Computer to DAC Streamer

I have a NUC with ROCK and a RPi with Allo Signature connecting to my DAC. There are many used NUCs. I bought mine used powerfull enough for DSP and MQA unfolding

Rbsteno, do you think that because a computer is handling data that all data is the same?
A digital audio waveform is very different binary data packet than what you get in an moving a binary packet of data which is an encoded digital financial transaction for example.

As per SSD they do sound better. As per your Mac running Linux corrupting data absolutely, noise from the motherboard, cpu is riding along with the data packets going to the dac

You really need to talk to Nunio the lead designer of Innous who will give you insight into how digital data is not all the same and how it is easily corrupted.

As per the Aries steamers being good it wasn't, we has an original Aeries and it didnt sound all that good. Your conclusions are based on theory not on practice.
You can visit our shop, we have an ordinary Dell computer in one room, a Baetis Reference in another, an Innous Statement in that same room and an Innous Zenith in another.

We can show you that all of these devices do sound different even over the network.

Dave and TroyAudio Doctor NJ Innous dealers

Audiotroy-are you saying that by using my Mac vs using a Linux dedicated music server that my Mac will corrupt data packets? Far from it. I’ve been in the IT industry for over 40 years and the cheapest computer will not corrupt data packets unless you have a failing device. If computers corrupt data packets then the stock market and all the banks better close up shop. 
Now I will say that hooking up a computer directly to a dac is foolish and flawed, no matter what computer you are using.
You and others always stress the need for a dedicated server. Others indicate that you need SSD for your music files. Far from it. I run Roon on my iMac streaming to multiple endpoints concurrently and the computer runs a little over idle. As for SSD, I worked for a SSD manufacturer producing enterprise grade SSD for million dollar servers and SSD is overkill for music. All computers read from disk/SSD into memory. You can read 1 song into memory within 1 or 2 rotations of a hard disk, clicked in milliseconds. Do you need your music faster than this?
i used to own an Auralic Aries which I thought was the best streamer at the time, and I had this directly attached to an external dac with the best usb cable. Got rid of all of that mess and went simple and my new setup sounds so much better.

@audiotroy I appreciate the time you took to respond with your opinion as to WHY you think it is better to use a dedicated server. I do understand your argument. You also make another interesting point:

The fact that many people find that a dedicated server sounds far better than any old remote computer even over the network is proof positive that a dedicated server makes digital sound better.

That is the feedback or thought process I was inquiring about. How about some of you who have switched to the dedicated server side, care to chime in with your opinion?

This is an interesting discussion, however, we have done over the years quite a lot of testing with both computers and servers, which have included models from Aurender, Auralic, Naim, Baetis, modified Mac Minis, and PCs.

The concept of a server is that it is a dedicated device that can re-packet data without corruption caused by noise present in the data pathways of the device.

If you think that an ordinary computer even one in another room can sound as good as a dedicated server you are sorely mistaken.

We have tested over the years computers with external power supplies, both directly connected via USB and over Ethernet connections, and the sound quality was lacking

The idea of a dedicated server is to preserve the data’s integrity, a dedicated server uses in most cases a custom motherboard, custom usb and or Ethernet outputs, custom BIOS, a linear power supply, re-clocking circuity, shielding, power filtration, and other techniques designed to keep the data signals being sent to the dac pristine.

As per direct USB vs Ethernet connection it really depends on the dac some dacs will sound better via USB while others will sound better via Ethernet.

One interesting test we did was to run a high end streamer/dac directly into a network switch and play Tidal vs feeding the same dac via Ethernet from the Innous

The sound quality of the system was dramatically improved by going through the server which isolated the dacs/streamer from the networks’ noise and also re-packeted the data going to the dac.

The sound stage was dramatically wider, the noise floor was lower, tiny details became easier to hear and the sound quality of the dac became more organic, you would think that the direct path to the network would sound better it wasn’t even close.

The fact that many people find that a dedicated server sounds far better than any old remote computer even over the network is proof positive that a dedicated server makes digital sound better.

As per the Auralic sounding better than an Innous that will be a matter of opinion, the Innous is the hottest server on the market all over Europe, and many people prefer the very analog like sound quality of the Zenith.

Dave and Troy

Audio Doctor NJ Innous dealers

@mrdon The reason I am looking for something even better than the microRendu (a very good unit) for the office is that some of the components will eventually make it’s way to the downstairs main system. I am not able to use the downstairs room yet because my toddler uses it for his play room. However, life is short and I don’t mind building my main system via the office.

