Streamer between Roon Nucleus Plus and DAC

@audphile1 Playback Designs has a proprietary system that is built into some of their source devices but is also available free-standing. It accepts a USB input and converts it to an optical signal called PLINK, which uses an ST cable and connects to the DAC. It is different from toslink. Two supposed advantages are galvanic isolation and the clock in the interface is the same as the clock in the DAC. https://positive-feedback.com/reviews/hardware-reviews/playback-designs-usb-x4/

@jazzman7 May I distill your comments to, "Consider getting a better Roon-ready streamer than the Nucleus Plus"?

@tcutter 

Yes. Most definitely, do consider getting a better Roon-ready streamer.

Cool. In this case, you’d need to try a streamer in your system and see if it beats this PB Designs proprietary USB to fiber optic converter with Nucleus. Some of the streamers sound better with their native processing than they do as Roon end points. Besides unless someone is very familiar with this PBD converter and how it impacts sound, it’s impossible to predict. Trying is the only way to be sure.

Roon recommends splitting the core and endpoint, hence I run the core in a NUC in my server rack and another NUC also running ROCK in my hifi rack. This one is mounted in an Akasa case and it looks and sounds really nice. I feed my DAC via USB to a DDC for 2CH and my AVR via HDMI for MCH.

I assume this means you are using a Nucleus into the old USB Stream device from PBD and are going into a PBD, Nagra or BAT DAC.  I am very familiar with that converter.  If that is the case, you may get some modest benefit from upgrading from the Nucleus as it tends to be a some what noisy device but it won't be huge as the PBD unit takes that noise away.  A streamer in the middle is unlikely to have an impact.  The biggest impact would be upgrading to a PBD streamer but that is not an inexpensive proposition as the MPS-X is $11.5K.  

I am obviously one of the small number of PBD dealers in the US.