Solo streamer

+1, @mclinnguy for “sacrifice that 2-3% just for the better UI”. 

@audphile1 As you know, the devil is in the details a.k.a implementation. I am using a Merging +player, which is a turnkey solution for ROON. The render + core is neatly implemented in the same chassis as my DAC. 

Looking back, I always felt something was missing with ROON vs Aurender. I think the shift in SQ with ROON started in past few months. During my last A/B test, I couldn’t justify keeping N30SA around. The differences were subtle at best. Keep in mind, my Merging stack consist of +power and +clock modules which elevates the DAC + Roon performance to nth degree…a $45K (retail) digital front end :-) 

@lalitk yes I agree it’s all in the design and implementation. I’m sure it sounds fabulous! Add to that the awesome Roon UI/UX and it’s undeniably a winner!

Right now I’m focusing on amplification first, DAC second. So who knows what the future holds!

@audphile1 

Good luck with your pursuit. I am about to complete my year long quest on analog setup…should have my TT up n running by end of the month. 

Thanks @lalitk !

Wishing you the same!

"Reality only exists because we invented Time"...Oppenheimer 

So, thanks 

jazzman7 for sending me down a Tech rabbit hole of "clocks" for 3/4th of my day... lol.  

   Back in the good ole Air Force pre-GPS, analogue days (1970's for me) we always did a Time Hack during any mission brief with multiple airships to insure coordinated actions...easy!  The transition to digital requires a lot more brain power.

   Denafrips has been notorious for not being fully transparent with their signal processing, eg "real NOS"... ref GoldenSound reviews.  I'm totally guessing here but it seems on the Pontus II, their PCM FPGA module acts on all? incoming signals.... that could allow a synchrous slaved DAC clock to accept I2s data which is then stored and buffered, resampled?,... then re-clocked with the DAC clock and sent to analogue out.

   As a side issue, I was unaware of,  but thoroughly explored by Amir at ASR is HDMI (I2s) is a poor audio source connection, cause it just sticks audio in the spare video spaces of the synchronous stream, and is very susceptible to jitter.  He goes on to show async USB can have very well controlled jitter and low noise flour= better. Hmm, maybe, yrmv.  

   I do notice a slight improvement in sound from my OPPO 83 playing a cd/sacd if the "pure audio" button is used...it shuts down most video processing.  Maybe that lowers the noise floor and shifts the OPPO clocks from video sync to the OPPO DAC clocks?  Regardless of which clock is in-play,  I2s does sound better than any USB or SPDIF source...    

   My ears still LOVE the Pontus II (with the 3rd FPGA firmware upgrade) however it works!

OPPO 83, Pontus II, Holo Bliss KTE amp, Susvara HPs