miguelito

This is extremely interesting and I will give it a try at some point. Thank you for the info.

Hi all, In my summer home I run a large SONOS system, with both SONOS speakers, SONOS amps, SONOS Connects and Ports (line output to amps - not using digital outs). Ultimate sound quality is (obviously) not the goal, convenience and multi-room is, and that works. It’s all running SONOS S2. I have read many a criticism of the Port’s sound quality. The DAC in it is pretty decent (AKM AK4490) and it looks fairly well built inside. However, it comes with the dingiest external SMPS. In comparison, the Connect streamer has a fairly beafy SMPS inside (as opposed to the external of the Port). I replaced one of the Connect’s power supplies once (it died) with one from an older S1-only Connect (in case you are curious, yes that part of the hardware is the same). Has anyone tried a better power brick with the Port? Does it make it sound better? Thx.

I am just now considering a NAS with Minimserver. What's a good inexpensive one with easily removable drive(s) that will run Minimserver?

Hi. Thanks for the reply. I read Chris’s glowing review on JPLAY iOS. I wonder if you could give us more detail on the StreamUnlimited issue with using JPLAY iOS for gapless playback, whether it is resolved, and whether there is a solution for dCS products to play gaplessly. Thx!

Just FYI, seems like while Mosaic and MinimServer work gaplessly, JPLAY and MinimServer does not (on the latest versions of dCS).

Ok interesting. Just found a thread on the dCS forums saying that “dCS only supports MinimServer” as UPnP server. Wondering if your test was using the Antipodes running MinimServer or some other UPnP server. Also: Do you have a way to reproduce your gapless issue? Or is it more of a “sometimes it has a glitch sometimes not” kinda thing?

I tested Mosaic’s UPnP gapless behavior, and I think I didn’t have a problem, but it was just a trial with a few tracks (playing Jean-Michel Jarre’s Oxygene if you must know… :) ). The way I picture this is there are two components in Mosaic: A- The UPnP browser/controller (the Mosaic version of JPLAY), and B- The UPnP renderer that would get the queue to play and actually play it. If this separation is correct, shouldn’t there be a gapless issue in Mosaic? Maybe there is and I just didn’t bump into it yet?

Wondering how the queue works, meaning: is JPLAY sending the full queue to the UPnP renderer or is it sending it piecemeal? Asking in relation to gapless playback.

Ok I see. So if I understand correctly, what I could do is: 1- Run MinimServer on my mac (which I am already doing) 2- Use JPLAY iOS on my iOS device to see the library MinimServer is serving PLUS my faves from TIDAL and Qobuz 3- With the iOS app select something to play back to my Rossini UPnP “input” The part I am confused about is what piece of software is “physically” picking up the data from MinimServer and rendering into the UPnP pipe in the Rossini? Is it the Rossini itself? Or is the data going THROUGH my iOS device to the Rossini? The way I use MinimServer today is via dCS’s Mosaic iOS app: MinimServer serves the files and Mosaic (running inside the Rossini network card) streams it to the DAC. There’s no data flow the iOS device. So the way I am interpreting the way JPLAY iOS works is it possibly tells the Rossini UPnP renderer “this is the url for the file you need to play” and the Rossini itself fetches it from MinimServer? Additionally, I imagine JPLAY iOS caches the entire local+TIDAL+Qobuz library’s metadata (at least the basic metadata) in the iOS device? Is this correct? Thank you!

I have been a Roon lifetime subscriber since July 2015. I love Roon and what it does, but in case the Harman purchase destroys it, I want to have a plan B. I am trying to understand JPLAY and what it does, but frankly I am finding it rather obscure. What is JPLAY Femto? Is this similar to Roon Core? How does it work and how can it connect to a DAC? What about JPLAY for iOS? Is this just an iOS renderer? Would appreciate if someone can point me to a clear, concise lay of the land. Thx.

A very kind soul shared with me the MFSL version. Thank you! I've listened to these three versions: A- MFSL (16/44 rip) B- 1997 remaster (16/44 CD rip) C- Recent remaster (Acoustic Sounds, 24/48, Qobuz has the same) Equinoxe Part 2 is a great way to assess since it is more quiet and tonally very rich. MFSL (A) is the quietest and the highest DR (10.6), then 1997 is louder (DR 10.3), and finally the hi-res version is loudest and with lower DR (10.1). The DR differences are not significant, but the volume is so need to adjust. There's a purity of tone and elegance to the MFSL that is not quite there in the other two. They are all quite enjoyable, but like Oxygene, I would give the nod to the MFSL.

Very interesting! I can see your point.

I can speak more authoritatively about Oxygene than Equinoxe (but I expect to be the same for the latter as they were produced a year or so apart). Oxygene digital: Best is MFSL CD. I own the 24/48 (purchased from HDTracks a while back) and I don’t think it sounds as good. Also have a more or less original CD, also similar but not as good as the MFSL CD. Keep in mind that the MFSL version was likely done over 28 or so years ago - the analog tape has most likely deteriorated somewhat, so the new-ish 24/48 transfer might be handicapped by that. Oxygene vinyl: I have the original release Polydor (US) and Dreyfus (France) as well as a japanese release. Of those I think the Dreyfus is the best. I don’t have the MFSL vinyl for this, I would like to have it but it is pretty expensive. The japanese version is touted as great but I think the Dreyfus sounds better. Equinoxe digital: I have the HDTracks 24/48 as well as the original CD. I don’t think there’s a lot of difference, but I would like to listen to the MFSL version which I suspect beats those two just like in the Oxygene case. Equinoxe vinyl: I only have a version that belonged to my brothers - an Argentinian pressing! The title is Equinoccio! It’s not great. I have both a japanese and Dreyfus pressings coming so I might add to this once I get them. Thank god for Discogs!!!

I was rather surprised how different the various digital releases of these sound, actually. These are amongst the most important music for me personally, so I am a bit obsessive about them… :)

Both Oxygene and Equinoxe are masterpieces. Amazing. Also gorgeous on vinyl. In all cases the various releases (digital and analog) sound remarkably different, which is a bit surprising to me since these are purely electronic instruments, by which I mean I would have expected to have less of a tonal sensitivity to a synthesized sound than a “real” sound like a voice or acoustic instrument.