My digital has now been transformed in a way that I hadn’t imagined. I wanted to find out if I needed to attend to the small details, or if my DAC just wasn’t capable of delivering at the level of my analog rig.
I started out by Lalit taking me to school and convincing me that high quality Ethernet filtering was a must. I spoke with Richard Rodgers of Shunyata about upgrading my phono preamp, DAC and N20 from Alpha NR v2 to Sigma NR v2. He made clear that they push clients toward Sigma for the power amplifier, but not for the other components. That said, he hasn’t had anyone wanting to go back to alpha once they upgraded. He also reinforced what Lalit told me regarding the need for passive filtering of all digital cables and the importance of the other design/production particulars.
Jon at Music Direct helped me put together a package that I could almost afford. I picked up three Sigma NR v2 power, ethernet and AES/EBU cables. I returned my second generation Delta NR and two Alpha v2 power cables.
The soundstage expanded in every direction, imaging became precise, tonality and inner detail were transformed. Bass became more dynamic and added a realism to the music. My internet service was out, so all of this happened with my ripped CDs. They sounded so much better than any streamed content. “Friday Night in San Francisco” had all the precision, dynamics and tonality of the My Sonic Lab Signature Platinum/Audionet PAM G2 EPS. I am still waiting for the third PC which was drop shipped from Shunyata. That cable will power the Audionet phono preamp after which I can make the direct comparison.
Internet returned and the N20 delivered the same goodness as I heard with the ripped cds.
The Holo May DAC KTE is definitely a keeper, but to find out, my power conditioner and cables became the most expensive “component” in my system. I suspect that without the filtering noise suppression built into the digital cables, the money spent on power would not have been so productive. Thanks everyone for your help and thanks to all of those that encouraged me to buy the Aurender. I’ll miss the Roon interface, but honestly, who cares when the music can be so emotionally involving.