Hi all - new owner of a Cascade DAC. I currently own a Rockna Wavelight Server and a Taiko Extreme Server (two systems). So - what’s the view on using a server vs the native Cascade renderer. Any clear favorite choices on servers - or using the UBS out to the ProUSB module.
Relatedly, (and I confess that I don’t understand the tech) - does the ProUSB module basically render the external server irrelevant. All of the processing is occurring at the Cascade side of the signal. Right?
Before the Cascade, I would have a strong bias to use the ProUSB. It has the best noise isolation for noisy sources. In my testing with the Cascade all inputs are nearly equal. The interfaces still have small differences in operation however. Both the USB and Pro USB are sensitive to server driver implementation, so results may vary from server to server. On the other hand the Renderer makes a bit of processing noise ( due to the need to communicate on an Ethernet network), however this does not affect the Cascade because of its optical communication with the Analog Converter. The renderer also takes more time to power up and only supports 4X DSD, the USB and ProUSB both support 8x DSD. The Renderer is not sensitive to server driver implementation however, so it has more consistency across servers. What I generally use in my DAC development is an Aurenderer (any model) with ProUSB as they have extreme consistency over time and allows me to compare any of our DACs to each other without worry of electrical noise contamination. Anything running Roon has variable quality over time due to constant changes to the software (the changes cannot be avoided because of compulsory updates to Roon).
Sound quality of anything running Roon changes with each update…. Sorry to tell you, but it seems to be inherent to Roons development cycle, each update is potluck.The only way I know is because I have a dead consistent reference to compare against.
Thanks for that info. I have a Roon Titan and there have been occasions when I “thought” I heard a change in sound quality from a previous time a played something, but wasn’t sure. I’m going to have to do some more critical comparisons now.
So - that’s more than I bargained for in asking the question! Roon is super convenient (of course) but sounds like its implementation is more of the issue relative to the use of the renderer or ProUSB with an external server. What is the alternative to Roon?
Re external servers - does it matter at all if it’s just sending a signal to the ProUSB module.
