There is a significant win to getting off a PC entirely, they are a significant source of noise when connected over USB (even laptops).
Something like a pi2AES would probably be a noticeable improvement, and IME higher end dedicated streamers can improve it significantly further, the Dave was a different (much better) DAC when I used it with a EM Labs NS1 vs with a pi2AES for example. But that’s not exactly a fair comparison given the price difference.
If you buy a regenerator, the power cables to the component from the regenerator start to make a bigger difference, I was shocked how much impact they had when I tested it.
Most of the “tweak” type changes are going to give you a lot of the same, blacker background, better staging (usually focus, occasionally sense of space), improved Bass control.
Most of these changes are very noticeable even without A/B comparisons, but none of them are going to “fix” things in a system, so you have to weigh what they cost vs where else you might spend that in a system.
p.s. The desktop machine that I am running Foobar on is a digital hash monster. The wireless transceivers for the keyboard and mouse do not work unless I put them on extenders to get them away from the machine. I need to find an alternative for my music source.
I don’t know if you have ever compared music playback software, but I found Foobar to be pretty substandard. I was rather surprised how much better other software sounded. Audvarna, Roon, JRiverMC all whipped its butt - at stock settings, no add-ons / DSP. I thought I’d mention my opinion there, as real games can be had for very little money (except for Roon and Audvarna’s subscription services, obviously).
I really haven’t compared audio software because until recently I didn’t have the equipment that I have now. NOW it is very important. Are you using a PC are a stand alone device to run the music management software on?
Standalone PC at the moment, but I was using a Roon server beforehand. A “friend” was nice enough to plug a thumb drive into my network which had a virus on it, and I’ve been too lazy to rebuild the Room/Plex server after recovering everything else from backup. Thank goodness for NAS shadow copies, and the Backblaze service; I essentially lost nothing.
I’m running Roon direct off PC for now.
I don’t know if Ardvarna still offers a free trial, but JRMC does, and it might be interesting to experiment yourself with different playback methods.
That’s exactly right. PCs are RF noise monsters, and while I’m sure a regenerator will still help, you’d be hurting its chances if you’re inviting all of that noise in from your PC (regardless of whether or not the PC itself is plugged into the regenerator, but especially if not).
My own setup isn’t 100% ideal, but I’m running a dedicated, fanless, NUC PC that has Roon Optimized Core Kit (ROCK) as its music-only dedicated operating system, and that is plugged into the regenerator, and is doing nothing else. It’s functionally identical to a Roon Nucleus, but I didn’t pay the premium to have Roon build it. Now, it’s still technically a PC, and has a low quality switch mode power supply (which generates its own noise) as well as the non-RF-optimized NUC components inside, but it’s still better than a rig that has a ton else going on. I do plan on either getting a linear power supply for that NUC PC or perhaps even grabbing a dedicated server (something to an Auralic Aries G2.1), but the latter would be a 5x cost increase over the NUC, and that’s a lot for a source.
In terms of other options, I encourage you to do due diligence before moving off of a PC, as some popular options (like the raspberry pi variants) have been said to be not-so-great by industry folks I read and trust (and I definitely don’t trust all of them). They can be awesome for some quick and dirty setups, but if you’re talking regenerator, then you don’t want to cut yourself off at the knees by compromising on your source. Using my NUC build was a meaningful improvement over my big PC, and I did that before I ever had a regenerator. Mine was ~$1K all in, and I’d be happy to share my component list if you’re inclined.
Once again, this has been an enjoyable conversation. I do like your approach in a dedicated unit such as the NUC PC running only a dedicated music core. I have always built my own PC’s so it’s not a stretch that I could pull together the parts carefully and build it myself with an eye to the RF issues and power supply issue. I would love to see your parts list as you can tell from our conversation that my source is my next project. I don’t have to be in a hurry because there is always Foobar there for current enjoyment. Building a new source unit would be fun as well.
Also note that @andris has a supremely refined system with very high-end components – if you are not there yet, you may not notice these difference yet. (I’m not there for sure).
I am also running a fanless i5-10th gen/16GB roon server using a ZOTAC nano kit as the base barebones. I run Win 10 though mostly for remote-in capability, and using HQPlayer on same server as Roon as well as higher sampling rates available via windows drivers on dacs. (qutest or pegasus)
Speaking of which, I’ll move this thread to roon thread.
I’m the kind of guy that sits down at my equipment, turns down the lights and has listening sessions from music already on my drive. I don’t broadcast it around the house, but it seems like I am not really listening when I do that. That’s why the WiFi broadcasting really doesn’t interest me - unless it is a way to isolate the musical data from digital garbage from the PC. I’m a bit old school, but still willing to learn all I can, and then make educated decisions.
I’m similarly old school and that’s how I use Roon for the most part. I have a SSD with all my music in a NUC (a lot of people use external hard drives, I don’t know the pros & cons of internal vs external), connected to a PI2AES connected to my DAC.
But the wifi option is also useful when I’m in the kitchen and I want to listen to my own music while I cook.
I use an AES cable, which I don’t believe is an option for the Qutest. If you had a PI2AES (or equivalent), I think you’d use a BNC cable, wouldn’t you?
As @mfadio said, you could do either. In my case, my NUC is connected to the PI2AES using ethernet cable, via a regular (i.e. non Audiophile) Netgear ethernet switch. And my PC and router are connected to the same switch. I have the PI2AES next to the DAC to keep the AES cable as short as possible, and the NUC far away from where I sit (to limit any fan noise from reaching me, although I don’t get any fan noise) since the cable length for ethernet isn’t important.
Bear in mind that I’m a bumbling idiot when it comes to all this. I just happened to have recently built this (proving that even a bumbling idiot can do it). For someone with my limited abilities, the NUC was the simplest option, but there are more complex builds you can do.
I like your setup. The only question that remains is if the BNC direct to the Qutest would be sonically superior to the USB. I tend to think that the BNC would be, but of course having both, they could be compared within my system. - The USB requiring drivers and the BNC not.
