Does say a Rossini Apex benefit from adding a music server?
Is it really needed?
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Not really needed, but for instance an Aurender N20/N30 in combination with the Rossini clock and USB dongle (to switch 44/48 automatically) betters the internal streamer of the Rossini.
My dealer is using this set up, many times I have tried to see if streaming with the Rossini would match it, but it doesn’t. Have to say that you only notice this switching A/B, in isolation the Rossini is a great streamer.
I used to have an Aurender N10, no clock connection, which I used because of the internal storage. SQ was on par with my Rossini streamer.
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Hi Lee,
Although pretty simple on the face of it your question got me thinking. So although I am not sure this provides an answer (in fact I’m fairly sure it doesn’t) here are my thoughts on some of the considerations here.
Firstly, what is a music server? I came up with three pieces of core functionality:
- Storage for your music files.
- A management layer allowing you to select and play them. Most that I am aware of also integrate streaming services behind a “single pane” and provide a nice UI.
- Inherently a server also forms the “bridge” between the “asynchronous domain” (hard disk or IP network) where music is encapsulated in files like DFF or FLAC and the synchronous domain where a clock manages feeding samples/a bitstream to the DAC. So servers tend to have asynchronous inputs (ethernet) and synchronous/isochronous outputs (AES, SPDIF, USB) and in some cases clock inputs.
And I interpret “benefit from” in three ways:
- Functional. Does adding a server add some new functionality or capability?
- Non-functional. Does adding a server improve convenience or usability?
- Non-functional. Does adding a server improve sound quality? (I suspect this is where you were going with your question).
From a functional standpoint all current dCS DACs (or systems in the case of Vivaldi/Varèse) offer all the above functionality except local storage. The dCS architecture accesses local storage, typically a NAS, via UPnP. From a storage perspective these servers may offer usability/convenience benefits compared to a NAS, but I think that depends on what you compare with what.
When it comes to connectivity there are basically three (I’ll ignore Toslink here) choices of protocol for connecting an external server to a dCS DAC: AES (single or dual), SPDIF or USB. For PCM, whereas dual AES and USB support up to 24/384 (the same as the ethernet input) single AES and SPDIF are limited to 24/192. For DSD, all inputs support DSD/64 and DSD/128, but only the ethernet input supports native DSD (DSF/DFF), the others only support DoP as mandated by Sony’s licensing restrictions. So using an external server restricts the source material you are able to play in some way regardless of which input you use, i.e. a drawback rather than a benefit. How much this affects you depends of course on what you listen to.
In terms of convenience/usability most of the servers I have seen (Aurender, Melco, Antipodes, Lumin, Taiko etc) come with their own Apps providing a user experience that is richer and many seem to prefer to Mosaic which is rather “minimalist”. So that would seem to be a benefit in many cases. However for those who prefer a third party UI (i.e. neither dCS’s nor the server manufacturer’s) such as Roon, Audirvana or Tidal (via Connect) this is moot.
Sound quality is where I think it starts to get really interesting. I should say straight off the bat that I have never compared any servers with my Vivaldi Upsampler in my own system so I have no empirical observations or opinions to offer (sorry about that!). But looking at the way dCS products are architected and how well external servers fit into that architecture a couple of things become clear:
- A core part of dCS’s philosophy is the importance of clocking, and their architecture (whether integrated like Rossini or discrete like Vivaldi) allows the source to be slaved to either the DAC’s clock or an external master clock. To provide maximum clock integrity dCS separates the clocks for the 44.1kHz and 48kHz families so for maximum compatibility with dCS’s clock architecture an external server should be able to accept two separate word clocks.
- dCS’s own preference for interconnecting their units in the “synchronous” domain in the L/B/R/V generation is dual AES. Although USB provides equivalent sample rate compatibility dCS makes it clear that they have provided this interface for compatibility with USB sources (such as PCs) and it is not their preferred interface for ultimate sound quality. So if you want to follow dCS’s philosophy in this regard you will be looking for a server with dual AES outputs.
The only product I am aware of that meet these criteria (dual AES inputs and ability to integrate with the dCS clocking architecture) is the Aurender W20SE, where clock compatibility is provided via an external dongle. All others provide only single AES (if at all) and many offer either only reference clock inputs or no external clock inputs at all. Note however that connecting a W20SE to the dual AES inputs of a dCS DAC will entail cable swapping if a dCS Transport is also in use and will bypass the Upsampling functionality in the case of the Vivaldi system, so it is not exactly a “hand in glove” fit into the dCS architecture. Most server products I have seen appear to be optimized around their USB outputs and targeted at DACs optimized around their USB inputs.
