Which personal confuser for ultra high end audio, MAC, PC, notebook, tablet or desktop?

Mac, Linux, raspberry, never windows! I did the Mac route for years and used pure music and audirvana 2.x with an external dac using USB. Then auditioned many streamers and purchased the Auralic Aries using lightning ds. Much better sounding and interface than the Mac/audirvana. 
I turned the Mac into OS X server with 20TB of disk for music and other things. Instead of using 2 pieces like the Auralic and external dac, I bought a. Ew directstream with bridge ii with Roon. Roon runs on the Mac, got rid of USB, and the bridge 2 interfaces Roon with the internal dac thru the i2s interface which is much better than using usb

it seems we have answered the first question, which confuser doe not matter any longer.

Jond > I stream wirelessly from a Synology NAS drive as well as streaming Tidal outputting to an Audio Note Dac via the coax output on the Aries.

Blindjim > Cool. I’m guessing the upgrade was for performance and or operational ese..

I am using DS Audio IOS app to send bit stream info from the Syn into a pc via Foobar or ?? out thru the lynx AES 16X and into a Bel canto DAC 3.0 AES input to amps etc.

Or via File Browser IOS app the same way or into an Apple TV > Integra 99 controller > amps etc. or merely onto my IOS device and head phones.

I suspect what tech has come along says using the Ethernet device alone, as the ‘middle man’ is the cleaner way to elicit better SQ.

Is the Aries simply a better pathway or more featured, or both?

Is the Aries app merely the mobile device app or one installed onto the Disc station itself?

No drop outs or connectivity issues on WyFy even with the HD file sizes? Must be a healthy buffer in there somewhere.
Nice. Thanks.


Rbstehno > I did the Mac route for years using USB. … auditioned many streamers and purchased the Auralic Aries using lightning ds thru the i2s interface which is much better than using usb

Blindjim > tremendous thanks for the insights.
Its becoming more clear, unless people have simply lost their minds, this ‘new’ approach to bypass USB and as well remove file manipulations from the PC environment has become the latest greatest fashion for adding another level or so of performance to digital playback.

I’ve read input from Wavelengths G Rankin on the issues surrounding USB. Some work arounds there, and feel from what little I know that using Ethernet and eliminating the Devil’s disciplines which abide in a standard pc, could be a cleaner path.

I need a block diagram and some tech data on the why its better all in all, prior to dropping what I see as a fair investment and additional learning curve for going such a route.

When last I peeked in, the new ‘bridges’ converting USB to SPDIF interfaces and their possible reclocking, or not reclocking, aided the resultant audio. At times.

However, two ICs were then in the mix instead of just one, and its not hard to see how one could suspect the changes were merely different perspectives, and not necessarily sonic quality gains as the sole influence of the bridge itself.

My current ‘bridge’ is the Lynx AES 16 xpress sound card and the AES cable.

Likely this is one of those, ‘ya had to be there’ deals. Meaning, get one and see.

Which brings me to this pertinent Q….
Is someone now gonna chime in and say “the Ethernet cable itself matters too?”

Lovely. I’m sure someone will. Crap.

Now I need a new third party device, new software, and oh yeah, a new whiz bang high end Ethernet wire. Super. Just super.

Pardon me, I gotta go Google now.

Hello All, here is what I use, and I am very happy with the setup.

- Mac laptop for my work and general computer needs.
- Mac Mini, slightly older model, but nicely specified, for dedicated music use.
- Standard hard drive connected to Mac Mini to hold my music collection 
- iPhone for, well, everything we do with them these days
- PS Audio DAC with Bridge 2
- Roon software, Tidal HIFI subscription 

My setup:

the Mac mini is in my home office, hard wired to my home network via Ethernet cable.  Hard drive attached, Roon installed on the Mac Mini.

The PS Audio Perfect Wave DAC mk II with Bridge 2, sits on the audio shelf in the living room, connected to home network via Ethernet cable. I really like this DAC a lot. Extremely capable machine, despite showing a little age!

Tidal HIFI is integrated into Roon, along with my music collection.  The collection is mostly cd rips in uncompressed AIFF along with a modest collection of high res albums.

control is seamless and simple via my laptop or my iPhone, both running Roon, both on the network connecting wirelessly.   This means I can sit in the living room, and control music with a nice interface that is usually close at hand, the iPhone. If I want a more full featured controller or a larger screen, I grab the laptop.

in my home office I have an external monitor that I use with my laptop, when I am sitting at my desk. This monitor has 2 inputs, and I conned the Mac mini to it as well, pushing the input button when I (rarely) have to control the Mac mini. No need for a dedicated display for the mini.  I set the timer settings on the Mac mini to restart once a day at 4am. It is always running, music always accessible.

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in your system, I suspect you can achieve a similar setup, presuming you are interested in my method. PS Audio has 3 different DACs that use Bridge 2, and all are worth considering.

your NAS can connect to the network, and Roon on your Mac mini will find it, and supply the music to the DAC's Bridge via Ethernet.

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the results are are excellent sound as well as extremely convenient operation!  I cannot stress the latter enough. I am a photographer and very tech savvy individual. Nevertheless, I do not like complicated digital audio setups from a control standpoint. Roon is a game changer, really made things easy and enjoyable from a user interface standpoint.  I think that the Mac mini running music exclusively is a plus as well. I don't believe one needs a supercomputer, but rather a decent machine with no other operations taking up any resources. A Mac mini from a couple generations back with a solid state drive is perfect in my opinion.

I hope this is useful! Feel free to contact me if you'd like more info. Good luck!  -Mark

Jim the Aries was indeed an upgrade in both sound quality and user interface but what really spurred me to change initially was wireless capability. The Sonos I was using was wireless but only on a single band the legacy 3.4 ghz band, which in my urban environment, downtown DC, was quite crowded. The Aries has a dual band modem and can run on the newer much less crowded 5 ghz band. Since making the change overall performance and ease of use improved and the intermittent dropouts I was experiencing with Sonos stopped. Don't worry too much you're a good part of the way there,  for me another big step forward in sound quality was when I introduced my Synology NAS to the system so you have that going for you already.

"Is someone now going to chime in and say the Ethernet cable itself matters too?"

Hi Jim, I recently installed an Aurender as my server/renderer/streamer (replacing my laptop) to my DAC. The Aurender requires Ethernet connection to my router/modem (not wireless like the Aries). The latter was located a long distance from my listening room. I started with a generic 75’ CAT6 cable between the modem/router and the Aurender. The sound was pretty "meh".

Then I relocated my modem/router to my listening room and installed a 1 meter generic CAT7 cable between it and my Aurender. Much better.

A few days later, I installed a 1 meter Synergistic Research Ethernet Active UEF SE cable in place of the generic CAT7 cable. Further improvement still. Sounding like music now.

So far, I found through comparing USB cables (Shunyata Venom vs Curious vs WW Platinum Starlight 7) that the USB cable makes the most difference by a wide margin but my experience is that the Ethernet cable makes a significant difference too.

FWIW.

Dave