Sorry, my fault. I read too quick and thought you were referring to the streamer.
A good DAC does make a difference. Still, I doubt whether many people have the ear to discriminate to the extent that equipment reviewers think they can.
Apologies for the confusion.
Have a good holiday.
a good streamer makes a difference otherwise everyone would be content with chromecast audio
+1 and you understand the importance of the source when your dac, amplifier and loudspeakers bring the right level of transparency. without that all the sources are chomecast to be used with YouTube
Thanks all for the input.
Merry Christmas and happy holidays
Thanks patatorz. I read your reviews on the ambre. Would you recommend the ambre / amethyst bundle. ? Merci et salutations
The Ambre with Onyx via the I2S connection is still great, although I have become somewhat used to that particular chain by now, after these two months. What is proving to be an unexpected revelation is the Ambre with the Yggdrasil Analog2 via AES, which seems to be blowing Ambre/Onyx via i2S out of the water in the sheer power and weight of the sonic density it is deliveringā¦ However, it is a revelation only in so far as my mind was almost exclusively focused on the novelty of the Ambre/Onyx combo in the beginning.
The .Yggy2 had always been connected with my Ultrarendu (via USB5 or AES) in what I often call my āreferenceā 2 channel stereo headphone/speakers rig. Connecting the Ambre to the Yggy2 was just a second thought experiment I made, simply because the Ambre allows multiple simultaneous connectivities, and I had this 25 ft Mogami AES cable that could connect it to the Yggy2 from the location of the Ambre/Onyx rig. Well the effect has been so surprisingly great for both speakers and headphones that I have not listened to the Ultrarendu/Yggy2 combo for more than 2 months now, and that alone should speak volumes.
These days, it is always either
The Ambre is a winner in all three roles. The unexpected revelation is Chain #2 (and also chain#3 for speakers), which is now sounding even better and grander for headphones than chain #1. I am yet to determine which āculprit (s)ā is (are) mainly responsible for that difference. Is it the Yggy2 showing the Onyx who is the boss, or is it the Violectric V281 trying to teach the Cavalli Liquid Platinum a few āadult educationā lessons in headphone amplification? Or is it just a matter of the relative power of different system synergies? It is going to take more experimentation with component swapping and permutations (not mention messing with different types of interconnects) to arrive at definitive answers to these questions, but i am either too lazy or too distracted by other more pressing concerns to want to delve into such experimentations at the moment,
Not that I am complaining about any of these revelations or differences. 4 months ago, the performance of chain #1 would have sounded almost like āend-gameā to me. So, without having all the answers, I can say for sure that the Ambre has helped to raise the bar of performance at several different levels since its introduction, and that there has been no downsides to it that I can discern. That realization alone is making me feel quite grateful for it, and life is good 
Good to hear - Iāve ordered an Ambre (which should ship tomorrow) to partner with by Gungnir MB. Hope it delivers something like what you are describing with your Ambre/Yggy2 chain.
I would be interested in knowing how that turns out. Iām still learning
I understand USB5 there, but AFAIK Ultrarendu has no AES output. Where you using a USB>AES DDC between the Ultrarendu and the Yggy?
Hi Fernando:
Youāre right about the ultrarendu, but this is where my Stello U3 USB to AES/SPDiF converter becomes useful. Incidentally, there are times when I prefer the Ultrarendu==>>Stello U3/AES ==>> Ygg2 option, over the
USB 5, but settling on one definitive option is one thing I still need to make my mind up about, whenever I finally go back to using the Ultrarendu, after this long āhoneymoonā with the Ambre .
The reason I asked was that Ultrarendu+Stello U3 end up costing about as much as the Ambre, even before you add a good power supply. Also, the comparison involves both items (Ultrarendu and Stello U3), it wonāt be easy to figure out which is most responsible for the contrast you described. My current Yggy2 speaker setup has an Auralic Aries, while upstairs I have Ambre>Onyx for tube-solid state hybrid headamps. I really like the Onyx in this configuration, the two amps I play with are a Schiit Lyr 3 and a vintage Apex Peak with Volcano LPS, both with carefully chosen tubes. Iāve been slightly tempted to replace the Aries with a second Ambre, and now you are giving me some additional support 
Not that I hear anything wrong with the Aries feeding the Yggy2 with AES, noticeably better than anything Iāve used before with the Yggy.
Itās funny how certain things happen in Audio : the Stello U3 actually first came to me as .an unsolicited complimentary extra (along with an expensive Oyaide AR-910 AES/XLR interconnect) from the guy who sold me my first Metrum Dac (the Hex, which I have traded up, this year, for the Onyx)ā¦ That was before I got to know about any of the rendu products. The point I am making is that I wouldnāt ordinarily go out of my way to purchase a Stello U3 in order to use it with an Ultrarendu. Another funny thing is that it never even occurred to me to use the Stello U3 with the Yggy until this year (after getting both the USB-5, and later, the Analog 2 upgrades for the Yggy)ā¦
In fact, I did not know about the existence of the Stello U3 until it arrived with my Metrum Hex purchase, and the thought of using it in the ultrarendu/Yggy chain occurred to me only after I had traded the Hex up for the Onyx earlier this year. If that thought had occurred to me earlier, I would probably not have done the Yggy USB5 upgrade, but that is okay too.
On the other hand, you could say that the purchase of the Hex has turned out to be quite pivotal in my Audio journey, given how it has inspired my purchase of Metrum products, such as the Ambre and the Onyx. It has been nearly as influential as the first Microrendu I got, in steering other initiatives.
That said, it is interesting hearing about your thoughts on the Aries. I have never heard the Aries before myself, so I cannot provide any first hand insights on the matter, but having read what others
(e.g. @cinematic ) have posted on this thread about their experiences moving from the Aries to the Ambre, I can understand something about the nature of the debate youāre currently having with yourself
Iād have to try the Ambre as Yggy2 AES source, for which I need some free undistracted time (moving gear around, testing a variety of tracks, ideally getting some unbiased listening tests from my wife). Iām totally sold on Ambre>I2S>Onyx, but Iāve not read any detailed, convincing comparisons of Ambre vs Aries for AES into Yggy2 or comparable DAC.
He Patrick,
nice to meet other happy Metrum users
i think the biggest difference between my Aries and my Ambre is the connection now over I2S.
Before that i used the Aries with USB (recomended) and did a lot of tweaking with the signal (reclocker with supercap power, expensive usb cable (totalDac) and so onā¦)
Now with a 40$ ethernetcable for I2S it sounds better than before.
I sold the whole stuff, have a clean chain now with the Ambre and the Adagio to active speakers.
regards
tom
Hi Tom: Nice and interesting update. Happy New year.
Niice and thanks for update as well.
Hi Tom,
what 40$ ethernet cable are you using for your I2S connection?
Hi Simone,
i use a 50cm Meicord Opal
took a look again in the shop, sorry, the price was a bit higher than 40$, it was 69ā¬ for me. (80$)
But it is a very good cable, and price/value is top
http://www.meicord.de/index.php?id=128&L=3
regards
tom
thanks for the information!
Try BlueJeans cables for quality and value.