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My E30 arrived a little while ago and I've been playing random stuff with it and so far I'm impressed. It pulls more details out of the music and the bass is rock solid. I've played 24/96 from Qobuz and it sounds great. I'm using it from my iMac with Audirvana and DLNA to my Raspberry Pi running Volumio, out from one of the USB ports, with another USB port being used for power. I'll try other combinations over time since there are a lot of ways to do this. It is in my main system with 99.9999% silver rca's running to my Aikido pre and then to my 6B4G PP amp, and speakers are DIY Proac 2.5 clones. Preliminary impression is that it is better than the Allo Boss. I know that's a low bar but I found it to be pretty good.One problem I encountered is when attempting to play DSD256. I have some samplers at that rate and it wouldn't play. DSD128 did play though, as did DSD64. I set Volumio to DoP and then it worked. I also had to up the buffering because the default couldn't handle it either. It worked and sounded great. It's a shame nobody streams DSD. The E30 recognized it all at the proper rate.
I'll figure out how to do a shootout with the Boss, my iFi and my Hifiberry DACs. And I'll also try it on my computer system with my Lance speakers, which are surprisingly revealing. And one last thing I'd like to try but probably not during the pandemic is against a high priced DAC like the Mytek Brooklyn or some such.
Edits: 08/07/20Follow Ups:
It just occurred to me that my battery has 2 USB ports for power, so instead of taking power from the RPi I can take power from the battery for the E30. It resulted in a slightly darker background, but it could also be that I'm listening for that.
I'm going to do another change unrelated to the E30 now too. I'm going to swap in 6N6P USSR tubes for 6DJ8. I've used these before in my amp but I took them out 4-5 months ago when I was trying to change the power tubes from 6B4G to 300B, but that just didn't work. It would have stressed the filament windings to use both 6N6P and 300B. As it is I'm pushing it.
If you're 'Putzing around with Tweaking', the main thing you need to do is get a Model 4, where a 'Black' background won't be imagined. It's common knowledge that the Model 3 had problems with outputting from the USB port.This is the reason that Allo came up with a 'USB Bridge' for the Model 3 at the price of $239 ! -- From their website:
"USBridge Sig was build using RPI compute module so from a software point of view, this will give you access to the latest kernels (way ahead of any competitor). The focus of the device is to lower the noise on USB bus. We chose an excellent USB hub IC (TI) and a separated Ethernet to USB Ic (Axis).
To lower the noise of the USB, we had to lower noise on EACH rail. In total, USBridge Sig uses more than 30 LDOs. Even the SD card power rail has a dedicated LDO. There are zero switching elements on board."
Edits: 08/11/20 08/11/20 08/11/20
I hear what you are saying, but I'm first trying what I have. In time I'll get a 4. Changing the tubes in my amp had much more of an impact than anything I've done with my DACs. It is an immediate and obvious change when I swapped the tubes. The whole voicing of the system was changed, and I actually changed it back after playing a few songs. With the E30 in the mix the presentation is so coherent, and the tube change took that away.
How did the E30 fare against the ifi nano? My preference is a reclocked Scott Nixon NOS dac which doesn't do hi-rez. I'll take musicality over detail so if the E30 wasn't more musical then the ifi it wouldn't be for me.
I don't like my nano, so maybe that answers the question. I use the nano in my desktop system because it doesn't deserve a place anywhere else. When I swapped in the E30 though I couldn't say I heard anything different. It's been a busy few days so I've only really listened off and on, and usually there was something else going on, plus it is hot in NYC and that means the AC is on which produces its own background noise.
Yes the nano like my NOS dac are very smooth and not something I would use with tubes. With a SS amp it works much better and brings a balance to my system without having to break the bank.
I would say that the E30 is a better sounding DAC for less money. It is also a lot less fussy than the Nano, plus it has a display that actually tells you something. I don't quite understand what the use of the led is on the nano if it doesn't distinguish between 16/44 and hi-res.
I have two iFi products and I'm not happy with either of them. The other is the iPower, which is overrated as a "better" switching supply. It just make the sound harsh IMHO. It has sat in its box for a long time now. I don't even use it to power my non-audio devices.
