Paul has been seeding the Octave Records and DSD Studios channel with old videos to get the video count up over the past week or 2. This video was recorded a while ago but uploaded today. Paul is about to step all over his own words in a few months when they release their streamer and Octave server. In fact, he’s practically setting the stage for this in the video. Understand that this was probably recorded right around the release of their PST. I like Paul. I like PS Audio. But Paul has contradicted himself plenty of times based upon what “flagship” product PS Audio is pushing this month. Just wait for their new streamer to be released and Paul will release a video saying how good streaming is but only when using their streamer into their DAC. I’m sure it’s wonderful. I think a lot of us are already there.
@DancingSea To be fair, and no disrespect with my statement, you’ve beaten this drum enough. In your environment, because of your transport / DAC, your physical media is going to sound better. Go enjoy it. If you want to upgrade your streaming then people have given you all kinds of suggestions but nothing is going to change much for you until you find a DAC / streamer combination that meets the color and characteristics of your Model 30. That takes money and investment on your part. If you’re happy with physical media go enjoy the music. If you want a better streaming set-up start buying new gear. I’d be interested in your evaluation of any new gear that lands in your set-up. The truth is you’ll need budget. You’re not solving this with a Raspberry Pi and a Schiit DAC.
My take aways were.
Mastering is the most important part.
His local recording in DSD beat all other formats for sound.
His local setup is best for physical media.
He didn’t mention going into studio #2 and using the same mastered recording through DSD and physical media and blind comparing.
I’m left asking why not and mention it?
I could never do sales well.
I’d still like to listen to that Marantz unit.
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Bill_Janssen
(Wigwam wool socks now on asymmetrical isolation feet!)
186
Something with HDAM, I’d expect. So it would have to come from Marantz, wouldn’t it?
On guard! I challenge you to a pistol duel and dawn!
You’ve played this card to the wrong person. You are not neither my editor nor authority. I shall beat whatever drum I desire, for as long as I desire, with or without your approval.
That strikes me as unnecessarily rude. Of course further up this thread the OP was told he needed a Lampizator DAC or something similar, reflecting typical audiophile snobbery. While it strikes me that the OP had made up his mind about this before his opening post (the Mac is at fault) and hasn’t really it seems been open to other options, I don’t think it’s called for to be rude or confrontational.
Reading the marketing literature for the Marantz 30n, they claim the sound has been “tuned” by the Marantz Sound Master. That suggests to me some sort of DSP. From all accounts they’ve done it quite well because it is certainly pleasing to the OP. On the other hand, Roon is bit perfect and what you hear is what you get. I suspect a little bit of DSP in Roon could get close to what the OP is looking for. But if you’re playing SACDs on a “tuned” transport, it’s no wonder that Roon might sound flat or dull. Many wouldn’t consider that “High Fidelity”, but I use tube amps so I’m pretty far from Hi-Fi myself. People like what they like.
1 Like
Bill_Janssen
(Wigwam wool socks now on asymmetrical isolation feet!)
194
I think it’s actually on the analog side, the thing they call “HDAM”.
This is not entirely the case. In the beginning I believed the Mac Mini was the problem, that part is true - but wasn’t glued to that idea. I genuinely did not originally understand the whole Roon ROCK arrangement, and now I understand much better. I would absolutely LOVE to explore many of the suggestions made throughout this thread. But I’ve concluded it’s going to be expensive, probably $3000 minimum for appropriate reclockers, DDC, and ethernet improvements. And the aforementioned Roon ROCK of some sort.
I’ve not yet pursued that avenue due to financial limitation, not from lack of interest or desire. I have 2 Decware pieces that have been on order for nearly a year that are due soon, and there goes the budget for awhile. And perhaps the Decware pieces will create a synergy that makes my current Roon setup more acceptable? We shall see.
On the horizon I do hope to explore the Roon ROCK direction, and see where that leads.
I have learned quite a bit from this thread, and for that, I am grateful to all. Even grateful to our Oscar the Grouch, @Martin_Kelly
Well then, sort of like me rolling tubes. Seems like as has been suggested above the OP can fine tune his streaming kit to get a sound close to what he likes with the Marantz. Now I consider the dead horse thoroughly beaten.
There is an interesting conversation here around the relative merits of computers and endpoints/streamers (and all the other paraphernalia in between) and their role in sound quality. Personally I can’t see how the computer rooms away from the hi-fi can make such a significant impact on the sound of the system. I would always look for opportunities to try-before-you-buy, even though I broke my own rule for the Zen Stream which is sitting proudly in my bedroom headphone system.
@DancingSea I wish you all the best getting your Roon experience to a place where it can sit alongside disc playback for you.
Three months later and lots has changed in my Roon universe. In February, after a year wait, 2 Decware pieces arrived. CSP3 tube preamp, and a ZRock 2 tube EQ. And an iFi Zen Stream with iFi Elite 12V power supply.
I think one of the issues I’ve had with Roon playing through the M1 Mac Mini - and I’m not sure if Roon or the Mac is at fault - but there’s a loss of gain. Not a ton, but enough to make the music sound less involving. The Decware CSP3 has dual gain output knobs for each channel. By increasing the gain when Roon is playing, everything is sounding much better. It’s worth noting that Jon Atkinson in Stereophile recently alluded to a similar observation when it comes to Roon and gain.
Before the Decware, I was not able to adjust gain going into the amp, only volume.
This gain discovery combined with HQPlayer’s Mx setting has created very pleasing results. Physical CDs/ SACDs still sound a bit better, but the gap is much closer. Roon provides a vastly different way to navigate my library, so I’m enjoying that as well.
I still haven’t figured out which move to make in terms of a Roon core. The lowly NUC gets high marks, but I can’t bring myself to add something so cheap. The Nucleus seems overpriced as it’s just a cheap NUC in a fancy case. I don’t see how a Sonic Transporter could be that much different than a Mac Mini. Lumin doesn’t offer cores (than I know of). Innous does, but I still struggle to see how their core, which is still just a computer, could sound that different. That’s an admitted prejudice. One day I’ll have to try.
All core talk aside, the two Decware pieces along with the iFi Zen Stream have made things sound much better in the land of Roon.
You can always build your own computer based on best of breed parts. My power supply in my PC alone costs more than a NUC, for example. And my video card, Nvidia Cuda, is well over 1k, very helpful for HQPlayer. A PC based on very good parts will easily set you back 5k or more.
Then if you don’t want to build your own there is always the Taiko Extreme servers.
