Merging Anubis

[asdf1000]

An update. It seems some posts were removed, possibly due to inaccurate info.

 

https://www.gearslutz.com/board/remote-possibilities-in-acoustic-music-and-location-recording/1252514-merging-anubis-15.html#post14152522

[seeteeyou]

A few years after High End Munich 2017 and we're still getting not THAT far yet, though something might smell fishy in 2020

 

https://zmanfishing.com/cms/chatter/new-products-2020

Quote

Merging the patented Z-Man bladed jig and Freedom Tackle interchangeable, swinging hook designs, this football head bladed jig opens a world of opportunity for anglers!

 

Seriously, they're actually doing something on the software side for Windows / OS X / Linux

 

https://www.ravenna-network.com/adopting-ravenna/oem-solutions/

 

This Ubuntu-based distro below looked somewhat interesting

 

https://www.stereo.net.au/forums/topic/263209-ravenna-driver-for-linux-know-about-it-using-it/

https://www.snakeoil-os.net/wiki/Advance-topics/merging-technologies-ravenna-aes67-support

https://www.snakeoil-os.net/forums/Thread-Request-For-Comments-Snakeoil-1-2-0-Gear-Isolation?page=2

 

Cisco SG300-10 wouldn't cost too much to begin with

 

https://confluence.merging.com/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=51118530

https://confluence.merging.com/display/PUBLICDOC/Network+Switches+for+RAVENNA+-+AES67

https://confluence.merging.com/display/PUBLICDOC/Cisco+SG300-10+SG300-20+Auto-configuration

[mftech]

The recommendation for the switch is mostly for the PRO market and  when you use more than one Anubis.
I used the ANUBIS with a consumer LYNKSYS router running with ROON server (on Linux).
The configuration (routing) must be done via Aneman.
 

[The_Thor]

Hi Audiophilestylists,

 

did someone compare the Anubis to the Hapi in terms of DA quality?

 

Thank you in advance

 

Thorben

[simone]

On 2/10/2020 at 7:51 PM, The_Thor said:

Hi Audiophilestylists,

 

did someone compare the Anubis to the Hapi in terms of DA quality?

 

Thank you in advance

 

Thorben

Yes Thorben,

I've done a comparison between the two with switching on the fly so it was very easy to detect any differences. There are differences in sound quality of course. Hapi sounds more refined in the upper register, more extended bass. Hapi seems to have just a little bit more resolution. Soundstage in Anubis sounds notably flatter.  Besides these minor differences Anubis is remarkably good for the price. 

Comparison was done using XLR outputs on both devices using the same HQPlayer upsampling to DSD 256. 

Another comparison between Merging Anubis and Weiss DAC202 was completely in favor of the Anubis with dinamic, extended and trasparent sound being the strong characteristics of the Anubis.

[The_Thor]

@simone

 

Thank you very much for your reply and your listening impressions.

I want to use the merging for DA and AD conversion and in this case, the Anubis costs only the half of the price.

Therefore, I will choose the Anubis.

 

 

[simone]

21 hours ago, The_Thor said:

@simone

 

Thank you very much for your reply and your listening impressions.

I want to use the merging for DA and AD conversion and in this case, the Anubis costs only the half of the price.

Therefore, I will choose the Anubis.

 

 

I am very pleased to be of help. Mind that it is difficult to use at the beginning. But you will be rewarded with superb sound quality and flexibility. 

Read the manual, watch the tutorials on youtube. Don't expect to get it to work just doing the connections and hitting play!

[asdf1000]

On 3/21/2019 at 7:51 PM, Miska said:

 

Ahh, it has PoE? That is very nice indeed! I have other PoE equipment already, such as WiFi access points where the reduced number of wiring makes life so much easier and installation cleaner.

 

 

Hi Jussi

 

I'm be demo-ing Anubis soon.

