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Antipodes
#1
This isn't a plug for Antipodes, which I use (the DX), but a means of illustrating how one manufacturer tries to explain technical mysteries and their correlation to sound quality.

Background: 

The DX has been Antipodes single high end unit for some time. It is a single box combining server, renderer, power supply, storage (user installable) and ripper. Whilst maintaining the DX as a single box product, Antipodes has now also put some of these functions into separate boxes which together are about the same shape as the DX but put together are around 10% wider and 33% taller. 

So there is the CX (which can be a server and renderer but acts optimally as a server), the EX (which can be a server and renderer but acts optimally as a renderer), the ultra-slim P1 (which is the ripper) and the ultra-slim P2 (which is the reclocker and yet to be released). Storage on the CX or EX is 0TB - 8TB in 2TB steps, SSD or HDD. 

Here's what the manufacturer said about sound quality:

Audio Performance Differences


We are often asked which model sounds best and how the sound differs. We have tried here to describe the hierarchy. However in blind tests, the results are unanimous in only one thing - the superiority of the CX+EX solution. While the majority put the hierarchy for the other units as CX, DX, EX, each of them has its proponents. For example, the EX is favoured by those that like musical life and verve. The EX may be the least expensive of the trio, but its design means it does some things better than the other two. The CX is favoured by those that like refinement and fullness. The DX is favoured by those that like a sense of ease. These are not night and day differences, but you asked.

The main reasons for the sound quality differences are these. Using a single computing device to perform both server and renderer functions has economic benefits in that you only need to make one high quality device, and this will sound better than using two separate low-quality devices (one for the server and one for the renderer). But to push beyond that performance level, it becomes worthwhile to begin insulating the running of the renderer app from the server app, and this can be done in a number of ways. This concept of providing isolation to the renderer function drives the differences in the audio performance levels of the models. The size of the performance level differences is arguably small, but in higher resolving systems the differences become very obvious and significant. A deliberate benefit of our approach is that you can start with say an EX or CX and upgrade later to the CX+EX solution without needing to sell anything.
  • The EX is designed to the same specification level as the rest of the X-Series except that it provides the least separation between the running of the server app and the renderer app.

  • Note A.1 - The DX improves on the EX because it provides separation of the power supplies running the two functions, but it uses the older ODAPS1 power supply technology.

  • The CX improves on the DX and EX by providing a lot more server app headroom with its high power V4H platform. But note that it does not use the power supply separation used in the DX.

  • The CX+EX solution is a dramatic improvement on the other models because it completely separates the running of the server app and the renderer app. In this context, because it is running just the renderer app, the EX audio performance is unhindered and there is no need to use a CX or DX instead of the EX. In fact the EX has the best renderer performance of the three. So using the CX as the server and the EX as the renderer is the best sounding solution (needs a good quality short Ethernet cable to connect them).
Even I can understand it.
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 Dialog/Phantom Gold/Tree pair
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#2
Damn, looks like you need an upgrade the the CX+EX. Angel Wink

>>> 1st Place Award: Devialet, last decades most disappointing technology purchase.  <<<

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#3
@IanG-UK

I had a DS with HDD, but managed to agree an upgrade to a CORE in January. Shipped my DS back to Antipodes early February and have been waiting for the new OS to come out before they shipped it (been over 3 months) so gave Mark a call (Antipodes owner for those who don’t know). After a good chat he offered an upgrade from the CORE to a CX (the new CORE was still at Antipodes factory in NZ so hadn’t been shipped). Jumped at the chance of the upgrade to CX.

Mark was off to High-End Munich show last week, so won’t be shipped until he returns to NZ (probably next week).

Going from a DS with HDD to a CX with SSD, can’t wait!!!  Big Grin
1000Pro (Matte Black), Lenehan Audio ML5 Reference's, FoilTek Speaker Cable's, Paradigm Sub1, Entreq Poseidon, Antipodes CX, Roon (Lifetime), Curious Cable USB, Aqvox Switch, Gigawatt PC-3 Evo Se, Mad Scientist Link Cable (RCA/AES), PSC Power Cords

Australia (Perth)
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#4
(15-May-2018, 11:46)Celts88 Wrote: @IanG-UK

I had a DS with HDD, but managed to agree an upgrade to a CORE in January. Shipped my DS back to Antipodes early February and have been waiting for the new OS to come out before they shipped it (been over 3 months) so gave Mark a call (Antipodes owner for those who don’t know). After a good chat he offered an upgrade from the CORE to a CX (the new CORE was still at Antipodes factory in NZ so hadn’t been shipped). Jumped at the chance of the upgrade to CX.

