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Argon Audio

Basement

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I don't think there are any firmware updates available for download (yet?) at this point. I'm not sure how Argon is planning to do the updates going forward, whether they will mainly do automatic updates OTA, or if they will offer manual downloads via their website at some point as well.
Firmware updates are always over-the-air.
 

litemotiv

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@Basement i may have found a small bug with the current firmware of the SOLO, what would be the best place to report this?
 

bud947

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Could you tell:
1. what maximum audio quality it will handle when streaming hi-res through Airplay 2 from IOS device ?
I'm currently playing at 24bit/96kHz (apple music ALAC).
@Basement is it real or is it Apple doing its thing again ?

By the way I was able to buy for 199EUR a few days ago. Excellent build quality, sound great and it just works (SOLO > E50)
 

MaxBuck

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I'm currently playing at 24bit/96kHz (apple music ALAC).
@Basement is it real or is it Apple doing its thing again ?

By the way I was able to buy for 199EUR a few days ago. Excellent build quality, sound great and it just works (SOLO > E50)
Which streaming services does it handle? Is the app convenient?
 

bud947

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It's just a Airplay 2 / Chromecast / DLNA / Roon endpoint. You can use anything that stream to these protocol (phone, tablet, pc...). I'm using my iphone to stream apple music lossless content.
 

MaxBuck

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It's just a Airplay 2 / Chromecast / DLNA / Roon endpoint. You can use anything that stream to these protocol (phone, tablet, pc...). I'm using my iphone to stream apple music lossless content.
Does the iPhone connect via wifi, or do you need to use Bluetooth?
 

bud947

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My iPhone is connected through wifi as airplay/chromecast/roon/dlna are all wifi (technically tcp/ip) protocol.
The argon solo has also a bluetooth receiver therefore you can pair a bluetooth device if needed, but I don’t.

Overall it’s a great streamer, kudos to these danish guys :). The sound is audibly better than my Sony TV toslink output and lossless at > 48kHz was an unexpected ice on the cake. To my knowledge only iOS device were able to play at higher sample rate.
 

Basement

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I'm currently playing at 24bit/96kHz (apple music ALAC).
@Basement is it real or is it Apple doing its thing again ?
AirPlay and Chromecast sample rate support is limited by their respective standards. I believe AirPlay2 is limited to 16b/48k. Above that it applies transcoding/downsampling. Chromecast 24b/96k.
 

Basement

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Nearly!) My dac is chord mojo. I am satisfied with its sound, but it is quite sensitive to the source and type of connection.
I'm wondering why Solo and not Prisma NP5 or Node 2i? Solo "kills" them at half price, but what about the quality of the digital outputs?
Interface jitter is normally generated by the SPDIF receiver end. This is a combination of the receiver and the cable. I made loopback tests with two different optical cables on the a AP tester to get an idea of the influence of cables have on jitter. Both data related and random jitter very much depends on the cable. Same applies for Coax cables.
 

Attachments

  • AP loopback - HQ short optical cable jitter.JPG
    AP loopback - HQ short optical cable jitter.JPG
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  • AP loopback - LQ long optical cable jitter.JPG
    AP loopback - LQ long optical cable jitter.JPG
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Basement

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PS: given how busy WLAN could be in modern networks Ethernet port sounds reasonable. Especially if we are getting to hi-res streaming services era ;)
Wired vs WiFi is always a hot topic. SOLO's WiFi is running near idle state streaming high-res. Of couse the router most be in reach and should be WiFi5 or higher.
 

Basement

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In other words, it makes no sense to care about source jitter?
It does when using a DAC sensitive to jitter. My point was that the problem is how to measure and specify this jitter. A J-test is designed for and mainly show the data related jitter caused by the cable/receiver combo. Jitter comes in many forms and the receiver might attenuate some but amplify others. That's why a single number or even an FFT of jitter spectrum is not that informative for the sound quality. Another thing is that FFT by nature is a average over time and so can't be used to directly evaluate how we hear things. This especially applies for digital products.
 

MaximXXL

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It does when using a DAC sensitive to jitter.
Yes, I understand you. Curious, how can we evaluate the DAC's sensitivity to source jitter? In other words, what measurements will tell us that the DAC amplifies, attenuates, or remains neutral to source jitter?
 

jensgk

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Another thing is that FFT by nature is a average over time and so can't be used to directly evaluate how we hear things.
Our ears, by nature, also do averaging of the signal, so the FFT should be highly correlated with what we hear.
 

MaximXXL

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Feel free to ask if you have any tech related questions.
I have a question that your support team couldn't answer.
Let's say I connected Solo to my Wi-Fi network using Airplay on my iPhone. My MacBook is connected to the same network. Will Solo be visible as an available device in the Spotify app that is running on my Macbook?
 

Basement

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Yes, I understand you. Curious, how can we evaluate the DAC's sensitivity to source jitter? In other words, what measurements will tell us that the DAC amplifies, attenuates, or remains neutral to source jitter?
An AP analyser with the advanced digital option can do this by introduce jitter in the test signal. A J-test signal is a good starting point.
 

Basement

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I have a question that your support team couldn't answer.
Let's say I connected Solo to my Wi-Fi network using Airplay on my iPhone. My MacBook is connected to the same network. Will Solo be visible as an available device in the Spotify app that is running on my Macbook?
As all products are on the same network I guess Spotify team is the best one to answer this question. If any help, I have two computers (Win10) and one phone at office running Spotify and all work fine at the same time with SOLO.
 
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