Network Streamers With I2S Output?

[MTZ Audio]

Hello computeraudiophiles,

 

My name is Mark and i am new here.

 

I use a PinkFaun I2S bridge Pcie card in my computer as streaming device going directly to my W4S Dac2.

This is a simple but effective solution. I haven't compared it to other streamers but it sounds quite good.

I can use Foobar or the Tidal desktop app to play my music. 

You can take a look on my Youtube channel:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsKChwXauPs

Best regards,

 

Mark

[MTZ Audio]

Hello Audiophiles,

 

As i wrote before i use an I2S Pcie card in my old computer. This card has a seperate 12V power connection with filtering.

So it is not powered by the motherboard. There is also filtering on the Pcie side.

I created an audio file with 30 seconds of silence followed by 30 seconds pink noise in adobe audition.

I played this file through Foobar with high volume on my pre-amp and there was no hiss or any noise during the 30 seconds of silence. 

The computer i use is about 10 years old and has a decent switching power supply. The sound provided by the I2S card is revealing every detail in the music.

One of these days i will try a dedicated streamer to find out if it's better than my own setup.

I already compared the output via usb against I2S on my W4S dac2 and I2S was a clear winner.

 

Mark..

 

[MTZ Audio]

The I2S card i use in my computer is developed by a small Dutch high end audio company called Pink Faun.

They make a lot of high end equipment and sell it through their website: https://www.pinkfaun.com

You can ask them how it works because i am not an engineer.

 

I know they provide a great service.

 

My pc has a basic setup without lineair power supply and it has an old quad core processor. The only things i changed was the cooling and ssd. For me the benefit of using a pc is that u can use different types of software and media players. You don't depend on the software from manufacterers.

I made a short video for youtube where you can see my setup: https://youtu.be/BsKChwXauPs

 

There is an other company that developed a computer based streamer as well. It is called Van Medevoort.

In 2016 they introduced the MP470, a streamer with an I2S output. The OS is windows 10 and the media player is Foobar. So if a high end company as Van Medevoort thinks it's good enough?

 

 

 

 

 

[MTZ Audio]

Hello all,

 

I just found out that it's possible to stream master Tidal music files on 24bit/48khz through Foobar with the Mconnect app.

Maybe you already new but it's new to me. This is already better than standard CD Quality.

 

Greetings,

Mark