Do I still need a DDC in between?
This is my current rig:
Wiim Ultra (DH Labs Mirage / Cardas Clear USB, 0.5m) → Gustard U18 (DH Labs HDMI 2.1, 0.5m) → Harmony μDAC (Mogami quad XLR) → Parasound A23 (Belden 5T00UP) → Wharfedale Linton
The sound is very good to my ears—excellent tonality, detail, and especially soundstage, with impressive height and depth. However, I’m considering trying the Volumio Rivo Plus released recently, which offers an I²S-over-HDMI connection.
My question is: would I still need the DDC (i.e., Gustard U18) in between, or would a direct I²S connection from the Rivo+ to the Harmony μDAC deliver comparable or even better sound quality? Have you had any direct or similar experience with this kind of setup? Any advice would be appreciated.
@mattw73 Is your micro dac fully broken in yet? It should be about time, right. What is you verdict? I finally purchased the Rivo plue. Hans and many others were not exaggerating, it is on another league from those entry levels and on par with if not exceeding higher end such as Innuos zen / zenith mk iii. But the Volumio app is the limiting factor. Fortunately, Qobuz Connect works well with it. |
@lanx0003 sorry, I missed your question about the Wiim Ultra. It went to Lincoln with my son, so I wasn't able to try it in my system. |
@sls883 No worry. I need to part with the Ultra now, as it’s going to my son tomorrow. I’ve been holding on to it at home, but he finally bought a turntable. I really enjoyed having fun with it over the past few months. Thanks. |
@lanx0003 I went back through these posts and saw Singxer su-6 recommended. I looked at it and it doesn’t have a clock input. That doesn’t appeal to me. |
@sls883 Same here, although it already has pretty low jitter and electrical noise at digital out — one of the best. I was more interested in either the U18 or the Micro DDC, since both support a 10 MHz clock, but the U18 offers much better value and it pairs so well with Ultra. |
