After very much deliberation and consideration of the options, I have been busy shopping this week. I have many things on order, now awaiting delivery:
Mutec REF10
SOtM sMS-200Ultra with Clock mod
SOtM tX-USBultra with Clock mod
SOtM sPS-500
SOtM modified Ethernet Switch
SOtM 'Y' Cable
RG216 clock cables, various lengths
To be honest, I am a little surprised at myself for going with this option! The Mutec REF10 was actually quite an easy decision, I have been very happy with the benefits to sound quality that the Mutec MC3+USB has brought to both the D800 and 1000Pro, so adding the REF10 should simply offer more of this goodness. I certainly hope it does, because it is not cheap, but it has been out for a while now and pretty much anyone who has tried one has reported positive results, including those that are using with a Devialet.
So, once the relatively easy decision to buy a REF10 was made, this lead to the question of what to replace the microRendu with. There is nothing wrong with the microRendu, but I know the MC3+USB is transparent to whatever feeds it, and I had to conclude that a REF10 / MC3+USB combination could benefit from something better. Narrowing down the options was also easy, I wanted an 'End Point' type solution rather than a 'music server', without going into all the reasons, this suits me perfectly. Also, I wanted something that was compatible with HQPlayer. Essentially this leaves products from three manufacturers, Sonore, SOtM and Antipodes. The Antipodes Edge was tempting, as this offers a 'USB free' solution as it can output coax S/PDIF. The ultraRendu was tempting also, I have been more than happy with the microRendu, good SQ and rock solid stable software, so why not simply get the more recent improved version? Then we have the SOtM options. The sMS-200Ultra is gaining a fine reputation, and from what I have read on the 'net is probably the best you can get for the money. I was though very puzzled by the tX-USBultra. The sMS-200Ultra is basically a device that turns Ethernet packet data into a USB feed, and so if it is so good at doing this, why does it then need another device to 'improve' the USB signal further. Seems bonkers to me! Anyway, this is something I have been looking into for a while, and what I have found is that it is probably better to consider the tX-USBultra as SOtM's 'jewel in the crown'. Based on the observations from others, including a few using one to feed a MC3+USB, putting the tX-USBultra in the chain produces useful improvements. Some people are using tX-USBultra's after £6k music servers and claiming big improvements. Bonkers maybe, but it does seem to work. Another bonkers thing about the SOtM kit is that good results are reported from many users adding high-quality external clocks. OK, there is nothing wrong with a having a good clock, low phase noise and all this good stuff, but this is asynchronous USB, so the device being fed USB is ultimately in control of clocking duties, there is no definitive technical explanation as to why these 'clock chains' should work. (although there are some theories) And don't get me started on adding a reference clock to an Ethernet switch, which is basically dealing with packet data.
Anyway, my conclusion was that the SOtM kit did offer all the functionality that I was after and despite my many reservations would probably offer the best sound quality. That said, I was still tempted to just get the REF10 and an ultraRendu and sit back and wait to see what SOtM might bring to the market next.
What ultimately happened was that I started making some enquiries as the cost of the SOtM kit with the clock mods etc. and was offered a very tempting deal for the SOtM kit as a package. After a day mulling this one over I decided it was too tempting and placed the order. It might just be worth the cost of admission just to try out this clock chaining stuff myself.
Another positive to this solution is that it is very modular, so a big spend today, but in the future it is unlikely that I will need to do a full change out of this kit. So if something significantly better than the MC3+USB appears, I can change just that item, and the same is true for all other components in the system.
I have started a new thread for this because what I am doing does not fully fit in any of the existing Mutec or SOtM threads, plus if I am honest I think this might be an interesting adventure and a dedicated thread is a useful reference and a good way to document any findings.
One last thought, I did manage to get someone to do some blind listening of Roon AIR versus the microRendu / Mutec. In summary, this was a case of running through a play list twice and then asking which was best, A or B. We did this, my blind tester concluded that there was not much in it, but asked to listen to one track again via both methods. After this, the conclusion was 'not much in it but if I had to choose I would go with B'. B was the mR Mutec. To put this into context, my blind tester is not an 'audiophile' but does have a passing interest in hifi, and all I can say is that you have tried blind testing yourself to know just how incredibly hard it is, listen sighted and the subtle differences between A and B can be clearly descerned, do it blind and the differences magically vanish. So I guess my target here is to get enough of an SQ improvement that I can drag my blind tester back, and the only just discerned differences with the mR/ Mutec turn into 'yes, A is clearly better' with the SOtM kit, otherwise it's £6k down the drain!
Wish me luck!
