Merging Anubis

[The Computer Audiophile]

I now see the the USB-C adapters are very problematic for many people. The ridiculous solution is to get a Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 adapter, then use the Thunderbolt 2 to Ethernet adapter. So lame. 

[The Computer Audiophile]

Does anyone make a good Thunderbolt 3 or 4 Ethernet adapter?

[The Computer Audiophile]

I see this one from OWC, but I also see a warning on Merging's site about 10Gb adapters. No!

 

https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/TB3ADP10GBE/

[asdf1000]

On 2/9/2021 at 12:15 AM, The Computer Audiophile said:

I was going to respond here and tell you that it's a configuration issue. Happy it got sorted. 

 

Were you able to test Qobuz Desktop and Tidal Desktop apps on macOS with VAD?

 

'Exclusive Mode' in those apps gets auto sample rate switching working properly on Anubis?

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

5 minutes ago, asdf1000 said:

 

Were you able to test Qobuz Desktop and Tidal Desktop apps on macOS with VAD?

 

'Exclusive Mode' in those apps gets auto sample rate switching working properly on Anubis?

 

I haven’t been able to test yet because it requires a reconfig of my Anubis. It’s setup for monitoring / podcasting right now. 

[Lotus67]

On 2/10/2021 at 7:19 AM, asdf1000 said:

 

'Exclusive Mode' in those apps gets auto sample rate switching working properly

If you want sample rate switching you have to put the pc/mac in which are Audirvana or Roon as master, creating a sample rate zone in Aneman

[Lotus67]

On 2/10/2021 at 7:19 AM, asdf1000 said:

Were you able to test Qobuz Desktop and Tidal Desktop apps on macOS with VAD?

Once VAD is installed in your Mac, Anubis acts as a normal audio output and you can select from the MIDI resources and can be used by every application. Just put Anubis as audio output and play Qobuz or Tidal app

[asdf1000]

48 minutes ago, Lotus67 said:

If you want sample rate switching you have to put the pc/mac in which are Audirvana or Roon as master, creating a sample rate zone in Aneman

 

Roon and Audirvana and HQPlayer Desktop work perfectly on both macOS and Win10.

 

Tidal Desktop app 'Exclusive Mode' works properly on Win10 (MAD/ASIO).

 

But it still doesn't work (auto sample rate switching) on macOS (VAD).

 

 

[Lotus67]

Because on Mac you have to create a new sample rate zone in Aneman and put the Mac as sample rate master 

[asdf1000]

10 minutes ago, Lotus67 said:

Because on Mac you have to create a new sample rate zone in Aneman and put the Mac as sample rate master 

 

That's exactly how it is setup (see attached).

 

And that's how Roon and Audirvana on macOS is already working perfectly for me. They wouldn't be working correctly if it wasn't setup correctly.

 

Do you have Tidal Desktop app on macOS to test?

 

[asdf1000]

The Merging driver below should show a message about 'Exclusive mode' like you see with Roon and Audirvana.

 

Doesn't do that with Tidal Desktop app.

 

 

 

 

 

[Lotus67]

I had Anubis for one year and now I sold it so I can't do the test, but I think that Anubis doesn't like exclusive mode from Tidal app. Try to use it without exclusive mode. I used it with Audirvana and Roon and I remember that if used in exclusive mode in Audirvana or with complete control by Roon it had a fuzzy behaviour with sample rate and DSD was impossible.

Sampling rate changes are granted by VAD so there is no reason to put in exclusive mode.

And try to use less channels, 16 - 16 is good enough

[asdf1000]

5 hours ago, Lotus67 said:

Try to use it without exclusive mode.

 

The way I have been using has not been using Exclusive Mode anyway, whether I tick the box in Tidal app or not.

 

This is what Ravenna driver should look like when Exclusive Mode works properly (Audirvana and Roon, as I mentioned, work properly). Sample rate on Anubis itself changes correctly when it works properly.

 

So it's obviously the Tidal app itself that isn't working properly. But I was just asking Chris, so that someone else could verify, in case i was doing something wrong.

 

I like the Tidal app for good recommendations/radio. For critical listening (bit perfect playback) I just open Audirvana and use Tidal and Qobuz in there. So it's not a big deal.

 

 

[asdf1000]

6 hours ago, Lotus67 said:

I had Anubis for one year and now I sold it

Why did you sell it? And what do you have now?

 

I demo'ed Anubis a year or so ago and I had reliability issues with the firmware on the unit itself, separate to Aneman/network setup etc

 

I'm demo'ing now again and the firmware is much better.

 

Now that I have Aneman properly setup, I haven't seen any kind of bugs. Actually I did some things by accident like pull network plug in my router and once I connect again, music continues within a couple seconds. That surprised me.

 

So when network is setup properly and Aneman setup properly (took me a while I got it now), everything it's stable.

