The main differences appear to be the clarity of the bass response and the presence of drums. Also, vocals are more forward on the digital files to the point that they seemed a bit veiled on the stream. Interestingly the differences are not as notable on jazz recordings. I plan to try another ethernet cable ( I have an old wire world ) but my recollection is that the Luna was a richer more musical sounding cable. You should read a bit online about Luna; its a very well reviewed cable line; just not well known in the US. I would not be so quick to dismiss them as the root cause of the sonic issues I have encountered.
Improving on the stream of a combined streamer dac
I recently (foolishly) compared the streamed sound of my Electrocompanient
ECM 1 Mk II to internally stored digital downloads on the same ( ie not stored in my Small Green Computer server). I was surprised how much better the downloaded files sounded. Perhaps, I was naive to think otherwise. So, I started looking at old audiogon threads to see if I could figure a quick and easy fix to up the sound of the streamer but found little that made sense or was affordable. My question is whether I should continue to search, or if I should take it for what its worth and just listen to the music. The rest of my digital front end: Small Green computer server, a Trendnet unmanaged switch and the ECM. I use a Luna Orange ethernet cable from switch to ECM and a Purist Audio cable to the SGC. Thanks for your advice and happy holidays to all.
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@cbowie88 If you get a new DAC and use the A6 just as a streamer ensure that the new DAC has async USB. You will then get the full benefits of your new, higher quality DAC's clock and buffering. I have expressed this elsewhere, but I am convinced, on technical grounds, that a great DAC with USB from an OK source component will beat a combo where the $$ were divided equally between the components. My own digital setup is extreme, my DAC cost about 20x the source streamer/server. Asynchronous USB ensures that the strobing of data into the DAC chip(s) is done by the DAC's clock. The source is just sending data, when requested, that is loaded into the DAC's FIFO buffer. Any decent USB cable will work well as all it has to do is send data, NO timing is dependent on the USB transfer. My usual USB is a Cardas Clear (it sort of matches my Cardas Clear Reflection interconnects) but I switched it out for a 3 meter wire that (I think) came with an Epson printer. Zero difference in SQ. My system is very highly resolving (Esoteric K-01XDSE, LA4, XA 25, Rockport Atria II).it shows any differences very easily. I2S is a totally different story, the cable is critical. |
@rivinyl thanks so it sounds like the streaming is more of a smeared type of sound. Could be due to your network setup or the built in streamer. Please try this - Figure out a demo track or two. Get a baseline with your current configuration. Then: Replace Luna from router to switch with old wireworld and use Purist from Router to streamer. The switch purist and wireworld to see what it sounds like with purist into switch and WW into streamer. This should give you a general direction as to what’s going. I used Purist CAT7 Luminist Edition into a streamer for quiet some time. It’s a decent cable. It does push the presence region forward slightly but has good clear presentation overall. Reason I dismiss Luna is like I said…tinned copper. That’s never an advantage in a high end system because it reduces conductivity - zero advantages in an audio application and especially with Ethernet where the signal is tiny. |
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