Hi guys and gals,
I’m quite new to the Audiophile world - well at least venturing out on my own. I grew up with Hi-Fi and I think I’m trying to relive some happy memories…
I have just upgraded to from my “Bluetooth” Onyx speakers by Harmon Kardon - which only had Bluetooth input and it was only of the SBC codec to my dismay — and I lived with this for three whole years. We do pay a price for convenience… all my media is from Apple Music at the moment - I think they are absolutely brilliant because I like premade and curated music for me according to my eclectic tastes… I’m not very good at remembering artist names and song titles.
So I’m going to stick to streaming - I even tried Tidal out for a few days and I didn’t like it at all for the lack of playlists and curation…
Anyway - my new equipment: Ruark MR1s MK2, and Rega DAC, Apple Airport, iPhone/Ipad as streamer.
I got rid of the HK Onyx (Gen 1).
I’m very happy with my new sound as the speakers just fit the room just right - but I am very unhappy about the noise 
I know for a fact that the Apple Express has a bad Toslink output because I plugged them in directly to the Ruarks before I got the DAC I was so upset and frustrated… I was so happy that when I tried hooking the toslink to my Rega DAC the sound was so much better… only retrospectively did I find out that the Rega DAC had asynchronous qualities and a buffer.
However - with added clarity these speakers emphasise the noise as well - there is so much more depth… sometimes there is just background noise, sometimes there is a click or jitter especially at higher frequencies or if the song is high tempo. And at one point my speaker was clipping - I think I need attenuators because I didn’t want to minimise my sound resolution… my Amps are only linear 20W for these small speakers - but I think I might need it.
Ugh and PSU has been on my mind etc etc. I just wished I could be satisfied with the sound.
Yes so that lead me to this site - I was looking for a Network Streamer only (No DAC) or a Digital Transport they call this? I was thinking of settling for one from Amazon like £35 for those small little boxes - but I wasn’t sure what kind of QC they had on the Digital output signal.
So I was quite excited when I read about the All Digi One — hence I’m here. I wanted the flexibility to listen to 24/96 or more; given that my DAC supports it — and I am very disappointed with Apple for not streaming at higher than 16/44.1.
Well - so I ordered my Digione and it’s on it’s way - although I was on Tidal Masters earlier - they require the app to be installed to a PC or Mac? That’s definitely not good because they create so much more noise! Well at least on my laptop it does…
Anyway - I should leave you at that now. I’m a bit worried that I’ll be obsessed with "upgrading’ - I’ve looked at mains conditioners - new cables for the Rega - attenuators? I wasn’t even planning on getting the DAC in the first place - but I thought it would be nice because I get to plug my TV in and then link it to my speakers… so it acts like a receiver as well. I don’t do analogue music (yet) because I have enough clutter already and digital is so convenient and clean - but the option of getting a turntable is always there I guess.
To be honest I wasn’t prepared for this outlay in the beginning… but somehow this has taken over! (No I’m not upgrading my speakers or DAC) - or so I tell myself now - I just want to be happy after I have fine tuned all that noise etc etc.
It’s truly annoying when you’re enjoying some nice music and suddenly there is a click or distortion in trumpet and percussions of the Stan Getz’ album I’m listening to…
KohlB
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Can’t wait to try Volumio out and to assemble my Allo DigiOne.