Popular Post NWLanding Posted April 18, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted April 18, 2021 I was a late stage participant in the closed beta of PGGB, so I've only recently made the plunge to change up my audio chain, which included my usb source, through my HMS and until recently my Hugo TT2. I've spent some time over the years pursuing optimal output from my digital library to my ears. Learning from folks here on AS, I focused on practicing good digital hygiene to great effect. I've recently upgraded my TT2 to a DAVE. and after studying the basis of PGGB, and reading beta participant subjective results, I installed PGGB for a test drive. I bypassed everything between my server and DAVE; just output from my JCAT USB XE, LUSH^3 and DAVE. Playing critical listening test tracks that I'm keenly aware of the nuance and intricacies within I was able to achieve a similar (if not improved) SQ without multiple intevening cables, devices and power supplies between my HMS and DAVE. I like the elegance of simplicity and I like the reclaimed space. But it comes at a price, the PGGB license, upgrades to my server's memory, CPU and power supply. I'm also adding more storage to my NAS. But I believe PGGB delivers results that justify the cost and effort, for me. Download PGGB and see if you can find a machine to process some files using the Onboarding workflow to evaluate the various configurations and the resultant outputs. My server had a i3 processor and 16gb of memory and I was unable to run the program. Once I decided to take the leap of faith, my 128gb of memory arrived before anything else. After installing the memory I ran the program on the i3 processor and PGGB plowed through the files at a pretty remarkable rate. Audio is like a braided stream, there are multiple ways to get downstream. NanoSword, kennyb123 and austinpop 2 1 Starlink ISP -- > QNAP QSW-308S 10 GbE SWITCH ---> Supra CAT 8+ & Audio Silver Dragon Network Cable ---> QNAP TVS-672X NAS ---> DIY Music Server with JCAT NET XE PCIE and JCAT USB XE PCIE card (both powered with JCAT Initio 3 LPS) ---> Phasure Audio Lush^3 USB ---> Audiowise SRC-DX -- > Audiowise LP•FILTER ---> Dual Moon Audio Black Dragon BNC Coax Cables ---> Audiowise DC•Block ---> Chord Electronics DAVE (Dual BNC input Connectors) ---> DAVE Balanced XLR output ---> Black Dragon balanced XLR cables ---> Hegel H20 Amp (Chord DAVE is the pre) ---> Morrow Audio SP6 Speaker Cable Pair ---> KEF Reference 1 3-way speakers Link to comment
Popular Post NWLanding Posted October 19, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted October 19, 2023 21 hours ago, taipan254 said: Great segway into another topic of interest (at least for me): PGGB partner Dan Mance from Audiowise claims that with his optimizations, the Mojo2 beats Dave in transparency. Of course PGGB is the first optimization he mentions. I'd be curious about other PGGB users' thoughts on this (if anyone has any thoughts that is!). Can anyone here corroborate this claim? I have been evaluating a Mojo 2 in my system for a couple of days. The only piece of Dan's kit I have in this setup is a SRC-DX. Other than a couple of cabling tweaks for 16fs input to Mojoo 2 and output to my pre (3.5mm TRS to XLR), it's basically a drop-in replacement for my DAVE (for testing). It really is quite impressive. Dan's report on transparency is accurate. I would add that I recognize a deeper soundstage and slightly improved timbre. I'm going to listen for a few days and then go back to my DAVE to confirm my initial impressions. I'm going to continue playing around with this a bit, but I'm not sure I'm ready to sell my DAVE just yet. taipan254 and kennyb123 1 1 Starlink ISP -- > QNAP QSW-308S 10 GbE SWITCH ---> Supra CAT 8+ & Audio Silver Dragon Network Cable ---> QNAP TVS-672X NAS ---> DIY Music Server with JCAT NET XE PCIE and JCAT USB XE PCIE card (both powered with JCAT Initio 3 LPS) ---> Phasure Audio Lush^3 USB ---> Audiowise SRC-DX -- > Audiowise LP•FILTER ---> Dual Moon Audio Black Dragon BNC Coax Cables ---> Audiowise DC•Block ---> Chord Electronics DAVE (Dual BNC input Connectors) ---> DAVE Balanced XLR output ---> Black Dragon balanced XLR cables ---> Hegel H20 Amp (Chord DAVE is the pre) ---> Morrow Audio SP6 Speaker Cable Pair ---> KEF Reference 1 3-way speakers Link to comment
Popular Post NWLanding Posted November 4, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted November 4, 2023 On 10/19/2023 at 11:11 AM, NWLanding said: I have been evaluating a Mojo 2 in my system for a couple of days. The only piece of Dan's kit I have in this setup is a SRC-DX. Other than a couple of cabling tweaks for 16fs input to Mojoo 2 and output to my pre (3.5mm TRS to XLR), it's basically a drop-in replacement for my DAVE (for testing). It really is quite impressive. Dan's report on transparency is accurate. I would add that I recognize a deeper soundstage and slightly improved timbre. I'm going to listen for a few days and then go back to my DAVE to confirm my initial impressions. I'm going to continue playing around with this a bit, but I'm not sure I'm ready to sell my DAVE just yet. It took me a bit longer than intended to get back to check myself on my previous impressions of the Chord Mojo 2, compared to my DAVE. I really have enjoyed listening to Mojo 2 with PGGB files, for all the same reasons I stated previously. But after returning to listening with my DAVE I believe that there's a bit more there there with the DAVE. During the course of listening to the Mojo 2, I acquired 2 pair of the Audiowise DC•BLOCK & LP•FILTER inline devices, one pair for each dual BNC coax cables between the SRC-DX and DAVE. I installed the LP-Filter directly onto the SRC-DX and the DC-Block directly on the DAVE BNC inputs, with two short dual coax cables between. If you're unfamiliar with these devices then check out all the documentation on Audiowise. I have recognized increased transparency with these devices installed as well as a more interesting tone / timbre. I have a few digital hygiene challenges in my environment and I think the improvements I'm recognizing are a result of cleaning up the signal. I wasn't sure if I would hang onto the Mojo 2 but I've decided that I will, not as a DAVE replacement but for those nice days I want to jam outside. Dan has some nice drawings of an interesting integration of his product line and the Mojo 2. I'd love to listen to his entire kit surrounding a Mojo 2 in an additive/subtractive manner to fully understand the benefits. In total, everything he's designed may provide a more affordable solution that could meet or exceed DAVE (or other reference DACs). Of course predicated on PGGB being in the mix! This experiment has been a welcomed distraction to my total knee replacement surgery. There have been a lot of rabbit holes I've gone down as I was considering where I could spend proceeds from selling my DAVE! I made a promise I wouldn't make any purchases while I'm on pain medications! Always.Learning, Progisus, taipan254 and 1 other 4 Starlink ISP -- > QNAP QSW-308S 10 GbE SWITCH ---> Supra CAT 8+ & Audio Silver Dragon Network Cable ---> QNAP TVS-672X NAS ---> DIY Music Server with JCAT NET XE PCIE and JCAT USB XE PCIE card (both powered with JCAT Initio 3 LPS) ---> Phasure Audio Lush^3 USB ---> Audiowise SRC-DX -- > Audiowise LP•FILTER ---> Dual Moon Audio Black Dragon BNC Coax Cables ---> Audiowise DC•Block ---> Chord Electronics DAVE (Dual BNC input Connectors) ---> DAVE Balanced XLR output ---> Black Dragon balanced XLR cables ---> Hegel H20 Amp (Chord DAVE is the pre) ---> Morrow Audio SP6 Speaker Cable Pair ---> KEF Reference 1 3-way speakers Link to comment
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