The Hugo of streaming?

Brilliant posted:

charlesphoto posted:

Brilliant posted:

^ Congrats!

My guess is iFi power is all you need for the FMCs. Enjoy the music.

Well of course I had to try the HDPLEX ps on the upstream FMC - better than the ifi for sure. Also running it at 9v vs 5v sounds better, plus an ifi on the downstream FMC sounds a squeak better too. Whew! Think I'm done with the whole streaming portion. A DAC V1/NAP110/Rega RX3 system has no business sounding this good! 

I think FMC's are a must before messing about with boutique cable's, servers, switches, etc. It really did make such a huge difference that I wish I had started with them first as a foundation. The closest I've heard my system sounding what it's like to listen to original tape off a soundboard. Listening to remastered Hunky Dory today and with eyes closed it was like Bowie and crew were playing int he studio on the other side of the sound room window. Great stuff!

Now for a bigger amp.... someday - my 110 seems to do 80% of what needs to be done. 

 

Mr Underhill posted:

Brilliant posted:

^ Congrats!

My guess is iFi power is all you need for the FMCs. Enjoy the music.

Not the advice I have received on CA, there people use LPSU, and some have had excellent results with an LPS1. However, the issue with the LPS1 is that it also acts as a ground leakage loop blocker, a la Swenson, and so may well be more than just the power uplift.

In my case I used an EMO-70-HD .....although I feel I ought to get another 9V LPSU and do a direct comparison, rather than one I did with the IFI 9V.

M

 Okay -  I tried this. I can only split the iFi 9V (  as I only have one) between the switch & receiver FMC. Listening to some acoustic jazz now and I agree, the decays are noticeably more filled out when using  the 9V linear supply on the FMC i.e. better!

I have been using the  affordable  CableCreation 'CAT7' 2m S/STP ethernet cable from the FMC to the mR.  It is understated in audiophile terms  when compared to the AQ Vodka but careful listening reveals good balance top to bottom, great clarity and a  'musical' output. I might miss the AQ when I give it back, but in some ways I prefer the 'tight' & clear presentation this cable allows in my system and glad I tried it.

Hi Brilliant,

I have not heard the AQ Vodka but I did find the Cinnamon a step up on my CAT5 cable. Since then I bought some CAT7 cables and feel that these, while presentationally different, are  on a par with them, whilst being a lot cheaper.

The Blue Jean Company CAT6 and CAT6a cables are getting a lot of traction on other forums, and are far more reasonably priced.

M

Mr Underhill posted:

Hi Bowers,

Any news on the LPS-1?

M

Hi M.

Have been very busy last months, sorry for the late reply.

The LPS-1 (7V) has replaced my IFI 9V SMPS feeding the microrendu for about 2 months now.

My impressions so far:

More low level details in the music I've never heard before. Separation of instruments is even better, meaning

an improvement on the following of notes each musician is playing instead of hearing an assembly of notes.

Typical: Music is very detailed and with "ease"; Had a visit to my local Naim dealer this afternoon  and listening to a demo this sounded quite "agressive" in my ears (you get used to the rendu/Hugo sound very quick). However, during the past weeks I realise the sound is also a bit "lean" or call it "thin". With all the improvement in detail it also seems that some "body" has vanished.  Not sure how to regain this; all suggestions are welcome.

M, Read your post on applying transformators; you think this might be helpful ?

Anyway, the LPS-1 is a keeper and the IFI vs. an LPS-1 a no-brainer (soundwise), but cannot comment on LPS-1 vs. s-Booster.

Peter

I have a question for my fellow Naimites. I am running literally hot and cold on my mR. Is anyone here using the mR with a Naim DAC? Either the V1 or NDAC  

Have 2 different power supplies, the iFi and one from Israel who shall not be named here on this forum. I feel the iFi has better attack and is a more enjoyable listen, but it runs my mR very hot and I worry about longevity. The other one give a more refined presentation, but lacking that drive that I enjoy.   