 

I can still return it but so far i'm really like it. 

 

My demo last year I was too frustrated to enjoy it. Now my frustration is pretty much over, i can enjoy the demo.

 

I also have an RME ADI-2 FS DAC - pretty much the gold standard in driver performance/reliability. macOS and Windows and Linux. Even iOS

 

So that's where i set my expectations 😃 If I get any performance glitch from the unit  I will return it. 

[matthias]

12 minutes ago, asdf1000 said:

I can still return it but so far i'm really like it. 

 

If you do not take into account the functionality and consider only the SQ as DAC:

How does Anubis compare to other DACs in the same price range?

Thanks

 

Matt

[asdf1000]

1 hour ago, matthias said:

 

If you do not take into account the functionality and consider only the SQ as DAC:

How does Anubis compare to other DACs in the same price range?

Thanks

 

Matt

 

I am demo'ing the cheapest version (Pro version, up to PCM192kHz) 

 

Where I am, it's in between the price of RME ADI-2 DAC and Chord Hugo2 (I have both).

 

I would say all 3 of those are equal in SQ (all top notch).

 

Features/functionality is where all 3 are different. Each does things the others can't do.

 

 

[fds]

21 minutes ago, asdf1000 said:

Pro version, up to PCM192kHz

Hm, this is quite a limitation I find. I have a Chord Mojo and it really performs much better when it receives red book CD data upsampled to high rates such as PCM768kHz or DSD256 via HQPlayer. Should be the same for your Hugo2 and ADI-2 DAC. More recently, I bought the T+A DAC8DSD and after now experiencing with this DAC red book CD data upsampled to DSD512, I will probably never go back to any DAC not capable of at least DSD256 in the future. If I remember correctly, there is another version of the Anubis which would do DSD256. In fact, I had been interested in the Anubis (and the HAPI). The additional possibilities one gets with a multi-channel DAC are so valuable that I am very surprised to see only so few offered. However, after experiencing this amazing realism with the DAC8DSD with DSD512, I had to keep this DAC despite it being only a 2-channel machine.

[asdf1000]

7 hours ago, fds said:

Should be the same for your Hugo2 and ADI-2 DAC.

 

The Mojo suffers from classic static white noise burst at PCM768k. I had it before, so did Jussi. So I didn't bother with HQPlayer. The worst possible sound quality is white noise on headphones :-)

 

Hugo2 is fine as is, I don't find HQPlayer changing much. Hugo2 already upsamples to 6-bit SDM 104 MHz internally... it's already state of the art. No aliasing images to 1 MHz

 

ADI-2 is of course used with HQPlayer in DSD Direct mode! EC modulators at DSD256

 

I will be using 6 channels with Anubis if I keep it. I can't do 6 channels EC modulators at DSD256 so won't bother with DSD version if Anubis. 

 

 

[fds]

32 minutes ago, asdf1000 said:

The Mojo suffers from classic static white noise burst at PCM768k.

Indeed, I had experienced this too. Also on speakers not so nice. But with PCM384 still quite good.

[fds]

34 minutes ago, asdf1000 said:

I will be using 6 channels with Anubis if I keep it. I can't do 6 channels EC modulators at DSD256 so won't bother with DSD version if Anubis. 

Ok, I see. This is a valid point of course. Good to see that you are not missing the DSD option accidentally.

 

35 minutes ago, asdf1000 said:

ADI-2 is of course used with HQPlayer in DSD Direct mode! EC modulators at DSD256

Very good.

[cjf]

Im not using an Anubis but am using a Hapi. In my own testing thus far, in order to get auto sample rate switching to work up to 24/192 I configured Aneman to not use a Sample rate zone at all. Without a Sample Rate rate zone configured and setting the Sample Rate to "Auto" on the front panel within Hapi I could get switching to work just fine up to 24/192.

 

In my normal usage I do use a Sample Rate Zone of 24/192 because I upsample or down sample, depending on content, within Roon to that rate for everything. Thus far I find 24/192 a happy medium in terms of SQ and don't really miss DSD content in its native format.

 

I spent an hour or two playing with trying to upsample everything to DSD within Roon before it being sent to the Hapi but couldn't get it to work as of yet. In my case, I have the Premium Card installed in the Hapi but at the same time I also use DSP Vol control exclusively within Roon so my stream will be changed to PCM anyway. So I think the best I could get anyway would be 38x DXD in terms of upsampling.

 

I'll be playing around with it more at some point to try and get it to work but if not its not the end of the world. I think 24/192 sounds pretty good as is for everything.

[Lotus67]

11 hours ago, asdf1000 said:

Why did you sell it? And what do you have now?

I sold because I used in a second set up where I like to try new gears. An AMR DP 777 is stable in my set up since five years and for my tastes I couldn’t find nothing better till today. 
 

