Is computer audio a bust?

Wired Ethernet network has had the most impact on sonics by far of any other computer-based configurations.

Andrew, it was what was subtracted by adding Ethernet that made the difference in my opinion.

No more reliance on Mac Mini and all the tweaks/upgrades.
No more reliance on JRiver or other music software packages to play music.
No more reliance on USB converters or USB in general (which I never really embraced).
No more computer next to my system.

In exchange I have a NAS now loaded with about 500GB of music. I run MinimServer on the NAS. The NAS is connected to my router (which I have always had). I run a 35 ft. Ethernet cable to my Resolution Audio Cantata. Music streamed from NAS to Cantata using iPad and PlugPlayer control point.

I am still interested in trying the Lampizator transport with my Lessloss DAC for comparative purposes because I am told the wifi is superior to wired Ethernet. Not sure I buy that statement completely though as Resolution Audio states the opposite with their Cantata.

Can the PLEX server be run directly from a NAS like Synology? That is the big benefit of MinimServer in my set up.

Andrew, the Lessloss streamer had a lot of promise when I heard the first prototype a few years ago or so at RMAF. I do think the DAC 2004 is one of the best I have heard and why I keep it around. I would love to leverage it somehow and the Lampizator or Sonore Rendu could be solutions for me to consider. As for the new streamer, given the proposed price it is unfortunately not something I would budget for. As you mentioned, it still remains to be seen what formats it will support as well.

As for Ethernet cables a good source is Blue Jeans Cable. They verify the cables to be true CAT6 or 5 and they do not break the bank. Given the data is sent in packets and there is no clock to recover I would think if all else is designed properly jitter should not be an issue. With the Cantata I can play a song from a CD and stream the same song doing a fairly close A/B comparison. To me I do not hear an appreciable difference either way. So the convenience factor won out.

PLEX looks very interesting. I will give it a try and compare to MinimServer. I can see already PLEX offers some interesting features, just not sure I want to complicate things. I do like the simplicity of MinimServer.

USB was what kept me away from computer audio, but I finally decided to give it a try because of the convenience and my player supported it. Since digital is not my primary source I figured I had nothing to lose. However, after moving to wired Ethernet I have to say I would not go back to USB or playing discs. It has been a noticeable difference.

What I like about Ethernet is there is no timing involved from the NAS to the streamer. Also, in my case since the streamer and renderer are one and the same, the clocking is done at only one point in the chain. In my opinion this is probably the simplest signal path.

Now to leverage my Lessloss DAC I just purchased an Auralic Aries. This set up will require a cable between it and the DAC with asynchronous clocking. Not necessarily a bad thing, just one more step in the chain. It will be interesting to see how this set up works out.

FWIW I also own an Audiophileo USB converter. It's in the closet right now, but it served me quite well before I put all my eggs in the Ethernet basket.

The NAS will be better than the Mini if you believe less is more. I have a Synology and run MinimServer on it. A 4 bay model with 4 1TB Western Digtal Red drives in Raid 1 configuration.

The flash drive by LessLoss won't be able to crush anything if they do not get it out to market. I understand pricing could reach stratospheric levels and therefore only be able affordable to a minority of audiophiles.

For the money the Aries is too good to be true. So I am eager to get in in my system. I really had eyes on the Sonore Rendu but the new version is nearly 3k and I do not believe it offers as many features as the Aries.