My DAC is a Schiit Gungnir. I am wondering how the mR sounds with a Naim DAC. Does it give drive and PRAT. 

Bowers posted:

Hi M.

......

Typical: Music is very detailed and with "ease"; Had a visit to my local Naim dealer this afternoon  and listening to a demo this sounded quite "agressive" in my ears (you get used to the rendu/Hugo sound very quick). However, during the past weeks I realise the sound is also a bit "lean" or call it "thin". With all the improvement in detail it also seems that some "body" has vanished.  Not sure how to regain this; all suggestions are welcome.

M, Read your post on applying transformators; you think this might be helpful ?

Anyway, the LPS-1 is a keeper and the IFI vs. an LPS-1 a no-brainer (soundwise), but cannot comment on LPS-1 vs. s-Booster.

Peter

 

Hi Peter,

Thanks for the feedback. Balanced.

The transformer made no difference to the tonal richness of my system. What does is the DDC, big differences between the Gustard U12, Audio Breeze DU-U8 and the Singxer F1. I would describe them as:

1. Gustard: Warm;
2. AB: Dynamic; and
3. F1: Balanced with extended top end.

The F1 is the best of the three.

However, if you want a cheap and left field suggestion .....you can buy USB > RJ45 RJ45>USB convertors, ensure they are USB2.0 not 1.1, on Amazon for £12.50. These combined with a CAT7 cable add tone to my system, place between my mR and DDC.

Martin

Brubacca posted:

I have a question for my fellow Naimites. I am running literally hot and cold on my mR. Is anyone here using the mR with a Naim DAC? Either the V1 or NDAC  

Have 2 different power supplies, the iFi and one from Israel who shall not be named here on this forum. I feel the iFi has better attack and is a more enjoyable listen, but it runs my mR very hot and I worry about longevity. The other one give a more refined presentation, but lacking that drive that I enjoy.   

My DAC is a Schiit Gungnir. I am wondering how the mR sounds with a Naim DAC. Does it give drive and PRAT. 

I am not sure what 'very hot' is exactly, but the mR is sold with that very iFi 9V as an option. The Schiit generates its own power I believe, so it should not be loading the mR power bus. You would perhaps have to  measure the case temperature to get a specific answer, and probably best to ask at computeraudiophile.

I use the mR with a DAC-V1. When all is tweaked and optimized, the DAC-V1 alone is great when fed from my music PC desktop USB, and could live happily without the mR. However the mR USB adds a big improvement in sound stage resolution to the HP laptops I have. IMO -  When the setup is optimized  PRaT is all DAC-V1 but do believe the mR power supply can affect this. Have a look at the Sonore recommended PS list for choices (and try the LPS-1 if you can).

B.

Brubacca posted:

Have 2 different power supplies, the iFi and one from Israel who shall not be named here on this forum. I feel the iFi has better attack and is a more enjoyable listen, but it runs my mR very hot and I worry about longevity. The other one give a more refined presentation, but lacking that drive that I enjoy.   

 

Hi Brubacca,

Might be off topic or might be related..........I'm using the one from Israel to feed my SuperNait (pre) and this might be the introduction of detailed but also "lean" sound. Planning to use a demo at home with a HiCap DR hoping to regain some "body" (=drive & PRAT?) in the sound ?! 

Peter

The Dac V1 is more than  robust running a micrRendu, but the rendu is picky about power and cabling. Uptown LPS-1 is the best bet. From there it's important the DC power cable between the LPS-1 and rendu be as short and robust as possible. I'm running a six inch custom one from China and at first it was too much bass! but running in nicely now. The addition of FMC's between the rendu and the switch also boosted the bass and overall clarity. I find the Meicord Opal ethernet cable I have is fuller and more mid bass bump than the ethernet Cinnamon's I also have. 

This is all really sensitive lo voltage gear, so the power and cabling will be your tone controls. iFi's are fun and bouncy, but if you want a bigger, more mature sound then move up to the Uptone. 

