Pi 2 Design Mercury Streamer

[chrisd552]

Hi. I am new to this site. I have an interest in high-quality stand alone streaming solutions (especially sans the cost of esoteric solutions). I am just curious is anyone has done a comparison (casual or formal) between the Mercury 2 and the Stack Audio Link II. If so, I would love to hear your observations and opinion regarding the compare. 

 

-Chris

[chrisd552]

On 9/23/2022 at 12:17 PM, zackthedog said:

 

I'll be interested to see if there are any responses, but it's something of an apples-to-oranges comparison.  Most people are buying the Mercury (or the Pi2AES) for the excellence of the I2S output, which removes the DAC's internal clock from the equation.  The Stack is for asynchronous USB only.  It's really a different device.  It might improve your USB chain, but it doesn't replace it with an I2S interface.

Hi Zack. I see what you mean. I ask because I'm looking for a major improvement in streaming SQ. I've been using a Mac mini with Audirvana Studio, into a Shiit Bifrost 2. And SQ is just not there. So, I decided to investigate Pi based solutions and stumbled onto the Stack Link II in the process - its gets some pretty strong reviews for SQ (my experience so far is that service from Stack is not good - I've been trying to reach them for a week without luck!). I did pre-order a Mercury v2 and will experiment with that. While I haven't done experimentation with I2s myself yet, I understand the basic rationale for using it in lieu of composite alternative (being as close to raw as possible and avoiding encoding and decoding of USB, SPID/F, etc). But there is a fair amount of info suggesting that modern and well executed USB streams (with clean power, etc) are not distinguishable from an I2s feed directly into the dac. Again - I don't have any first hand knowledge on this yet not having experimented myself (I guess I'll be in a position to do that when the Mercury arrives). But would love comments and feedback from anyone who has walked these paths or experimented similarly. :)

[chrisd552]

On 9/23/2022 at 12:17 PM, zackthedog said:

 

I'll be interested to see if there are any responses, but it's something of an apples-to-oranges comparison.  Most people are buying the Mercury (or the Pi2AES) for the excellence of the I2S output, which removes the DAC's internal clock from the equation.  The Stack is for asynchronous USB only.  It's really a different device.  It might improve your USB chain, but it doesn't replace it with an I2S interface.

Maybe I should have been more clear...clearly the Bifrost doesn't take I2s without some internal mods. So, I would need to swap DACs. But have already been looking at a swap to a Denafrips. But if going that direction, maybe its more practical to peel the I2s from Allo Kali and send it directly to the Denafrips. Its certainly a less expensive route than the Mercury v2. What's unknown for me is whether or not the Mercury and Kali are equally effective at delivering I2s from the stream to the DAC. 

[chrisd552]

I ordered a Mercury v2 but it hasn’t arrived yet. Has anyone experimented with different PSUs yet? Is SQ impacted a lot by choice of power supply?

[chrisd552]

46 minutes ago, Riccitone said:

@Navin

Yeah, already went back and forth with Michael and Topping about I2s compatibility. Unfortunately, none of  the pinout options for the D70s are compatible (regardless of the settings). I was told to either use any of the other digital connections or get a different dac. Someone else on a similar thread at SBAF actually built a cable with a custom pinout connector to make the Mercury compatible with the D70s. Don’t really want to go that far.
 

If I’d known it would not have worked, I might have waited for the version 2 of the Mercury. But overall not a dealbreaker. Sounds SO good as is through coax that I’m not at all bothered by it. I’ll just wait until I upgrade my dac and make sure it will work with the next one. 
 

Regardless, very kind of you to reach out and help! I appreciate it. Really good to have a community like this to get the best out of our experience and share ideas 🙏🏼😊
 

 

I think you can wire it without much trouble at all. Its 4 pins I think. And a common problem is there is no cabling standard for I2S (I think the Mercury uses the PS Audio mapping). :)

[chrisd552]

On 12/27/2022 at 10:10 PM, Powerman said:

So looking at other ways to get cleanest front end, it was suggested to try Wi-Fi instead of wired to see if it's better and to use an extender. I just sort of assume wired is best... Is there any particular reason Wi-Fi would be worse than wired? I have broadband going straight to mercury. I don't have weak signal or drops or noise for anything. I think I have had both enabled for a while, but it has always used wired.

Generally speaking, ethernet runs experience less interference. Wifi is subject to greater network instability. And, activating wifi on the Mercury will mean more EMI right against the box. For these reasons I try to avoid wifi near audio devices or for streaming audio.