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?

audio-b-dog

@audphile1 

I have tried Mconnect and Jplay and they both drop the track at exactly the same place. When you have a moment could you play the album Octets Mendelssohn Enescu on the Erato label. It drops off for me toward the end of track three and track four is either silent or reports and error. Track five plays fine. It might be an error in the encoding on the recording. If you can play it, then I think I'll try Meitner support. I have played many 24/96 albums that don't have any errors. But maybe I need a version upgrade on my Meitner? 

@audphile1 

Okay. It dropped again in a hi-rez track. I will try your internet solution. I can buy another mesh for $60. Just to make sure, your solution is to put the mesh close to the Meitner and hook it up with a short ethernet run with a good cable, right? The short cable I have is an Audioquest Pearl. Not the most expensive but audiophile grade, I think. I'll see if that clears up the network drops.

@audio-b-dog yes. The key is to position the nodes in a way that would minimize the interference by any type of obstruction. 
before you do anything let me try to play that track. I will report back 

 

@audphile1 

Thanks. I can position the mesh on the shelf above, or right on top of, the Meitner. I

I remember you have at&t fiber but please remind me what mesh network you are using.