.... as in the title - what network streamer are you using with your Audio Note DAC? I ask this because AN don't like the sound of streaming audio so I am looking for advice where someone has found a network streamer that comes close to the sound of a good CD transport. I will be streaming from Qobuz (not local FLAC or WAV files). The first thing that springs to mind would be the now legacy dCS Network Bridge. AN are fussy about the transport connected so I thought I would save time and look for experience first. (I also thought about the Grimm Audio MU1 - but the MU1 up-samples everything an AN don't like up-sampling over-sampling etc - anyway the Grimm is too rich for me).
I'm quite happy with a Lumin U1 Mini connected to my level 2 AN system. I use it as an endpoint from Qobuz and Roon, but don't like the Lumin native app because of its user interface. Can't compare it to DCS's Mosaic app, unfortunately.
A Win10-based PC with separate linear PSUs for the motherboard and a custom-built digital board which feeds my DAC 5-ish. The PC is fed by an EtherREGEN that is in turn fed by another EtherREGEN, the two being connected by fiber-optical. The EtherREGEN connected to the PC has an external tube-based clock made by Abbas Audio (Ukraine). For now, the first EtherREGEN in the chain gets its internet connection through the electrical installation (EoP) but I soon plan to circumvent this and connect one EtherREGEN directly to the router. Just getting rid of the 15 m Ethernet cable between the two EtherREGENs gave a big jump in sound quality, so I imagine that getting rid of EoP altogether will bring a big improvement. If I were to start over again, I would spend less money on the DAC and relatively more on the streaming setup. EDIT. I forgot to write that I use Roon, so I have a 2010 i5 Macbook Pro running the Roon core, and the Win10 PC works as a Roon endpoint. I'll probably find something better than the MBP to run the Roon Core at some point.
Grimm Audio MU1 is full of fresh air & not much better than a unit @ 1/20th of the cost Pro-Ject Audio Systems Stream Box S2 Ultra network bridge | Stereophile.com
Our favorite streamer/server combos over the past five or six years are: Sonore ultraRendu + MacMini (Roon Core), Bricasti M3 networked DAC + MacMini (Roon Core), Bricasti M3 + Rockna WavedreamNET (Roon Core). As it applies to Audio Note DACs, which require a streamer with coax or AES outputs, only the WavedreamNET from the list above qualifies. In fact, it's why I purchased it. The aforementioned Lumin U1 Mini is another good option. We owned one many years ago, but used it with a DAC we no longer own. I think if I wasn't using the Rockna, I'd seriously consider an Auralic Aries G2.1.
I took time out to visit a dealer in the to see if a digital transport made a difference or not ... I took my front end (Auralic Mini with Auralic LPSU and Matrix SPDIF converter) and the challenge was - put in any speakers and amps you like - I just want to see if you can demonstrate a difference or not. Well my Mini was up against the aforementioned Grimm MU1 - the Grimm just totally blew the poor little Mini with all its band aid friends away! There was no question about it. I was told the Grimm was substantially better than the Auralic Aries G2.1 - I can believe it after what I heard.
It very well might be. I tend to be somewhat cautious about what salespeople say. I considered the Grimm MU1, but its limited digital output options was a deal breaker.
I have tried many different combinations. From AN, in my different systems I have a DAC 5 Special, DAC 4.1x Sig and DAC 0.1x. I have also played with the Mytek Manhattan and the Benchmark DAC3. I have streamers from Sonos, Naim and Goldnote. I have tried lots of possible combinations. The one observation that is most related to this thread is that I have found that AN DACs are more sensitive to jitter than other DACs. Granted that I have not measured this – only my observations from listening. So no, I can’t prove it. On the DAC side, the DAC 5 sounds the best. OK, you would hope that to be the case, and it clearly is. Next is the DAC 4.1x, another no surprise. BUT, and this was a surprise, the Mytek was pretty much equal to the DAC 4.1x. The Benchmark and the AN DAC 0.1x are both nice, but not in the same league. On the streamer side other factors besides just SQ reared their ugly head. We have systems in several different room and just love having all the Sonos boxes in sync. Note that none of these are Sonos speakers, just the boxes that feed into DACs. My hope was to mix Sonos with other streamers using Roon as the controller. That didn’t work out. Roon treats Sonos as a second-class citizen. Yes, they speak native Sonos protocol to a Sonos box, but they won’t let you mix a Sonos with another end point. Add to this that the Sonos app is very good and talks nicely to almost every streaming service I’ve tried. So what’s the problem? Just that a native Sonos box has a little more jitter than makes the AN DACs comfortable. Fortunately, there is a work around. Wyred 4 Sound will modify the Sonos Port with a much better power supply and a reclocking circuit. The result is very nice sound into an AN DAC. This is really a little outside this thread, but hopefully the OP will forgive me. The Mytek Manhattan II is really a very nice DAC. So, of course, they don’t make it as a stand alone DAC anymore. It is now a streamer+DAC. If I wasn’t in the Sonos camp or the AN camp, that just might be the winner.
ANUK themselves sell many transports, some quite expensive. It's clearly their opinion that the digital transport matters with their DACs!
