I used both Audirvana Studio (trial) and the iOS JPlay (trial) to play music from my music server (NUC with ROCK OS) to play through the MSB.
I was not able to hear a difference in this setup.
I think that a comparison between the server & network portions for these different systems would be necessary to have much SQ difference. If the same server is sending to the same renderer, using the same network protocol, I really don’t think that different programs running on an iPad will change the SQ.
The control program side of all of them is more a matter of function, and esthetics, and personal tastes.
The server OS and the network protocol are what need to be looked at. When I get my system up and running, later this year, I might look into that.
Now, if you get into the game of a specialized (external) device as a player / renderer / streamer, of some sort, resampling/filtering the files that it outputs to USB or SPDIF or I2S, then all kinds of differences can be experienced. HQPlayer, and JPlay with Fempto for example, although there are many hardware and software products to be found in this category.
NAA is proprietary to jussi (hqplayer), as raat is proprietary to roon. The main difference for upnp, IIRC is the clocking. NAA and raat defer the clocking to the dac, while upnp has no strict clocking requirement, and can be all over the place.
In follow-up, JPLAY hasn’t been stable when using the USB connection running JPLAY FEMTO and using JPLAY app as the controller. I’ve tried different configurations DAC LINK from 1-1000hz and other changes ASIO vs KERNEL, etc. The issues are multiple but all maybe related to a single root cause, don’t know.
song near is end, starts a replay at a random point - sometimes
Controller app is unable to stop playing until multiple start/stop presses are made
I’ve already written Support at JPLAY (Marcin) and posted on their forum, but haven’t heard back.
Any suggestions / configuration changes?
For now, I’ve gone back to using Audirvana, which uses ASIO and doesn’t have any of these issues.
@NACA5 did you post your logs on the JCAT forum or send them to support@jplay.eu?
I have but haven’t heard back. What DAC are you using? Please PM me so we can share information.
I’m not so sure about JPlay. I have been led to believe by certain reviews that JPlay is supposed to have better SQ than Roon.
However, I’m struggling streaming Tidal over JPlay with my Renderer on my MSB Discrete DAC. Qobuz not available in my region.
I have reached out to JPlay but issues persist. Tidal is very unstable with JPlay, compared to Roon, when trying to stream to the Renderer, even with everything Ethernet backhauled (no WiFi being used). If I can manage to get it to work, it frequently drops out.
Also, I’m finding that if I stop JPlay streaming on my Renderer, and the DAC stays on the Renderer, the “…K” sign flashes on and off on the DAC display. Anyway, I’ve reached out to Daniel and Jonathan on this, so I wait to be guided by them.
This is my feedback on JPlay with MSB.
It’s best to talk with @Daniel_Francis about his experience with JPlay. He uses it at home but I do know he’s mentioned random skips to the next song, etc… so I think it’s just part of JPlay…
Had JPLAY and loved the sound, but buggy and grew tired of them not being resolved. Switched back to Audirvāna and enjoying it. I’m using a purpose built fanless PC, JCAT femto usb to proISL to a newly acquired Premier DAC. I can provide other details upon request.
Anyway, I’ve reached out to Daniel and Jonathan on this, so I wait to be guided by them.