Hi,
My nucleus is on the way and was hoping that the following entry level setup would be ideal. Please share your thoughts.
When the Nucleus arrives I plan to setup in the following way:
Nucleus - as the core. Connected via Ethernet. DragonFly Cobalt USB DAC attached to the Nucleus
Naim Mu-so Qb 2 - Roon ready sound system connected via Ethernet
Does anyone have the same or similar topology entry level setup? How does it sound?
What do you plan to attach to your Dragonfly DAC? As you describe it above, the Dragonfly will do nothing.
Will a 3.5mm audio cable between Naim and Cobalt do the trick?
Yes (I think), if you want to use the Dragonfly DAC. However, I’m not familiar with the Naim speaker. If it is an active speaker with a DAC of it’s own, you will not be using the Dragonfly DAC unless the Naim allows you to bypass the internal DAC.
The Roon software can do the first MQA unfold and will convert 44.1 to 88.2 and 48 to 96.
I don’t think you need the Dragonfly at all in the setup you describe. This would be all you need:
Nucleus - as the core. Connected via Ethernet.
Naim Mu-so Qb 2 - Roon ready sound system connected via Ethernet.
Hi Jason,
Yea i know that works. Was wondering if the Cobalt DAC might just improve the SQ. And if I do want to try out the Cobalt in this setup how can i get to work?
I doubt the Cobalt will improve the sound of the Naim and you will loose the Roon Ready features of the Naim if you connect it via Cobalt.
However YMMV as they say so just try it and see. You should be able to connect both at once and set them as separate zones and swap between them pretty easily.
Plug a pair of headphones into the Cobalt DAC. Or use it with your iPhone or iPad. To do that, you would need an Apple camera adapter you can find on Amazon.
Seeing that the Cobalt is also a Roon tested and ready product, will tested out some methods and see how it sounds. Thanks a lot!
Yes, the Dragonfly Cobalt is a Roon Ready or Roon tested device. I don’t remember which. I have one and it sounds very good. I use mine in two ways. First, I use it with my iPhone and an Apple camera adapter and headphones. Secondly, I assembled a Raspberry Pi4 and use the Dragonfly with it. I actually have two RPi4’s. Once is connected by ethernet and one is connected by WIFI. I use those with headphones also.
@Jim_F I’ve used the Dragonfly with a raspi in a similar way as you have. The only challenge that I had was that sometimes the volume would jump to max output when using Device Volume. I wound up using DSP volume to make sure that wouldn’t happen. Max volume to an IEM was not a pleasant experience.
Yes, exactly. I did the same.
My plan would be one of the two to test sound quality:
OR
Hope the above works if anyone has tried.
I understand the Cobalt is maxed out at 96Khz however the soundstaging and dynamics may be interesting.
Comments and experience welcomed as I am in learning stage here experimenting on my soon to be entry level setup 