Auralic Aries Mini to DAC 2.1x Signature. Already big impact on sound quality was adding Brown Pallas digital cable, but even bigger improvement was the linear power supply. I have one from MCRU. This basically makes it compareable to Aries G1 which I owned at one point. Maybe it doesn't have all the processing power or cool screen, but other than that I'm more than happy with it. The next step is Isis mains cable for the power supply. I highly recommend investigating the power supply possibilities on cheaper/smaller streamers. In expensive and bigger ones, that's usually already taken care of.
Jeff Fritz, reviewer for SoundstageUltra, has a system worth over $100,000. Many would say it's state-of-the-art. He uses an Apple MacBook Air laptop computer as the streamer. Check the system components at the end of this MSB Premier DAC review.
An Auralic Aries Mini for me too with an Sbooster power supply into an older AN Dac-3 Sig, echoing what @richidi says a good digital cable, in my case from Jorma, made an outsized improvement on sound quality.
A lot of manufacturers make claims about their DACs being impervious to the quality of the source because of isolation and yada, yada. However, I have yet to experience a DAC where that holds water. I don't know Jeff Fritz, but it may be ignorance--I have seen very expensive gear demo'ed with a Macbook where the sampling rate in the Audio Midi Setup was not matched to the sample rate of the recording played through iTunes (if they are not matched, the Midi resamples it, and it is lousy at it). In fact, unless the manufacturer specific wants the review to reflect the sound quality with a Macbook, I don't understand why they don't put some minimum requirement demands on the reviewer's source. Or deliver it with some kind of streamer. And if they want the review to reflect the sound with a Macbook, I don't understand why they would want that if we're talking 5-digit DACs--it doesn't make sense to use a source as poor as a (unmodified) Macbook for such an expensive DAC.
I reached out to Jeff after I read his review and asked him why he uses the laptop rather than a dedicated streamer. His reply was that he has had several streamers come through his system and none sounded better than the MacBook Air, although admittedly against conventional audiophile thinking. Not passing judgment here...just conveying his response.
I home demoed the Grimm MU1 for a full week. Via AES, it is astoundingly good. Some of the best gear I’ve had the pleasure of using. Not subtle. Some will armchair review it, point to pics of internals, etc — whatever. What matters is the listening. That said, it’s like the cherry on top of an ambitious system. Beyond my budget at the time. I use the simaudio mind 2 bridge which goes for about 1500 used. Not nearly as good, but more than good enough to enjoy streaming.
Sorry back again after a few days of ... auditioning the dCS Network Bridge (on loan) in my system! Catastrophically better than the Auralic Mini with all its trappings! I am happy and sad at the same time (I am very likely to spend hard earned cash on it). If find the not nearly as good but more than good enough to enjoy streaming very humbling. I wish I could feel like that but the dCS is so accomplished in comparison in that much more of the essential music just punches through ... perhaps the Mini was just too low in the food chain for baseline essential musicality (although I thought it might be good enough before listening to the NB). I "dare" not put the Grimm ahead of the AN! Those of you that like noises from a piano should think about upping the ante on your transport - the poor ol' Mini is struggling in comparison (very stilted). Again I would never have know that before. Despite the extra musical juice from the NB I don't like the UI so much from Mosaic. I am already using the Auralic LPSU with the Mini - and various other band aids (Matrix SPDIF converter) - I think I like the fact that the dCS has been so well engineered (assumingly) that no extra this and that add-ons are necessary to make it sound better (ignoring those expensive dCS clocks). The better transport has taken the AN DAC 0.1x into another league already (in my system) without going up the AN range. I would guess (and only guess) that an Auralic Mini coupled to an AN DAC 4 would sound 'worse' than a dCS NB connected to an AN DAC 0.1x (just a guess through my experience here). Obviously put an NB ahead of an AN DAC 4 and that's likely to be a different story.
Another observation that makes me convinced of the importance of spending money/effort BEFORE the DAC.
Yeah, I bet dCS Network Bridge is better than Aries Mini and so it should be, as the price is umm, what.. 6-10x higher Bridge was at one point the streamer of my dreams. Congratulations if you get it @smoothgrooves! Does it already support wifi (has the antenna input, but software didn’t support it last I heard)? What about spotify connect, qobuz, airplay etc.?
No they didn't implement the Wi-Fi in the end (I need to connect over Wi-Fi but I just use the Ethernet port into a Wi-Fi bridge). However software support is now good - here's s list... Tidal Connect - The latest update was Tidal Connect - so despite being legacy they are still keeping on top of things. Spotify Connect Qobuz - yes Qobuz in now there - that's what I use the most! Deezer Internet Radio Podcasts Airplay UPnP USB input for stored music So not a bad lineup. And it's fully Roon ready.
Yes the price is high - but I'm seeing Mini's connecting to hi-end AN DACs (those poor DACs , not getting the right nutrition) - and those high end AN DACs are far more expensive than my AN 0.1x. For those that can afford those, the NB should be affordable too. (Or the likes of the NB - there are other great hi-end streamers out there even more expensive like the Grimm Audio MU1). I wonder what a used dCS ring DAC sounds like now I have the NB ... no no please don't contemplate spending more money!
