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Post by mocarver on May 14, 2022 8:09:31 GMT
Morning All,
Name is Aubrey from Texas. 67 year old with stereo music interests starting at 10 years old with my first album ownership from the Beatles. Suffice it to say that I have had music on vinyl, eight track, cassette and cd over the years. I have a moderate number of cds remaining in my collection. I stream now using an Aurender in my main stereo system.
I recently bought an Audiolab 6000CDT as a cd transport only; a Gustard X26pro DAC; a HeadAmp GS-X mk2 Balanced Headphone Amplifier / Pre-Amplifier and Audeze LCD-5 headphones. I have no plans to run this system into any passive or active speakers at this time.
I need to buy a streamer at a sound quality appropriate and on level with the gear listed above.
Suggestions for streamer purchase and for power, interconnects, fuses, etc. are certainly appreciated.
Thanks in advance for thoughts and comments. Have a great weekend.
Aub
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Post by MikeMusic on May 14, 2022 8:26:08 GMT
Hi Aub
Welcome to TAS
Plenty of streamer experts here, just not me !
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Post by John on May 14, 2022 8:30:39 GMT
Welcome to TAS Aubrey
The Sonore Ultra Rendhu or Limetree Bridge would fit in your budget
Cables I would look at Blue Jean Cables do as good performance to cost ratio and good service
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Post by MartinT on May 14, 2022 9:23:46 GMT
Hello Aub and welcome to TAS!
Having the superb X26 Pro myself, I can strongly recommend the Sonore ultraRendu although there are lots of streaming solutions out there and it will partly depend on what files and streaming services you want to use.
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Post by mocarver on May 14, 2022 17:04:15 GMT
Thanks MikeMusic, John and MartinT for the welcomes and comments.
I was thinking of a wired connection from a Ubiquiti Unifi switch (available SPF slot) to the ultraRendu to the X26. I currently stream Tidal but am considering a change to Qobuz as I am not convinced about MQA. I don’t know anything about Roon functionality yet.
Do you guys know of any system sketches that depict the best interconnects and termination types that would be optimal to tie all the above together?
Thanks gentlemen,
Aub
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Post by MikeMusic on May 14, 2022 20:05:35 GMT
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Post by MartinT on May 14, 2022 20:51:45 GMT
I have the components and cables all annotated in my system diagram.
The ultraRendu does both Tidal and Qobuz (and Spotify). Having tried both, I can confirm that, in my opinion anyway, Qobuz has considerably better sound quality and is true hi-res, not some solution disguising MQA's compression behind marketing-speak.
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Post by brettj on May 14, 2022 21:03:20 GMT
Welcome to TAS Aub.
Are you looking at running your streamer from wifi, or ethernet cable?
I had the problem of only being able to use wifi.
Hit on the solution of a wifi extender with an ethernet out port.
Another option I was looking at was a Fidelizer Airstream for improved wifi transmission strength and quality.
In the end managed to change phone-line terminations to ethernet.
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Post by mocarver on May 14, 2022 22:50:29 GMT
Very nice MikeMusic! Thx for the link. You guys are well ahead of me.
