By the way, EMM Labs has a longtime partnership with Kimber Kable. I have Kimber PK14 Ascent power cable and KS1116 XLRs on my Meitner and there’s excellent synergy. I used Kimber Carbon XLRs as well (lower line than the KS) and it was great too. Highly recommend you try Kimber cables on that DAC.
Does anyone have a digital system that is as involving as their analogue front end?
I have a good analogue front end. Not stratuspherically good but good enough for this comparison. VPI Prime Signature 21 turntable, Pass Labs XP-25 pono preamp, Pass Labs XP-30 preamp and Hovland Radia amp. It has a lovely, very involving sound. On the right recording, I just drop everythng and am drawn in to listen.
My streamer, on the other hand, is decent but not spectacular. It is better than my CD player, but it is not jaw-dropping like my analogue front-end. My question is this: does anyone have a high-end, tier-one streamer (dCS Bartok Apex, Lumin X2, or something like them) that can rival a good analogue system?
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I have Kimber cable XLR interconnects and Ethernet going into the Meitner. I just ordered a 50ft. ethernet cable which I will run across the room (under a carpet) and plug the Meitner into the mesh that is connected to the ATT fiber. I will then have only one mesh. Chatgpt thinks that each mesh has its own subnetwork. The guy who sold me the Moon suggested I connect it directly to the main mesh, but when his installers came here they said it would work just as well on the second mesh. Chatgpt seems to know its stuff on this subject and says that should fix drop offs as well as have Jplay connect to the Meitner. Amazon. The cable arrives before 8 am. |
If you like the sound of your VPI turntable, the dCS DACs may not be your speed. I've heard both the Bartok APEX and the Rossini APEX. Of the two, the Bartok actually sounded better to my ears, but surprisingly not as good as my Denafrips Pontus II. The Rossini had an artificiality to its sound quality that was off-putting to me. The Bartok at least did not sound overly synthetic to me.
The one streamer-DAC that I've heard, for which I think I could gladly give up vinyl, is the Linn Organik DAC as part of either a Linn Selekt or Klimax network music player. I heard one at a Linn dealer and had just gotten done listening to their demo of the 50th anniversary version of the LP12 turntable. If I were blindfolded listening to the Linn Organik DAC, I think I would have had trouble knowing if the music I was hearing was coming from an LP12 turntable or the Linn Organik DAC. |
@audio-b-dog you might find a solution here https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/big-issue-with-my-fiber-optics-internet-for-qobuz-streaming @lanx0003 was able to resolve what appears to be the same issue. |
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