To al who are using MSB dac with their Oladra, which digital connection do you prefer?
AES/EBU XLR connection. It shouldn’t sound better, but it does. Despite me trying over and over to prefer the USB or fibre or whatever.
I use a ZenSati Silenzio cable, by far the craziest cable price I’ve ever paid (second hand), and it sounds fantastic.
Oladra / MSB /Audionet / Magico.
As I understand it, the relative quality of word clocks can still have a say in which interface sounds best. AES is synchronous, which means that digital conversion is clocked by the word clock in the Antipodes server. USB is asynchronous so digital conversion is clocked by the word clock in the DAC itself.
I tried AES / Pro-USB / I2S and although I’m now settled with I2S, the AES does seem to have more meat on the bone, the midrange is fuller and the music is more engaging/emotional. Since I have some DSD256 music that’s why I can’t keep using it, the AES was intended to be used with Aqua La Diva M2 when it arrives. (Oladra G4 → Ref DD → Ref DAC → MSB S500 → Magico M2)
The I2S is a hdmi cable right? If so I read the hdmi input module is a recent addition to MSB.
I also read somewhere that G4 Oladra recommends a USB connection although I don’t recall if it was recommended by antipodes itself. I use AES but have not experimented with other types.
Yes it’s the Universal I2S module, MSB has been working with Antipodes on this module so there is specific pin out just for Antipodes server. USB Reclocking has been added to the G4 and MSB is really proud of its Pro-USB so “theoretically” it will be a perfect match but in the end you have to trust your ears 
How’s your USB connection on the G4 Oladra compared to I2S and I2S?
actually the difference is negligible. To me, the USB wins all but the musicality to I2S. Also I love the simplicity of just one HDMI cable instead of the USB cable and the Pro-USB adapter.
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I have an Oladra and Cascade. I find the I2S connection is best. Also, using Squeeze/Squeeze as server/player sounds superior to Roon/Roon or Roon/Squeeze.
It’s hard to give up all the bells and whistles on Roon; so, every Friday, and whenever I’m researching to add to my library from Qobuz, I switch the Oladra back to Roon temporarily. After I’ve made my selections and want to listen seriously, I return to Squeeze and find the new content under “New Music.” Sometimes it takes Squeeze a while to update the library, but you can improve that by manually initiating a new files scan, under server settings.
Some folks find the Roon/Squeeze setup to be a satisfactory compromise. However, I own a lot of DSD files and Roon monkeys with the Squeeze playback of DSD and downsamples higher rates to 64. Also, the Squeeze/Squeeze setting definitely sounds better to me—playing my library files, as well as streaming from Qobuz.
I’m now so pleased with the sound from my Cascade/Oladra pairing that it’s going to take some talking to get me moving towards a Sentinel!
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