Is there an internal streamer option? I thought I remembered that as an option.
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FWIW, the “upgrade” I would predominantly considering is the Unity which is only like a 1k swing. Not a jump up to direct/triunity (prioritizing money elsewhere right now). I also have the problem that a streamer (realistically would need to be a server streamer) basically means I am relegated to using it as a shuffle box at work. This is fine a lot of the time, but also means I just cant really pick out my own music on a whim.
Another option would be to upgrade the d1-digital to the d1-digital mk2 when I do that jump for about 2500 total. That said, i think that 2500 range is probably where a streamer/server starts to make more sense, yah?
Ultimately there are a lot of moving parts I need to weight, im just trying to judge what kind of performance jumps I can expect with each option
There is, but its fairly expensive to add on ($1500 I think) and tbh im kinda skeptical about it given you need to use USB out to the DDC which then makes the AES/etc connection. Something tells me I would be better off putting that extra $1500 twoards something like an auralic/etc tbh. Plus other otpions would allow me to have a server in them to make the setup simpler
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Maybe try a DDC? The Red looks good, and it can run as a streamer as well.
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Im already using a d1-digital MK1 from totaldac as a DDC with totaldac’s AES as output (though it is fairly short)
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Ahh, okay. Maybe it’s a power issue? The P6P is running off a battery I believe. What’s your power source situation?
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furrman PF15 with JPS labs AC/DC cables all around. Its possible I guess, but tbh, im kinda skeptical about power making that level of difference (genuinely talking a several tier jump with the P6P). Power upgrades are on the mind though. Just waiting for a decent conditioner to pop up after I had to pass on @Veritas’s
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Short version is in the end the data will be loaded into a buffer, and based on an INTERNAL clock, the data will be pushed over probably an I2S channel to the actual DAC. On the P6P and TotalDAC, it might just be directly pushed into a FIFO from the uController, but it ammounts to the same.
So in terms of the signal they’re receive or the quality of the clock there is no difference.
That doesn’t mean there isn’t a difference, while the data will not in anyway be degraded over USB, because it has no audio clock with it, the Ground and Power lines on the USB connector can introduce noise into the DAC it might not otherwise have. The USB chip on the DAC is probably a uController in it’s own right, so that can introduce noise, it may not be possible for the DAC’s CPU to operate at the same power level reading from USB vs SD Card, etc etc etc.
The Main difference between a external streamer using USB and a computers USB is just how much better the streamer is at introducing noise, PC’s are TERRIBLE in this regard.
If the streamer is using AES or SPDIF, then the clock used is generated by the Streamer, and you get into the whole source clock quality and jitter from the source thing, even though the DAC very likely cleans it up afterwards. But the USB interface can’t carry noise into the system.
No way to know without trying things.
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In that case, honestly if it’s that small of a jump in price then I’d grab a unity first
For the streamer issue gotcha, quick question, have you tried using your p6 spdif output or another dap that supports usb audio out to use that as a transport? It’s not going to be as good as a dedicated streamer but it’s worth trying to just see how it is, and should be an improvement over direct to pc. I’d also experiment with taking the reclocker in and out of the chain to see if the mk1 reclocker is potentially limiting things or not when you get a streamer or do the dap setup. That would also be ideal for you in terms of finding a setup that works without a network connection lol
In terms of the streamer needing to be a server and player combo then there’s a few ways you could approach this. 1 (if allowed) would simply just be to get a crappy laptop or something and a switch and then a streamer/server and just have an isolated network only for controlling the streamer. In terms of streamers that can only operate using a remote and no internet connection, I don’t know what would be the best option there. 2 would be finding that streamer that can operate fully via remote but I don’t know how well that would work. 3 would be getting something closer to a sony HAP-S1 or something better if they exist where it’s designed to basically be a desktop sized dap and operate standalone without a network
Given your case you’d want a streamer designed to play back music locally since iirc the totaldac one is really designed for pulling from elsewhere
We’re talking P6P to Riviera? Not sure I’m following. Are you still using WBC interconnects between the TD and AIC?
I was thinking it’s more to close $3K but that’s very tempting and probably worth it regardless of what other actions you take
USB from a computer sucks ballz and you need to do A LOT to clean it up. It’s far easier and cheaper to get USB out from non PC sources and it’s a much lower fruit to cultivate and get good results out of. IMO.
Another thought, there really are a lot of good inexpensive used streamers out there that would cost you next to nothing to use, and then flip eventually when you move up to a better source. That would be better sources than a P6P.
