Network Bridge with USB out

Audio Gear Talk
42

Thanks! Enjoy the music.

43

I have the Stack Audio Link II and just updated it to the new firmware.
The network LED keeps flashing while it should be burning steadily when it has a stable network connection.
There is no problem playing music with Roon through it though.
Does anybody else have this?

44

`Yes, and Stack just wrote me that they are putting out an update in the next few days that will take care of that issue.

45

Nice RME ADI-2!

Iā€™m using the modius because I couldnā€™t convince myself to drop that kind of coin ā€” but your set up sure looks nice!

46

For what itā€™s worth, there are a number of folks on SBAF who have a real preference for AES > SPDIF > Unison > Toslink.

I have not yet tried an pi2AES to output AES into my Modius or SPDIF into my Bifrost 2, for now Iā€™m fine running the same RPi4/Flirc setup into Unison, and frankly Iā€™m very skeptical of SQ differences based on streamer typeā€¦ but I wanted to acknowledge that some folks who I respect believe there are differences. The below thread is about the Unison on Schiit DACs, but since many people believe that Unison is better than stock USB implementations, the comparison should holdā€¦

https://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/schiit-unison-usb.8236/

47

For Unison Yggdrasil A2, I did the following comparison with a very good listener (my wife) who was not biased one way or the other as she didnā€™t know which streamer she was listening to:

  1. Allo USBridge with Sbooster LPS>USB>Y
  2. Pi2AES with Meanwell SMPS>AES>Y

Both of us consistently heard 2 as slightly more defined, incisive, fast. Itā€™s a slight difference, and 1 was an improvement on some previous more expensive sources, including Auralic Aries Femto AES.

Iā€™ve listened to and owned a range of resistor array DACs, all discrete arrays except for Yggdrasil, which uses ICs. All but one, Soekris dac1541, had noticeable source differences. My suspicion is that small differences in electrical characteristics may be enough to change how electrical noise from the source leaks into the analog side of the DAC, and I wonder if the sign-magnitude design of dac1541 is less sensitive to source issues. Unison is a very clear improvement over previous Schiit USB boards, and even over some S/PDIF or AES sources, so I was definitely surprised by the minor but clear improvement with the Pi2AES.

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48

After stumbling over this thread and reading all your recommendations, I got curious myself and ordered an RPi4 with an icybox case. Works great and ropieee really is a turnkey solution. I could hardly drink my coffee fast enough. :wink:
Thanks everyone for pitching in with ideas, this is what makes this forum great!

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