I'm not sure how the volume is supposed to work, but coming from -99db, -25db does seem a bit high. Compared to my THX 887, I never went above %50 on high gain and never went above %70 on low gain. With the DX7 pro I find myself at about %80 on high gain. But it's all relative I guess.
Speaking of the Focal Elex, I'm curious about them with this amp. The single ended output is rather weak? With somethings like chilled out music or this Born Free John Barry soundtrack I'm listening to now I really have to crank it to -25- 20 on High gain in order for the music to sound engaging.
You usually don't get great performance from something cheap. Your system is likely to be bottle necked somewhere.
The CCA is very limited compared to other streamers. Is it still maxed at 96khz? The last review I saw for it mentioned that the optical out has clock jitter that does effect the...
Oh no I wasn't questioning your equipment. My response is countering GordonParet's post about comparing a $35 product with others that cost thousands of dollars. While I was replying to your questions I had in mind that you would already know that such an extreme comparison would be ridiculous...
That is an unfair comparison. The Node 2i is much more than a Chromecast Audio, in design, build and features.
@Triumph_900 I assume you understand that you can't hook up your Matrix dac to a toy and still expect the same results. Everything is relative.
Speaking of signal noise. The original review measured the SNR at 88dB. I owned the Node 2 and 2i for several years and I never heard any audible noise. Have any of you?
If you are outputting by Coax from your Node 2i, then it's your Matrix Audio X that's doing most of the work. The only thing to note is that the Node 2 is not outputting MQA to your Marix. The Node 2 only handles MQA with its own internal DAC.
Using another streamer in the same fashion is not...
LOL,
Um which of the other desktop apps for hi res streaming use remote playback? I have Qobuz and I know that one doesn't, and neither did Tidal or Deezer when I had them. What did you cancel it in favor of?
(from my earlier post #89)
Yes I can confirm that the digital coax supports 192k output.
All the issues the reviewer found in the digital output was from a bad toslink connection.
The coax output is fine.
There have been many firmware updates to the C656 since those early reviews that have adressed most of the major issues. So you arent technically listening to the same product as the early reviewers.
All the early reviews are based on earlier firmware builds. And most of the negative comments are from people who read those reviews and quickly formed opinions.
I got mine as open box around Jan 2019
The firmware was 3.2 something and I had technical issues the moment I tried to play the first...