2. digital
  3. 174368-84634

Digital Upgrade Recommendations

Looking to leverage the knowledge of the Audiogon experts for advice on how best to upgrade the performance of my digital front end to sound more like my vinyl rig.  Currently, I have a Roon Nucleus acting solely as a streamer feeding a Denafrips Pontus II via an Audioquest Diamond USB cable.  I’m looking to spend roughly $600 and the options as best as I can tell from scanning the forum are:

  1. Upgrade the stock SMPS on the Nucleus to a good LPS power supply
  2. Add an Etherregen and place it before or after the Nucleus
  3. Purchase the Iris DDC from Denafrips and go I2S to the Pontus II
  4. Other?

All suggestions and recommendations welcome!  

tom2441

Showing 5 responses by tom2441

tom2441 OP
22 posts
 

Thanks for the input guys.

akg_ca -  Which LPS are you using?

tom2441 OP
22 posts
 

Thanks jjss49 but if A+B makes C redundant, why not just go with C, the DDC?  Won’t the DDC clean up the digital signal as much as much as the Etherregen but feed I2S directly to the dac?

tom2441 OP
22 posts
 

No, Cat 6 from router to Nucleus.

tom2441 OP
22 posts
 

Thanks everyone for all the great suggestions so far.  The Nucleus is running solely as the streamer as I have the Roon core on a separate computer in the office serving all of the Roon endpoints in my house.  So that one I've done already.

JJSS49 - thanks for clarifying your setup.  Good to know you had an improvement going I2S in the Pontus.  Did you have the Etherregen in at that time or did you add it later?

Sonic79 - I think your comment that "The last link in the chain before the DAC is the most vital" is very important.  That's why I think the DDC would be the best place to start for upgrades.  There have been many reviews of that combination online all stating strong improvements in performance.  Besides, doesn't the DDC effectively have the same benefit on the signal as the Etherregen?

tom2441 OP
22 posts
 

Thanks guys for all the inputs.  It is a slippery slope you can go down but I’m primarily a vinyl guy and really just wanted to get advice on which of the three well-regarded upgrades would give the best sound improvement for my digital setup at that price point.  Sounds like the DDC is the way to go.  At least for now!

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