dCS Network Bridge

[AmusedToD]

18 minutes ago, KunterK said:

Yes. It is half the price. I guess currently its their top of the line. Interesting and fortunate for the wallet. YMMW but its worth a try if you can get hold of one.

 

I’ve had my eye on Shunyata in general for quite some time, but don’t have a local dealer unfortunately. Very difficult to get a demo.

[Darryl R]

I got my NBR set up in Dual AES mode with the Vivaldi in Master sync to the NBR Word Clock in and the sound is the best yet, but certainly things need to burn in, and I've got to get those great digital cables.  I'm reading directly from my 2TB drive, files ranging from 16/44.1 to 24/352.8 and DSD64/128, and everything switches nicely as advertised (helped I think by buffering in the Vivaldi).

[KunterK]

7 hours ago, Darryl R said:

I got my NBR set up in Dual AES mode with the Vivaldi in Master sync to the NBR Word Clock in and the sound is the best yet, but certainly things need to burn in, and I've got to get those great digital cables.  I'm reading directly from my 2TB drive, files ranging from 16/44.1 to 24/352.8 and DSD64/128, and everything switches nicely as advertised (helped I think by buffering in the Vivaldi).

Congrats

 

Have you tried setting NBr as the master for clocking? I wonder which setup is better. NBr has a more quieter innards and I believe a very steady clock as I could not better it with an external clock. Whereas dac has the advantage of having the clock close by. 

 

Thanks

[Darryl R]

6 hours ago, KunterK said:

Congrats

 

Have you tried setting NBr as the master for clocking? I wonder which setup is better. NBr has a more quieter innards and I believe a very steady clock as I could not better it with an external clock. Whereas dac has the advantage of having the clock close by. 

 

Thanks

Hi KunterK,

 

I have not tried this.  Thanks for sharing it.  Are you using it with Dual AES and various rates (looks like 352.8/DSD128 would be downsampled, of which I have very few and could live without if this is great)?

[AmusedToD]

6 hours ago, KunterK said:

Congrats

 

Have you tried setting NBr as the master for clocking? I wonder which setup is better. NBr has a more quieter innards and I believe a very steady clock as I could not better it with an external clock. Whereas dac has the advantage of having the clock close by. 

 

Thanks

 

Are you saying there are no real benefits in using an external dCS master clock? Which master clocks did you test? 

[KunterK]

16 minutes ago, Darryl R said:

Hi KunterK,

 

I have not tried this.  Thanks for sharing it.  Are you using it with Dual AES and various rates (looks like 352.8/DSD128 would be downsampled, of which I have very few and could live without if this is great)?

I tried with a demo Vivaldi Dac and did the test with NBr as master. Did not check the other way. Will test further when my Vivaldi Dac arrives. Will use it with dual Aes and the difference was big compared with single aes. I used upsampling in Roon (x2) 

[KunterK]

17 minutes ago, AmusedToD said:

 

Are you saying there are no real benefits in using an external dCS master clock? Which master clocks did you test? 

I tested with Rossini clock and heard no benefits. But this is when NBr was driving my TotalDac. Using with a clockable dcs dac can be another story. Will try again when my Vivaldi arrives but in any case it will have to have a huge difference given the extra complexity and cost. (3 more clock cables,  one more power cable and of course the clock itself and the rack space. Even with budget friendlier but very good Shunyata Sigma, that is 6k list only on digital clock cables, 15k on clock and power cable at your choosing which pushes the additional cost to ~25k levels) 

Vivaldi and NBr clocked to each other is much simpler and already sounds great. However,  it's all these small improvements that pushes you so I will see. 

 

And as is always the case in this hobby, your mileage may vary. I am limited to what my system delivers and my ears

[AmusedToD]

1 minute ago, KunterK said:

I tested with Rossini clock and heard no benefits. But this is when NBr was driving my TotalDac. Using with a clockable dcs dac can be another story. Will try again when my Vivaldi arrives but in any case it will have to have a huge difference given the extra complexity and cost. (3 more clock cables,  one more power cable and of course the clock itself and the rack space. Even with budget friendlier but very good Shunyata Sigma, that is 6k list only on digital clock cables, 15k on clock and power cable at your choosing which pushes the additional cost to ~25k levels) 

Vivaldi and NBr clocked to each other is much simpler and already sounds great. However,  it's all these small improvements that pushes you so I will see. 

 

And as is always the case in this hobby, your mileage may vary. I am limited to what my system delivers and my ears

 

I get it. Well, clocking only the source (NBR in this case) certainly won't yield big enough benefits as the clock inside the NBR is already very good, unless you clock the DAC at the same time. But even if you use it on both the NBR and the Vivaldi, I doubt it will be worth $25k, as you say.

 

Did you try the Puccini U-clock too?

[Darryl R]

KunterK,

 

Have you heard the new Shunyata Sigma analogue cables?  Some are on the way to me.

 

Thanks,

Darryl

[KunterK]

6 minutes ago, Darryl R said:

KunterK,

 

Have you heard the new Shunyata Sigma analogue cables?  Some are on the way to me.