Oh, and I'm running an Atlas Element USB cable into the DAC V1. Haven't tried others but the Atlas seems to do the job. 

Hi Peter,

Been thinking on this a bit more. I sold on my Mutec3+USB, why? There is no doubt that it resolved even more detail, but i doing so I felt that I was also losing tonal density, for want of a better expression, and falsely sharpening elements within the music; let me emphasis that this was in my system. The F1 replacing my DU-U8/Mutec resolves detail as well as adding tonal richness, this was enhanced by adding the IFI iPurifier2. My mR > DAC chain now looks like this:

AQ Cinnamon > mR (SBooster) > USB.RJ45 adapter> CAT6 > RJ45.USB adapter > AQ Jitterbug > iP2 > Singxer F1.

This is giving me the best digital sound I have heard in my system. I have tried removing each element and found that doing so reduces what I am hearing, I am FAR happier with the tonal richness and overall sound that this is delivering for me.

I am currently running a series of experiments with USB storage. When I have finished this in a couple of months I'll think about an LPS1.

M

Brilliant posted:

I have been using the  affordable  CableCreation 'CAT7' 2m S/STP ethernet cable from the FMC to the mR.  It is understated in audiophile terms  when compared to the AQ Vodka but careful listening reveals good balance top to bottom, great clarity and a  'musical' output. I might miss the AQ when I give it back, but in some ways I prefer the 'tight' & clear presentation this cable allows in my system and glad I tried it.

Mr Underhill posted:

Hi Brilliant,

I have not heard the AQ Vodka but I did find the Cinnamon a step up on my CAT5 cable. Since then I bought some CAT7 cables and feel that these, while presentationally different, are  on a par with them, whilst being a lot cheaper.

The Blue Jean Company CAT6 and CAT6a cables are getting a lot of traction on other forums, and are far more reasonably priced.

M

Here is a `Cat 7`STP that is tonally very similar to the AQ Vodka but perhaps a tad more transparent , again using it between FMC & mR. Skinny (.1`thick) and flexible but well made, this should do well in audiophile circles:

Tera Grand CAT-7 10 Gigabit Ultra Flat Ethernet Patch Braided Cable, Black & White braid (price is too low to mention)!

^There appears to be (poorly made) counterfeits out there - best to mind where purchased from!

Mr Underhill posted:

Hi Peter,

I am currently running a series of experiments with USB storage. When I have finished this in a couple of months I'll think about an LPS1.

M

Hi M,

Thanks for your thinking with me.

Received the Cardas DC4 cable yesterday evening. Replacing the standard cable between my LPS-1 and mR with the DC-4:

Playing the first notes it became clear this cable reintroduced the body in the sound and exposed even more detail in the music. (playing in squeezemode, source=LMS on Raspberrypi, ipeng=controlapp)

I think another distortion layer has vanished and the sound has a further step-up in "ease", "control"and "dimension".

With this step-up, it becomes even more clear that the "sss's and ttt's" don't (and didn't) sound natural.

I'll take a look at your experiences and posts on this issue.

Thinking about an LPS-1, without a decent cable (the standard one is't) you are only half way there. (imo)

Peter

Brubacca posted:

I have a question for my fellow Naimites. I am running literally hot and cold on my mR. Is anyone here using the mR with a Naim DAC? Either the V1 or NDAC  

Have 2 different power supplies, the iFi and one from Israel who shall not be named here on this forum. I feel the iFi has better attack and is a more enjoyable listen, but it runs my mR very hot and I worry about longevity. The other one give a more refined presentation, but lacking that drive that I enjoy.   

My DAC is a Schiit Gungnir. I am wondering how the mR sounds with a Naim DAC. Does it give drive and PRAT. 

I also have 2 power supplies for my microRendu, but I found that (to my ears) the TP power supply is simply much better all round than the iFi, in respect of 'refinement' in particular, but also in respect of 'fullness' of sound and better & better controlled bass. Obviously our tastes are slightly different.

