totaldac D1 server

[Kunter]

Last night I changed the firmware on my d1 server. I had previously installed a version that supports MPD, UPnP, Airplay etc

It's a bit of a faff since you need to remove a fiddly little micro SD card from the back of the unit and using an adapter burn an image of the operating system on the card which is 16 gigabytes!

Anyway I installed the version that is for MPAD only and according to Vincent sounds better, since everything is optimised to give the best possible sound quality with pre-loading of tracks. In Vincent's own words it is "very focused on very resolving and balanced systems".

Oh my goodness! I couldn't quite believe the improvement. I listened to the same album before and after I made the change. The album was Stacey Kent - The Changing Lights, in 24/41.1

The improvement was unmistakable. Stacey Kent's voice just sounded more natural and "in the room". It's like the focus sharpened and there was a better sense of where the instruments were in the room.

When you think you've done just about everything to optimise your system and an improvement like this comes along unexpectedly it certainly puts a smile on your face!    Think I'll be sticking with this version for the time being.

Guillaume

Glad to hear that... 

I have been experimenting on software related stuff on the cubox and the change they bring is quite amazing.

Currently settled down on Volumio, which has the latest version of MPD, and you can turn off pretty much anything else... But I would believe this shoud be improvable as well...

On a sadder note, while playing around with different power supplies, I bricked my cubox. Totally my fault. New one is on its way.

In the mean time I am playing around with a different version of small pc's, a CubieTruck... Similar to Cubox, with some pluses and some minuses. Sounds pretty good though... I will post updates as I have more to say. 

Cheers

Kunter