 

I know you normally recommend UTP but for using PoE (like with Anubis) would you recommend STP cable, since it is quite higher voltage compared to normal, non-PoE? 

 

Will the shielding provide some benefit with PoE?

 

Will using PoE with UTP cable mean significantly higher radio emissions from the cable? Especially with analogue gear around nearby?

 

[Miska]

28 minutes ago, asdf1000 said:

I know you normally recommend UTP but for using PoE (like with Anubis) would you recommend STP cable, since it is quite higher voltage compared to normal, non-PoE? 

 

Will the shielding provide some benefit with PoE?

 

Will using PoE with UTP cable mean significantly higher radio emissions from the cable? Especially with analogue gear around nearby?

 

STP will easily create grounding trouble, so I would avoid mixing it with audio. PoE will naturally break the galvanic isolation Ethernet would otherwise have. But it doesn't affect radio emissions because it is DC voltage and the Ethernet signal itself is is differential on the twisted pair unaffected by the DC offset.

 

[asdf1000]

22 hours ago, Miska said:

PoE will naturally break the galvanic isolation Ethernet would otherwise have.

 

Thanks Jussi!

 

If PoE will break galvanic isolation with UTP cable, does this mean ground loops are still possible with UTP cable with PoE?

[Miska]

7 hours ago, asdf1000 said:

If PoE will break galvanic isolation with UTP cable, does this mean ground loops are still possible with UTP cable with PoE?

 

Ground loops not, unless there is something fishy with the PoE feeder implementation. It should be floating power feed, a bit like the 48V phantom power for microphones.

 

[asdf1000]

Hi @Miska

 

So with HQP OS and Ravenna support to Merging DACs - do they support DSD256x48? Or only DSD256x44.1 ?

 

Your Hapi/Horus, for example?

 

[asdf1000]

Also, @Miska

 

Is HQP OS the only supported way to play from HQP Embedded to Merging DACs?

 

At the moment I run Ubuntu Server 18.04 LTS because it runs both HQPe and Roon Server on the same i9-9900K.

 

Is there a supported method that would allow me to keep Ubuntu Server and play to Anubis via Ravenna ALSA?

 

[Miska]

1 hour ago, asdf1000 said:

So with HQP OS and Ravenna support to Merging DACs - do they support DSD256x48? Or only DSD256x44.1 ?

 

DSD only at multiples of 44.1k

 

1 hour ago, asdf1000 said:

Is HQP OS the only supported way to play from HQP Embedded to Merging DACs?

 

If you build the driver yourself, you can use something else too. But you may have limited functionality.

 

From my side, HQPlayer OS is the official way.

 

[asdf1000]

9 hours ago, Miska said:

DSD only at multiples of 44.1k

 

Hmm hopefully my 9900K can handle 48k base rates to DSD256x44.1 

 

With ext2 and ASDM7EC

 

Will test and try.

 

9 hours ago, Miska said:

If you build the driver yourself, you can use something else too. But you may have limited functionality.

 

From my side, HQPlayer OS is the official way.

 

Thanks. I may need to switch to HQP OS and use Roon Server on my Mac.

 

What is this limited functionality you mention? Or, what additional functionality have you developed with HQP OS? Just out of interest.

 

[Miska]

2 hours ago, asdf1000 said:

Hmm hopefully my 9900K can handle 48k base rates to DSD256x44.1 

 

With ext2 and ASDM7EC

 

Lot of CPUs can do such rate conversions if you use poly-sinc filters like -s2 variants or ext2. My i5-7700T can do that to 44.1k x512 too.

 

ASDM7EC is the heavy part where 9900K helps, but there the source rate doesn't matter.

 

9900K can certainly do that combination.

 

[asdf1000]

@Miska

 

In your testing with Hapi/Horus - does it really need one of the Merging recommended managed switches to work with HQPlayer OS?

 

Or simple unmanaged switch (like Netgear GS108) is fine?

