I don’t have a Melco. Just the Innuos Zenith.
I am currently playing with the Innuos on its own (no NDX2 in the mix).
Innuos > Mscaler > TT2 > Nac282. Upon first listen I don’t notice the absence of the NDX2. I’m going to give it the week and see what happens.
right…Innous is able to run roon server, that’s a big advantage. Now, I have a sonic i5 running roon server and will probably sell my Innous. SQ wise, the Melco is better via USB and upnp. (…my dealer said that the Innous Phoenix should change the Innours SQ dramatically as well).
scotman, I don’t want to shock you…but you have to get a Melco for exactly that setup…the SQ of Melco’s USB output is scary good:-) Means: Innous/Melco----USB—Chord/Mscaler
If you want to hear a real difference, the uplift will go in the quality of the Usb cable.
@Filipe uses a high quality cable which strongly uplifted the sound quality of his Zennith Mk2 to Ndac.
USB connection is often the weak point.
I find the input on SPDIF better on Chord digital devices.
tested USB vs SPDIF - SPDIF always sounds better to my ears
I’d love to read it. Can’t seem to find it on line.
You go to Zinio app on applestore, then search, then tech/ videos magazines/ then Stereophile.
I see no SPDIF output on the Chord TT2, ?
Frenchrooster
The TT2 uses a BNC digital Input, and also has RCA and XLR analog outputs. I use a DC1 cable to connect my NDS to the TT2, I also have a Naim Core, which I tried connecting directly to the TT2 with the DC1 cable. In the end, I preferred the sound going through the NDS, using the digital out, and connecting the Core with UPNP (Ethernet). Scotsman, like I mentioned in another thread, I think the real redundancy in your system is the 282/high cap. I would keep the innous and Ndx2 feeding the Mscaler/TT2 directly into an amp. I use a Belles amp, I am not sure how well this works with Naim amps though.
You could also try the new Chord Ugo/2YU streamer, which is much cheaper than the Ndx2.
I can’t comment on high quality usb cables because mine is just from the local computer shop. However, I plug into the Audiophilleo usb to spdif converter which sends a exceedingly low jitter spdif to the nDAC.
I have wondered about a better usb cable maybe with 90 degree bend going into the Audiophilleo.
Phil
Hi I use the Hugo mk1 quite because simply out of all the DACs I have listened to including NDS, ND555 and DAVE it is the one I come back to - it has got something just right for me musically - especially with my 552.
I do use Roon and the Naim app - probably 80/20.
Simon
The audiophileo goes from usb imput to spdif output, not? So if the Chord had spdif , the Innuos could be connected to Chord with the audiophileo I guess.
However I think to see that Chord tt has no spdif…
FR, the TT has digital connectivity BNC input and output … I believe thats the spdif …
Ah, yes of course…thanks pointing . So good point for @InTune, he can use a good quality usb to spdif converter to connect the Innuos to Chord. It will be better than usb to usb.
Any recommendations?
You might know this already. But you can also stream from the Innuos zen to the NDX2 via the LMS to UPNp Bridge plugin. It’s easy to setup in the server options, and then you could try a test between USB vs UPnp. You can also run it in proxy mode, which I find makes Qobuz streaming sound as good as local files.
Audiophileo usb/ spdif converter ( cable). There are threads on it SM73
Perhaps the tt/ Mscaler would benefit greatly from it? But yes, it’s pricey. ( 1k?).
Or another less pricey usb/ spdif like Gustard, My2tech…
I thought that the OP was trying to reduce redundancies, not to increase them!
The Innuos is a very capable streamer.
The NDX2 is probably even better, IMO.
If your goal is to use Roon, you have two options :
A) Innuos + HugoTT
In that case just use the USB connection. The Innuos USB output certainly isn’t as dirty as a computer USB output. Of course, it’ll be somewhat noisy and you’ll get some jitter as well. But the HugoTT+MSCALER should handle that. A well build USB cable should suffice.
I wouldn’t add any cheapo USB to S/PDIF converter.
B) NDX2 + HugoTT
It certainly is the best option in terms of sound quality. And the connection is straightforward. BNC to BNC.