432 EVO

Fairly negative review of the EVO High End on Positive Feedback site:

The reviewer had a hard time discerning any differences between the EVO and his NUC, USB out to his Schiit DAC:

"

Where's the Magic?

After making all the connections with the Sbooster power supplies, USB cable to my DAC and external hard drive (which stores over 4 TB of ripped and downloaded music), I fired it up. Using the Roon Labs app on my iPhone to control it, I could not access music on my external HD, which was disappointing. I later read on their online manual that the music could be streamed from Roon, Qobuz, Tidal, and Internet radio stations or played from its internal 2 TB hard drive, but that ripped or downloaded files needed to be moved there via a controller such as iPeng or their online portal. Additionally, when I played music on it, I noticed a slightly warmer presentation than my Intel NUC Roon Optimized Core Kit music server, but the difference wasn't quite what I imagined; it still sounded very good, but the purported 432 magic largely escaped me. "

He also mentioned this in one of FB comments:

"All this said, I had the input of a computer engineer who built his own DACs encourage me to go the route of having a simple computer server linked up to the Yggdrasil for excellent results. And he was right. Save for the tuning and DSP, the Intel NUC with a great DAC like the Yggie is quite competitive."

It also looks like it takes 20-25 minutes to rip a single CD, which I find outright outrageous

He says this "

but the purported 432 magic largely escaped me. "

, but then his review conclusion:

" The 432 EVO High End Music Server is a remarkable player, making good on its promise to deliver a warmer, more pleasant listening experience via its 432 Hz tuning. It definitely takes the edge off digital files and, if you’re jonesing for vinyl playback but don’t have the bucks or inclination to purchase a good one (or a decent cartridge and phono stage preamplifier, for that matter), this might be the way to go; you get the convenience of digital with a lion’s share of vinyl’s warmth. Moreover, if you prefer your downloads, ripped files and streaming served straight up, you can do that, as well; with a click of a setting, you can listen in 440 Hz. But, wait, there’s more! You can also rip CDs via its built-in ripper. There’s also the upsampling options, but that does not appeal to me, so I didn’t bother and, hence, cannot comment on that.

Either way, the 432 EVO High End Music Server is a great value; teamed-up with the likes of the Schiit Audio Yggdrasil OG DAC, Pass Labs amplification, Straight Wire cabling, Usher Audio Mini Dancer 2 tower speakers, and a good acoustical space, it delivers a musical experience that entreats you to listen to just one more song, again and again! Moreover, it is fully upgradable to their $7500 432 EVO Aeon model. Bottom line, it gets my thumbs up."

Thyname the reviewer at first was using the wrong usb input he switched to the correct one he  found the sound was far better now

As per rip times it is 8 to12 mins

“The reviewer had a hard time discerning any differences between the EVO and his NUC, USB out to his Schiit DAC”

@thyname

A great DAC like Yggie; seriously 😂 It’s a decent DAC but hardly a SOTA DAC to evaluate a server like 432EVO. I bet a different result when 432EVO paired with a Esoteric DAC like yours! I agree with you on ridiculous 20-25 minutes to rip a single CD. My ACS100 takes less than 5 minutes to rip a single CD.

at first was using the wrong usb input

You mean the wrong OUTPUT on the EVO 432? Or the wrong USB input on his DAC?

And if the reviewer says the following on FB forum immediately after posting the review, that is all someone needs to know. Having a hard time distinguishing between USB out from a $400 NUC to DAC vs. a $5,000 server / streamer, sounds like a waste of money to me.

I have to say though, up until the actual review of the unit, the entire historical story of the 432 tuning was well written and a pleasure to read. Lots of stuff I did not know. I enjoyed that.