Aqua LinQ network streamer experiences

[AudioDoctor]

19 hours ago, Designsfx said:

but some are telling me the lack of interface makes for clumsy operations.

 

I am not quite sure how someone comes to that conclusion as you don't need to interface with it at all as it is strictly an endpoint for other software which you do interact with.

[AudioDoctor]

5 hours ago, Designsfx said:

@AudioDoctor

I’ve heard this from 2 others and just making notes as I’ve never used the LinQ- which is why I’m seeking opinions.

I do know this came from hardcore Roon users- maybe had something to do with interfacing with that?

I know some become very comfortable with the interface offered- like Roon, Sense, Lumins app and others. I’m not surprised that the Aqua doesn’t have its own as it’s the only product of its kind in their lineup.

 

The LInQ is, functionally, no different than a Raspberry Pi4 acting as a network audio endpoint. It doesn't need an interface. The only thing you can do with what functionality it has is get its IP address if you need to and it's not auto discovered by whatever software you're using. It essentially has no interface. So I am still lost as to what kind of interface those people were expecting.

 

edit: Yes, I had one for a while.

[AudioDoctor]

9 minutes ago, barbz said:

For me the linq was set and forget.

 

It took a moment to read the up address off the screen on the linq and add it to roons settings under hqplayer and then you never had to touch the linq again.

 

 

 

Right.

 

Roon, as much as I dislike it, is dead simple to interface with HQPlayer whether it's in the LinQ or not.

[AudioDoctor]

2 hours ago, Designsfx said:

@AudioDoctor

So interface question aside- can you share with me what you liked (for a short time) and disliked about it? We’re you using it in combination with an Aqua dac or another brand? 
Of the responders so far each has moved away from it. This is the kind of information that matters most.

I can understand @barbz situation as the unit was being compared directly to another streamer (which was superior). 
Honestly I’ve only found 4 people (outside of this forum) that have purchased a LinQ. Two use the streamer mated with an Aqua dac, one tried it on loan and decided not to purchase and another purchased and sold to move into a Grimm Audio unit. Makes me wonder if there would actually be a difference between it and what I currently have.

 

Sure. I liked it a lot. What I didn't like was that it only did DSD via DOP and was limited to DSD128. I was not using an Aqua DAC. I sent an email to Aqua inquiring about any future plans to update it and received a snotty reply about not following market trends and fashions of the day despite the fact that their very own Formula DAC accepts higher rate native DSD and PCM.

 

So I sold it.

[AudioDoctor]

19 hours ago, dericchan1 said:

My friend has a Aqua La Scala Dac and had taken a free home trial of a LinQ from a dealer (whom he bought the la Scala dac from).

For three days, three of us (along with another buddy of his) compared the LinQ as a streamer (not a HQP NAA) with a Raspberry PI4 as a HQP NAA (I know it’s not an apple to apple comparison as we did not use the LinQ as a NAA) mainly streaming our local playlist. All three of us concluded the raspberry pi set up sounded better and my friend returned the LinQ on the fourth day and went on to order a raspberry pi 4 and an intona usb isolator and a hqplayer license

 

That's interesting. As an NAA in my set up it definitely beat a Raspberry Pi4.

[AudioDoctor]

6 minutes ago, dericchan1 said:

My friend has a all tube - preamp, mono amp set up with horn speakers, the rpi4 with the intona usb out to La Scala dac upsampling everything to pcm 24/384 are significantly cleaner sounding than using the LinQ as a streamer, not even close.

 

Deric

 

That's very interesting. 

 

edit: What was doing the upsampling in each case?

[AudioDoctor]

8 minutes ago, Designsfx said:

@AudioDoctor

Thanks for that- I’ve been the beneficiary of a couple of those emails as well! 😉

As my playback consists of all ripped CD I wouldn’t have the need for higher sampling ability. 
What product did you find that ultimately met your requirements?

 

I continued to use the Sonora Signature Rendu SE to USB in on my DAC.

[AudioDoctor]

1 hour ago, Designsfx said:

@AudioDoctor

Interesting- the second person today that has brought Sonore into the picture! I was just in another thread earlier regarding the Lumin X1 and although the owner is moving forward with it in his system he’s also keeping his Optical Rendu/Musetec Dac pairing. He has described that combo as having more warmth than the Lumin (I find my Lumin to be a little bright as well).

Which Dac make/topology do you prefer- R2R/FPGA or Chip based?

 

Well, normally I would say that I prefer R2R/Multibit DACs to Delta/Sigma based DACs, but I think my current DAC has a Delta/Sigma chip inside it.  It also has custom firmware, software, and an Arduino that does something, to make the chip work in the way the DAC designer wants it to. So I guess it comes down to implementation of the whole in my case.

[AudioDoctor]

On 1/22/2024 at 11:56 AM, Markus8 said:

Has anyone compared a Holo Audio Red with NAA to LinQ with NAA module?

 

Those are both network endpoints, why would you plug one into the other?

[AudioDoctor]

1 hour ago, Markus8 said:

Not one into the other. Holo Red vs LinQ

 

Oh, that makes a lot more sense. I havent done a direct comparison, but my suspicion is that the LinQ is far better.

 

edit 1: I have heard the LinQ, had one here in my house, it is amazing. It doesn't output anything higher than DSD128 though. If that's not a problem for you then that's by far going to be the best endpoint short of a Sonore Signature Rendu SE Optical.

 

edit 2: It's so good infact, I considered only upsampling PCM to 384Khz...

[AudioDoctor]

30 minutes ago, Miska said:

 

384k PCM and DSD128 is only through the Aqua's own I2S-type interface to their own DACs. To any third party DACs you need to use S/PDIF or AES/EBU and thus are restricted to max 192/24 PCM or DSD64 (through DoP).

 

Holo Red can do max 768/32 PCM and DSD512 through it's I2S output and max 1.5M/32 PCM and DSD1024 through it's USB output. Naturally S/PDIF and AES/EBU outputs on Red are equally restricted to max 192/24 PCM or DSD64.

 

 

Oh wow, I did not know that... holy crap. I could never get a straight answer from them about whether or not the DSD was being converted to PCM for the R2R conversion, coupled with the snotty attitude they displayed in every interaction, I moved on from them, but holy cow, they need to make that more clear.

 

edit: It did sound amazing though.

 

edit 2: The i2s interface also worked with the Lampizator Pacific as that is the DAC I used and had the LAN input re-wired to the Aqua LinQ specs. Lampizator has now removed the LAN input on the Pacific however.