So, while none of this really helps answer whether adding an external server will improve sound quality, my observation is that while it will bring local storage and possibly some usability benefits it will in most cases also entail some sample rate restrictions and/or stepping away from dCS’s preferred clocking and system interconnection schemes. Looking forward to hearing others’ takes on this.
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do you mean a direct attached server/player like Aurender or a NAS Music Server (like Melco, Innuos) attached via Ethernet?
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Good point. Products like the Melco and the Innuos offer both Ethernet and USB outputs so they can be used as both Music Servers and “Audio NASes”. I completely overlooked this last category in my post above.
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imho Innuos and Melco perform best via LAN (I had both and tested both), they are fare superior vs Qnap /Synology (I have both as well 
)
Edit: I don’t know how Melco/Innuos perform via USB on other vendors’ DACs…
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In my case (Rossini Apex), I noticed a distinct improvement in SQ when I upgraded my server from an SGC sonicTransporter i5 to an Antipodes K41 (Gen. 4).
The majority of my listening is from files on my server, except when I’m trialling new album releases (which I listen to via Qobuz).
My K41 is also connected via LAN (as was my i5).
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Just curious - is the USB memory stick option the most direct input? Does it pass through the streamer?
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Interesting question. I do hear superb sound quality when I play from a usb stick.
A great question but difficult to answer. I had drafted the beginngs of a reply then @struts001 managed to cover most of the points I wanted to make saving me a lot of effort 
.
So I can simply say that from experience that the result that your hear from the streamer ( in ny case ViValdi) is very dependent upon the source with which it is fed. If so then a music server ( (including the server software for local files) can be important. From experience this also holds true if the unit also involves the provision of streaming services as a pass through connection to switch. For example a Melco (other brands are avilable) will be preferable to an IT NAS or direct connection to a switch. New generation Melcos are “better” ( whatever that means) than older units and the differnce is easily discernable. The swich and its power supply can also be relevant ( although exactly why is a mystery to me).
This is different to the more strict crierion of it being “needed”. Frankly nothing in the high end world is “needed” unless one has a very perverse view of the world.
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No the signal does not pass through the streamer. However although listening to files via a USB stick can sound good this depends upon what you compare it with and my and @struts001 posts regarding muisc streamers is relevant.
Moreover USB memory sticks are storage without any commputing ability. Thus what you can do with them is limited . There is no random access of the contents for example. As dCS point out, the USB A connection for a USB drive is configured for times when a friend comes over with a memory stick containing a few tunes for the session.It is not meant as a main music source. Irrespective of SQ, they do not give a good user experience.
It’s not a terrible user experience either as accessing the files is pretty easy in Mosaic.
So if this helps, my streaming comes from an AT&T Uverse router with Ansuz Sortz noise reduction to Ethernet to Ansuz D2 Powerswitch to the Ethernet input on my Rossini Apex.
That reminds me…a member here wrote once that he got great SQ by connecting a Melco Expansion HDD to the USB port directy (Melco uses a “specialized” HDD powered Expansion…don’t know if that is voodoo or not).
I have the Ansuz Switch D3 connected to Innuos Statement Next Gen (upnp server) and didn’t get a better SQ than this here…
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Can you kindly elaborate on this? You didn’t get a better SQ compared to what?
Actually Pete I suspect it does. As well as the network interface I believe the Stream800 board contains the functionality that unpacks the FLAC file into PCM samples, the DAC knows nothing about FLAC. Th USB A port is on the Upsampler, not the DAC.
Yes, I thought that I was incorrect as soon as I saw @Lee post and that the input with data can be selected in Mosaic.
Compared to:
- USB attached Innuos/Melco and
- Qnap/Synology vs Innuos via LAN
So my findings from 1. and 2.:
- Ethernet/LAN streaming is better than USB direct to dCS
- Innuos Server is better than Qnap/Synology (though Melco was very very good as well here)
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Was it SQ alone that made you choose the Innuos over the Melco or were there other factors at play? (bang for the buck, usability, dealer relationship, …)