. So he has to either make the image from a smaller stick, or we will have to use a stick with an actual capacity bigger than 14.9gb. We will sort this out. It's hard to know the actual capacity of the sticks, until you try them.

 

[Geardaddy]

Yes it's the fact I'm running the NAA Daemon which not only allows taking advantage of all of the SRC/SDM algorithms in HQplayer, it's also a superior way to handle things in the streamer end. The Aries uses UpnP, which is not near as good. The NAA daemon is more like how Ravenna works.

If Auralic decided to make the Aries NAA compatible, then the only advantage of my system would likely be the up to DSD 1028 compatibility, and price.

Auralic is supposed to be DSD 256 compatible....

 

[Blizzard]

Auralic is supposed to be DSD 256 compatible....

Yes I'm sure in the real world beyond 256 may be diminishing returns, however my unit has the capability up to 1024 , if the DAC's USB interface it's connected to does as well. With UPnP that the Aries uses, the decoding and processing of the data is done on the renderer end. This requires more CPU load, and noise generation in the streamer. With the NAA system, 100% of all of this work is preformed on the server end. So it can be processed with ease by the streamer. Processing DSD 1024 is pretty much the same work as 256, where it would take a more powerful processor, and higher noise generation with UPnP.

 

[Blizzard]

Hi guys I've been testing the difference in boot up times between the Sandisk ultra 3.0 stick I recommended earlier, and the compact USB 2.0 unit. Looks like there's only a difference of 4 seconds to full boot up. The small stick also has an actual capacity of 14.9 GB rather than 14.3. Copying the image to this stick initially takes quite a bit longer though.

 

[Blizzard]

Now I just discovered this one. It's ultra compact like the 2.0 stick, but it's USB 3.0, and even faster than the big ultra stick. Also only $8.18

http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Ultra...1-fkmr1&keywords=SanDisk+Ultra+Fit™+CZ43+16GB

I wish I had seen this earlier. It will likely be the best stick for this application. Sorry to anyone who bought the big ultra stick already.

 

[Blizzard]

Hi Guys,

Anyone interested in this image please PM me.

Thanks