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Do I still need a DDC in between?

This is my current rig:

Wiim Ultra (DH Labs Mirage / Cardas Clear USB, 0.5m) → Gustard U18 (DH Labs HDMI 2.1, 0.5m) → Harmony μDAC (Mogami quad XLR) → Parasound A23 (Belden 5T00UP) → Wharfedale Linton

The sound is very good to my ears—excellent tonality, detail, and especially soundstage, with impressive height and depth. However, I’m considering trying the Volumio Rivo Plus released recently, which offers an I²S-over-HDMI connection.

My question is: would I still need the DDC (i.e., Gustard U18) in between, or would a direct I²S connection from the Rivo+ to the Harmony μDAC deliver comparable or even better sound quality? Have you had any direct or similar experience with this kind of setup? Any advice would be appreciated.

lanx0003
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lanx0003 OP
1,157 posts
 

@audphile1  Thanks for suggesting I change out my Ethernet cable — it made a significant improvement.

@mattw73  While waiting for the LanShack cable (S/FTP) to arrive, I also grabbed a UGreen Cat 8 (F/FTP) cable from Amazon for just six bucks. Upgrading my existing Cat 5e (U/UTP) to UGreen Cat 8 resulted in a significant improvement in sound clarity and a darker background. It also helped eliminate some digital glare. I believe this is largely due to the double shielding feature of Cat 8.  The degree of improvement is comparable to what I experienced with HDMI cable upgrade from AG to DH Labs.

The UGreen cable is made of 26 AWG stranded copper, while the LanShack uses 23 AWG solid copper, which I hope will yield additional sonic benefits. I believe in larger conductor and solid copper over stranded.  Thank you for the recommendation.

sls883
763 posts
 

I like my U18 despite the negative opinions.  Especially in combination with my LHY ock-2 clock.  But, I'm using it to convert USB to I2s. 

I don't know if it would help much if you could go I2s to I2s. Probably depends on the gear that you're using.  It's too bad that you can't keep it long enough to try it. 

lanx0003 OP
1,157 posts
 

@sls883  I like the WiiM Ultra + U18 combo more and more each time I switch from going USB straight into the microDAC. The soundstage, clarity, reverb, and other aspects are all improved. Coincidentally, another listening section tonight has made me rethink the whole idea of replacing this combo of wonder with a supposedly better streamer.

Feeding an external 10MHz clock to synchronize the streamer/DDC and DAC is still an exciting and promising concept that's on my mind. Whether it would actually outperform—or even match—the results of a higher-end streamer or vice versa remains uncertain. I need to sleep on it.  I still have some time to think this through.

 

  

mattw73
126 posts
 

@lanx0003 I was using a Ugreen before the LanShack. Hopefully you will perceive the improvement I did. Ugreen actually makes quite a few extremely cheap cables that are properly shielded & good in my opinion. If you go into their Amazon home page/store & go into their categories you will see a wide assortment of video/audio products. Dirt cheap. A couple years ago they use to carry these little usb-c to 3.5mm dongle dacs. Get a 2-pack for like $16 bucks & I swear they were so good lol. 

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