Should I add a DDC? Looking for experienced advise please.
So I will make this as basic as possible. I am just trying to decide if adding a DDC is relevant in my system.
I am currently running. Innuos ZEN mini MKiii with Innuos power supply, Denafrips Pontus II into an Aric Audio 6snl7 line stage that's been upgraded by Aric. For power I am bi-amping with a Aric Audio super KT88 120 SE on the upper end. A pair of Pass labs ACA's built with all upgraded components and some mods on the low end. Into Monitor audio silver 500's. All cabling DIYed with hi quality ingredients and the guidance of Mr. Wonka!
I understand my speakers are probably not the best choice but this is where I am at the at this point. Actually I am quite happy with the sound. I stream Tidal and Qobuz as well as my CD collection via hard drive.
So am I just "pissing in the wind" thinking adding a Denafrips Hermes between the ZEN mini and Pontus II is going to give me any improvement at all?
Would love to hear some input from experience!
Thank you.
J.F.
@johnfritter He is the guy that created the EtherRegen and also the OpticalRendu I use both with a cheap computer as my ROON Core server. He has a white paper or a very long post somewhere that gave me a reason to setup my streaming this way. Amazing gear and I liked it so much that I have 3 OpticalRendu's. I use 2 media converters and 1 EtherRegen along with the 3 opticalRendu's for my 3 DACs. I posted a link to the whitepaper on some A’gon posts. Search the guy’s name and look for my post.
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@johnfritter Have you read any of this guy’s writings on streaming? I use his optical streaming products with a media converter in front of the streamer. There is some explanation as to why this is the recommended way with optical. |
For anyone that is interested I will explain how I implemented the recommendation from John Swenson. My baseline requirements are ROON Core software and a USB capable DAC. My streaming chain is actually very simple. It is just 2 pieces. I used to have only 1 piece, the OpticalRendu, before I read Swenson’s recommendation to add a media converter in front of the OpticalRendu and I found that improved things a tiny bit more. My super simple streaming requires the following basics that everyone using ROON will have: - a cheap computer to run ROON Core. Most use a $$ dedicated music server here but I do not since I use fibre optical downstream. My cheap computer is hidden somewhere in the house. It automatically starts up at 8AM and shuts down at 2:30AM to force me to stop listening to music and go to sleep. - a network switch with a fibre optical output ============================= Given the baseline setup listed above, connect a fibre optical cable from the network switch to the OpticalRendu and then connect the OpticalRendu to your USB capable DAC. Done. this is excellent quality streaming. ******************************************** I went a little fancier and added a media converter in-between the Network Switch and the OpticalRendu. So, I have now use 2 pieces of gear to stream. Which is still a lot simpler than most people. In this setup I do not use the fibre optical output of the network switch. I use Ethernet output from the network switch to the media converter and then fibre optical from that to the OpticalRendu. Then USB to the DAC. Not very complicated and an improvement over the single optical conversion. Remember fibre optical cannot carry analog noise (computer, Ethernet, switching power supplies on the computer network, et al), though Swenson’s comments state that some other ’bad thing’ can get by the optical cable (and into the DAC). That is why he recommends the media converter before the OpticalRendu. BTW - I have 3 listening stations in 3 rooms in different floors of the house. I use some variation of what I described above with some other processes, but that is not relevant in the simple discussion of how to stream to a single DAC.
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