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What makes One Music Server Sound Better than Another?

So this week my Mojo Audio DejaVu music server that I have used for the past 2-3 years crapped out. Benjamin at Mojo was more than helpful and the DejaVu is on its way to Mojo Audio where it will make a full recovery.

Thankfully, I still have my Antipodes DX2 Gen 3 (their former flagship) music server so I hooked it up. After wrestling with Roon protocols, transfers, and set-up menus, I was able to get it going so I have music. The DX and my Sonore Sig Rendu SE opt. are both connected to my network so the DX (like the DejaVu), is only being used as a Roon core and the Sig Rendu SE serves as the Roon endpoint for streaming Tidal and Qobuz, with a direct USB connection to my DAC.

The point of this thread is to ask, how come I perceive the the DejaVu server as sounding better than the Antipdes DX? In fairness, the differences I perceive are not great but it seems the DejaVu is fuller sounding, more tonally rich, and bolder. Is this why some here spend $10K+ on a Grimm, Taiko or something else?

If a server is basically a computer, sending digital information to a streamer/endpoint and, assuming that digital information is transmitted asynchronously and reclocked by the DAC’s master clock, and assuming noise is not the issue (i.e., both units are quiet and there is an optical break between the network and both the server and endpoint) then what are the technical reasons one should sound better than the other? It is not that I want to spend $10K+ on a music server with a lifespan of maybe 5 years before becoming obsolete, but I would like to understand what more you are getting for your money. So far, the best I can come up with is lower internal noise as the major factor.

As a side note to the above, when I thought things looked hopeless for getting set up, I scheduled a support session with Antipodes and, although I lucked into the solution before the meeting time, Mark Cole responded ready to help. Setting up the session was super easy and reminded me of the superior level of support I had come to enjoy from Antipodes during the time that the DX was my primary server, including multiple updates and 2 or 3 hardware upgrades, which prolonged the service life of the DX. Good products and good company.

 

mitch2
benanders's avatar
benanders
234 posts
 

 

 

audphile1

3,424 posts

@mitch2 few reasons I can think of…start from the point if entry and power supplies. Better Ethernet isolation, better power supplies result in lower noise floor, better processors isolated better to minimize noise, better clock if you’re using coax or AES outputs, galvanic isolation and or reclocking before the USB out (de-crapofier).

When your streamer is also a Roon Core it has higher processing demands. Whether it uses buffering or caching matters as well.
And how much noise does the streamer display create by tolling the processor, etc.

you hear what you hear. No blind testing necessary.

“Say what I just said, but with inverse wording.” 😆

Cheers, @audphile1

audioman58's avatar
audioman58
4,203 posts
 

Inside the capacitor type effects the sound ,also bellison power regulators are very clean but add a bit of warmth the power supplies also can dictate sound quality 

there are many internal items especially too the quality and brand of Ethernet cables.

audphile1's avatar
audphile1
5,358 posts
 

@benanders happy listening!

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mitch2 OP
4,082 posts
 

Thanks all.

It is an interesting comparison given that both servers were positioned and connected in the exact same way to the exact same equipment. Isolation is provided by an optical breaks between the router and server, and also from the router to the Sig Rendu SE opt. streamer, and LPSs are used on all the converters and network equipment. Therefore, the incoming signal should be completely isolated from the audio equipment by optical fiber. Based on the discussion, I will conclude what I hear may result from:

  • Improvements in processing between the older DX and the DejaVu, coupled with increased demands in running Roon,
  • Improvements in isolation of components within the DejaVu over the DX, and maybe in the implementation of the network connection,
  • Finally, maybe I have a bias in what I believed I was hearing. The more I listen to the DX, the more I am ok with what I am hearing.

In any event, the DX is older but would still work quite well for somebody. Mark Cole offered to update the processing remotely and maybe I should take him up on that and then listen for differences. I could then more easily sell it when I get the DejaVu back or move to something else.

The other thing I seem to be learning is that this digital thing is sort of a crapshoot. Server, streamer, DAC, all play a role but it seems to be hard to pinpoint the impact of each on the overall sound. Adding the Sig. Rendu SE opt. seemed to elevate the SQ I heard in specific ways. Also, changing out DACs results in a clearly and reliably audible SQ difference in my system, which surprises me less because of the DAC's job of converting from a digital to an analog signal. I probably shouldn’t be surprised that different streamers sound different from each other, but I still don’t understand why.

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