Mark was off to High-End Munich show last week, so won’t be shipped until he returns to NZ (probably next week).

Going from a DS with HDD to a CX with SSD, can’t wait!!!  Big Grin

Damn, I wish you hadn't posted this! I want to hear a report on how the CX works with a Devialet. I'm running a DS with HDD and loving it but I've been looking at the info on the CX and starting to feel an urge to upgrade. Please let us know what you think of the CX when you get it. The DS is nice but I think the possibility of running a direct ethernet connection to the Devialet rather than needing to connect both through a network switch might be quite a step forward.
Roon Nucleus+, Devilalet Expert 140 Pro CI, Focal Sopra 2, PS Audio P12, Keces P8 LPS, Uptone Audio EtherREGEN with optical fibre link to my router, Shunyata Alpha NR and Sigma NR power cables, Shunyata Sigma ethernet cables, Shunyata Alpha V2 speaker cables, Grand Prix Audio Monaco rack, RealTRAPS acoustic treatment.

Brisbane, Qld, Australia
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#5
(15-May-2018, 11:46)Celts88 Wrote: @IanG-UK

I had a DS with HDD, but managed to agree an upgrade to a CORE in January. Shipped my DS back to Antipodes early February and have been waiting for the new OS to come out before they shipped it (been over 3 months) so gave Mark a call (Antipodes owner for those who don’t know). After a good chat he offered an upgrade from the CORE to a CX (the new CORE was still at Antipodes factory in NZ so hadn’t been shipped). Jumped at the chance of the upgrade to CX.

Mark was off to High-End Munich show last week, so won’t be shipped until he returns to NZ (probably next week).

Going from a DS with HDD to a CX with SSD, can’t wait!!!  Big Grin

Hi - I had a word with Mark in Munich as he had a shared small room at the show. Really nice guy and easy to understand.

I got my DX with SSD 2TB in March 2015 and Mark set it up for me remotely from NZ whilst I was sleeping (in UK). The upgrade to DX2 was done by his agent here and cost £270 which seemed pretty reasonably given that the DX cost £4,800.

You can still update the DX to current format but I think you've done splendidly to get the CX on the terms you have. 

If at some point you want his best possible offering (and in his estimation the CX is ahead of the DX and EX) then you just add an EX to make the "CX+EX". This package of CX, EX, P1 and P2, with variable storage, is a clever design as even if you buy the whole lot it fits together in not much more space than the all-in-one DX. So you can start at £5.2k with EX with 2TB SSD and add on the extra bits in any order to eventually spend c.£13.6k with CX, EX, P1, P2, 4TB SSD and no trade in losses.

His website is a model for those who like lots of questions answered in a way which is intelligible for non-specialists like me. And the self-contained Roon proposition is likewise attractive. 

I'm confident you'll be happy with what he does.
Innuos Statement 2TB SSD with Next-Gen PSU (with Roon lifetime)
MacBook Pro (with Air)
Draytek Vigor 2860v-Plus/Devialet Original d'Atelier CI Nos. 54A&B/Magico M3 pair
Shunyata cables (digital/interconnect/loudspeaker/power)/Shunyata power units (Triton/Typhon)

 Dialog/Phantom Gold/Tree pair
Missing Link cables (power)
England
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#6
Very nice and elegant offering explained in clear English.

I like the modularity of it too. 

Guillaume
Industry disclosure: UK distributor for Shunyata Research

220 PRO, totaldac d1 server with additional external power supply, totaldac d1-seven, Echole PSU for Totaldac, Wilson Audio Sasha 2, Shunyata Research cables, Shunyata Hydra Alpha A10 + DPC-6 v3, Various Entreq ground boxes and cables, Entreq Athena level 3 rack, 2 X SOtM sNH-10G with sCLK-EX + 10MHz Master Clock input + sPS-500 PSU, i5 sonicTransporter w/ 1TB SSD

UK
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