Getting the most from Vivaldi and Roon?

Hi there…

I use dCS Network Bridge with Vivaldi DAC, via dual AES. Upsampling to DSD128 from Roon sounds great. what would be the recommended upsampling settings?

I use like this:
Filter: Precise, Minimum Phase
Sigma-Delta: 7th order (CLANS)
SDM Gain: 0db
Parallellize: yes

Roon runs on i5 NUC ROCK.

Any comments or suggestions? @AMP

Thanks

Use whatever sounds good to you. Each setting is a little different and it’s going to come down to personal preference.

With DSD I like Map 1 on the Vivaldi DAC and Filter 5. You may also want to try upsampling to DXD in Roon (use the Max PCM Power of 2 setting) and then use Map 3 and either filter 3 or filter 6 on the Vivaldi.

3 Likes

This is somewhat tweaky and tinker-y, but I’ve had good results with using fiber ethernet media converters to optically isolate my dCS Network Bridge (and other network endpoints) from the rest of my home network. I brought the gear to do this into my local dCS dealer and they were impressed enough with its effects on their Vivaldi stack (as well as an Ayre QX-5 Twenty) that they ordered the same components to use in their stores.

This is what I use:
2x TP-Link MC110CS Fast Ethernet Media Converter
2x Uptone UltraCap LPS-1.2 Power Supply
1x SC to SC OS1 single-mode fiber patch cable

I did a lot of experimentation, and at least in my setup, I discovered that running the Network Bridge (and UltraRendu) ethernet interface at 100Mbps sounded better than gigabit, and that 5V seemed to be the quietest supply voltage for the media converters. The power supply at both ends made a difference, but the “receiving” end (closest to the endpoint) made the biggest difference. Also, single-mode fiber seemed to be much quieter than multi-mode.

1 Like

We’ve investigated these solutions and found that they’re generally more trouble than they are worth. In some situations they resulted in connectivity issues and in controlled testing we found that they made no appreciable difference in performance (and in some cases they actually made the sound worse). While customers are absolutely welcome to use them they are officially unsupported by dCS. Should a customer have a support issue we’ll request that the fiber converters be removed so that troubleshooting can be performed using a standards-compliant Ethernet cable.

A completely understandable stance. In my own experimentation, I ended up with a lot of variations on this general idea that ended up sounding the same, worse, or just different. In my own situation, the hassle was worth it; in both systems in my apartment, the fiber cables replaced long runs of copper ethernet cable that ran parallel to in-wall mains wiring or power cords for several meters. Optical isolation seemed to get rid of some kind of bad interaction between the ethernet cables and mains wiring that didn’t effect data integrity, but had an effect on sound quality. Also, I think running the ethernet interface on my dCS gear at fast ethernet speeds, rather than gigabit, improved sound quality regardless of the involvement of optical isolation.

1 Like

A post was split to a new topic: dCS DAC filter choices

This immediately reminds me of my experimentations with using a bad USB output (a model of NUC known for this) into my Meridian 818v3 and dCS Rossini. The Meridian produced crud on the analogue output, the dCS appeared to be immune. Presumably the dCS has galvanic or comparable isolation on the USB input.

Assuming the LAN connection has been engineered with the same level of care, I doubt optical decoupling would make much (any) difference…

Got the VPP upgrade done (and internet updated too) and boy does it add new features. Very happy thus far with moving away from USB straight into network mode, and DSDx2 is a big plus !
That, along with the Vivaldi DAC v2.02, almost feels like a new improved system.

Kudos to dCS for a nice upgrade and great Roon integration.

1 Like

Dear Andrew,

Regarding your comment above, if I use my Innuos Zenith SE as Roon Core, using its ethernet output to feed the Vivaldi Upsampler (as a Roon streamer) ethernet input, what would be the recommended setttings to do this?

Thanks,

VPN

There aren’t any settings specific to using the Vivaldi Upsampler as a Roon endpoint. Assuming the Upsampler and DAC are properly connected to each other with the serial cable then all of the default settings should be correct.

We don’t support configurations in which the dCS device is directly connected to a server on a “bridged” or private network. It might work that way, but there can be issues which may cause instability. Should a support issue arise the first thing we’ll ask you to do is to connect the Upsampler directly to the main network.

1 Like

The Vivaldi Upsampler worked with the ethernet output of the Innuos Zenith SE, no problem. The sound was much better than before the use of the Innuos. They work really well together.

Andrew, one question for you. I am using a Vivaldi DAV, upsampler and master clock. Upsampler is connected to a router via ethernet cable. I am feeding music from CAPS zuma PC server with Roon. What do you think will sound better, to keep a PC server or to move Roon server to a QNAP NAS and eliminate PC?

Shouldn’t make any difference in terms of sound quality.

Running Roon core on QNAP is a bit of a stretch in terms of horsepower, especially if there’s DSP going on - like playing a file that requires transcoding for the Rossini such as a DSD256 file.

Given you have the server, why would you even bother? I would keep the server elsewhere though, but with the one you have maybe it doesn’t matter.

I believe NAS should offer more hassle-free operation 24/7?

My computers (all of them) do. I never turn them off. Why would you?

If you don’t like mucking around with your server, a NAS based Roon Core will work splendidly, almost maintenance free. I’ve been running the Core on a QNAP TS-470Pro for three years now and i have rebooted the Roon Core about three times…
Now your average Windoze high maintenance server… :wink:
(My QNAP worked just fine from scratch with its i3 3220, but i changed the processor to an i5 3470T for lower power consumption and less heat/noise)

I use a mac mini. Don’t have to do anything to it. You will run out of horsepower on your nas if you need some heavy DSP.

I’m with @miguelito. Just stick with your server, don’t mess with NAS. It’s a downgrade.

1 Like

Just let me say that my experience is the opposite…