AudioLinux NUC

[Confused]

@mmorrison55 Not sure how you listen to music but simplistically I had ROON (Core) on a laptop that sent music to a SOtM 200 Ultra (Endpoint) that then passed it on to the Devialet. I started with 1 NUC that replaced my SOtM 200Ultra and then, based on the nice sound improvement, added (a few weeks later) a second NUC that replaced my laptop. Having 1 NUC does not mean you have to have the other. For sound quality it is recommended to separate these two functions. Does that make sense? 

@Confused I'll be curious to hear your thoughts on the USB input. On the relative costs issue, I wasn't trying to put you on the spot, just wanted to be clear these are not 'inexpensive'. But you explained it well.

Dan

Yesterday I had a couple of hours "quiet time" with my system, so I tried the sMS-200Ultra direct via USB.  That was the plan, anyway.  It was a case of whatever could go wrong did go wrong!  At first, I tried the sMS-200Ultra and tXUSBultra via USB, and I just could not get it to work.  Initially, the problem was just cable swapping, a quirk of my rack layout and the spaghetti cabling makes it very difficult to remove the USB cable from the Mutec MC3+USB, and then you have probably inadvertently removed cables from the SOtM kit.  (the USB sockets on the SOtM kit are a bit flimsy and do not hold the cables firmly)  After that, the frustrating problem of everything set up as it should be but no sound.  I am still not sure what the issue was, something to do with either Eunhasu or HQPlayer / Roon not seeing the unit.  Much trial and error, rebooting etc. and I got it to work with just the sMS-200Ultra.  By this time I was a little angry and frustrated at the time I had wasted, but I did sit down to listen, albeit not in a good frame of mind.  I then had another go at getting it to work with the tx-USBUltra in the chain, again, for reasons not fully understood this did not work, but eventually did.  I came up with some observations and wanted to switch back to the MC3+USB to compare, this time locking out Eunhasu, which could not pick up the sMS-200 at all.  Even a complete reboot of the PC and the sMS-200Ultra did not solve this.  I thought I had junked the sMS-200ultra, and I even tried the getting it back to life with the old SD card/firmware that I had, which did not work.  I eventually solved this by running Eunhasu via Chrome, rather than Edge, all very odd.  So that went well!  Anyway, I listened long enough to establish that the SOtM kit does sound excellent via USB, so my old reservations with the Expert USB input (mainly bass accuracy) are gone now I am running a Pro.  Not exactly conclusive though, all of this hassle put me in the wrong frame of mind for this kind of listening.  I have some thoughts though, I think this test would be a lot easier if I had an additional USB cable, so I could just swap the output cable at the SOtM end.  I might treat myself to a Lush 2, which I consider to be part audiofoolery, and part good science, due to it's "JSGG 360" shielding.  It is expensive though, if anyone has any top recommendations for a £100 1m USB cable, let me know.  (I am using Audioquest Carbon at the moment)  My last thought is that I should wait until I have the SR4 power supplies before I try this again.  If I want to give USB it's best chance, then it would be best to have the best possible power for the SOtM kit.

Initial thoughts, maybe a touch more bass, a bit fuller via USB, in a good way.  There was maybe a bit of upper-mid digital hash via USB that I had not noticed via the MC3+USB, but mindful of how this particular test went, I am really not sure.  I can say that I heard enough to be convinced that using the Pro via USB has great potential, any reservations I had with the Expert via USB are gone.  To be continued, I guess.