After doing a good amount of critical listening I’m totally convinced NOS yields more natural cleaner sound from my Pontus II
I posted a comment about my Ares II having an occasional glitch when playing music via SPDIF from my Cambridge Audio CXN and CXC. I can play several tracks without problem, so the DAC operates normally most of the time. However, the DAC will glitch now and again. The music doesn’t stop, it momentarily becomes muddled and/or jumps. I contacted Alvin at Vinshine Audio and he has been very responsive. I performed several tests at his request, including using optical, coax and USB. I also flashed the firmware. The problem was present when using optical and coax but not USB (connected to my Asus laptop and streaming Qobuz). Flashing the firmware didn’t change anything. Alvin promptly sent a replacement Ares II. Unfortunately, the problem is still there. I don’t know what the cause could be at this point?
Maybe the problem is the CXN. I also use my Ares II with the CXN V2 and have not experienced any glitches when listening to Qobuz. I have the CXN connected directly to my LAN.
My CXN v2 is connected via LAN. I have used the internal DAC for about one year without experiencing any problems. The problem happens with my CXC CD transport as well.
I think re-installing the firmware will likely be what Alvin suggests next. That will certainly be easier than waiting for the board and changing it or sending it back, if you can borrow that Windows computer. I'm interested in knowing if that sorts the problem for you. I just got my amp back from re-capping and can now get on with listening to my Venus.
A firmware flash did help my issue, for what it's worth. The only time I've ever noticed it after was in classical pieces and frankly, that could be just an audience noise or whatever. I no longer worry about it.
I've spent some time with NOS and also OS (Slow) - I find the sound stage tend to be wider on most well mastered tracks. OS (Slow) definitely has more details and upper range drive/sparkle. For my semi near field listening NOS gives a better overall experience.
I find it strange, so many people preferring Nos. ..don't you find it lacking attack and dynamics compared to OS (I'm using fast filter now, slow seems to be a mix-up between NOS and OS-slow)?! I'm on a different pair of speakers now as when I started out with the Ares, but both of them have ribbon tweeters. My room is also pretty 'live' sounding (allthough it has some treatments to the point of what I like) so everything should probably direct me to NOS mode, but every time I have tried it, I find it too laid back, too uneventfull, lacking excitement (and details), seems to smoothen and tone everything down to the point of well, just taking the life out of it for lack of better words?!
It's pretty rare and random, but I experience what I can only really describe as a "micro-skip" or a "blip" during playback. It never happens in the same place twice and if I do actually hear it, and I take the playback back to the same spot, it plays fine. It happens across both NOS and OS settings. I use digital coax from my CD to the ARES II. It has happened since I've had it. Mine was manufactured in NOV 2019. I recently contacted Alvin to see if there was a firmware update that I should have done or if he had heard of this issue from other buyers and he offered this as a possibility ...... "Source/DAC clock differences causes the DAC FIFO buffer overrun, hence, skip for a split second" Honestly, it's a problem I can live with because I really love the sound of the ARES II, but just knowing it's there and that I can't pinpoint the cause, bugs me a little.
When I had an ARES II my experience with OS vs NOS was exactly the same as yours. I too am surprised by the amount of love here for NOS. I believe the best time for using NOS mode is only for hi rez files.
My experience with OS/NOS on my Pontus II is that the former is better for electronic, funk (and probably rock), etc., while NOS excels with jazz and acoustic. Also, as the DAC is very revealing, I find that OS tends to smooth out the sound of lower quality recordings a bit more than NOS.
I originally only used NOS as many people say they preferred it. I however starting trying the 2 OS modes and have decided that I prefer OS Slow. I hear more detail in this mode.
While I use NOS, I also do that because I'm feeding it OS from HQ Player. And while there is definitely some debate about "NOS not really NOS" with these DACs, I don't know that anyone has tried, or has a way to try, comparing the output of something truly NOS (Holo May) with HQ Player upsampled data, versus upsampled data out of a DF DAC. That would be a really interesting discussion. But anyway, with HQ Player, DSD256 or PCM 768, Sinc Mx filter, and the best noise shaper or modulator my PC can muster - there is nothing lacking in terms of dynamics, attack, harmonics that trail off in space in the room (not just the sound, the actual space projection of them flows 'outward'), and clarity - I have no idea what I'm going to hear out of Holo May KTE when it arrives, but it has a hell of a challenge in front of it to subjectively sound more preferable than Venus II. Objectively, on paper, it should be slightly better. But at this level of DAC, I really don't think that means a whole lot to the end listener user experience. Like... ok THD goes down from (pulling numbers out of my a$$) .0004 to .00025. Neat. No one will hear that, yet they obviously have their own sounds, just piecing together from various perspectives, it's clear they'll have different presentations. Will be fun!
Oh and follow up on Zen Stream. More of the same. Music is more engaging now than before, from a battery-powered Pi4. I can't explain why, but I know I'm happy enough that I'm keeping Zen Stream. I've pushed metal, jazz, classical, Supertramp, SRV, and blues rock through it, even down to my guilty pleasure screamo stuff, and I just enjoy the system more with it in there. Really enjoying it.
I used to have a similar issue when using the Ares II with a Bluesound Node 2i. This was when I’d only had the Ares II for a few months and I wasn’t sure which device was the cause or if perhaps it was the combination. But then after a while it seemed to go away and I think it’s been more than a year since it last happened; in fact I’d actually forgotten about it.
Yeah, mine has definitely decreased over time to the point where, yeah, I no longer worry about it. I couldn't say it has gone completely, and it's one of those things where I could go and sit there listening intently for it for 12 hours and it won't happen. My theory is that it is somehow connected to using the different NOS/OS settings, so when I was experimenting with the different settings and switching quite regularly between them when I first got it, it would happen more. As time went on and I decided on a setting and kept it there, I didn't hear it. Alvin's explanation of clock differences between source and DAC may be on the money too, but I don't have the tech knowledge behind me to say either way.
I am on this same route, So please tell me more about the PI4 and the OS your using, any HAT?, how do you connect it with Zen stream? I had real problems getting my Zen Stream set up last night and today. I have a replacement coming to me tommorow. I have bricked it in the process, no connectivity lights come on anymore. I was going to buy a PI2AES, but then read a lot of reviews pointing to the Zen . I have a Pontus II and a AresII, so pretty similar equipment.
I was using an Ian Canada LifePO4 battery PSU but am selling it now. I've only listed it on DIYaudio.com as I'm not sure anywhere else will know what it is. But it worked really well and is super flexible. That said, in my setup, Zen Stream replaced my Pi4 USB, as well as the same Pi4 with the Pi2AES HAT. I would not use a Pi + Zen Stream in my setup. I am set up with Roon and HQPlayer so if I were just Roon, I'd set up Zen Stream as a Roon endpoint, plug it into power and network, and then run USB to Venus II. Since I'm using HQ Player, I am in "NAA" mode but the connections are the same - power, wired ethernet, and USB out to my DAC. Not sure if that helps?
It does help! I appreciate your posts and thanks for your reply. I hope this replacement Zen works out , very frustrating that it seems to have completely taken a crap. I tried to do a software update and shortly after that it failed.
