Auralic Aries with or without Femto clock?

[regeHA]

I got it for 1.35. And as you mentioned I am going to try and get hold of a Schitt and test it out. But yet another clarification: Once I connect the DAC to a Pi through USB, and further connect the DAC to the AVR through Toslink or Coax, with AVR on pass thru mode, why do I need a stereo amp? I know it may be an absolute foolish thing to ask but I might as well look dumb and get know how it works.

You need to connect DAC to AVR with RCA cables. Using Toslink, Coaxial, USB, etc. will pass on digital signal to the AVR and let the AVR do the conversion from digital to analog, in which case DAC is not needed. BTW, most DACs will not have digital outputs so only RCA analog connection will go from DAC to AVR.

Just as a "dedicated" DAC is better than most DACs in AVRs, a dedicated stereo amp is better than an AVR. However, most top of the line AVRs will do the same job as mid-fi amps i.e. the Marantz, NAD, Yamaha, etc. The real jump in performance will come when you go higher up the chain like McIntosh, Mark Levinson, Burmester, Pathos, Naim, Karan Acoustics, Audio Research, etc. However, these play in a different league and are super expensive, even my K3 is a mid-fi in comparison. But my K3 walked all over the Marantz, NAD, Yamaha amps I tried.

By the way, what do you think of this NAS: FreeNAS Mini India - FreeNAS Mini Network Attached Storage Its got very good reviews many places.

FreeNAS is very good. However, its a NAS and not a streamer. If its only backup, network access, etc. its great. But we are looking to stream audio and video and for that Synology is unbeatable. It has apps and s/w for everything from audio and video to even mail server and web hosting.

You can do all of that with FreeNAS too... but its Linux and you need to be a Linux ninja, or at least be able to work via the command prompt with Linux commands. Most of us cannot. Synology has a nice GUI interface that lets anyone learn it in under 10 mins.

All the network pros I know use FreeNAS, OpenMediaVault, Ubuntu, etc. However, getting something like Plex or Kodi to work with them would be next to impossible for us.

 

[afj]

Not to think I am defending CXR200, but I would not judge the AVR through an experience of a different product altogether. I am quite sure it is not the greatest but it delivers everything it promises especially at the price point. I even heard the very expensive Arcam AVR750 which is very good but CXR at 1/3 the price is very comparable. Of course, I am sure a dedicated stereo amp will up the game automatically audio wise. If you do know of an AVR that's more revealing than CXR200, please do let me know, I'll keep it in my radar for future upgrade.

So there's no one area that I am looking to improve. There are many. From source to server to SQ. I am quite there with PQ once I change my gawd-awful 65" VU. However, the only thing that I am fearful of, as I mentioned somewhere above, of buying a DAC is that it might not significantly change the SQ from what I have with Raspberry Pi over DLNA. I probably will look to borrow a DAC and see how that works before buying it. As for the budget, I don't have one. If I find it too expensive I don't buy it and vice-versa. But there are times when its something I really like, I just bite the bullet. Not a very organised way to go about things, I know.

from what i understand

you're using an rpi board as a htpc (for use of a more appropriate word), which connects via dlna to your cambridge amp, which has its inbuilt dac. and onto focal chorus 726 speakers. are the speakers only fronts, or do you have surround sound

imo, the setup is pretty good. theres not really a weak link. im not sure of the dlna part, but thats the only one i would tweak if necessary. can you connect a usb out from your rpi to the usb in at the amp direct? if you can, do that. if you find an improvement in sound, then you can look at working on the dlna part

the rpi just sends out digital signal. it interacts with your storage device and sends it via digital signal to the dac. the dac converts from digital to analogue and sends it to the amp. the amp amplifies the sound and send it to the speakers.

from a stereo point of view, you may get an audible difference in the sound if you go with a separate dac. again, you will need to budget atleast 700-1000 dollars (buying it overseas) for the upgrade to be significant enough. im not big into surround sound, but imo an improvement in the dac is not necessary there

if youre looking at the auralic to improve SQ, thats not going to happen. if youre looking at it to increase features in your htpc part, then there are cheaper ways

 

[terrible]

from what i understand

you're using an rpi board as a htpc (for use of a more appropriate word), which connects via dlna to your cambridge amp, which has its inbuilt dac. and onto focal chorus 726 speakers. are the speakers only fronts, or do you have surround sound

imo, the setup is pretty good. theres not really a weak link. im not sure of the dlna part, but thats the only one i would tweak if necessary. can you connect a usb out from your rpi to the usb in at the amp direct? if you can, do that. if you find an improvement in sound, then you can look at working on the dlna part

the rpi just sends out digital signal. it interacts with your storage device and sends it via digital signal to the dac. the dac converts from digital to analogue and sends it to the amp. the amp amplifies the sound and send it to the speakers.

from a stereo point of view, you may get an audible difference in the sound if you go with a separate dac. again, you will need to budget atleast 700-1000 dollars (buying it overseas) for the upgrade to be significant enough. im not big into surround sound, but imo an improvement in the dac is not necessary there

if youre looking at the auralic to improve SQ, thats not going to happen. if youre looking at it to increase features in your htpc part, then there are cheaper ways

I am using Pi 2 for music and Pi 3 or MacBook Pro (Windows) for movies. Music is over DLNA and movies by connecting the Pi via HDMI. The movie part is pretty sorted with Kodi and madVR over MPC-HC. As for music the best results I have heard is through DLNA. In fact its way superior. Now the difference between wired playback, be it with MacBook Pro connected with Toslink, WDTV through HDMI, external HDD connected through the USB port on the AVR sounds lame when done over DLNA. So the fear, if an external DAC is introduced and through wired connect improves the quality albeit similar to that over DLNA, I would have spent a lot of money for what I already have. And yes I agree with you as well as regeHA so Auralic is out. Maybe its a better idea to get in an Oppo 105D with its multiple facets in audio and video. But NAS before that.