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Post by mocarver on May 14, 2022 22:56:02 GMT
I have the components and cables all annotated in my system diagram. The ultraRendu does both Tidal and Qobuz (and Spotify). Having tried both, I can confirm that, in my opinion anyway, Qobuz has considerably better sound quality and is true hi-res, not some solution disguising MQA's compression behind marketing-speak. MartinT - nice diagram of system and cables. Thx. I will study it. |
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Post by mocarver on May 14, 2022 22:59:00 GMT
Welcome to TAS Aub. Are you looking at running your streamer from wifi, or ethernet cable? I had the problem of only being able to use wifi. Hit on the solution of a wifi extender with an ethernet out port. Another option I was looking at was a Fidelizer Airstream for improved wifi transmission strength and quality. In the end managed to change phone-line terminations to ethernet. Hi Brett. Thx for welcome. I hope to use Ethernet. I’m still in negotiations with wife on equipment placement. |
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Post by mocarver on May 23, 2022 14:24:33 GMT
Well folks I finally got my starter headphone system temporarily located and working yesterday (see quick avatar pic). Without any accessories and using only the supplied power cables, it sounds pretty awesome. I’ve tested it with a few music genres and if I did nothing else to the system, I’m very happy with the sound coming just from the bare components. It hasn’t burnt in yet so I expect some sound improvements. Ok, so here are future possible improvements as I currently envision them: 1. Streamer - still studying the options, the ultraRendu looks good but I don’t understand what other digital boxes I need upstream of it. 2. Gustard DDC-U18 3. Grounding boxes (how many and on which equipment) 4. PS Stellar P3 5. Better power cables 6.  Lots of money required. What order of priority for the items above should I acquire those? Comments are requested and welcome. |
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Post by MartinT on May 23, 2022 14:38:24 GMT
1. Streamer - still studying the options, the ultraRendu looks good but I don’t understand what other digital boxes I need upstream of it. Upstream, you only need your internet router and an ethernet cable. Downstream, it goes straight into the U18. |
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Post by Slinger on May 23, 2022 14:48:59 GMT
Don't forget the 83 grounding boxes, Martin.  |
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Post by MikeMusic on May 23, 2022 14:50:44 GMT
Well folks I finally got my starter headphone system temporarily located and working yesterday (see quick avatar pic). Without any accessories and using only the supplied power cables, it sounds pretty awesome. I’ve tested it with a few music genres and if I did nothing else to the system, I’m very happy with the sound coming just from the bare components. It hasn’t burnt in yet so I expect some sound improvements. Ok, so here are future possible improvements as I currently envision them: 1. Streamer - still studying the options, the ultraRendu looks good but I don’t understand what other digital boxes I need upstream of it. 2. Gustard DDC-U18 3. Grounding boxes (how many and on which equipment) 4. PS Stellar P3 5. Better power cables 6. Lots of money required. What order of priority for the items above should I acquire those? Comments are requested and welcome. I can comment on 3. Start with one or more. I currently have 8 in place, testing which ones are best is work in progress right now Recommend the QA, Quartz Acoustic premium. Mad price for the improvement. Others on Aliexpress 5. Coherent are possibly the best you can get. Have a look at the 2nd hand ones here. coherent-systems.co.uk/pre-owned-items-for-saleThey perform well above their price In the UK we say either power or "mains" cables 6. Black ravioli under the equipment |
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Post by mocarver on May 23, 2022 14:55:07 GMT
Slinger you make me laugh. I enjoy your comments.
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Post by julesd68 on May 23, 2022 14:58:28 GMT
Personally I would buy streamer first, then the Gustard to get a good baseline and live with this for a while before experimenting with the other gear which can all wait till you have the basic setup.
Just going Ultrarendu > U18 > DAC should give an immensely satisfying sound. You'd need to try both I2S and AES to see which your ears prefer.
Incidentally I have recently bought a Microrendu that I hope to try this week.
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Post by Slinger on May 23, 2022 14:59:55 GMT
It's what comes from camping out on a hifi forum and knowing nothing about hifi. It's get a laugh or nothing.  |
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Post by MikeMusic on May 23, 2022 15:23:26 GMT
It's what comes from camping out on a hifi forum and knowing nothing about hifi. It's get a laugh or nothing. You and me both mate  |
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Post by brettj on May 23, 2022 20:32:27 GMT
That's awesome Aub that you already have your headphone system going.
The most important part of that beyond connecting everything, is that you like the sound.
My upgrades (with lots of input from here) started with Dac, Back Ravioli, grounding box, power cables, and Jules' Halide Bridge USB/SPIDF.
Only recently moved to streamer.
Luckily there is no right or wrong in the evolution of your system.
I'd go streamer first, and then power cables.
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