April 2025 edition. Went back to a Sonore opticalModule and it does sound better than the SFP fiber coming out of the Cisco Meraki even with all of the modifications I’d made to it.
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It’s comments like this that get me in trouble 
Why fight it, I should just go buy one now and save myself the next two weeks of internal anguish and debate - let alone the internal struggle over why source end of an optical Ethernet connection even matters 
It’s interesting to see the full commitment to Audience Frontrow with their USB and AES cables, as well as the commitment to Shunyata power cables. My ocd side loves the brand consistency 
Maybe my biggest surprise in your setup is after all this time the Roon NUC remains. Given the effort you’ve put into the digital front end of your system, I’m surprised you’ve not gone more “boutique” with your audio server. (Don’t get me wrong, I still use and love my fanless NUC. But every once in a while I look at that little black box and wonder if it’s holding me back at all. Especially with such good reviews floating around about gear from companies like antipodes and grimm.)
Thanks for the annual update, always educational to see how others are putting their systems together!
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I’ve gotten into much trouble suggesting that the server portion is not meaningful in a boutique level audio appliance. The important parts in the digital out and Ethernet treatment. A lot of the cost of an all in one unit is in removing the noisy aspect of the PC component and paying boutique dollars to do so.
That said, I’ve probably got enough in the digital upstream for it to have been easier and cheaper to simply buy a K50 or something like that. But I’m a tinkerer at heart, so.
This I went back and forth with a lot because at the FTA and frontRow levels I was fiddling with, it was simply all down to splitting hairs this way and that. In the end I just felt the frontRow pairing fought less with itself and gave me more of the stage shape I was looking for. The Audience pairing gave me more depth and synnergized with the Mojo Pro more since that already had great width, and it was an acceptable give and take to gain the addition depth perception. My room is small and the more “grand” I can make it feel sonically the better.
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Simplified my gateway so I could use the same voltage to power all the network components at the DEMAC. Also changed to an APC UPS to gain more outage work time in case I need it.
On the audio front as I’ve already shared, changed my NR AC cables around and a major upgrade (don’t tell Lumin) of my U2 with an external power supply and DC cables. Can’t get over the impact it’s had.
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Im almost halfway finished my Grado collection
Ive finished making all of them detachable
The only one im missing is the relatively new HP100 SE, I also wanted the GH2 but im more than satisfied with these.
Next step is putting Nyczaj headbands on all of them, and full Nyczaj body on the PS1000e and the GS3000e and then it will be fully done
EDIT: Im starting to feel NOT satisfied by not having been able to get the Grado GH2. Do you guys think getting one is worth it even though theyre becoming super rare?
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This may be my favourite chain I have ever put together. My Comet+ > WA22 > HEkse was pretty good. My Gumby MB > THR-1 > HE-500 was pretty good. But this R8ii > P2 > Cosmo chain does so much right, it may be the closest I have come to perfection.
I should state that this isn’t necessarily any endorsement of the DAP or the amp, but more so the headphone. This is the first time I’ve heard the Moondrop Cosmo properly driven and it is wonderful (81 dB/mW, 15 Ohms). It’s sonic images appropriately sized and are three dimensional/have volume to them. Their placement in the sound stage is realistic. The dynamics have the appropriate nuisance. The overall frequency response doesn’t do anything wrong to my ears.
I’m going to get rid of a few more surplus bits of kit that I have acquired on this most recent journey and then experiment with a few different amps. I will also A/B a few different sources to see how the R8ii stacks up against desktop DACs. At least I am now set on the Cosmo being my primary transducer of choice to work backwards from. It sounds really good.
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Quite a few changes since a couple of months ago. I’ve rethought and redesigned my network, picking up a couple of Ubiquiti products that will future proof my WAN/LAN setup for sure. 10 GbE WAN and 10GbE and 2.5 GbE LAN both available to me now, not that I’d do anything with the former but it’s nice to have a more robust LAN backbone since many clients now can benefit greater than Gigabit speed. My Fiber connection however is only 500 Mbps… and for only $40 dollars a month more I can get up to 2.3 Gbps. Am I going to do it? lol No, but at least I know I can with the new gear.
Also moved my Roon Core server which I’ve spoken about before in the network thread and I’m happy with the results there, taking everything that’s PC generated noise away from my audio switch.
On the power front, now that is the extent as I’d like to take it for now. Between power cables and the Shunyata conditioner and Typhon 2, it’s just insane how much of a change they’ve made. But it’s also a great deal of cash to outlay. So I’m relatively certain that I’ve found my level of comfort. Beyond this, I’m simply not willing to delve at this point in both my life and the journey in the hobby.
I will say that that the “diminishing returns” is not as clear cut a statement as we tend to hear and in many ways, simply does not apply. Especially when dealing with major improvements to power that impact the entirety of your chain and can be multiplicative, not additive in their impact.
I’ve also decided that at some point I’ll pick up a First Watt Sit-4 but no rush to scratch that itch. This would be to augment, not replace the F8.
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Antipodes CX (roon core) → Antipodes EX (roon player) → Lampizator Baltic 3 → LTA Z10 → Omega Baby Alnico Monitors & Omega Deep Hemp 8 Sub
I moved into a new place back in August and finally I was able to get a 2ch setup going a few weeks ago. It’s been great to finally get the speakers off the desk and into a room.
Im happy with the setup for now but ive already figured out a better way to arrange everything, so I’ll be changing it in the next few weeks. I also want to look into better isolation, maybe some audio platforms for the amp stand and speaker stands. Im already eyeing a isoacoustics subwoofer stand. Room treatment will come eventually.
As far as a upgrade path from here… im thinking about a second deep Hemp Sub and then potentially a upgrade to a pair of omega super alnico monitors sometime in the next year. Im really happy with the omega alnico driver and the crossoverless single paper cone design is so unique sounding it is 
the lampi + lta combo just works so well with it too.
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