SDTrans384 - amazing sound

[Music or sound]

I got 2 days ago a SDTrans384 which is a circuit board to play digital files stored on SD cards. An endless thread of its many iterations: http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/digital-s...oject.html. It allows to stream 384/32 or DSD256 via I2S which is great but useless for Devialet owners but also up to192/24 via SBDIF (BNC). The only file format for PCM is WAV (not enough computing power even to convert flac etc.) and all files have to be stored on SDHC cards. So once the files are transferred no computer/network etc is in play. The UI is extremely minimal: select folder or file: forward or back and play or stop - not even an on/off switch. 

So why I am excited about such a primitive machine? The best sound I ever heard from my D250. Just everything much better than I heard from my CD-transports, computers in all permutations or other servers at dealers. Highs to lows are just realistic, very stable imaging, rhythmically correct. Very high resolution and extremely low noise allows to appreciate details I never heard before especially I like the decay of instruments which is really natural.

I just used the naked board and 4 batteries as a 5V power supply. So I have to make some improvements: A case to start, a better BNC to RCA cable, 5V power supply. One could get wild and get even better clock etc. but that may be not so necessary.

Obviously such player is very limited: no streaming high res from Tidal, Qobuz etc. not a entire library can fit on a single SD card but then one does not have to fight with softwares like AIR, figure out network problems  and has to deal only with a single cable.

I also wonder how the sound quality compares to the best steamers like Totaldac, top Aurenders, MelcoN1Z and there will be more coming but especially considering these prices I can wait until that market matures little more.

[PhilP]

Well, you can already buy a 512GB SD card from Sandisk which can hold 1000+ albums of 16 bit uncompressed FLAC and the 1TB version is apparently not far off.

It has always baffled me why it is "necessary" to spend thousands of pounds/dollars getting music files from a storage device to a DAC or Devialet. It's surely an extremely straightforward task - isn't it?

Perhaps a simple solution like the one you describe is the way forward - solid state, batteries etc.  The main downside would seem to be the UI - it would be nice to able to make use of tags, display cover art etc. Maybe some clever person will write some s/w to do that...

[hk6230]

Well, you can already buy a 512GB SD card from Sandisk which can hold 1000+ albums of 16 bit uncompressed FLAC and the 1TB version is apparently not far off.

It has always baffled me why it is "necessary" to spend thousands of pounds/dollars getting music files from a storage device to a DAC or Devialet. It's surely an extremely straightforward task - isn't it?

Perhaps a simple solution like the one you describe is the way forward - solid state, batteries etc.  The main downside would seem to be the UI - it would be nice to able to make use of tags, display cover art etc. Maybe some clever person will write some s/w to do that...

I totally agree with you. But I'm sure they are people who just want the highest priced gears in their system and believing that anything priced lower than 1000 is not audiophile-grade equipment. Well, to each its own. Who knows, if I strike a multi-million lottery, I may just buy the most expensive system, too.

For now, I'm satisfied with my PC, Sonos and Bluesound as sources.

[Music or sound]

Well, you can already buy a 512GB SD card from Sandisk which can hold 1000+ albums of 16 bit uncompressed FLAC and the 1TB version is apparently not far off.

It has always baffled me why it is "necessary" to spend thousands of pounds/dollars getting music files from a storage device to a DAC or Devialet. It's surely an extremely straightforward task - isn't it?

Perhaps a simple solution like the one you describe is the way forward - solid state, batteries etc.  The main downside would seem to be the UI - it would be nice to able to make use of tags, display cover art etc. Maybe some clever person will write some s/w to do that...

Well that solution is more simple: only SD or SDHC cards so 32 GB maximum. Also it would be difficult which such simple UI to find anything out of 1000 albums. So I think it is more like a CD box issue put in a small card (40 albums max). I have also an Astell&Kern AK120 which uses micro SD(XC) cards and has a much better screen/UI but still scrolling through a list so I am comfortable to use it with 100 to 200 of albums but not a hole library. It also can stream to my D250 via optical but can not compare to the sound quality of the SDTrans at all. Part of it is also the inferior optical input on the D250

[pete86]

Do you find the sound quality is worth the inconvenience? Have you compared it to using a computer and AIR or USB?

[Music or sound]

Do you find the sound quality is worth the inconvenience?  Have you compared it to using a computer and AIR or USB?

I have used my Macbook Pro with AIR via wifi or ethernet (gave up on that because of too many problems now) and I am using my computer with presently with Audirvana Plus 2.0 via USB which sounds slightly better than AIR did. SDtrans sounds much better than that or any CD transport just more detail, better timbre, stable soundstage, just every aspect more real. Obviously it is limited and inconvenient: No Streamng from the internet and one needs to convert to wav and put it on a SDHC card but presently that how I listen to most music!