 

Thanks,

Darryl

No but I will when the local dist has them in stock. Please post your opinion when you have them. 

[KunterK]

9 minutes ago, AmusedToD said:

Did you try the Puccini U-clock too?

Nope. 

[Darryl R]

Will do.  And btw, you're not the only one with a pinched wallet in all this.  I liquidated one of my retirement accounts to get the dCS/D'Agostino/Wilson triad, and like you, I'm scrutinizing cable like a hawk -- some of these prices are certifiable!

[Darryl R]

Apart from clocking, the output scenarios in the manual only deal with AES and SPDIF.  The only reference to that single USB port is about reading files.  I thought that spoke for itself.  Martin@dCS seemed to favor Dual AES, and at the lowest possible setting (88.2k).

[firedog]

On 11/14/2017 at 3:26 PM, xtraktz said:

I'm just as interested. Can you send it to me also? 

me too

[AmusedToD]

4 hours ago, Beolab said:

From the dSC NB i am using the dual Word.clock inputs on the NB connected to the dCS Master Clock. Then i use the SPDIF 75 Ohms output on the NB to my Puccini DAC input that is synced with the Master Clock. 

 

Isn’t SPDIF the only available digital input on the Puccini player? I think it doesn’t have dual AES, so unfortunately you aren’t able to compare that type of connection to SPDIF. In my experience, dual AES is superior in every way.

 

I met Liam from dCS on a HiFi show last week, a great guy indeed!  But he is a sales manager, not sure he is the right person to ask about technical features of dCS devices. 

 

A friend of mine just bought a Rossini clock yesterday to use with his Paganini SACD transport and Rossini DAC. So I will have the chance to borrow it and see if there are any real benefits (especially in terms of cost) from using it with the NBR and my Paganini DAC.

[Beolab]

2 hours ago, AmusedToD said:

 

Isn’t SPDIF the only available digital input on the Puccini player? I think it doesn’t have dual AES, so unfortunately you aren’t able to compare that type of connection to SPDIF. In my experience, dual AES is superior in every way.

 

I met Liam from dCS on a HiFi show last week, a great guy indeed!  But he is a sales manager, not sure he is the right person to ask about technical features of dCS devices. 

 

A friend of mine just bought a Rossini clock yesterday to use with his Paganini SACD transport and Rossini DAC. So I will have the chance to borrow it and see if there are any real benefits (especially in terms of cost) from using it with the NBR and my Paganini DAC.

 

That is correct, but he re-direct my questions to the developers, or i can send the queation to developer Martin Reynolds at dCS.

 

great news, what do you think about the rossini master clock in you setup, did you here the diffrence ? 

[The Computer Audiophile]

Hi Guys - I moved the best digital interface discussion to a new thread - 

 

[Darryl R]

13 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

Hi Guys - I moved the best digital interface discussion to a new thread - 

 

If there is a planned mod to the NB, it would be helpful to have some mention of it here though.

 

One of the reasons I got the NB is because of uncertainties regarding SOtM's USB card (along with a new external clock input option they're selling without being able to tell you much about it other than you need it).

[The Computer Audiophile]

Not sure what you mean by mod to the NB.

 

 

[Darryl R]

17 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

Not sure what you mean by mod to the NB.

 

 

Last sentence in Beolab's post:

 

"And this is one key benefit why the NB are going to be upgraded with USB output support according to Martin Reynolds at dCS ."

[The Computer Audiophile]

OK. I don't consider a manufacturer's update a mod (as in modification). 

 

All discussions about NB updates will be in this thread. 

[Darryl R]

6 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

OK. I don't consider a manufacturer's update a mod (as in modification). 

 

All discussions about NB updates will be in this thread. 

 

Disregard Chris, I caught Martin at his desk, and he responded via email that the alleged USB upgrade to the NB is "complete moonshine!"

 

This hobby is challenging enough without people playing fast and loose with facts.

[Beolab]

57 minutes ago, Darryl R said:

 

Disregard Chris, I caught Martin at his desk, and he responded via email that the alleged USB upgrade to the NB is "complete moonshine!"

 

This hobby is challenging enough without people playing fast and loose with facts.

 

What was your question to Martin and what was his answer to you then, that USB is no good but we will implemend it anyways or ?  ?

 

dCS will make this SW update because of the connectivity and because of the sound enhancement for other users without a Master Clock and without AES XLR inputs on their DAC. 

 

This is just common sence. 

 

The USB is superior the AES spec wise, if you read about the design of the technology. 

 

 

 

 

[rickca]

2 hours ago, Darryl R said:

I caught Martin at his desk, and he responded via email that the alleged USB upgrade to the NB is "complete moonshine!"

What did he mean by that?

[AmusedToD]

1 hour ago, Beolab said:

 

 

The USB is superior the AES spec wise, if you read about the design of the technology. 

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately, specs mean absolutely nothing in the audio world. dCS have had USB inputs on different devices for years. It would be very easy to compare the dual AES to the USB input on, say, a Debussy or a Scarlatti DAC, even the new Rossini/Vivaldi DACs. 

 

So the USB output on the NBR will probably be another marketing gimmick aimed at consumers without dCS DACs.