Article: Quick Take: The Linear Solution DS-1 Network Streamer

[austinpop]

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[rickca]

You think $1599 seems like a very fair price?  Come now.

[rodrigaj]

This streamer does NAA and Roon and runs $1600. 

 

The ultraRendu runs NAA, Roon, Shairport, MPD/DLNA, Spotify, Squeelite and Bubbleupnp Server and cost $875.

 

I must be missing something. What distinguishes this product from the ultraRendu?

[Account Closed]

OXCO clocks are not cheap but still it is not a custom solution like the UR.

[Music Enthusiast]

Why was this particular Connor-Winfield oscillator chosen to be utilized in this application? I noticed the word OCXO was used several times in the review. Is this because OCXO's are the buzzword of the day, or because the reviewer compared the same setup to one with the oscillator that comes on the NUC board? 

[rickca]

Did you look at the temps (sensors command) on the DS-1?  Is the case more effective at passive cooling than the Akasa cases?

[Ralf11]

9 hours ago, rickca said:

You think $1599 seems like a very fair price?  Come now.

 

compare it to the "other" DS-1...   or is that DS/1 ?

[flkin]

The One was $8900 in April so this is far more affordable. 

[matthias]

There is a major issue @austinpop wrote about:

What to do when a new NUC board is launched which is superior sounding to the board inside the DS-1?

 

Matt

[Music Enthusiast]

Just now, matthias said:

There is a major issue @austinpop wrote about:

What to do when a new NUC board is launched which is superior sounding to the board inside the DS-1?

 

Matt

Easy. Open up your wallet!

[matthias]

3 minutes ago, Music Enthusiast said:

Easy. Open up your wallet!

 

Haha, so you think TLS will always offer the superior board for exchange?

 

Matt

[Music Enthusiast]

Just now, matthias said:

 

Haha, so you think TLS will always offer the superior board for exchange?

 

Matt

Well there's always the chance they go belly up. But if they keep going I can imagine for a fee they could accommodate an upgrade. After all anyone who would pay $1599 for an Intel NUC in a fancy case isn't the type who practices frugality. 

[matthias]

1 minute ago, Music Enthusiast said:

Well there's always the chance they go belly up. But if they keep going I can imagine for a fee they could accommodate an upgrade. After all anyone who would pay $1599 for an Intel NUC in a fancy case isn't the type who practices frugality. 

 

Then with the the speed of upcoming new boards you can repeat this procedure four times a year!

 

Matt

[Music Enthusiast]

Just now, matthias said:

 

Then with the the speed of upcoming new boards you can repeat this procedure four times a year!

 

Matt

BTW has anyone tested the 8th gen NUC's? This product may already be obsolete. Unless they will play the "8th gen NUC's suck" card until the 7th gen board stock depletes. 

[matthias]

38 minutes ago, Music Enthusiast said:

BTW has anyone tested the 8th gen NUC's? This product may already be obsolete. Unless they will play the "8th gen NUC's suck" card until the 7th gen board stock depletes. 

 

The NUC7i7DNBE is one.

 

Matt

[matthias]

26 minutes ago, matthias said:

 

The NUC7i7DNBE is one.

 

 

AFAIK, the best solution at the moment would be this board inside the DS-1 with the TLS clocks and a SR7 double regulated PS.

 

Matt

[FredM]

“Great as that NUC sounded, the DS-1 sounds significantly better. The improvements are exactly what I have heard with clock improvements before. Clearly the OCXO is the reason for the bulk of this improvement”

 

Thanks Rajiv for your write up, based on anequal comparison (with the NUC7CJYH) the results are promising to say the least. Great to see these recent developments pushing the envelope, too bad a direct comparison with the SOtM Ultra Neo couldn’t be done, this would be a great test with both turnkey products at a similar price level. Also a nice compliment to suggest to ‘DIY’ers’ to consider the DS-1 (which understandingly triggers some reactions ?)

