Review: Elac Discovery DS-S101-G audio server/streamer
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- Опубликовано: 18 сен 2024
- REVIEW: Elac's streamer/server with integrated Roon Essentials. Read all about it. (subtitled in English and Dutch - Nederlands ondertiteld).
The written English version: thehbproject.co...
Dutch written version: thehbproject.co...
Link to the manufacturer: elac.com
Link to my book: thehbproject.co....
www.hansbeekhuyzen.nl
www.theHBproject.com/en
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Love you Hans. Your reviews are the best.
I have had this for 5 years now and it is still going strong, thought I have gone with full Roon and I mostly use it as an endooint. I still occasionally use it as the server when Roon is down or cannot be found, which happens from time to time. The Elac can always be found on the network.
It was a great device. Unfortunately it didn’t make it in the end.
FYI - In the U.S. the price of this unit on Amazon right now (June 2020) is $590. Seems like a bargain - it's now the same price as a full lifetime Roon subscription, and you don't seem to lose a lot with Roon Essentials. It seems like it's time for ELAC to refresh the hardware of this unit. Reviews on Amazon are all over the map. Many concerned that it will turn into a paperweight if Roon goes out of business.
If Roon goes out of business there will be no further updates but the unit will keep working due to measures taken.
Hans thanks for a very thorough review. I'm an audiophile who is looking for a music server not based on a PC solution. This was very helpful!
Thank you again Hans. I hope that you continue to gain subscribers, I find your review videos to be some of the best on youtube. You really deserve more support :) Please continue to make your great videos.
I 100% agree. These are some of the best audio reviews and "seminars" on RUclips right now. I come back every day or two just to see if he's uploaded anything. I hope he gets a lot more subscribers and companies willing to send him samples for review. Keep up the good work, Hans!
+BeniGuma1337 Thanks guys, appreciate it. BTW I publish a video every Friday at 16:00 Central European time.
I wasn't sure what the exact schedule was, but I did see that it was weekly. I guess you can't ask for much more than that, but I do appreciate and enjoy what you put on here :-)
Hans, a couple of questions/suggestions for future videos. With so many DACS out there, and such a huge price range, anywhere from $100 - over $100,000 (can't believe this is real, but it is). Where do you feel the sweet spot is? Where do we start to see diminishing returns? Is it $2000, $5000?
Second question. Cables, the age old argument in audio. What is your opinion? I mean MIT just released a speaker cable that is $80,000, there are $15,000 power cords, expensive USB cables... the list goes on. In your experience what really makes a difference.
I am asking because I feel you are a straight shooter, and don't fluff things over.
+Chad Novak if there is a sweet spot, it differs for each person. It depends on how critical you are, how critical your stereo is and how critical your financial position is. And I carefully left out the wife.
Cables can make a great difference but that's almost always dependent on the components it connects. I will therefore never review cables. Sorry.
Very nice Video, thanks! I have one question: I think about upgrading to the Elac from a Node, that I connected digital to my Dynaudio Focus XD. You say in Your Video, that the analog Connection is better than the digital, right? Should I use the analog connection of the Elac to my Focus XD, if I buy it, or should I keep my Node? What would you say? What sounds better? Thank you for your answer!
It all depends on your situation and preferences.
Hans, welk apparaat is audiofieler. De Elac Discovery, Mac mini of Sonore MicroRendu? Dit aangesloten op een TAD DAC. Ik hoor graag van je
Hello HansHave you tried or do you think the SQ of the Discovery would be improved with a better power supply such as the 12v Sbooster PS?Thanks
I have this device and have used it for years. I noted in the photo of the circuit board you provided that it contains a battery. Could you explain what the battery does and how would one know when it needs to be replaced?
It powers registers that store settings. You will know it needs replacing when settings get lost. My example is one of the first and still is in its first battery.
Hi Hans. Thanks for your great review. I am very interested in this streamer. My current streamer is project streambox ds net, i am not satisfied with there interface or the laidback sound. Do you discovery will be better? And which way do you think is better to connect the discovery to my hegel h160? rca and use dac from discovery or coax/optical and use dac in hegel? Thank you Again. Christian
I am sure the Discovery is better than the Project. Whether you should connect it analogue or digital to your Hegel is something you have to try out yourself. I have no experiences with the Hegel. Sorry.
Thanks. But the dac in the discovery is very good right?
See my review
Thanks Hans, another great review.
