I’ve used Pi2AES (see measurements and review) XLR as well as UP Gateway + Intona isolator USB into my May KTE, the USB solution sounds just as good and is a lot more convenient and flexible — no PLL delay, much higher rates for PCM or DSD upsampling via HQPlayer.
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You all don’t know what you’re listening to and I say that to get a good soundbite in before contributing anything of value to this thread.
In audio its all about synergy and its obvious too many people in this thread are flat ignoring that fact. Different streamers, interfaces, DSP, etc. etc. to different DACs in different rooms on different speakers…
and people want to try to convince all streamers sound the same or DSP is good / bad? No, sorry.
Best Ethernet streamer out of context is simply the most transparent streamer. How transparent a streamer is will be dependent on how well your DAC rejects things “added” by the streamer. An excellent USB input, like on the May, needs less from a streamer to sound good. In fact, this DAC may very well present that all streamers sound the same. That of course depends on what your system performance is. Can you hear the difference or is there no difference in your room?
I currently have two digital chains…
OK streamer on linear PSU → Good DAC
HQP → Rasp Pi 4 → OK DAC
subtracting the cost of the HQP machine the HQP chain is less than half the cost of the “Good DAC” path. You want to know what sounds better? I’ll tell you…
It depends on the source material and the filter / modulator I’ve got loaded in HQP.
The Good DAC is good because its got a wonderful filter in it and a great USB input. But, some recordings can sound extra thin if they were recorded that way. I can “fix” that with HQP and the OK DAC set-up. Want more focused center imaging at the cost of sharper / more digital attack? I can do that with the HQP chain.
So, no, its not strictly about money but no 2 combinations sound the same either. There will always be subtle or dramatic differences.
The best ethernet streamer? Get something as transparent as possible… with the May this should be pretty easy. Want to take it to the next level? Get something like HQP so you can adjust how the May works. That requires something that supports NAA.
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