@rbstehno The setup you have described is similar to what I have but I am using Sonare products to server as my ROON endpoints. I have the Sonare microRendu and a SonicOrbiter (previously used in a now sold system). I do not have to have my music in my office computer. I could move it the 1 of many servers I have running in other rooms of my house. My cheapo (actually a thowaway from an old job) office music computer is dead silent. What you are describing with your PS Audio + Bridge is exactly the basis of my thread. I am asking why is a dedicated music server better than the digital-to-digital conversion that you and I are currently using. In your case it is mac-to-bridge for me PC-to-microRendu.

Imo, the worst thing to have is a streamer/computer in your audio room, and equally bad is using usb connection to a dac. Got rid of that setup a while back. Every streamer out there is a computer, don’t let anyone fool you. Sure, some USB ports on certain machines are better than the standard USB ports but that’s like putting lipstick on a pig, it’s still usb.
If you have Roon, use your Mac as a Roon server and get a good dac with a network connection to it, like the ps audio ds dac with the bridge ii card. My computer is in another room so there is no noise. 
With this setup, I have music routed to multiple Roon endpoints through out the house for background music all operated by my iPhone or iPad. The endpoints are the Auralic Aries Mini’s and Apple tv’s. 

Oh my goodness, audiotroy has no shame.. I can only say i know very little about these things. However, i can easily say the Auralic G2 (or G1 for that matter ) out performs the Innuos MKIII by more leaps then Audiotroy's bounds..  And the G2 (or G1 for that matter) is far too much of a server for an office setting.. Also i would venture to say all that is needed here in this application is the blue Sound Node which is "more than sufficient" since background music is probably the goal here.. 
Ok, Audiotroy, your up...   

Ya know, call me Plebian......I run a BlueNode original directly into a Primaluna Dialogue HP, run KT150's through a pair of Klipsch Forte III's and the sound is just Shocking...is that wrong?

I went with a Bluesound Node and use Ayre Codex's for DAC's.
Very simple and affordable. Great sound, too.
I would also consider Aurender. 
I got one of Sam Laufer's Mini, but am still working on getting it set up.
Bob

@junzhang10  I had a mac mini with my music and was not a fan due to constant restore from backups i had to do. I always keep my backup disk near the macmini. I must be an outlier with this experience, otherwise people would not praise the mini. I am not a fan of the macs.

My question was really abut using a computer in the playback chain and not a fancy audio computer, Audiotroy has stated that a dedicated streamer is better due to isolation of noise in the streaming chain.

I am curious if anyone has compared the dedicated music server/streamers (really low noise audio computers) vs the noisy computer + digital-2-digital converters options.

Oppo Sonica streamner or Oppo 105 (has a Tidal bulid in App) to skip coumputer. Or Mac Mini to DAC which many audiophile are using. change Mac hard drive to SSD and you will get  a low noise computer.

Yysantabarbara,

Here is our take on the following pieces:

First any really good dedicated server will outperform a computer for the purpose of music transport. A computer is not dedicated to music transcription and the device is not built with just that purpose in mind so the USB output will be filled with noise that affects the intergity of the outgoing data shoving a reclocker on the output still wont fix it.

We sell the Innous so we are going to be biased, after talking to their head engineer as Axpona it is very cfear why their products are so good, they litterally have looked at and measured every device on a motherboard in order to make their devices as quiet as possible and keeping the data pristine, they leave nothing to chance in the goal of making the best sounding servers.

The Mind device seems to be more like a processing board in a nice case, Sim Audio talks very little of what they are doing to keep the data in pristine condition.

The Auralic G2 is a very well built and designed device that should offer excellent performance, it has good power supplies, an excellent case, and has been designed for music transport.

The difference is that Innous does not believe that a device can produce noise free data on so many different connections, they really do believe that USB or an Ethernet output requires a lot of engineering and care to make those two outputs sound and perform optimally.

The Sonore device looks very interesting they are using SFP optical network to keep noise from the network out of their device, how the entire device perfoms is a mystery.

We had an older Sonore server and it was good, but did not show the enginnering or sound quality of either the Auralic or Innous products, with this new one we have no idea.

In our ranking it would be Innous Zenith MK III
Auralic G2
Sonore
Sim

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ Innous dealers

We use the Zenith with the Anthem STR it makes a fantastic combo.