I picked up an E30 not quite a week ago and also have been very impressed with it. No question for me that it is replacing the built-in DAC on my Bel Canto C5i. The E30 is an excellent sounding DAC, and even more impressive considering the price. It shows one doesn't need a mega-budget to get a good sounding system.
I really like mine too. It sounds great and a bargain at $130! Looks pretty nice too with a useful sample rate display.
So much for your dacs can respond to vibration control response.
Cut to razor sounding violins
The beastly heavy integrated amp is well dampened for vibration and it follows that the DAC on top is too. In fact, it is so well controlled that this $600 DAC now sounds like a $6000 unit! It's freakn' amazing.
I thought like that once. On my headphone system I didn't pay attention to vibration because its a headphone system. Big mistake and treating every component with simple in expensive footers made a huge improvement where I thought I couldn't without buying new gear. Heck I dynamated my Pass x150 which is probably heavier than the one in your photo. It had huge rubber feet like tennis ball size too. Damn if it didn't sound better when placed on a sand box. Vibration is real.
Good luck Abe
Cut to razor sounding violins
Yes, vibration is real. The severity of its effect and the 'cure' are often imaginary.I imagine I done it right. It now sounds like a $6000 DAC!
Crap, maybe not. I forgot the sandbox. In fairness to vibration control it's more applicable in other areas like turntables.
Edits: 08/10/20
I put sorbothane domes under my amp and would swear it sounded better. But when I went to do a mod on the amp one of the domes came off and disappeared into the ether, so I had to remove the other three. I would swear it sounded better without them.
The Placebo effect is also Real!
Yep and it can go both ways. Especially if you never try anything.
No idea why you guys are so negative.
Its like you think people just hear incredible improvements all the time because they read things on the internet and spend money so somehow they imagine things to convince themselves.
Several things have not made any difference and some have- its why its important to listen and listen...
Cut to razor sounding violins
Abe, your setups all look so neat, mine so messy.
so long as they are neatly presented and don't touch any others. :)
Thanks! But the key is to clear only the clutter near the equipment being photographed, then zoom in for close-ups and not show the surrounding mess! That's my office setup. The basement is a total disaster right now !
My setup is also really messy. It's kinda funny, when all equipment was big you could stack it all as it was all mostly the same size and the only way to make it fit. Now I've got all these little boxes scattered around, and my tube gear doesn't stack either. And all these little boxes still need cables, which no longer are out of sight behind the stack.
When I designed this Audio Room in my Basement, I allowed for the hiding of all cables and Cords inside the Cabinet. And the long interconnects run along the Floor on the Cabinet Base. No Cables are visible at all. And as far as 'small boxes', I had some acrylic bases made for stacking these as well.
But, then I've never had a house which had a room that I could take over for my sole use. I've always had to share whatever room my stereo was in with others in the household. But, I'm still lucky in that all of those rooms I have used have given me good sound, so I can't complain too much!
Well, I know that won't be happening in my house any time soon. It took us 27 years to decide to remodel the kitchen, and even then it wasn't a real redesign, just modernizing the old layout. We had talked about tearing down walls, moving the plumbing, putting in glass doors to the backyard, and never did any of it.
Is that I did not have to tear down any Walls or deal with any Plumbing. I had a large blank wall that was easily accessible from the Back Storage Room. All I had to move was a thermostat and some Furnace Return Duct work.
I did the electrical work myself after I had the Blueprints drawn up by the Wood Shop. So, the project only took about 4 months from meeting with the designers at the Woodshop to Completion.
The Cabinet People were at my house only 3 Days, as they brought the Completed Cabinets in 5 pieces. This also included some Crown Molding that I added to encircle the entire Great Room in the Basement.
The electrical work that I did included adding a Dedicated Sub Panel with Dedicated Circuits for the Audio Gear and a dedicated circuit for the Audio Lighting. Also added about a dozen outlets in the Cabinetry, all with Hospital Grade outlets. It was a good winter project.