My particular aim is to match (or nearly match) in my 2nd system, the performance of my Klimax DS/1 in my main system.

The Gustard U12 certainly also helps. Although quite sceptical to begin with, I have been very impressed by the difference the U12 has made to the performance of my Chord Hugo DAC. Perhaps bearing out the assertion that the HD USB input to the Hugo is hampered by the fact that it is not galvanically isolated.  

Interesting to hear that Martin (Mr Underhill) reckons that the Singxer F1 is to his ears 'better' than the Gustard. I haven't heard it, but I am now very content with the performance of my microRendu/TP 7v/Gustard U12/Chord Hugo front end in my second system. To my ears it is better than my old Klimax Renew DS, and reasonably close to my Klimax DS/1 which is the best streamer I have heard up to now. 

Hmack posted:

Interesting to hear that Martin (Mr Underhill) reckons that the Singxer F1 is to his ears 'better' than the Gustard. I haven't heard it, but I am now very content with the performance of my microRendu/TP 7v/Gustard U12/Chord Hugo front end in my second system. To my ears it is better than my old Klimax Renew DS, and reasonably close to my Klimax DS/1 which is the best streamer I have heard up to now. 

That begs the question as to what is the limiting factor with this mR/Hugo setup compared to Klimax? Could it be the renderer side, or the Hugo itself? Knowing myself that TT sounds better than Hugo, though not hugely, and Dave is a mommoth leap ahead, It would be interesting to learn if you ever have an opportunity.

The other side of the same question is how well the mR/TP7v through Gustard/Hugo compares with  Audirvana optimised on a Mac Mini through the same (or higher)  the latter is what I used (still use as front end, simply having upgraded from Hugo). Some comments in other forums suggest that Audirvana is inherently better as a renderer (but not as a library organiser), but I'm not aware of anyone doing a comparison with both setups optimised and through Gustard/Hugo or better.

Innocent Bystander posted:

Hmack posted:

Interesting to hear that Martin (Mr Underhill) reckons that the Singxer F1 is to his ears 'better' than the Gustard. I haven't heard it, but I am now very content with the performance of my microRendu/TP 7v/Gustard U12/Chord Hugo front end in my second system. To my ears it is better than my old Klimax Renew DS, and reasonably close to my Klimax DS/1 which is the best streamer I have heard up to now. 

That begs the question as to what is the limiting factor with this mR/Hugo setup compared to Klimax? Could it be the renderer side, or the Hugo itself? Knowing myself that TT sounds better than Hugo, though not hugely, and Dave is a mommoth leap ahead, It would be interesting to learn if you ever have an opportunity.

The other side of the same question is how well the mR/TP7v through Gustard/Hugo compares with  Audirvana optimised on a Mac Mini through the same (or higher)  the latter is what I used (still use as front end, simply having upgraded from Hugo). Some comments in other forums suggest that Audirvana is inherently better as a renderer (but not as a library organiser), but I'm not aware of anyone doing a comparison with both setups optimised and through Gustard/Hugo or better.

Good question, but I'm afraid I just don't know.

I haven't heard the Chord Dave, but I was astonished by how much better the Klimax DS/1 is than my old Klimax Renew. I don't believe the Chord Hugo could get to the level of musicality (I normally really hate people using this term) I hear with the Klimax DS/1, however it is configured and set up. I am now using a myriad of terms (including musicality, 3 dimensionality, depth, energy and drive) that I would never have used previously. This applies to both red-book and hi-res recordings. My only regret is that the Klimax does not support DSD, but other formats are now so good that I don't really feel the need to buy DSD files.

By all accounts the DS/3  Katalyst upgrade to the Klimax is better still, although I find it difficult to imagine how that could be. I would love to hear a comparison of the DS/3 Katalyst vs the Chord Dave (and perhaps a new replacement Naim streamer if one comes along soon).   

