 People often ask what equipment I use for my refuels. This video shows not only the equipment but also how they are connected to each other and to the network. This video shows the three setups as per December 2020. There will be older versions and there might be newer versions but if you came here using the link in a refuel, that is the equipment used for that refuel. Let me start with some disclaimers. The equipment is chosen and set up to make my work as easy as possible. If that wasn't the case, I probably would have bought an integrated system. But how do you judge a quality DAC if your playback system already does the digital to analog conversion? By choosing for separate components, things get slightly more complex to setup and to operate. On the other hand, upgrading is easier since parts can be added like the Syntax power supply for the MiTech DAC or replaced like the Auralic Aries G2 that took over the top position from the SOtM SMS-200 Ultra. Since changing the setups is so easy, they will get upgraded from time to time. To give you easy access to each setup, let's list the time codes for each chapter here. On the third floor we find the ZIXL GS1900-10HB switch to which the Intel NUC 10i7 FNH is connected. The previous 7th generation NUC i7 was needed elsewhere, there was no technical reason for the swap. The new NUC runes RoonRock on a M.2 SSD and has the music stored on a 10TB Western Digital Drive in a USB3 housing. Also connected is the Synology DS1819 plus NAS with DX517 extender offering 70 TB of storage and caches on two 500 GB SSDs. It mainly functions as a backup for my videos but is also used for testing audio servers if I think speed is important. On the other side of the spectrum I use two SUP100 single drive NASs, the Synology DS120Js, since that's more realistic for domestic use. As you have seen I rather connect a USB drive to the RoonRock server directly and since it is shared as a volume on the network it can also be used for systems like Sonos and Bluesound. The advantage of using a simple NAS is that it consumes less power than a computer and can do all kinds of other things like backup and make files available to, for instance, your smartphone on the road. Enough about that. Two of the three reference sets are located at the third floor and from the central switch there is an ethernet connection to the AccuFox AccuSwitch SE placed near these two setups. It does give audible improvements in setup 2 but close to nothing in setup 3. Time to have a look at the ground floor. As said I use glass fiber between the central switch on the third floor and the switch on the ground floor, the Uptone Audio Ether Regen, that also has an SFP port. By the way to use glass fiber with these switches you need special modules, the so called small form factor pluggable transceivers, indeed abbreviated to SFP. I use Finishstar transceivers simply because they were recommended by my supplier. The SFP is on the dirty side of the Ether Regen as is the connection to the cable modem that provides internet to the network and connects to other network devices on the ground floor. As we have seen the AccuSwitch SE provides the cleaned up network connection to both setup 2 and 3. In setup 3 the amplification is done by the NAD C316BEE, the speakers are the Morton Short Avent 902s that can be assisted by the REL T5 subwoofer. The Nanosound 1 streamer is the entry level streamer here. One notch up is the LOUS bridge mounted to the Sparky Smallboard computer and powered by the Audiophonics LPSU power supply. It normally runs as one endpoint but can easily be used with other software if needed. The AudioQuest Dragonfly Cobalt DAC does the digital to analog conversion. A nice touch is that the Dragonfly can also render MQA when the decoding is done by the player software. Especially in this price range that can make a difference. Here the amplification is taken care of by the Marans KI Pearl Lite that drives the Acoustic Energy Radiance 1 loudspeakers. They are supported by the REL T5 subwoofer that is connected to the loudspeaker terminals of the Marans. Two digital sources are used in setup 2. Entry level there is a Bluesound Node 2i, directly followed by the LOUS bridge signature powered by the LO Shanti, driving the Denafrips Aries 2DA converter. Both normally function as rune endpoint, although the Bluesound Node 2i is also used with its own system, for instance, when I want to listen to web sources that are not supported by Rune. The U.S. bridge signature can easily be converted to be in its own streamer by inserting a microSD card with other software. I use Volumio alternatively. Access to the network in setup 1 is through the Ether Regen that on the dirty side is connected to the cable modem and routers over a network cable and to the central switch on the third floor of a glass fiber. On the clean side of the Ether Regen, there is only one network feed at 100 Mbps. New in the setup 1 is the AIR AX520 amplifier. It replaces the AudioNode Soro SE and drives the AudioPhysics Corpial loudspeakers. From here on a number of variants are possible, the most basic being the Mitek Brooklyn bridge DAC as rune endpoint connected with the network cable to the Ether Regen switch. One step up is using the superb SYNTEX 6.2 amp power supply to power the Mitek instead of the built-in switch mode power supply. The SYNTEX is powerful enough to also power the Ether Regen switch. A further improvement is to insert the SOtM-SMS 200 Ultra Neo in between the Ether Regen and the Mitek, using it as a network bridge. Now the Mitek's own built-in network bridge is no longer used, so in effect it is used as a normal Mitek Brooklyn DAC+. The connection between the Ether Regen and the SOtM is an AudioQuest Diamond CAT7 network cable and between the SOtM and the Mitek a AudioQuest Diamond USB A2B cable. The SOtM is powered by an S-booster BOTW PMP ECO MK2. The ultimate configuration replaces the SOtM with the Aurelix Aries G2 streamer. It can be used as a streamer that plays music from a share or internal 2.5 inch drive. I use the shared volume of the Intel Nock when using the Aurelix Lightning DS app. But often I just use it as a rune endpoint. Still further improvements are available. Between the Aries G2 and the Mitek DAC is a vintage Siltek AES-EBU cable. When I add the Mini DSP SHD Studio Derek processor, room acoustic problems are corrected. This is the configuration I predominantly use. The REL B2 sub is not yet connected since, for now, I am already happy with the low end of the audio physics. Every day I start with reading questions and remarks you sent me. Please only use the common space below the videos, YouTube, for your questions. It is impossible to give personal buying advice or solve your problems. I just don't have the time. Although I read almost all reactions you sent me, I only respond to those on YouTube, if I can respond at all. Questions like product comparisons, which one is better, brand X model Y or brand K model L, are impossible to answer as I have explained many times. But questions that might be relevant to more than a few persons, I do answer given time. Sometimes directly below the questions and sometimes by producing a video with the answer, like this video. I have a zero tolerance policy for people that are rude, impolite, react without watching the video and those that want to tell me that what I hear is impossible because bits are bits, especially when they haven't even bothered to check my experiences. Luckily these form only a small portion of the questions and are removed by the moderator. But if you have a question or remark outside these categories, please do post it. It is great information for me when thinking about new subjects for videos. It often helps to look at a somewhat complex matter with graphics. That was the motivation for making this video this way, in reaction to your reactions. The complexity at the same time is versatility, although I understand it can be hard to imagine what setup variants lead to what qualities. Please let me know when things are not clear, but also realize that it is not always a matter of better words and that brings us to the end of this video. There will be a new video as always at Friday at 5pm central european time. If you don't want to miss that, subscribe to this channel or follow me on the social media so you will be informed on new videos around. Please help me reach an even bigger audience by giving this video a thumbs up or mention me in the social media. Many thanks to those viewers that support this channel financially. It keeps me independent and thus trustworthy. If that makes you feel like supporting my work too, the links are in the comments below this video on YouTube. I am Hans Beekhuyzen, thank you for watching and see you in the next show or on theHBproject.com. And whatever you do, enjoy the music.