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I’ve compared the streamer in mine with the Optical Rendu, just running a USB cable from the TotalDAC streamer out to the DAC, and I prefer it to the Rendu, which in my book makes it a very good USB source. And I could trivially optically isolate it from my network for a more direct comparison, I just didn’t, because it was already better, and it won’t be located where it is right now.
I haven’t compared it to the NS1 yet, I’ll get around to it relatively soon.
I still probably wouldn’t have opted for the streamer, but only because I already owned the NS1.
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I legit had no idea that p6p had SPDIF out. If it does (and its not totaly shit like apparently it is on LP6 Ti) that makes for a very easy test.
This is something ive played with. USB direct into the dac is a little bit sharper placement and seperation but It kinda looses some of the dac’s magic (mostly to do with texture and organicness). The thing is, IDK if this lack of sharpness is down to the old reclocker just not being great, maybe the AES not being great (its only 0.5m, but is the one TD sells so it shouldn’t be utter crap), or just USB being ass.
There are a few ways I can try and tackle this for sure, just none of them are neat and tidy, and idk if I wanna make that kinda jump yet tbh (in fact, i would rather avoid it, but if its what is requires it is whats required)
you’re right. Looks like nearly 3k on the nose (I remebered wrong). Trinuity/direct+driver is ~13k for refrence.
Correct. I am still using WB but my 3.5 to RCA connector is litteraly radio shack so idk how much that is playing a role tbh.
Ill keep an eye out for your impressions on this one. Any chance you tried using the TD USB cable bewteen the rendu? Its their only cable I can seen to find reviews on and it seems to be quite well liked, so im currious how it stacks up vs your other options.
I assume you don’t mean the Gigafilter?
I don’t have the TotalDAC cable, in fact I’m short of USB A to B cables, so it was a generic cable.
The first one I tried was actually faulty, which allowed me to confirm my theory that dropped packets in a USB signal are EXTREMELY obvious.
I did stick an IFI IPurifier3 on the end of it because well I could, and that did help, which is a bit surprising, given the streamer and the DAC share power, there isn’t a lot of scope to introduce noise that’s not already there.
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Gotcha. I’m just thinking of the environment, it’s at work and I’m assuming there are other computers/peripherals on that power grid putting a lot of noise on the line. I haven’t used that Furman so I can’t speak to its performance. I do own a Furman pst-8 and when I upgrade that it made a huge difference. My hunch is that it’s power related.
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It’s alright, nothing amazing but it should be better than a random pc lol
Yeah it’s tough to say without having tried a bunch of different things
All somewhat kludgy solutions lol
Still not bad and likely worth, I think a lot of the stuff you don’t find satisfactory about the dual will likely change with the unity at least from rough memory of the dual vs something like the d1 six (which apparently the unity is better then). I also would make the guess (but not tested exactly) that the digital inputs are going to be more workable than from a less than ideal source in comparison to the dual but no bets there
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The ASR side of you is coming out…
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Yah, it takes a lot to clean up USB, but an innuos pheonix + another calliso is around the same price id been likely looking at for a streamer so its not actualy all that different price wise and it gives me more utility. The question is simply would they have similar level of performance jump (I have no idea on this one and its kinda my question)
For some reason i remembered you having one. Thats even a better sell if you dont tbh.
Also, yah, interesting on the purifier. IIRC it only takes out PS noise so thats kinda wierd. Good to know though.
Yes, my power is probabaly horrid. Its still just my skepticism telling me power should be a tweak like cables are and not a fundamental upgrade like i’m after, but maybe im wrong here.
Kinda what I figured the answer would be. I am tempted to grab another AES just to try more stuff, but how hard it seems ot be to sell cables recently has put me off infavor of using money elsewhere/
Another option would be to get the d1-six being sold in France. I would seriously doubt it would cost more than 6k USD given his asking price which would make it cheaper than the unity (after selling the dual) and leave me at a higher value for further upgrades. If thats a better idea or not is gunna kinda depend on if I think I will stick with totaldac (which will depend on how it sounds) for the long haul or not.
Not the ASR side. The filthy slob side that has a box of tangled cables I gave up going through to find my nice one 3 times now cause the tangle is so bad…
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Yeah, I always usually mean “treble smoothness”/anti-fatigue smoothness, but I see that can mean different things 
Maybe not even the right word for that.
Yep! I will definitely be testing each part out with what I already have, to see what it’s doing
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Are there good small footprint DACs?
All the products that keep being discussed here are always on the larger side…
If one wants a higher end on-the-desk option, what’s out there?
Weiss 501, Fidelice RNDAC are a couple.