Anubis SQ depends from the power supply used. The stock one is not good. The best was with an Uptone Audio JS-2 set at 12v. The strength of this dac, and that of all Merging product, is the Ravenna AES 67 input: no streamers, no usb, no craps, you go directly with ethernet. For this reason it is important take care of the network using a switch suggested and approved by Merging and configured to work at the best with Ravenna. I used a Cisco switch configured with an auto configuration file downloaded from Merging site. Important is also to isolate the network with fiber optic converter.

With this configuration, using Roon and HQPlayer (NS1 - Poly sync lp at 352), I preferred Anubis over a Nadac  demoed in my set up. Anubis has a sound more pro oriented, vivid and real, Nadac has a more audiophile sound.

I had the premium version doing DSD with no problems but I preferred it in PCM.

what to say? For the money is one of the best. Just add a decent power supply and it can reach the level of the best converters available today. But it is not easy to set up and you have to understand well how Ravenna AES 67 works and what needs to perform well. It is not a converter that you can buy and put immediately in your set up. Speaking with the Italian Merging dealer, it was clear that the price that you pay more for a Nadac is for its easier set up and the friendly Roon interface. Other reasons are audiophiles bullshits. More, with Anubis you have also a decent pre section capable to drive any amplifier and a really good headphone output. 

 

 

[asdf1000]

1 hour ago, cjf said:

Im not using an Anubis but am using a Hapi. In my own testing thus far, in order to get auto sample rate switching to work up to 24/192 I configured Aneman to not use a Sample rate zone at all. Without a Sample Rate rate zone configured and setting the Sample Rate to "Auto" on the front panel within Hapi I could get switching to work just fine up to 24/192.

 

I don't have any issues getting auto sample rate switching to work with:

 

- Roon

- Audirvana

- HQPlayer Desktop

- Qobuz Desktop app

 

If I had not correctly setup Aneman and Anubis itself, the above wouldn't be working perfectly.

 

I only have the issue with Tidal Desktop app on macOS. So I imagine the issue is just that app's Exclusive Mode is not working properly with Ravenna driver. Works fine with my ADI-2 DAC and Hugo2.

 

On Win10, Tidal Desktop app 'Exclusive Mode' works correctly with the same kind of Aneman setup.

 

That's the reason I was asking @The Computer Audiophile to compare this app on Win10 and macOS with his Anubis. Just to see if I was doing something wrong at my end.

 

[asdf1000]

40 minutes ago, Lotus67 said:

Anubis SQ depends from the power supply used.

 

I'm powering Anubis using it's POE+ port. I'm not using the stock power adapter.

 

40 minutes ago, Lotus67 said:

The strength of this dac, and that of all Merging product, is the Ravenna AES 67 input: no streamers, no usb, no craps, you go directly with ethernet. For this reason it is important take care of the network using a switch suggested and approved by Merging and configured to work at the best with Ravenna. I used a Cisco switch configured with an auto configuration file downloaded from Merging site.

 

I am using NetGear GS108PP , POE+ (~30W power per port) unmanaged switch. All going through Asus RT-AC86U router.

 

I have absolutely no networking related issues at all. Once Aneman was correctly setup.

 

The only issues I had so far are:

 

1. Incorrect Aneman setup initially

2. Tidal Desktop app on macOS 'Exclusive Mode'

3. HQP OS special Ravenna version , playing directly to Anubis... no Windows/Mac in the loop at all. This is a problem with their ALSA Linux driver I suspect. Works fine up to PCM96kHz but has issues with PCM192kHz.

 

Roon, Audirvana, HQPlayer Desktop version, Qobuz Desktop app, all play PCM192kHz flawlessly on my setup.

 

Rock solid reliability.

 

And of course, Spotify, Apple Music, Soundcloud, Netflix etc all perfect too on macOS.

 

 

40 minutes ago, Lotus67 said:

For the money is one of the best. Just add a decent power supply and it can reach the level of the best converters available today. But it is not easy to set up and you have to understand well how Ravenna AES 67 works and what needs to perform well. It is not a converter that you can buy and put immediately in your set up.

 

Agreed. Once the networking/Aneman is setup it is great. That is the initial difficulty.

 

[asdf1000]

22 hours ago, matthias said:

 

If you do not take into account the functionality and consider only the SQ as DAC:

How does Anubis compare to other DACs in the same price range?

Thanks

 

Matt

 

Also, I just had a breakthrough in HQPlayer today.

 

So it's been some time just getting everything work, so hard to really sit back and enjoy music and think about sound quality.

 

You know how it is when you get a new toy.

 

Trying to get audio from all sorts of different sources has been the goal so far.

 

I'm not sure if there's anyone else on earth apart from Jussi that has HQP OS working with Ravenna. Today I maybe became person #2 😃

 

Soon I should be able to just sit and enjoy music, and changing sources 'just works'. So I can report back then.