Tinker, Tailor, Streamer, Pi.

[luckyredfish]

Well for the money I've spent so far I'm well pleased . I'm listening to music more often , I'm listening to artists which I had previously dismissed , and the sense of timing is much improved . This thing ' boogies '

I will keep my eyes peeled for USB cable bargains

[slinger]

I've just added a new interconnect to my streaming equation. I've replaced the very good AudioQuest Red River interconnects with a pair of Audioquest Diamond cables. I haven't gone completely insane, these are the "old" Diamond analogue cables, not the new, hideously expensive digital models. Mind you, these were expensive enough when they were being produced from what little I've been able to glean from t'internet.

The conductors are made of "Functionally Perfect Silver" (FPS) i.e. high purity and long crystal pure solid silver. The RCA connectors were, apparently, some of the best around at the time, and they're made from "Functionally Perfect Copper" (FPC) which is directly gold plated. As you can see, they're Hyperlitz in construction. They're quite hefty too.



I've just given them a bit of Rameau, and at the moment I'm playing Rostropovich's" J.S. Bach Cello Suites." My first impression was that they were very "toppy" but the longer I listen to them the more natural they appear to be sounding.

Probably the most annoying thing is that I thought I'd settled on the AQ Red River interconnects, so when another pair came up at a reasonable price I nabbed them as spares. The way it's looking (or sounding) at the moment, I may have two spare sets.

I've also got to change my system diagram again.

[slinger]

The AudioQuest Diamond RCA leads are staying. What I was first perceiving as a "toppy" sound actually probably translates into "leaner" sound. Everything sounds far more "natural" to me, and they are doing the mutt's nuts of a job on Tangerine Dream at the moment (The Beach Scene from the Thief soundtrack) and [WARNING - CLICHE ALERT] it's almost like listening to a new system. Separation is far greater, and for less than sixty quid (they're replacing a £125+ set) this is probably the most dramatic upgrade I can remember making to this system. Apart from anything else they seem to approach and to reproduce the top end in a completely new way. I'll stop gushing now. They're bloody good though.

[luckyredfish]

Result then Paul , nice one .

[slinger]

Out of curiosity I have just been playing with USB cables, specifically the link between Tinkerboard and XXL Masterclock.

Using the 15cm supplied Oehlbach cable the sound was good. Lots of deep bass, sounded fine.

Switching to the 1m Inakustik Excellence lead, to my surprise, made a night and day difference. Bass tightened up and improved in projection. Soundstage wider and far more clearly defined. More sharpness / edge to detail, focus and life.

So for those, like me, who have recently started using USB regenerators in the signal chain - you do need to pay some attention to the input cable as this defines the signal that is then rebuilt for further transmission.

Rubbish in - rubbish out.

[antonio66]

Just think what the Inakustik Reference cable might do.

[slinger]

Just think what the Inakustik Reference cable might do.

A second AQ Carbon would do nicely.

[artsenna]

My Inakustik Exzellenz USB finally arrived today, all the way from Berlin and shopping list complete. Had to also buy a micro usb adapter fr ebay to connect power via LPSU (rather underestimated power supply issues). Will attempt to set up the TB tomorrow, if i can get hold of a PC for long enough at home.

As tempting as the Oehlbach Masterclock is, cant imagine sorting out another decent PSU and USB cable to make it worthwhile .

[Fretless]

The Tinkerboard already has very good SQ on its own. The rest (reclocker, Jitterbug, etc.) Is all fine-tuning.

Should be possible to run the initial setup of Volumio from a smartphone or tablet, anything on your home network (wired or WiFi) with an internet browser will do.

Have fun!

[NSNO2021]

I see the XXL are back to there full price again