Solo streamer

@rvpiano Great thread!

....btw, I played an LP of a Haydn symphony that I know sounds wonderful.  Compared it to the same performance on Aurender.  Sounded identical.  
Digital performance has evidently been perfected.

Higher priced streamers actually sound better! Who knew! Good to know my confirmation bias works as well as yours 

I am going to go out on a limb and guess: As a "former" musician you played a piano? 

@lalitk 

I was conversing with @arafiq other day about ROON sound quality, looks like it’s gone up few notches.

I concur. In my system to my ears squeeze still has a little more air and separation, and Roon is a wee bit fuller/warmer, but the gap has gotten closer. I have no issues listening to Roon for days at a time and sacrifice that 2-3% just for the better UI. 

 I’ve got two amps battling it out.

ooh, the Coda and the ??? 

As a side issue, I was unaware of,  but thoroughly explored by Amir at ASR is HDMI (I2s) is a poor audio source connection, cause it just sticks audio in the spare video spaces of the synchronous stream, and is very susceptible to jitter. 

From what I have observed over the years, the key to good sound in one's own system is to do exactly the opposite of what Amir recommends. 

It makes me think of how my professor reacted back in 1988 when I took a music class as an elective. He put on a CD and soon ran over and had to turn it down before it blew the speakers, and then complained how he couldn't tell how loud it was just looking at these digital numbers on the CD player, instead of what he was used to, putting the vinyl on the platter and turning up the analog dial until he heard a certain level of static and pops. "There's not enough noise! it's too quiet!" 

@rvpiano

I also like to play SACDs. I have a converter (DBOB) that brings out the best in them. Sounds maybe even better than the N200.

Just to clarify your statement:

I also like to play SACDs. I have a converter (DBOB) that brings out the best in them. Sounds maybe even better than the N200 with the Benchmark DAC3B.

What was the nicest piano you ever played? 

@oddiofyl 

 I like owning the physical media.   

I hear ya. I have about 500 cd's and no player. Don't think I ever will spin them again but I still keep them for sentimental reasons. They also offer diffusion in my room. 

@lalitk I have done with a few of them, such as Patricia Barber's A Fortnight in France as I believe we have discussed previously, some Japanese pressings, and some Linn hybrid layer's that aren't available on Qobuz, but for the albums that are on Qobuz, if there are any sq differences between the rips and streaming Qobuz I don't think it is worth the effort. I have 24 TB of storage capacity in my server, and I have used 140 GB of it. :) 

But I haven't bought any downloads in many months either. Streaming Qobuz sounds so good, I am currently preferring to put my money into better components, cables, vibration control/coupling apparatus, then look at streaming filters/switches. I still haven't experimented with PGGB software, once I get around to that, maybe this winter when golf season is over and I get bored, then I might have plenty of upsampled remastered CD files in storage. 

It’s always prudent to pick the lowest hanging fruit first.

@rvpiano

Becoming very underwhelmed with the Shunyata USB cable. For the money spent I would have expected at least some improvement.

Hopefully your dealer offered a trial period like your player.

In Shunyata’s defense, this was a Gamma, which is Shunyata’s entry level USB cable at "just" $350. Given that the stock Aurender USB is a $100 cable, it is not much of a jump. I have read some glowing reports about their high end Omega digital cables, but how much does one want to spend? I offer no USB help, as my streamer/player optimizes AES connection over USB.

But if you have a large budget, based on my favourite reviewers recommendations, Christiaan at Hi Fi Advice, the Mad Scientist Prime USB has replaced the Final Touch Sinope as his preferred USB cable. Good review to read, as Christiaan’s reviews usually are, as he explains well the sound differences between other products, but he also quotes some of the recent advancements in USB cables development from Mad Scientists’ point of view. I think Mad Scientist offers a trial period, but I couldn’t find it quickly enough on their "odd" website.

Mad Scientist Prime USB review