However, the good news for me is that I am now at a level with both of my systems, where I no longer feel the inclination to experiment further. Neither of my systems have ever sounded so good.

Hmack posted:

Innocent Bystander posted:

Hmack posted:

Interesting to hear that Martin (Mr Underhill) reckons that the Singxer F1 is to his ears 'better' than the Gustard. I haven't heard it, but I am now very content with the performance of my microRendu/TP 7v/Gustard U12/Chord Hugo front end in my second system. To my ears it is better than my old Klimax Renew DS, and reasonably close to my Klimax DS/1 which is the best streamer I have heard up to now. 

That begs the question as to what is the limiting factor with this mR/Hugo setup compared to Klimax? Could it be the renderer side, or the Hugo itself? Knowing myself that TT sounds better than Hugo, though not hugely, and Dave is a mommoth leap ahead, It would be interesting to learn if you ever have an opportunity.

The other side of the same question is how well the mR/TP7v through Gustard/Hugo compares with  Audirvana optimised on a Mac Mini through the same (or higher)  the latter is what I used (still use as front end, simply having upgraded from Hugo). Some comments in other forums suggest that Audirvana is inherently better as a renderer (but not as a library organiser), but I'm not aware of anyone doing a comparison with both setups optimised and through Gustard/Hugo or better.

Good question, but I'm afraid I just don't know.

I haven't heard the Chord Dave, but I was astonished by how much better the Klimax DS/1 is than my old Klimax Renew. I don't believe the Chord Hugo could get to the level of musicality (I normally really hate people using this term) I hear with the Klimax DS/1, however it is configured and set up. I am now using a myriad of terms (including musicality, 3 dimensionality, depth, energy and drive) that I would never have used previously. This applies to both red-book and hi-res recordings. My only regret is that the Klimax does not support DSD, but other formats are now so good that I don't really feel the need to buy DSD files.

By all accounts the DS/3  Katalyst upgrade to the Klimax is better still, although I find it difficult to imagine how that could be. I would love to hear a comparison of the DS/3 Katalyst vs the Chord Dave (and perhaps a new replacement Naim streamer if one comes along soon).   

However, the good news for me is that I am now at a level with both of my systems, where I no longer feel the inclination to experiment further. Neither of my systems have ever sounded so good.

Only ever having had one system, with everything channeled into it, my next question might be naive, but how do you cope with one sounding the better than the other? Or is it that one is just for background while working (if so lucky you!), and the other for real pleasure?

Re Dave, the first time I heard it was an audition comparing Hugo, TT and Dave, using my MacMini/Audirvana source (through Gustard with Hugo), Bryston 4Bsst2 power amp and PMC Fact12 speakers. My cellist son accompanied me. We settled in playing the familiar Hugo first, struggling to pull ourselves out of just enjoying its wonderful presentation, then on to TT. Greater clarity with otherwise the same character, but where the question of value for money hinges on other benefits not just the sound quality.

Then came Dave's turn. Just a few bars into the first piece an my son sitting by me uttered a quiet 'wow' half under his breath. And that summed it up - everything we played just added to it. I had gone to audition TT and expecting to decide it was the right thing to get, and only listened to Dave because it was there and seemed silly not to. After that I had to arrange an extended home audition, hoping to convince myself TT was good enough. Some time into the couple of weeks my wife called out to me from the adjoining room one time when I changed over "why do you keep changing it? That's the better one", it was so obvious to her, doing something else in another room. I am aware of one person who decided on TT in preference to Dave, saying that for his main preference of music in his system it sounded better - but even he said that Dave sounded better on some other music. Everyone else I am aware of has simply been hooked. It would be interesting to know how the mR/Dave compares with the Klimax, though maybe best not to hear Dave if you don't want the risk of having to relegate the Klimax to your second system!

The frustrations of writing about an audio hobby! We really need to organise a bakeoff.

