High Quality Signal Sources

[blockrocker]

https://offer.tidal.com/campaigns/5d...618e001786271c

not sure if this is valid in canada, but tidal has a promo going on - $5 for 5 months of service, any tier. i switched from spotify in december w/ this, if nothing else it'll save you some money over the next 5 months (even if you switch back after)

I clicked and unfortunately it's no longer valid. But thank you for the effort good sir. I'm sure I'll crack in due time and make the switch.

[jrwalte]

That's a good tip jtrosky, I'll take a look.

Amazon music has a HD subscription like Tidal. Switching from Tidal, I found Amazon to have all the songs in my playlists, and more of them in Master/Ultra HD than Tidal had. And Amazon was quite a bit cheaper for me with already having prime, $13 in total.

For my source, I use Amazon Music HD with Android Auto over WiFi on a Kenwood DDX9905s for up to 192Khz 24-bit, which then goes to Helix DSP.3 by RCA.

[dumdum]

The kenwoods frequency response won’t allow it to pass 192khz files over analogue and it doesn’t have digital outputs, your quality drops massively as soon as it enters the kenwood, compare it to wired into a topping d10 and be amazed, but I also get the wireless CarPlay convienience factor, but don’t pretend it any better than cd quality at most imo

[Babs]

Great input from everyone, thank you. I agree that driving down the road, I almost certainly won't hear much difference. However, I do listen in the driveway and like to give demo's when possible. Not to mention, I'm not a fan of the bluetooth reliability from my Kenwood. So if I can at least improve my usability that way, its a good step forward for me.

I have just ordered a Topping D10 to try out in the car. It was a good deal and I figured if I don't like the new configuration, it would be a great unit for my laptop or computer room. I'm excited for the new toy.

If it works well with your phone (not sure which you're using iOS or Android), I remember Nick A interviewed a guy at Finals who was using the Topping D10 to feed SPDIF output from his iPhone which he reported works great. I'll be interested in your results. One thing I'd like to know is if there is a way to get SPDIF from iPhone WITHOUT having to use the camera adapter? I suspect the CCK may be doing some kind of processing voodoo which may be no Bueno for SQ.


Currently, I'm running either my iPhone XS through CCK to USB into the DSP Pro-2 HEC, or Fiio 2nd gen X5 direct SPDIF coaxial into the Pro-2. Both seem to work well. Very hard to say but if I had to give a nod to the best of the two, I'd be willing to bet the Fiio, but I'm not positive on this.

[mauian]

If you happen to be an Amazon Prime member, check out their streaming service - it sounds noticably better than Spotify, in my experience.

Yep, agree. The amazon music service sound quality is noticeably better.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[nadams5755]

I remember Nick A interviewed a guy at Finals who was using the Topping D10 to feed SPDIF output from his iPhone which he reported works great. I'll be interested in your results. One thing I'd like to know is if there is a way to get SPDIF from iPhone WITHOUT having to use the camera adapter? I suspect the CCK may be doing some kind of processing voodoo which may be no Bueno for SQ.

that was me.

here's my speculation. iDevices are usually in usb device mode (so they can be seen by your computer running in usb host mode). in order for your iDevice to see other devices? the iDevice needs to be in usb host mode. cck3 appears to be a usb3 hub that puts the iDevice into host-mode and provide power via the lightning port. that's about it. i suspect it's akin to usb-otg mode on android.

the d10 just shows up as another output device like you'd see in windows, macos, etc. there's no requirement like android to use special playback software to recognize the dac.

in this configuration, we're using the d10's xmos usb chip to send spdif on coax or toslink to the helix dsp. we're not actually using the ESS dac chip, so the final DA conversion is only in the dsp.

[subwoofery]

Here's (I think) the updated list:
Those who know those equipment - do you see any that can be used the same way as the Topping D10 but has better measurement?


Kelvin

[nadams5755]

acting as a usb to spdif bridge? i don't know if you'll find a better performer that's powered by USB or 12v.

nuforce udac3 or udac5 are options i've used as well, neither have toslink but much smaller.

[nadams5755]

i've gone the other way: i got tired of the complexity related to the d10 and daily driving. mostly i hate the helix director for daily driving

i picked up a sony xav-ax210 and didn't notice any sound quality changes going back and forth between the radio and d10. it's been a couple months, i could try again.

[blockrocker]

the d10 just shows up as another output device like you'd see in windows, macos, etc. there's no requirement like android to use special playback software to recognize the dac.

Sorry, are you saying I need special playback software to use this with my android phone?