Speed Racer

Actually, I got if from Fox News.....

Sad. "We don't like what you say therefore we aren't going to allow you to say it." Snowflakes....

Okay...and where did we go off topic?

What's not on topic?

I am with @mourip, Yggdrasil sounded fine right away. It was never harsh. It just got better and better as it burned in. I would leave it on all the time and just play music. It will be burned in fully before you know it and will sound quite nice indeed.

Or a better preamp..or amp....or speakers!

PS Audio DirectStream DAC Don Sachs Model 2 line stage

Have you listened using something that bypasses USB completely? Or an ultraRendu or sMS-200ultra? Using USB from a server means you get no galvanic isolation from that server.

https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/does-your-studio-need-digital-master-clock http://pinknoisemag.com/pink-papers/pink-paper-002 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoKqnBJN8iQ

Unlikely. What makes you think that the USB from such a server is going to be all that great? Ethernet to an endpoint with I2S output to a DAC with I2S input should be easily better.

https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/does-your-studio-need-digital-master-clock http://pinknoisemag.com/pink-papers/pink-paper-002 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoKqnBJN8iQ

https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/does-your-studio-need-digital-master-clock http://pinknoisemag.com/pink-papers/pink-paper-002 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoKqnBJN8iQ

From the "Conclusions" section of the article: "Overall, it should be clear from these tests that employing an external master clock cannot and will not improve the sound quality of a digital audio system." Add that to the video I posted and the other article that another person posted, all saying the same thing, and you would think someone would listen.

For the endpoint, yes it matters. For the server, no it doesn’t unless the server is also the endpoint (not my idea of a good idea).

The Raspberry Pi is much more general purpose than the ultraRendu, has more noise generating components, and is certainly going to be noiser based on how the boards and components are placed. But hey, you think what you want......