On another forum there are a couple of folks who use the mR with the Dave, and report excellent results. The thing is this doesn't mean the mR is better than any other of the runners and riders. I find the sensitivity to tweaking of these USB chains both fascinating and frustrating. What I find reassuring is listening to friends systems in order to get a feel for what I think I should be hearing from my system.

Innocent:

I find your comment, 'Dave is a mammoth leap ahead', interesting. Would you mind taking a piece of music you like and describing what you hear in detail?

I find that once you get beyond 'good' in audio the additional nuances tend to be in small reverb and almost feeling a musician leaning into an instrument, or backing off - but, it could be an interesting experiment, if you have some time.

HMack:

Thanks for the write up. Like you I was impressed by the U12. I think the F1 would almost certainly give you a step up in performance. That said, I am powering the F1 with my mR which has Regen tech. built in, and I have also put in an IFI iPurifier2 - which all adds to the cost!

I would love to listen to some LPSUs before deciding whether blowing £400 on the LPS-1 is a worthwhile lift in performance over the SBooster I am using. One person did give a positive report, but I always wonder how much work they have done in getting the best from what they already have.

As I type I am listening to John Mellencamp - Plain Spoken (Quboz). I own a number of albums by him and, frankly, they have never done much for me. Now I keep being distracted by the music, not just the instrument interplay but the weight and texture of the percussion.

M

There is a review of DAVE in What Hi- Fi + magazine, if interested - I believe the only negative they could find was its name!

Another tweek off computeraudiophile that seems to work some magic in my setup is to connect the mR directly to the desktop PC on its own network (cable). A second ethernet port on the PC is used. I used an Anker USB to ethernet adapter plugged into the Paul Pang USB hub with a LPS. I assigned a static IP address to it, bridged it with the main network & bang! So that by-passes the switch & FMCs (and some comm protocol I guess) . I would say the clarity is even better, the backdrop seemingly dead quiet!

For some reason that I have not figured out, when I insert the FMC loop into  this setup the stereo image deteriorates, the complete opposite of what I was used to!

 CA forum thread title (this tweak worked for some but not all, YMMV) -

 'A novel way to massively improve the SQ of the sMS-200 and microRendu'

Innocent Bystander posted:

"Only ever having had one system, with everything channeled into it, my next question might be naive, but how do you cope with one sounding the better than the other? Or is it that one is just for background while working (if so lucky you!), and the other for real pleasure?"

It's certainly a bit of a mixed blessing, and has ended up costing me quite a bit of money  .

Actually, my main system (Klimax DS/1)  is in my study, and the 2nd (mR/Gustard/Hugo) is part of my AV setup in a living room. I can now happily listen to both, although the sound quality of my 2nd system (mR/Hugo/Krell/Ruark Solstice) can't really get close to that of my main system. It still sounds pretty good though, particularly after the introduction of the mR and Gustard, and very enjoyable when I want to play rock music at concert level volumes.   

It really would be good to compare the Klimax DS/1 with the mR/Dave. I have no idea which I would prefer, although I think if I had the money, my next step would be to upgrade the DS/1 to DS/3 Katalyst rather than purchase the Dave. But then, I might just need to upgrade my 2nd system from mR/Gustard/Hugo to mR/Dave just to keep the gap close enough.

It's the usual never-ending upgrade bug (times 2 in my case).      

Mr Underhill posted:

 

Innocent:

I find your comment, 'Dave is a mammoth leap ahead', interesting. Would you mind taking a piece of music you like and describing what you hear in detail?

I find that once you get beyond 'good' in audio the additional nuances tend to be in small reverb and almost feeling a musician leaning into an instrument, or backing off - but, it could be an interesting experiment, if you have some time.

