Aqua LinQ network streamer experiences

[Markus8]

3 hours ago, AudioDoctor said:

 

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

Not one into the other. Holo Red vs LinQ

[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...

[Miska]

3 hours ago, AudioDoctor said:

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...

 

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.

 

[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.

[skids929]

On 1/24/2024 at 2:32 AM, AudioDoctor said:

 

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.

 

 

read through the entire thread, thanks for the info based on your experiences. My question is, is the support with Aqua less than stellar? Two people here seem to share the same opinion and I am about to audition and hopefully purchase a La Scala dac. I do expect the company to not be snotty when I spend this kind of dough..Far too many other choices for this type of service.