Bill - no. But I have tried a few different interface methods and USB devices etc. Ked brought a USB one round that I thought was pretty dire.
Anyway it's just a cheap solution anyone can try.
Ked. Bring one round. I bet you £1k you cannot reliably tell me the difference at better than 7 out of 10 tracks blindfolded.
Make that £2K.
Up for it?
I am.
Thank you very much for your detailed reply.
We don’t want noisy, digital-carrying ethernet wire near phono stages, correct? So is that why we keep the server far away and we use the MSB Pro USB to take the digital signal out of the streamer’s USB port at the server end, and send the digital signal to the MSB Pro ISL at the MSB DAC end, and then we connect the Pro ISL to the MSB DAC?
This lets us use fiber optic cable from the Pro USB all the way to the DAC. Do I understand this correctly?
Or is the Pro ISL used only if one is using a physical media transport?
We don’t want noisy, digital-carrying ethernet wire near phono stages, correct? So is that why we keep the server far away and we use the MSB Pro USB to take the digital signal out of the streamer’s USB port at the server end, and send the digital signal to the MSB Pro ISL at the MSB DAC end, and then we connect the Pro ISL to the MSB DAC?
Listening tests need proper positive validation and controls. First tell us of something of similar type where you have reliably found a difference of better than 7 out of 10 tracks blindfolded.
Ron,
Upon assessing your particular situation, I believe the best interface for you, for an MSB DAC would be indeed ProISL + ProUSB module. That will allow you to stream directly from any USB-based device (Innuos, cheap Mac, your phone), and if MSB's claims are real, the actual server/device being used will have less impact than through regular USB due to the noise suppression performed by the combo ProISL+ProUSB.
Again, I haven't really heard that combo, and I don't like commenting on things I haven't heard, but I know what the ProISL can do with spinning discs, so if it's even remotely close to how their transport sounds (via ProISL), we're all in for a real treat
cheers,
Alex
Thank you Alex (and Emile). That sounds like the right thing for me eventually: I can keep the Innuos streamer away from the audio source rack, use the Pro USB at the streamer end and the Pro ISL at the DAC end.
Does the Innuos streamer have to be connected to my wi-fi via an ethernet cable?
Is connecting the streamer to the wi-fi router how the streamer gets the Qobuz digital signal and is able to be controlled by an iPad operating on wi-fi?
You’ve just opened another momumental can of worms/maze to navigate!
The Zenith is hard to beat imo. It is very easy to use and the customer service is excellent if ever needed.
Isn’t seven out of 10 statistically significant?
This is actually a meaningful question and without delving into statistical gobblygook, the short answer is:
Discerning a difference 70% of the time might be statistically meaningful to some but in general it’s a low hurdle. In the science world, if you don’t show that something is significant with a probability that your results will be better than chance 90% of the time (depending on the design of the study and type of analysis performed) you probably won’t be able to get it published anywhere except the “Journal of Irreproducible Results”. (Believe me, I’ve tried.) Most credible journals require outcome probability better than chance alone of 95% (p< 0.05) which is really the gold standard.
So, 7 out of 10, not particularly impressive; 8 out of 10, a bit better; 9 out of 10, now yer talkin’; 9.5 out of 10; homerun!
Thank you Alex (and Emile). That sounds like the right thing for me eventually: I can keep the Innuos streamer away from the audio source rack, use the Pro USB at the streamer end and the Pro ISL at the DAC end.
Does the Innuos streamer have to be connected to my wi-fi via an ethernet cable?
Is connecting the streamer to the wi-fi router how the streamer gets the Qobuz digital signal and is able to be controlled by an iPad operating on wi-fi?
With all due respect, when I read stuff like this, all I can do is laugh.
Ron
Pick up something like the under $800 Small Green Computer i5. Attach that to your network anywhere in your home. That is where Roon Core will reside and allow access to either Tidal or Qobuz. You then attach your MSB device via ethernet to your network and voila you have outstanding SQ all at your fingertips, You will also need a iPad or laptop (both wireless) connected to your network. Don't fiddle with USB or other connections, ethernet is the way to go.
Note: If you want to have them add a SSD drive (as I did) to the i5, you can place your own music files on the network there if you ever desire.
PS: I see they are one of your advertisers.
I can'r figure why anyone would want to dangle a laptop or similar device off their audio system. That's like hanging fuzzy dice on a Ferrari's mirror. Hide that stuff in a closet.
Thank you, but I don’t want to add a computer device. I don’t need Roon..
I intend to plug a streamer into an ethernet jack