I saw this at the Munich High End show (via youtube.com) and I thought it looked interesting, but it’s not for me. That was before I knew that it came with Roon Essentials, though. Now, it intrigues me, although I don't understand what is meant by "Titles". Is each song on a CD a title, and each classical music work, or movement a title?
Also, I have a couple more questions - that probably doesn’t surprise you. :)
I am using the Raspberry Pi 3/HiFiBerry Digi+, transformer version/iPower power supply/2.5” hard drive with RuneAudio, as my music player and it sounds pretty good. The main drawback of this system is RuneAudio, because it is not very easy to find my music on it, and especially for my wife.
I liked your reviews of the Bluesound Node 2, and in particular, the Auralic Aries Mini which I have seen locally. Whatever I use, I will be using my own DAC, so I’m only interested in the digital output of any music player.
1. Using the digital output, how would you rank the sound of these 4 units you reviewed:
A. Elac Discovery
B. Auralic Aries Mini
C.Bluesound Node2
D. Raspberry Pi/HiFiBerry Digi+/transformer/iPower power supply
2. How much difference is there between Roon software and the Auralic Aries Mini software? Is Roon that much better?
I know these questions are somewhat specific, but you did review all these units.
+Brian Hallin how well a digital output performs is dependent of the rest of the installation. Technically there should be no reason, but in real life there is. As I have mentioned, the digital output of the Elac isn't the best.
Regarding Roon: did you see my review? Don't think so. It is the streaming product of the year as far as I am concerned.
Hans, I did watch your both your Roon videos several weeks ago, and I just watched them again. I had the opportunity to play with the Auralic Aries Mini for about 20 to 30 minutes and I thought the software was pretty good. I didn't have it at home, so knowledge of it is somewhat limited, but it seemed like I could probably find and play my music with it. I don't need to know who coughed while Tsujii was playing the moderato of Rachmaninov's 2nd piano concerto. :) Which is why I asked if Roon is "that much better". Of course my expectations for a $500 expenditure may be higher than yours.
+Brian Hallin follow the link below the Roon videos and try for yourself. It lets you use Roon for 2 months (at home)
Hi Hans , I purchased the Discovery. I had some initial issues setting it up due to Mac address not being properly assigned to the device ( therefore I had Roon essential licencing problems), but very helpful people at Elac contacted Roon and solved this for me in less then 24 hours. I have a question as I try to understand all this and I am new to the field: What would be the main difference or the main advantage between simply running all your music through a full Roon subscription to Roon endpoints and using the Elac Discovery as an intermediary and running the music through Roon essentials? I have also purchased some compatible roon endpoinds ( bluesound speakers 2i, the sound is very nice) and eventually, I will hook up the Elac Discovery through one of the audio outs to my sound system. Also, do you know if one can subscribe to a full Roon subscription to bypass the limitations you mentioned ( number of files and DSD ) or if Elac /roon consider the possibility of implementing a full Roon option for an extra fee ? Thanks
Sound wise there is no difference when it sends signals over the network to Roon endpoints. There are differences in the user interface (for instance there is no Composer screen in Essentials but you can still search for composers) and Essentials does not offer the DSP functions and MQA decoding. The limitations of the processor used in the Discovery is the cause for the limited track numbers and the absence of DSP functions therefore the full Roon version will not run on the Discovery.
@@TheHansBeekhuyzenChannel Hi Hans Thanks. I am not sure my question was clear. In other words what I meant to ask is : are you better off just buying a full Roon licence and run your music from a full roon core account to different audio outputs instead of buying the Elac Discovery and being limited to use Roon Essentials ? What is the main advantage of having the Elac if sound at the endpoints would be the same ? Is it the fact that it could be hooked up to a sound system? But so does a computer which stores the music. Thanks
@@wintertrader The sound quality coming directly out of the Elac Discovery will be clearly better than that coming out of a computer.
@@TheHansBeekhuyzenChannel Thank you. I have an additional question. My AVR is an Airplay compatible Maranz. I forgot somehow:) that it was , so I just noticed in the Roon Essential app another zone being offered as being the Maranz. Will the sound be much improved by hooking up the Discovery through analog directly to the AVR ( I would have to run a long ethernet cable from the Discovery to my router) compared to just simply streaming to the Maranz ? Also would you recommend for improved sound to use a DAP ( i.e Auralic Vega; from Discovey optical out to the DAP and from there to AVR ) Thanks in advance
@@wintertrader I can't say, it might. I would just try it.