Actually it is Ostrich - hopefully print as quite possibly the real thing is no longer legally permitted (?).
Ostrich leg also exists - also used in footwear and looking quite different from the above.
Best
Gregg
(former designer and manufacturer of men’s shoes)
As an ostrich myself (‘struts’ is Swedish for ostrich) I take great exception to that! 
It is Ostrich, you are right. Please consider it an hommage @struts001 
I am not aware it would no longer be permitted (maybe some markets?), I bought this pair of shoes from my Hungarian shoemaker.
It’s not clear what you mean by music server.
If we’re talking about an external streamer, connected via USB (the various USB cables make a huge difference, the worst are the PC ones, then going up there’s a big difference between the audiophile ones), yes the improvement is huge.
I tried with my Bartok, connecting an Innuos Zenith MK3,
listening with the internal streamer the music seems like cardboard, it always sounds good, but the difference is big.
I also noticed the same thing on Esoteric N-01XD.
From the countless tests of streamers and DACs (even very high level ones),
I feel like saying that in order of importance I would put 1. Power cables, LAN, USB. 1b. Streamer (the higher you go the better the sound, even more than a DAC change). 2. DAC.
I also had the opportunity to test Rossini APEX, MSB Reference and other very expensive solutions.
This is not to say that the DAC is not important, but what is put before it matters a lot.
Do you think you would have heard the same difference if you had a switch?
Because in my case I have an Ansuz switch which lowers noise and I am not convinced I need file storage.
Same as you Lee, my streaming is so good i also think why have the melco as i don’t really use it or need it these day’s
The advantage with the Melco (or other server) is that in the case of Qobuz at least, some downloaded music files are available in higher resolutions than the streaming files.
That’s an interesting comment, thanks. I was not aware of that.
Look like my cowboy boots…
I used a Telegartner M-12 Gold switch with a high end LPS in my system prior to adding a server…which was purely for streaming via Tidal and Quboz (not really local file storage) and the sound ended up being significantly better after adding it. It was a Taiko Extreme server. I tested about 5 different USB cables which all were easily discernible from each other, but in each case, the Taiko server was a significant upgrade in my system versus not using a server. Also, I recently added the Taiko router and switch which again significantly changed things.
I think in referencing what Lele80 was mentioning, I was surprised at how much what happened before the DAC mattered. I haven’t been able to test more DACs in my current set up (currently Rossini APEX and clock) but around Oct or Nov this year I’ll be doing a home demo for both Vivaldi and MSB Cascade to see how much the DAC changes things on its own.
I own a Vivaldi Apex full stack and tried the Aurender N20 with the dongle. I have an Innuos Phoenix.net switch and hi-end Ethernet cables as well as an external clock (Mutec ref120se). My digital files are mainly stored in a Roon Nucleus.
As much as I wanted to love the Aurender (for its friendly app, capability to connect to the Vivaldi Clock, great music storage, etc.), the USB connection sounded really bad, so the only option was the dual AES, which was ok(ish) but eliminated the possibility to listen to CDs/SACDs with my Vivaldi Transport (unless swapping cables, which is not feasible in my system) so I sent it back.
My question is whether any Vivaldi Apex full stack owners here use (and how they connect) an external streamer in their own system.
as an Rossini Apex owner who tried different streamer (Aurender, Innuos, Melco, Lumin, pimpe MAC Mini) attached via USB I can 100% confirm your experience…
In terms of sound quality, do you mean it improved the experience.
maybe I try to be more specific on this
My findings with dCS so far:
and YES - I tried different Ethernet cables as well, but I won’t tell because some folks herewill kill me I didn’t tested AES/EBU. for 1)…
Of course have some users here different options- but that’s ok- it all depends on the setup/gear you may have,
Lee, I think that both recent respondents are saying that their experience in terms of sound quality degraded, not improved, the sound quality:
I have also used streaming from a USB connection using a PC with HDD storage serving the files via JRiver MC. I thought this was terrific until the first minutes of substituting a dCS Network Bridge and Melco NAS. So network connection not USB.This was described by me as a new world of listening. Since then I have moved on to Vivaldi. Updated to Melco N5 as NAS. IMO,further improvement.
Thanks Pete. Have you tested Mello vs Roon Nucleus in terms of SQ?
Sorry but I haven’t. I have no doubt that Roon is a wonderful thing but its features are not of much interest to me. Of course the reverse will be true for many.
New Mac Mini for $600 USD Roon Server.
I know many invest in esoteric servers and that is fine, but for those looking for something basic, Geez 600 bucks + a solid-state drive and you’re done. low power consumption, eco friendly, RJ45 onboard, and a well-designed integrated Apple PSU. Not sure why anyone would consider the Roon offerings apart from the looks.
Have to say @Urbanluthier I am thinking along exactly the same lines. A trusted advisor suggested the very same thing to me earlier today and I started digging. A few hours in and I am very much liking what I see. Even via Rosetta 2 Roon will run just dandy on this and if they ever deliver on their native port for Apple Silicon it will be even better. The price/performance is simply off the charts!
Correction. Roon has been native on Apple silicon since 2.0 so all those reservations go out of the window. Shame on me for missing that.
There are a number of disadvantages to running Roon on Apple silicon ‘natively’
Running Roon ROCK on a NUC or as MOCK on other Intel hardware is truly native. Running on Apple HW still requires MacOS underneath with all the update overhead required by a full OS. ROCK is a minimal piece of software, runs no touch and looks after itself.