2. digital
  3. 186628-20132

Upgrading my streaming/digital system- what would make the most sense?

Hello all,

I would like to improve my digital chain and I'd like to get your feedback on which component(s) are worth upgrading first.  I would like to get a more natural/organic sound and more naturally layered soundstage.  Don't get me wrong, it sounds good but there is a bit of digital haze ( I think the blacks could be blacker and spatial cues could be more present- thus the somewhat flat presentation), and at times the music sounds a little artificial, albeit very clean.
I use Roon to stream Tidal and Qobuz and the digital audio chain consists of ethernet  cable> switch (basic cisco)>  2 ethernet cables
> Macmini (roon core) 
> Moon 280d with Mind2 bridge (roon endpoint etc)
(The rest is Vinnie Rossi preamp in passive mode to Pass Labs xa60.5 mono's to Avantgarde duo's or Thiel 3.7's; cabling Nordost Heimdall 2; I also have an analogue set up).

I had always assumed that the most effective upgrade would be the dac, particularly because in this configuration the '"noisy" Macmini does no processing other than sending a stream of 1's and 0's as a Roon core/server to the Moon/Mind2 bridge as Roon endpoint/renderer.

But some have suggested that this is not the case ie the Macmini should be replaced with a Nucleus or Small Green Computer, or something else along these lines, rather than the Dac.  But would that really make such a noticeable improvement rather than a considerably better dac?
Or would something else yield a better improvement?
I would like to go in stages rather that doing a wholesale replacement of the entire chain so I need a bit of help to decide what the next step should be- many thx for your thoughts and feedback.



 

pgastone

Showing 3 responses by dougthebiker

dougthebiker
190 posts
 

Everyone is giving you their personal experience here, but you have to wonder how many ran controlled experiments, changing just one variable at a time, listening to the same set of test tracks that cover most/all important aspects of sound quality.

I also assumed a better DAC would make the most impact, but after running about 5 DACs and 5 server/streamers through my system, I found the server/streamer made the most difference.  I ended up with a Grimm Audio MU1.  The Grimm performs a lot of functions to clean up the analog wave that carries the digital signal, so the router and switch quality became much less important.

For the DAC, I finally picked a Chord Dave, which I was able to pick up used.  The Grimm includes the equivalent of an M-Scaler, so you don’t need that.

Think of the server/streamer as the turntable and cartridge and that helps the process.

dougthebiker
190 posts
 

The closest contender was the Innuos Pulsar.  Also tried the T+A MA 200 which was a bit edgy in the treble no matter what I paired it with.  The EVO 432 Aeon was almost as refined as the Pulsar.  Nothing else was much better than my old Innuos Zen Mk3.

 I also am unloading my old NUC.

Surprisingly, the Grimm made my old Schiit Yggy sound about twice as good.

dougthebiker
190 posts
 

If the Grimm is beyond your budget, I would recommend the Innuos Pulse.  If you need it to be a server, too, the Innuos Zenith Mk3 would probably make you very happy.

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