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I used to have a Silenzio server connected to my DS DAC via Wireworld Platinum Starlight USB. I have used USB "filtration/reclocking" doohickeys from PS Audio, Uptone, Audioquest and Wyred4Sound. When they actually passed along a signal that the DAC could lock to (which was sporadic at best), the sound was a tad smoother, especially with the Uptone and W4S products. Not sure if they were actually cleaning up the signal (removing noise and lowering jitter), or doing some digital filtration that altered the signal to make it more "pleasing". As alluded to, I kept having problems with the DAC losing connection to the signal stream with those products in the chain, so ended up removing them.
Then I installed the Bridge II and use Cat 6 Ethernet to get the signal to the DS DAC. The Silenzio is now upstairs. No signal loss and a definite improvement in sound quality over USB. If one looks at the PS Audio forums, I believe that a majority of people would agree with that assessment.
There are some who have found other units to act as a network "receiver" other than the Bridge II. I have no experience with these so can't comment much. Most use a USB connection at the end so are of no interest to me.
Many others also say that the I2S input is the best for the DS DAC...better than either the Bridge II/ethernet or USB. That is what makes me interested in the W4S music server which has an I2S output. Yes, I would have to have a computer in the equipment rack, but then I could hook it up to the DS DAC via I2S rather than USB. Would love to try one to see if it would be a worthwhile upgrade from the Silenzio.
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Kevin
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