 

 

I'm afraid I'm not the best person to describe the sound of Dave to you, as I always struggle both trying to analyse what I hear, and then describe it I find it very hard to be analytical about the music because the music just takes over and absorbs me, and I forget to take note of things (maybe i should do comparisons with music I can't stand!). Hopefully someone else better at such things will chip in, but in the meantime I will do the best I can:

if I were to take a piece of music and describe what I hear, it would undoubtedly depend on the particular piece, and may be different on different occasions - one time I might say I can feel the anguish in tne singer's voice and feel the pain of the breakup he is singing about, another time I might suddenly think ooh, what's that instrument, I hadn't noticed it before counterpoising something else, and listen for it again, suddenly standing out between the louder instruments because I had focussed on it. I'm not sure that helps much?

Comparisons are easier, though still difficult to expepress in words. COmparing Dave with Hugo is not chalk and cheese, and does not prompt superlatives for the sake of thinking of a way of exalting it, rather it is everything Hugo is, but better - but not in a way that rubbishes Hugo, if that isn't a contradiction.

The word that most comes to mind with Dave is clarity. That does not in any way suggest that Hugo was in any way less than clear, as that is not the case: rather more like with Hugo you can see the botton line of the optician's test card clearly and sharply, but with Dave you can still see them without bothering to look, maybe even with your eyes closed. Or to put it another way it was like the music just becoming even more immersive, being in it more than listening to it (but I don't mean that in a three dimensional sense, not the orchestra or band being around me, although I would say that Dave brings a greater depth to the soundstage), rather I mean in as in it being a part of me. I have always enjoyed putting music on and listening, but now it's as if I have a mistress secreted in the other room, and keep sneaking off for a satisfying hour or two (!). My son summed it up when he was present when I first heard Dave, with a 'wow' uttered almost under his breath. By that I mean it was a thoughtful, reflective soft involuntary wow, not a strident leap up and down and shout WOW for everyone to hear kind of wow, if that makes any sense!

Whilst I would not presume to say that you would love it, because I don't know what about music listening make syou tick, or what indeed your Klimax sounds like, but you simply have to hear for yourself if you are interested in seeing if for you it is another level, however I would caution against listening for anyone not likely ever to be able to contemplate buying Dave listening to it if they are of the disposition where they would nurture dissatisfaction if they know there is something so good they can never afford.

Brilliant posted:

There is a review of DAVE in What Hi- Fi + magazine, if interested - I believe the only negative they could find was its name!

Another tweek off computeraudiophile that seems to work some magic in my setup is to connect the mR directly to the desktop PC on its own network (cable). A second ethernet port on the PC is used. I used an Anker USB to ethernet adapter plugged into the Paul Pang USB hub with a LPS. I assigned a static IP address to it, bridged it with the main network & bang! So that by-passes the switch & FMCs (and some comm protocol I guess) . I would say the clarity is even better, the backdrop seemingly dead quiet!

For some reason that I have not figured out, when I insert the FMC loop into  this setup the stereo image deteriorates, the complete opposite of what I was used to!

 CA forum thread title (this tweak worked for some but not all, YMMV) -

 'A novel way to massively improve the SQ of the sMS-200 and microRendu'

I forgot to mention the instrument timbre reproduction gains in this 'direct' setup- it is significant! As impressive as the LPS-1/mR is, I have to tip my hat to the humble DAC-V1 as well, the 'lens' letting it through but in that NAIM musical way! Is it making me wonder about mR/DAVE mentioned above? -may be a little but nah,  this is it for me, in fact it is more than I expected!

Brilliant posted:

There is a review of DAVE in What Hi- Fi + magazine, if interested - I believe the only negative they could find was its name!

........

 

loop into  this setup the stereo image deteriorates, the complete opposite of what I was used to!

 CA forum thread title (this tweak worked for some but not all, YMMV) -

 'A novel way to massively improve the SQ of the sMS-200 and microRendu'

I am following the thread. Austinpop tried to bridge his Synology. I will probably drop a dedicated cable from the loft to my HiFi and have a go ....just need to get the energy to lift carpet and floorboards.

M

Hi Innocent,

Thanks for the thoughts. So many variables, and the only true arbiter is our own ears.

M