Recently received my Antipodes DX back with Gen 3 upgrade and it sounds great to me. As previously, it displays none of the electronic haze/glare/thinness I have sometimes heard through other digital sources or players.
To further enhance things, I am running Roon core through the DX but using the SOtM triad of sMS-200ultra endpoint, tX-USBultra USB reclocker, and sPS-500 power supply to power both. I use the short Curious Link between the
sMS-200ultra and the tX-USBultra, and then my TotalDAC cable from the
tX-USBultra to my Pavane Level 3 DAC. Separating the endpoint does make a difference but the differences are subtle. I need more time to decide whether the main difference is coming from the separated endpoint, the
tX-USBultra USB reclocker or both - i.e., would using the DX as both core and endpoint plus the tX-USBultra alone provide the same level of improvement?
I have another endpoint on the way, Metrum's Ambre, along with their I2S module that I can self-install in my Pavane Level 3 DAC. This should be interesting as with that scenario I will have no USB cables, just Ethernet from the DX to the Ambre and then I2S from the Ambre into the Pavane. I could be happy right now with the DX/SOtM solution but the Ambre/I2S option was too interesting to pass up.
As a sidebar, I am on the last month of a 60-day Roon trial. I had not previously used Roon and I like how it sounds and the wealth of metadata so I am interested in continuing with it. My question is whether there is any reason that I shouldn't simply move forward with the Roon lifetime membership? Is there something even better than Roon on the horizon I should know about, or is Roon likely to be a good bet into the foreseeable future? Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.