I've been just running through a lot of music on Qobuz and everything sounds great, much better than the Allo Boss ever did. I've mostly stuck to hi-res. It makes me wonder if I plugged my Oppo-93 into it if it would make CD sound better. I gave up on CD a few years ago and went back to vinyl before I discovered hi-res streaming. I can't remember the last time I put a CD on. Besides, my collection was truly boring. That might also free up an input to my preamp come to think of it as my Outlaw POS decodes the TV. Not sure if it comes out as Dolby Digital or some such or just PCM.
I believe you mentioned that you were running a USB out of your Rpi into the E30. Did you upgrade to a Rpi Model 4 ? --- If not, you should, as the USB out of a Rpi Model 3 will be subject to drops outs, as well as a lot of noise as the Ethernet and USB are on the same 'rail' together.
You can get an RPi Model 4 with 2GB for around $45, if you haven't already done so.
No, still on the 3B. I'm not having any dropouts though. I was playing 24/384 and DSD256 just now and everything came through just fine. I'm not using the wired ethernet either, just the wifi, and it is battery powered. I don't know if that would eliminate any internal noise generated. I think I get more background noise from the AC that is running in my upstairs bedroom than I can hear from the system.I was curious about the RPi4 though, but I already have more Pi's than I need.
One question I have though is that one of the tracks showed up as wave 32/384 but played at 24/384. I thought the E30 could handle 32 bits, but maybe not some other part of my chain? I'm using DLNA and maybe that is limited, or the RPi itself is limited? Something is. I'll have to direct connect it again to my iMac to see if I can get 32 bit to play. It isn't important though, I only have the one track and there isn't much out there except some demos.
And one other thing too, DSD256 sounds incredible. It just sounds "right".
Edits: 08/09/20 08/09/20
In truth, you need about 20 good bits to provide all the dynamic range found on recordings. 24 is simply the next convenient data size.
I cannot think of any studio that finds the need to record in 32 bits. Converting 24 bit content to 32 bits just pads the data stream.
That wasn't the point. Regardless of whether it is necessary or needed, I do have one recording done in 32 bit, and when I played it I only got 24 bits at the DAC. In any case though I figured it out. Audirvana's setting was to only go to 24 bits and I changed it to 32 and all is well and I get 32 bits at the DAC. Does it make a difference? I don't know but it sure sounded good that way.I have a few DSD256 tracks and these all sound superb, the most realistic presentation of anything I have. It really does make a difference. 32/384 could be the same in that tracks recorded that way will sound realistic. 16/44.1 does NOT sound realistic to me, it didn't in 1986 and it doesn't now either, even on a DAC that sounds better than anything I've had so far. It can sound good, but not realistic, not like DSD 256 does. Now of course all of these DSD tracks are audiophile types, carefully recorded by engineers that are looking for the best sound possible, and mostly from Norway. I'm sure that is part of it. It's the Norwegian sound, just like our speaker drivers are all from Denmark.
When I was in Norway a few years ago I was surprised at how much that sound pervades the country. Even the street musicians had that sound. A performance in a park by a small jazz orchestra had that sound. Even the tram in Bergen had that sound, Grieg of course! Every stop on the way to the airport has a different little ditty that plays, and Grieg's home stop of course played Grieg. It was a fantastic trip to a place I'd never thought of going to. I've got pictures of a bike ride I did that was the most incredible ride ever.
Edits: 08/10/20
I do have one recording done in 32 bit...
Alrighty then. Nothing succeeds like excess! ;)
While I agree that 44/16 was a standard fenced in by 1976 era media limitations, I find that 96/24 is where the differences start getting more difficult to hear. I have many 176/24 and 192/24 recordings, but I couldn't say they are necessarily *better* because of that. The 96/24 format offers plenty of bandwidth in which to use a more gradual aliasing filter.
I'm of two minds about DSD. Some claim that "upsampling" PCM to DSD sounds better. If that's true, then it is necessarily changing the original and imparting its own *nicer* sound.
Is that all custom cabinetry or were you able to start with some store-bought standard pieces and then trim around it for a custom look? In any case, it's very nice!
It was all Custom. Expensive, but I'm here for the Long Haul.... I had it done 15 years ago. I needed proper Corners for my Klipschorn Bass Bins, so I had them built. The Back of the Corners have 6 inches of Dense MDF for good Bass Support.
Impressive!
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