Post by optical on Oct 1, 2021 11:42:26 GMT
I've been pondering having a little tweak of my streaming system for a while now.
You know how it goes, something you hadn't previously considered (power supplies/cables/file format etc) starts as a little seed in your mind, you dismiss it for a time.
Then over the next few listening sessions, although completely satisfied with your setup, curiosity gets the better of you and you just HAVE to know!
So for a couple of years I've been absolutely happy running a Novafidelity (Cocktail Audio) X12 as my main streamer/music source. Initially I ran it pulling files from a NAS drive and more recently upgraded to an internal SSD drive for convenience as well as conventional wisdom suggesting it 'could' sound better. Less moving parts, faster read speeds, short, simple signal path etc.
However . . . . I have a Cambridge Audio CXN V2 waiting in the wings which 'should' best the X12 in all departments bar 1, it doesn't have the option to use an internal SSD. Hence I haven't tried it in my main setup yet.
I've been mostly of the opinion that a digital source (assuming a decent power supply) will be much the same as the next one (although I do know it's not quite a case of 0's being zero's and 1's being ones.. I say 'mostly' because if I've learned one thing in audio over the past few years, it's that how things logically should behave and how things actually do behave (sound) can often be quite different from the expected norm.
Well after some research there are some findings that streaming from a NAS hdd through a network switch and via an ethernet cable into a streamer can actually sound better than an SSD. What did I say about the expected norm?!?!
Anyway, I'll cut to the chase.
I'm going to setup the Novafidelity to play tracks from it's SSD into my SONCOZ SGD1 and TDA1541 DAC's via coax digital cable. The SONCOZ has a coax out so that will in turn be connected to the TDA1541 DAC. Another question I have, is there any signal loss/change using this 'pass-through' feature of a DAC. Logic would suggest that because the signal is travelling through a couple more components than coming straight from the streamer, that yes there will be some loss (although perhaps not audible). So I will also try the TDA1541 DAC directly from the streamer.
Then repeat playing tracks from an hdd in a NAS drive through a network switch and indeed from a portable hdd (thumb) drive directly via the USB input. Compare and evaluate.
Then swap in the Cambridge Audio CXN V2 and do the same but also be comparing the analogue out from the CA using it's own on-board DAC. I know the Wolfson chips shouldn't outperform the SONCOZ or indeed my TDA1541 DAC but it may be the case that the lack of extra cabling/components sounds better than with eather of the other DAC's!
The amount of combinations of streamer/dac/cable/file storage here will make for a lot of work no doubt but hopefully after I've exhausted all avenues I will have a clear winner . . . . although I have a feeling one combination may be better for some things and another for others, which will present me with further problems!
Anyway, any experience or advice much appreciated.
Hopefully I haven't overlooked anything glaringly obvious . . . .
I plan on using 6 or so different tracks I know well for the evaluations and all equipment will be on and plumbed in playing for at least 30 mins or so before any critical evaluation
Beverages (especially cold evening ones) must not be consumed during the test . . . .
Wish me luck.
You know how it goes, something you hadn't previously considered (power supplies/cables/file format etc) starts as a little seed in your mind, you dismiss it for a time.
Then over the next few listening sessions, although completely satisfied with your setup, curiosity gets the better of you and you just HAVE to know!
So for a couple of years I've been absolutely happy running a Novafidelity (Cocktail Audio) X12 as my main streamer/music source. Initially I ran it pulling files from a NAS drive and more recently upgraded to an internal SSD drive for convenience as well as conventional wisdom suggesting it 'could' sound better. Less moving parts, faster read speeds, short, simple signal path etc.
However . . . . I have a Cambridge Audio CXN V2 waiting in the wings which 'should' best the X12 in all departments bar 1, it doesn't have the option to use an internal SSD. Hence I haven't tried it in my main setup yet.
I've been mostly of the opinion that a digital source (assuming a decent power supply) will be much the same as the next one (although I do know it's not quite a case of 0's being zero's and 1's being ones.. I say 'mostly' because if I've learned one thing in audio over the past few years, it's that how things logically should behave and how things actually do behave (sound) can often be quite different from the expected norm.
Well after some research there are some findings that streaming from a NAS hdd through a network switch and via an ethernet cable into a streamer can actually sound better than an SSD. What did I say about the expected norm?!?!
Anyway, I'll cut to the chase.
I'm going to setup the Novafidelity to play tracks from it's SSD into my SONCOZ SGD1 and TDA1541 DAC's via coax digital cable. The SONCOZ has a coax out so that will in turn be connected to the TDA1541 DAC. Another question I have, is there any signal loss/change using this 'pass-through' feature of a DAC. Logic would suggest that because the signal is travelling through a couple more components than coming straight from the streamer, that yes there will be some loss (although perhaps not audible). So I will also try the TDA1541 DAC directly from the streamer.
Then repeat playing tracks from an hdd in a NAS drive through a network switch and indeed from a portable hdd (thumb) drive directly via the USB input. Compare and evaluate.
Then swap in the Cambridge Audio CXN V2 and do the same but also be comparing the analogue out from the CA using it's own on-board DAC. I know the Wolfson chips shouldn't outperform the SONCOZ or indeed my TDA1541 DAC but it may be the case that the lack of extra cabling/components sounds better than with eather of the other DAC's!
The amount of combinations of streamer/dac/cable/file storage here will make for a lot of work no doubt but hopefully after I've exhausted all avenues I will have a clear winner . . . . although I have a feeling one combination may be better for some things and another for others, which will present me with further problems!
Anyway, any experience or advice much appreciated.
Hopefully I haven't overlooked anything glaringly obvious . . . .
I plan on using 6 or so different tracks I know well for the evaluations and all equipment will be on and plumbed in playing for at least 30 mins or so before any critical evaluation
Beverages (especially cold evening ones) must not be consumed during the test . . . .
Wish me luck.