LAIV Harmony

I've determined the Musetec 006 will be my reference dac for the near, perhaps longer term. Both presentations  great, just ooze with ease and refinement, holistic, analog like sound quality. This especially true with both dacs slaved or synced to Gaia clock. Musetec ekes out an advantage with greater resolution, virtually infinite noise floor. Not that the Harmony at all bad here, I could easily live with it's level of resolution, very involving and wonderful dac!

Footnote to above, both dacs absolutely require I2S connection to reach their full potential, also necessary  that I2S output or output device optimal, cheaping out on I2S won't get you much past usb.

@sns

An Optical Rendu is a potential future purchase, the Micro is filling temporary duties.

I have had a Signature Rendu SE with optical input in my system and it was great, but I was having network issues and wasn’t getting the full benefit. Now those issues have been resolved so I can look to the future. At that point I’ll need to decide whether a Rendu or some other streamer makes the most sense.

@sns Optically isolated USB regenerators are rare beasts so not surprised you’ve not heard of em. Here’s an expensive example from Afterdark, I got a much cheaper AliX equivalent that comes highly rated from that French hifi tweakers forum. Most USB isolators/regenerators deliver a level of isolation, some superb, some not quite so good, but technically at least, as for networks, they can’t quite match the 100% galvanic isolation of optical. As to the sonic effect it has on my Harmony-based system, I’ll keep you posted.

Re I2S vs USB, your vote in favour of the Gaia’s I2S vs your system’s already sorted USB comes through loud and clear. Sounds most excellent.

I’ll keep this forum posted as to where I get to with my own comparisons in my system, which have already included an externally clocked U18 via I2S (incl with the LHY USB regen feeding it) and when I can find its AWOL DC cable, my SU6 as well. Though from experience the former beats the latter (noting the SU6 beats the U18 using its internal oscillator), whilst the externally clocked UIP over USB was comfortably better than the former with both the LaiV and R26. Also hope to try an Audio-Gd DDC with the Harmony, it was very good indeed with my R26, if not quite in the class of a loaned PhoenixUSB I compared it to.

@kereru The OpticalRendu does exactly the same thing as AfterDark alternative you linked to, my opticalrendu takes optical input from my opticalmodule which is initial device converting ethernet  to optical. OpticalRendu is also usb regen/isolator, it feeds dac or in my case Gaia via usb.

In any case, thanks for sending that link, looks like an interesting piece, may be superior to OpticalRendu. There is also new OpticalRendu deluxe just out, that may also be superior to the older version. I like what AfterDark does, purchased my Finisar transceivers for sfp modules in my Sonore equipment, also upgraded optical cable from AfterDark.

I've also found linear power supplies and DC cables  make a difference. Uptone JS2 a choke based power supply feeds OpticalRendu, lesser lps feeds OpticalModule. I make my own DC cables using Mundorf silver/gold wire and Oyaide DC barrels. Optimizing usb going into ddc is important for ultimate ddc i2s output.

We shouldn't hijack this thread too much with network oriented stuff, but the quality of usb feeding one's ddc shouldn't be underestimated or neglected. All of this contributes to ultimate Harmony performance, Harmony potential is really quite high, optimizing one's entire streaming chain will pay off in better sound quality.

I'm really hoping LAIV knocks it out of the park with their new Streamer coming Q1 2025.  Opportunity to realized benefits of i2s as well.