[rando]

Always glad to see a new article from you @austinpop 

 

Intel allowing changes within their NUC architecture would seem to be a good sign at least some official hardware tinkering is possible. DIY hijinks are considerably far removed, but the spirit is very much alive here. 

[BigAlMc]

Interesting review Rajiv.

 

In response to some of the comments, rather than the review, I don't think that $1600 is too bad when you consider:

 

Custom OS

Custom case

OCXO clocking

Collaboration with Intel

Memory selected on latency

Customer support

 

So rather than looking down on this as an 'overpriced NUC', I see this as making the whole NUC option available to the large number of audio enthusiasts who have no desire to start building and tinkering with home built solutions. Turnkey and fully supported will be a winning solution and well worth the premium to many.

 

Also the OCXO clocking improvements are not possible for all but the most technically gifted enthusiasts.

 

The counter arguments are that given the time Adrian spent on this, Rajivs finding that the BIOS is not fully optimal seems disappointing.

 

The potential for quickly falling behind (assuming further discoveries or advances in NUC boards) is accurate and needs considered. But that can be said of all products including the current trending NUCs! It's just that the upgrade costs to the latest greatest NUC9i7OMG!™️ will likely be comparatively more reasonable ?

 

Overall I say kudos to TLS for their innovation and making the NUC approach accessible to many that otherwise would have been excluded.

 

Cheers,

Alan

 

PS Dear Intel, I've trade marked my invention of the NUCxi7OMG! range but I'm open to offers accompanied by large cheques! ?

[Music Enthusiast]

You would think it would take an order of 1000's of unit's to become an OEM client of Intel. Is this collaboration referring to internet chat support?

 

So did Intel solder the OCXO to the board from the factory? If so do they still honour the 3 year factory warranty? 

 

It would be cool to see a picture of how the OCXO is soldered to the board. Those NUC oscillator pads are tiny. compared to the big OCXO.

[michael123]

What is the purpose of OCXO for router or switch? Honestly, I dont understand what does it do for USB as well

If somebody will send me a link for technical explanation, I will be grateful

[Advieira]

NUC7CJYH - US$ 120

Akasa Newton JC - US$ 100

Audiolinux - US$ 49

16GB RAm - US$ 130

 

US$ 399

 

The DS-1 should be a lot better. From what I understand, the difference is minimal. If DS-1 had a LPS internal, then it would be a big deal.

Of course, it´s no so overpriced as Antipodes and Zenith SE (7k range).

 

ps: If you order a M.2 adapter to Pci-e (US$ 10) and buy a JCAT Ethernet Femto (US$ 500), for CJYH, you will have a winner in many classes.

[FredM]

20 minutes ago, Advieira said:

The DS-1 should be a lot better

Based on Rajivs findings it is significantly better, please see article above. With the other NUC (add approx $400), the DS-1 is still better, but with a smaller margin (please see article above). 

 

The consideration made for DIY is imho a big compliment, but mainly seems to trigger apples vs peers comparisons and discussions. A turnkey product is not designed for DIY’ers and vise versa. Both group have different needs etc.

 

Ps What I actually especially regret, is that this small and very promising hifi company is now mainly commented on from a DIY perspective. I even can’t think of a couple of other commercial products / turnkey endpoints, which include AL OS, an internal OCXO and other hardware specs. It would be more logical and fair to make a direct comparison with other turnkey solutions (SOtM sMS-200 Ultra Neo, Sonore UltraRendu, etc etc). The respected SOtM sMS-200 Ultra has about the same price level (with input for internal clock). I quite welcome new innovative companies such as TLS on the market, imho they have a refreshing approach and raise the bar.

 

 

[rickca]

2 hours ago, Advieira said:

If you order a M.2 adapter to Pci-e (US$ 10)

There is no M.2 on the NUC7CJYH.

[Advieira]

33 minutes ago, rickca said:

There is no M.2 on the NUC7CJYH.

 

It´s true. The i7 it has.