Mutec REF10
SOtM sMS-200Ultra with Clock mod
SOtM tX-USBultra with Clock mod
SOtM sPS-500
SOtM modified Ethernet Switch
SOtM 'Y' Cable
RG216 clock cables, various lengths
To be honest, I am a little surprised at myself for going with this option! The Mutec REF10 was actually quite an easy decision, I have been very happy with the benefits to sound quality that the Mutec MC3+USB has brought to both the D800 and 1000Pro, so adding the REF10 should simply offer more of this goodness. I certainly hope it does, because it is not cheap, but it has been out for a while now and pretty much anyone who has tried one has reported positive results, including those that are using with a Devialet.
So, once the relatively easy decision to buy a REF10 was made, this lead to the question of what to replace the microRendu with. There is nothing wrong with the microRendu, but I know the MC3+USB is transparent to whatever feeds it, and I had to conclude that a REF10 / MC3+USB combination could benefit from something better. Narrowing down the options was also easy, I wanted an 'End Point' type solution rather than a 'music server', without going into all the reasons, this suits me perfectly. Also, I wanted something that was compatible with HQPlayer. Essentially this leaves products from three manufacturers, Sonore, SOtM and Antipodes. The Antipodes Edge was tempting, as this offers a 'USB free' solution as it can output coax S/PDIF. The ultraRendu was tempting also, I have been more than happy with the microRendu, good SQ and rock solid stable software, so why not simply get the more recent improved version? Then we have the SOtM options. The sMS-200Ultra is gaining a fine reputation, and from what I have read on the 'net is probably the best you can get for the money. I was though very puzzled by the tX-USBultra. The sMS-200Ultra is basically a device that turns Ethernet packet data into a USB feed, and so if it is so good at doing this, why does it then need another device to 'improve' the USB signal further. Seems bonkers to me! Anyway, this is something I have been looking into for a while, and what I have found is that it is probably better to consider the tX-USBultra as SOtM's 'jewel in the crown'. Based on the observations from others, including a few using one to feed a MC3+USB, putting the tX-USBultra in the chain produces useful improvements. Some people are using tX-USBultra's after £6k music servers and claiming big improvements. Bonkers maybe, but it does seem to work. Another bonkers thing about the SOtM kit is that good results are reported from many users adding high-quality external clocks. OK, there is nothing wrong with a having a good clock, low phase noise and all this good stuff, but this is asynchronous USB, so the device being fed USB is ultimately in control of clocking duties, there is no definitive technical explanation as to why these 'clock chains' should work. (although there are some theories) And don't get me started on adding a reference clock to an Ethernet switch, which is basically dealing with packet data.
Anyway, my conclusion was that the SOtM kit did offer all the functionality that I was after and despite my many reservations would probably offer the best sound quality. That said, I was still tempted to just get the REF10 and an ultraRendu and sit back and wait to see what SOtM might bring to the market next.
What ultimately happened was that I started making some enquiries as the cost of the SOtM kit with the clock mods etc. and was offered a very tempting deal for the SOtM kit as a package. After a day mulling this one over I decided it was too tempting and placed the order. It might just be worth the cost of admission just to try out this clock chaining stuff myself.
Another positive to this solution is that it is very modular, so a big spend today, but in the future it is unlikely that I will need to do a full change out of this kit. So if something significantly better than the MC3+USB appears, I can change just that item, and the same is true for all other components in the system.
I have started a new thread for this because what I am doing does not fully fit in any of the existing Mutec or SOtM threads, plus if I am honest I think this might be an interesting adventure and a dedicated thread is a useful reference and a good way to document any findings.
One last thought, I did manage to get someone to do some blind listening of Roon AIR versus the microRendu / Mutec. In summary, this was a case of running through a play list twice and then asking which was best, A or B. We did this, my blind tester concluded that there was not much in it, but asked to listen to one track again via both methods. After this, the conclusion was 'not much in it but if I had to choose I would go with B'. B was the mR Mutec. To put this into context, my blind tester is not an 'audiophile' but does have a passing interest in hifi, and all I can say is that you have tried blind testing yourself to know just how incredibly hard it is, listen sighted and the subtle differences between A and B can be clearly descerned, do it blind and the differences magically vanish. So I guess my target here is to get enough of an SQ improvement that I can drag my blind tester back, and the only just discerned differences with the mR/ Mutec turn into 'yes, A is clearly better' with the SOtM kit, otherwise it's £6k down the drain!
Wish me luck!
1000 Pro - KEF Blade - iFi Zen Stream - Mutec REF10 - MC3+USB - Pro-Ject Signature 12
