So… This is a two-headed tale. The good news first: the little Baby has been nothing but excellent: rock stable and faultless.
On the audio front all is well as well. I hooked the Baby up to the optical of one of my Phantoms, and compared with a Pi/Digi+ Pro on the other. Nothing earth shattering, but overall the Baby was a bit more smooth / rounded / musical while the Pi was a bit coarse and bland in comparison.
Something did not sit right though: with both endpoints, the mids were a bit thin and the highs a bit shrill (think crashing cymbals). When comparing Qobuz tracks (Redbook and Highres) directly through the Devialet Spark application vs. through either endpoint, it appears the S/PDIF connections on the Phantoms are a bit less excellent than I would like.
For good measure I powered up my old Meridian DSP5200 speakers, changed the Digi+ board on the Pi for an Allo DigiOne and hooked up both players with a Blue Jeans digital coax cable.
Much better. The Baby showed the same effortless smoothness, but with a nice, balanced sound signature. I preferred it to the DigiOne, which was a bit rough and overly lively.
So… This leaves me in a bit of a conundrum. I ordered a UPNP Bridge to play Roon to the Phantoms, which is excellent soundwise as it avoids using the S/PDIF, but is unstable at the moment (working with @agillis on this).
For now, it’s back to quality listening through Spark and a bit of Roon Radio 2.0 via Airplay – until the Phantoms finally acquire RoonReadiness. I’ll have to return the Baby, even though it’s an excellent little bugger.
A bit of a sad ending – but hey, life.
(If anyone wants one, PM me and I’ll shave €50 off the pre-order price as not to bother the good folks at Metrum. Otherwise I’ll return it by the end of the week).