Audiophilepure

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“Who knew Jason would have the B-52’s in his library? “Rock Lobster,” sourced from Tidal and the NUC, had excellent impact, with good low-frequency extension. Streaming the same track from Tidal via the Nucleus+, perhaps there was a touch more authority in the bass. Perhaps. With “Every Day I Have the Blues,” from the Morrison-DeFrancesco album, the sound through the NUC was less authoritative, less open. However, the comparison was unfair: Though both versions were 16/44.1, I was streaming from Tidal with the NUC, and playing a WAV file from local storage with the Nucleus+. Nevertheless, while changing to the Tidal stream with the Nucleus+ reduced the difference between the servers, the Nucleus+ sounded still a tad tidier.”

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“But five years is a long time in the digital world. Much has happened. I did see and listen to various new alternatives including NUCs (‘Next Unit of Computing’ mini-computers) which were smaller, lighter, typically less expensive, and more energy efficient than a Mac mini. Like a Mac mini, a NUC is ‘headless’, e.g., you do not need to connect a monitor or keyboard to it except for setting it up with software and such. Once set up, controlling music play is accomplished by using a wirelessly connected app on a mobile device or tablet. I also checked out serious commercial high-end music servers, and I have been impressed at times. Suffice to say it has become clear that the Mac mini is on the way out; there are quite a number of alternatives.

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“The feature set on this Cary makes it a very appealing option for anyone looking to get the most out of digital audio today. It allows access to all the key sources, both new and old, and its flexibility with regard to storage systems is almost unprecedented. That it doesn’t represent the last word in transparency is foiled by a relaxed and musical demeanour that means the vast majority of formats will sound appealing. Which is particularly useful if it’s used with streams from mobile devices. My final session with the DMS-500 involved the ground breaking Innuos Zenith SE network server, which gave it a boost that made things very enjoyable indeed. And that after all is the point of the exercise, is it not?”

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“Once you have decided how you will insert it into your current system, the next decision is one of control. The most traditional method would be a UPnP control software for whatever platform you plan to use. I tried Linn Kazoo on my Mac which is free and available for any OS, it worked just fine. That being said as you already know I am a big fan of Roon and with this being both Roon Ready and with an option to be a setup Roon Endpoint, I have taken advantage of this. This means the Nimitra has become my Roon Core and I can control my Core from my iMac, my OnePlus Two phone and output music stored on the core via my phone, DACs connected to my iMac and of course, DACs connected to the Nimitra. I could have left my iMac as my Roon Core and with the Nimitra being Roon Ready streamed through it to my DAC using storage within my iMac. This is an area where Fidelizers first-rate customer support comes in as they will actually go onto customers Nimitras remotely to make sure that any drivers are installed etc for what DAC you use or to reconfigure if you decide down the line you would like use this with Roon.”