Lumin U2 or Aurender N200

@lalitk

I believe it was around March or so, Roon made a substantial leap in SQ and closed the gap between the two. I went back n forth over the course of next three-month period to fully understand what was going on.

That would be build 1401 released April 16, and some say 1413 released May 15 improved the sound as well. Just for those scoring at home.

It’s really tough to discern though. It is not like a cable change where one can go back and forth, once the update is done it is done- no going back. Roon has had several updates since then as well of course.

On top of that Antipodes is updating my server, and squeeze is also doing bi-weekly updates, so always a moving yardstick.

@audphile1 

Merging + player (DAC + Roon endpoint + Core) supported by external master clock and power supply. 

@lalitk yeah that makes sense. It’s exactly what I mentioned in my earlier post. This is the right way to do Roon with a purpose built hardware. 

@mclinnguy 

Agreed with your take on these updates. The implementation of software + hardware and little bit of diligence with LAN connectivity is the key between these streamers/servers sounding amazing to good enough. 

@audphile1

You may appreciate this update….I recently inserted Telegartner Opt Bridge 1000M Optical Isolator between my Merging +player and Apple router. You may recall I have experimented with Fiber Media Converter and SFP fiber optic transceiver previously and came away unimpressed as it made my streamer sound dry and thin.

The important distinction between Opt Bridge and any other fiber optic solution is use of fiber optic cables between fiber optic transceivers. IME, fiber optic cables are very effective in preventing the noise transmission but at the cost of dynamics. The Opt Bridge provides optical isolation and 100% galvanic isolation with normal RJ45 LAN cables. With Opt Bridge, I am hearing a definite uptick in harmonics and transparency. The sound is more relaxed and organic without any loss in detail. This is by far the best tweak among all the LAN filters and switches I’ve tried in my system. I am using a pair of stock Telegartner MFP8 Gold IE LAN cables in and out of Opt Bridge.

If you ever get an opportunity, try the Opt Bridge.
https://telegaertner.co.jp/_cms_/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/OPT-BRIDGE-1000M_catalog-english.pdf