Qobuz connect sounded better than my default Roon setup. But the interface with QC is pretty weak. The last change I made to Roon was to turn on upsampling to DSD256 and now Roon sounds better than QC. My dac does dsd256 using i2s.
Can Qoboz Connect sound better than Qobuz viz Aurender Conductor?
Experience that does not make sense. In my system, streaming directly via Qoboz Connect produces better sound than streaming via Qoboz through Aurender Conductor app. Sound is more intense and liquid and soundstage is larger. (I dislike this lingo but in brief sound is more analog.) Does Quboz Connect somehow organize stream in a better way than other pathway? You would think Aurender would optimize its app for its streamers. Mine is an Aurender N150 that feeds a Berkeley Audio Design (BAD) Alpha USB 2, which in turn feeds a BAD Alpha Reference DAC 2. USB and AES/EBU cables are Audioquest Diamond. See my profile for description of entire system.
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I am also a huge fan of Qobuz connect by itself. I started with an Innuos Zenith Mk3 and Roon. With many experiments, I decided I liked Innuos Sense better than Roon. Eventually I determined that eliminating Roon and the Innuos was even better. I now run ethernet into my Meitner MA3i DAC and feed it with Qobuz connect, no more server. For me it sounds better, and has let me sell off a server, expensive power cable, and extra ethernet cable. I was surprised and happy! |
Either way, be sure to check out a filter between your Aurender and your ethernet input. I just signed up for Qobuz and was fearing it would be a little bright via the ethernet cable (even though it is direct from my AT&T fiber router with no other connections in place). As it turned out, it was a little "hashy". After investigating several options I chose a simple, straightforward unit. I added an inexpensive iFi Lan Filter with opto isolator and instantly received much clearer signal. $300 investment. Some of their wording: "The iFi LAN iPurifier Pro is all you need to enjoy uninterrupted, clean data transmissions from your media PC, network streamer, or media player. By converting an electrical ethernet signal to a clean, optical signal, and then back to a "purified" ethernet signal, the iPurifier Pro effectively eliminates noise, jitter, and distortion for the best video and audio streams. Many options out there. I chose this one and it is very satisfying. And like all of you, I sure like the Conductor facilitation of combining Qobuz tunes with my hard drive tunes into playlists. Sweet. Good listening! |
@bugredmachine I too have the IFi pro connected from my router, with pos. results. I just introduced their ’’Power X’’ for my router power supply & it made a significant improvement. Worth a try everyone. |
I Waited a week before posting this because I didn’t want to take over this thread while it was active. Thanks all. |
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