16-Jul-2017, 13:52
(This post was last modified: 16-Jul-2017, 20:48 by Hifi_swlon.)
Have given the digiOne a good thrashing today. Into spdif and AES (via BNC). Comparing mainly against Roon AIR (for convenience). Also tried my eBay 5v Linear in place of the stock supply.
I'm going to keep this summary short because time's short, but will come back and elaborate later if I have time.
There's not much separating any combination I tried to be honest.
I'd have to do it blind to get any further. For example, I kept thinking the bass depth/detail/impact from the digiOne via AES was better than Roon AIR. It's not quite as easy to compare like you can grouping sources, because AIR drops the transport when you change input, and as you can't group you have to try and get the tracks rolling in sync manually.
That said I just about managed, and after a couple of hours - when I was certain the digiOne had the edge because I was staring at Roon and the digiOne zone was displaying - I realised from the remote that actually it was the Ethernet input I was listening to! (Both were running at the same time). So a 'forced' blind test!
So I think there's a lot to be said for blind testing. I keep coming back to this thought with every cable/tweak I try these days, to the point where I think by and large cables etc are all the same. I think as humans we owe ourselves to acknowledge our weaknesses and limitations (or should we call it design?) and test everything todo with subtle sound changes blind.
Anyway, no time to do that today and I'd need a willing helper, but I think they are close enough to be called the same. I didn't detect any difference with the Linear PSU, or really between the spdif and AES (which of course isn't a true aes). I kept thinking AES was subtly easier on the ear too, but of course I've read a lot that says the same do could well just be drawing on that subconsciously.
I'm going to try and measure to see if the bass difference i hear is imagined. In my mind it's big enough to easily show up. Until then, I'd say the digiOne is very good value at £100! It was primarily for grouping the Devialet, and that works perfectly.
If anyone needs an spdif streamer, I can wholeheartedly recommend.
All based on my setup, room, ears obviously. YMMV.
(Sorry to turn this into a 'one man blog' btw)
I'm going to keep this summary short because time's short, but will come back and elaborate later if I have time.
There's not much separating any combination I tried to be honest.
I'd have to do it blind to get any further. For example, I kept thinking the bass depth/detail/impact from the digiOne via AES was better than Roon AIR. It's not quite as easy to compare like you can grouping sources, because AIR drops the transport when you change input, and as you can't group you have to try and get the tracks rolling in sync manually.
That said I just about managed, and after a couple of hours - when I was certain the digiOne had the edge because I was staring at Roon and the digiOne zone was displaying - I realised from the remote that actually it was the Ethernet input I was listening to! (Both were running at the same time). So a 'forced' blind test!
So I think there's a lot to be said for blind testing. I keep coming back to this thought with every cable/tweak I try these days, to the point where I think by and large cables etc are all the same. I think as humans we owe ourselves to acknowledge our weaknesses and limitations (or should we call it design?) and test everything todo with subtle sound changes blind.
Anyway, no time to do that today and I'd need a willing helper, but I think they are close enough to be called the same. I didn't detect any difference with the Linear PSU, or really between the spdif and AES (which of course isn't a true aes). I kept thinking AES was subtly easier on the ear too, but of course I've read a lot that says the same do could well just be drawing on that subconsciously.
I'm going to try and measure to see if the bass difference i hear is imagined. In my mind it's big enough to easily show up. Until then, I'd say the digiOne is very good value at £100! It was primarily for grouping the Devialet, and that works perfectly.
If anyone needs an spdif streamer, I can wholeheartedly recommend.
All based on my setup, room, ears obviously. YMMV.
(Sorry to turn this into a 'one man blog' btw)
>>> 1st Place Award: Devialet, last decades most disappointing technology purchase. <<<