 

https://confluence.merging.com/display/PUBLICDOC/Network+Switches+for+RAVENNA+-+AES67

 

[Kal Rubinson]

53 minutes ago, asdf1000 said:

@Miska

In your testing with Hapi/Horus - does it really need one of the Merging recommended managed switches to work with HQPlayer OS?

Or simple unmanaged switch (like Netgear GS108) is fine?

Not Miska but I've used tha very switch with NADAC and with Anubis.  

[asdf1000]

32 minutes ago, Kal Rubinson said:

Not Miska but I've used tha very switch with NADAC and with Anubis.  

 

Many thanks.

[asdf1000]

Hi @Miska

 

So I have Anubis but I am currently thousands of kilometres from my i9-9900K HQPe server...

 

I can wait til I am back to my server but I remember you saying NAA can be other side of the world from server... I'd like to confirm if that is true or a lie ! 😀

 

Is there a simple and secure way? Or is it complicated?

 

 

[Miska]

1 hour ago, asdf1000 said:

So I have Anubis but I am currently thousands of kilometres from my i9-9900K HQPe server...

 

I can wait til I am back to my server but I remember you saying NAA can be other side of the world from server... I'd like to confirm if that is true or a lie ! 😀

 

Is there a simple and secure way? Or is it complicated?

 

You can use some VPN that forwards also multicasts. I think something like OpenVPN with Ethernet tap should work. Everything else is straightforward as long as you get the discovery working over VPN.

 

[asdf1000]

12 minutes ago, Miska said:

 

You can use some VPN that forwards also multicasts. I think something like OpenVPN with Ethernet tap should work. Everything else is straightforward as long as you get the discovery working over VPN.

 

 

Thanks!

[asdf1000]

On 12/19/2020 at 10:29 AM, The Computer Audiophile said:

Fantastic. I have an Anubis with tons of capabilities. I’m using the VAD for macOS but will try the MAD ASIO on Windows soon. 

 

Hey @The Computer Audiophile

 

Any issues using the macoS VAD driver with your Anubis?

 

No crashing or other bugs?

 

And did you end up testing Windows driver? Same reliability or worse?

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

8 hours ago, asdf1000 said:

 

Hey @The Computer Audiophile

 

Any issues using the macoS VAD driver with your Anubis?

 

No crashing or other bugs?

 

And did you end up testing Windows driver? Same reliability or worse?

 

What timing!

 

Merging's VAD was working perfect up until I installed macOS Big Sur 11.2. On version 11.1, no issues. On 11.2, it's as if the Anubis isn't even installed. Nothing works. 

 

I discovered this 30 minutes before recording a new episode of the podcast yesterday. I quickly booted my MacBook Pro into Windows and installed the new Merging Audio Driver. I have MAD working on Windows without issue right now. 

 

According to Merging, the MAD is much more versatile. I'm looking into how I can do a couple things for the podcast. 

[asdf1000]

Just now, The Computer Audiophile said:

Merging's VAD was working perfect up until I installed macOS Big Sur 11.2. On version 11.1, no issues. On 11.2, it's as if the Anubis isn't even installed. Nothing works. 

 

Yikes. Technically they only support up to Catalina though LOL. 

 

1 minute ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

I discovered this 30 minutes before recording a new episode of the podcast yesterday. I quickly booted my MacBook Pro into Windows and installed the new Merging Audio Driver. I have MAD working on Windows without issue right now. 

 

According to Merging, the MAD is much more versatile. I'm looking into how I can do a couple things for the podcast. 

 

Who would have thought, Windows to the rescue LOL.

 

It's handy having Boot Camp on the Intel Macs for this reason.  

 

Parallels for M1 Macs is coming but it's not the same as proper Windows in my experience. Especially with audio drivers, it can be a nightmare.

 

Do let us know how you go with MAD on Windows !

 

If you can get everything done for your Podcast without issues.

 

You're officially the forums 'Pro Audio User' now LOL