I recently purchased a Weiss 204 DAC to replace my Chord QuTest. I like the Wiess, but because it’s more sensitive to Jitter and Noise from my BlueSound Node 2i, it periodically “skips” and drops audio. Obviously, that won’t do. So, now I’m considering purchasing a higher-end Aurender (N10) streamer for another $3k. That will raise my investment to $6.5k to “solve” my streaming.
My QuTest works perfectly fine with my Node 2i and sounds very nice. It’s not as open, detailed, or as much depth as the Weiss. I’ve also read that the Weiss with an upgraded LPS would be yet another level. That would give me yet another upgrade path to improve my sound.
Do I just spend the $6k for the Weiss and Aurender streamer and be done with it - OR - do I just keep the Node 2i and QuTest? I honestly think if I’m serious about digital streaming, this will need to be done eventually. The question is when and how much.
Yes, I’ve tried optical and two different coax cables. I was told by the support person that the drops are likely because the Weise is more sensitive to jitter and noise from the Node 2i and that a higher-end streamer, such as the Aurender, would resolve it.
Regarding the transport, maybe it is worth reading the current thread on the Limetree Bridge.perhaps that with an upgrade of Qutest to TT, staying with Chord, or if you can stretch to it audition the Dave (I’d caution against hearing it if you can’t stretch to it or can’t see that expense being possible in not too distant future.
To me it sounds like something is not right. That streamer should not cause so much jitter that a DAC is not functional. Is your Weiss new or used? I’d send it back and get something else if possible.
I tend to agree. If it was SPDIF jitter I would imagine it would be pretty severe to cause loss of synchronisation… to the extent the source would be out of the SPDIF spec, and therefore faulty… or the receiver is out of spec on its immunity.
Do you find the sync drops occur at higher sampling rates… or is it consistent?
Yes. The drops occur with higher sample rates only. Although I had planned to upgrade my streamer at some point in the future, I feel like I’m pulling a thread at this point - now I have to spend more money on a streamer for the DAC to work properly. I have to say, though, the Weiss sounds phenominal.
ok - yes you might need to get a better spec digital audio output streamer… it might be its clock is not accurate enough - and is causing your DAC to loose sync.