First off, this is just initial impressions after some noodling around having temporarily replaced my usual NAS based files server with a directly attached USB 3 hard disk.
Original configuration:-
- RPi/Allo Boss connected by CAT5 Ethernet cable to BT Home Hub Router, Buffalo Dual Disk NAS connected via CAT5 Ethernet cable to Home Hub Router.
- Media Library on NAS is controlled via Macbook Pro running JJRiver Media Centre wirelessly.
- RPi running Volumio 2 connected (via CAT5) to NAS
No problems to speak of, everything works and sounds pretty damn good in comparison to the CDP using Xiang Sheng DAC01a
New Configuration:-
- RPi/Allo Boss connected via CAT5 Ethernet cable to BT Home Hub Router
- Media Library copied to USB Hard Drive connected via USB3 cable to RPi
Sound seems to have come alive! Clearer, more detail, deeper bass (that Allo Boss signature sound) and just, well more going on!
Initial impressions are that such a difference means I will have to use the NAS as a backup device, not the USB player! I can't see myself swapping the USB drive out, even if it means it's more of a pain to update the Media Library.
In effect, I'm using the network to manage the 'headless' aspects of RPi/Volumio setup, but the actual FLAC files are as directly connected as they can be to the DAC, and it appears (to me at least) to make a significant difference in the quality of the sound that ensues.