Dan, what cables are you using in your system? Please share. Thanks
Signal cables are AudioQuest Firebird XLR. Speaker cables are Audioquest Dragon Zero. Power cables are AudioQuest Hurricane, plugged into an AudioQuest Niagara 7000 power conditioner(one for each channel), Iām in the USA so home sockets are typically 120V. I have a home run 12 gauge (20 amp breaker) to AudioQuest Edison sockets to each of the Niagaraās. Home run means the cable goes from the distribution panel breaker to the wall socket and nowhere else.
When I added the AudioQuest power conditioner there was a noticeable improvement in sound quality. My audiophile friends were skeptical but when they came over to listen (they had listened to the system many times in the past) they noted the improvement too.
I like the Edison sockets because they grab so tightly. As a matter of convenience the big plugs on high end power cables seem to work their way out of regular socketsā¦ they stay put in the Edison sockets. Also, the tighter grab means less resistance, which is a good thing. Donāt get me started on using āHospital gradeā sockets 
Dan
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Dan, thanks for sharing. All top-notch cables you have got!
Have you tried the M500s without the power conditioners yet? Some designs of high-powered amplifiers may not benefit from using power conditioners. Yes, the sound would most likely be different but sometimes may not be for the better.
I guess it all depends on what sound signature one wants from a system.
Hi Des,
I havenāt tried it without the conditioner and probably wonāt. Too much reconfiguration to go that way. Also the power conditioner provides surge protection and helps keep noise, even RF noise, out of the line.
Dan
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Spectacular system!
Thanks @Hiind
Dan
Wow, amazing system @Dan; congratulations!
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Thanks Ron
Dan
Iām curious regarding connection from Aurender to Digital Director to DAC. Is it USB to isl converter to Director and pro ISL cable to DAC pro isl module. ?
I have two digital connections to my Cascade. One is the ProUSB and the other is Renderer (ethernet), with an Active Audio Ethernet Filter. In theory the ProUSB connection is more Isolated but in practice I donāt hear a difference between them.
I prefer the Renderer (with a Nucleus Titan) becuase it is more convenient to use. With it I can adjust the volume from the Roon app. Also from the MSB control start and stop Roon and move through tracks.
The Pro USB lets me play DSD512 tracks but, as far as I can tell there is no material recorded at that rate available. You can get DSD512 tracks from various places, but all of those have been upsampled for a lower sample rate with something like HQ Player Pro. Iād rather that Cacade processes tracks in the format they were recored atā¦ though sometimes the is just not possible.
I also had an Aurender on trial for a while. I tried hooking it up with RCA (SPDIF) and ProUSB. I couldnāt tell any difference between them,
So, in the end, Renderer is, for me, more convenient and ProUSB allows me to play DSD512. Now that I have had both for a while I almost always use Renderer.
Dan
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I have also found that the Cascade equalizes different interfaces from the same source to nearly the same quality. So I simply pick the most convenient or the interface with the feature set I want.
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@Dan,
Were you able to tell any difference between the Aurender and Nucleus Titan using the ProUSB connection?
Thanks.
Regards,
Des
No, I couldnāt. any difference. I didnāt use any processing on the Aurender or the Titan.
I think it is a case of ābits is bitsā. ProUSB does, in effect, a synchronous transfer and fully isolates the source. So some the issues that affect USB transfers were not an issue in this case. The net result with ProUSB is the same bits were sent from the Titan to the Cascade, as were sent from the Aurender to the Cascade and the timing was perfect.
I was trialing out the Aurender because its SPIDF transfers were supposed to be excellent, but I didnāt find them any better than using ProUSB on the Aurender. The Aurender had some interesting features such as down-scaling streams that had data rates beyond what SPIDF can transferā¦ but that was not of interest to me.
My dealer said that he thought its interface for classical music was very good and offered me the trial. I found that its interface for classical music wasnāt that good at all. Roon, to me, has issues with how it manages classical music, but it does a better job, IMHO, than Aurender. BTW my dealer is very good but doesnāt really listen to classical music and was just passing on what Aurender had told him.
Dan
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@Dan , thank you for your insights.
Have you compared the server/player softwares of the Aurender with the Roon server/player softwares?
Thank you.
Des
Thank you Dan. Iād like to know how you connect Aurender to Director and then from Directer to DAC . Which cable did use between
@Dan,
Sorry for my stupid question. Of course the Aurender only can use itās own Conductor App, not the Roon App
For SPDIF I had a Audioquest XLR from the AES/EBU cable on the Aurender to the Cascade. I used a high end (I canāt remember the brand) BNC cable to hook up the word clock from the Cascade to the Aurender.
The word clock is considered to be a superior way to connect the AES/EBU. However, even using the word clock I could not hear a difference from hooking up the Aurender to the Cascade with the ProUSB fiber. Probably because ProUSB is essentially synchronous and the Cascade is sending a clock over the return fiber.
Dan
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No problem. In general I think the Roon interface is better than Conductor, especially for classical music.
Dan
If you are using the USB output from the Aurender, it will be USB output to ProUSB module to Digital Director using the ProISL cable. Then from DD to the DAC using the ProISL cable.
Iām happy to weigh in too. I did extensive A/Bing between the Aurender N30SA > PRO USB/ISL combination vs the QNAP Server>Renderer upon receiving my Cascade. While I preferred the former on my Select II (w/o a DD), I prefer the Renderer interface on my Cascade. To my ears, it produces a more extended and powerful presentation of the music vs that of the PRO USB/ISL interface. And, itās a much simpler and less expensive interface to implement. I have spoken to my MSB dealer who prefer AES/EBU+Word Clock output of the N30SA, which I intend to demo in the next week. Second to that, they prefer the Quad USB. However, they have not compared the PRO USB/ISL or Renderer on the Cascade to the aforementioned interfaces. Their preference was formed on the Select II.
Unless the AES/EBU+Word clock produces a noticeable improvement over the Renderer, I intend on selling my Aurender N30SA+PRO USB/ISL+Gobel USB. Indeed, MSB had done a nice job of equalizing the DD interface options and rendering the need for an audiophile server unnecessary.