Have a Vivaldi One and another DAC. Also have an Aurender N30. I wonder if there is a best way to stream? I presume Aurender is a more robust streamer than the dcs device…is this a reasonable assumption?
Anyone that has decided on this route or any tips appreciated.
Hi Jorge and welcome to the forum. The N30 and Vivaldi One are very different beasts with quite different functionality and only a small amount of overlap so the “best” configuration will depend on which use cases are important to you.
The only use case where the functionality overlaps is when streaming from a network source such as Qobuz or Tidal in resolutions up to 24/384kS PCM or DSD128 (the Aurender can process even higher resolution material up to 32/384 and DSD512 but the Vivaldi can’t so you would need a different DAC).
The Aurender can feed the Vivaldi up to 24/192 or DSD64 (DoP) over single-wire AES and 24/384 or DSD128 (DoP) over USB. This would provide comparable functionality to streaming directly to the Vivaldi One. Of course you are best placed to compare the subjective sound quality, but Paul Miller noted “very little difference” when he measured the impact of the Aurender on jitter reduction feeding his Vivaldi One APEX in his lab report for Hifi News), and only “subtle differences” in noise and low level spuriae. Based on this I would be sceptical that a SQ improvement for this use case alone would justify the additional £24,000 cost of the Aurender.
Of course there are lots of other factors. You may have a strong preference for the Aurender Conductor app over dCS Mosaic. And then there are all the other areas where the functionality doesn’t overlap. The Aurender adds support for streaming locally stored music which the dCS does not provide beyond very limited quantities on a USB stick, and as well as containing a DAC the dCS can play silver discs which the Aurender can’t. So there may be many other use cases where they provide complementary functionality.
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Thank you for taking time to answer my question.
Another subject altogether is using Roon vs Mosaic and any degradation of SQ. For whatever is worth I find Roon via dCS having no such thing. I quite enjoy it and feel SQ is the same and your brain could trick you into selecting one better than another.
I don’t understand why many believe there is a difference in SQ.
Cheers
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Hi Jorge,
Many Vivaldi and Rossini users on this forum use Roon, and are pleased with the product and SQ.
A number of forum members share your view, as do I, that there is no degradation in SQ with Roon (nor should there be), though this view is not universal.
Cheers!
R
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Jorge, here is my experience.
I’ve tried the Aurender N20 with my Vivaldi Apex full stack for two weeks. Even though I loved their Conductor app and really wanted to keep it at forst sight, I’ve then decided to return it back to the dealer since the only way I liked it was when connected via AES-EBU (USB was a no go). The problem, however, is that I need the AES-EBU connection for my Transport so that didn’t work. I’ve also tried other connections, including SPDF, but didn’t like them.
I’ve also tried other streamers (including the Pink Faun 2.16 Ultra) via USB and I don’t like them.
I’m now planning to hear some other devices (such as the Antipodes K40) as server only in order to replace my Roon Core but for now and the foreseeable future I will use my Vivaldi Upsampler as a streamer.
Best,
Franco
I’m very happy with my Antipodes K41 (Gen. 4) server.
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Thanks Jonathan. What software do you with it?
I use MinimServer.
FYI, as recommended by Antipodes, my SSD’s are Samsung PM 893’s.
Thanks. So it’s connected via ethernet to a switch or via direct ethernet to the Usampler?
MinimServer meaning that it plays via UPnP?
Not a Roon Server.
Yup
That’s right
Correct. It has the option to be a Roon server, but I chose not to use it.
Here’s a screenshot of the available server apps;
I have the Roon server on my MacBook Pro, but I rarely use Roon, unless I choose to listen to DSD 256 files, which I downsample in Roon to DSD 128.
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Thanks Jonathan. I’ll try it. HAve you compared it to other servers by any chance?
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Great.
I hope that you’ll like what you hear, as I do…
No, I didn’t.
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Hi Franco,
I’m currently using a Taiko server into my Rossini via USB. Just one thing from my experience is that the USB cables sounded quite different when I did my demos. Some cables for me made my system sound flatter and thinner whereas others were much more lush, 3D, vivid. I ended up with a Jorma reference USB cable. But just saying, I’m not sure which USB you used, but that may change how the server sounded in your system. (FYI, I also use an audio quality switch, router, etc)
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I love Roon but in my own system, Mosaic definitely sounds better.
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I have compared mosaic vs aurender n20 conductor app playback and I have heard better sound signature in every way. Specially the sound stage expansion is very easy to realize with aurender. No comments for roon.