Opportunity to test/buy antipodes cx/ex combo, why does it differ from any other computer setup?

alboy1975

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Hi, I'll keep this short.

I have an opportunity to test/buy an Antipodes cx/ex streaming combo. I have seen loads of positive reviews, but I cannot wrap my head round why this differs from a normal computer setup (where is the value to reflect cost? If it is much better than a normal computer, then, what makes it so?)

I, for example, bought a cheap fanless i7 8gig and 128gig nvme from cash converters (£100). I placed unraid on it and started a roon server docker and have the roon player on my macmini (less than £200). The Antipodes costs thousands, I cannot understand why the cx/ex might be thousands of pounds better in quality. The cx and ex have mobos, processors, ram and storage (they are computers!). What the hell can they do to them to make them audiophile quality? I doubt they've swapped out caps etc, maybe a bespoke isolated psu, beyond that, buggered if i know (nobody can tell me). Looking at the Antipodes website, it refers to AMS, which i suspect is it's bespoke server OS. Are we then being asked to pay thousand for software wrapped in a shinny box? What if they go out of business or distribute a sub par AMS update? Unraid cost £50 and roon server (roon core) is running with ease with all bells and whistles on, less than 2% cpu usage and less than 40% ram, sounds great. I stream from tidal.

Colour me confused.
 

antonio66

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It won't be thousands of pounds better, only your ears will tell you if it is better or not and worth the money. I'm lucky enough to have access to my brothers system, now using a Antipodes K50, previously a bespoke pc made up by Item Audio. Is the Antipodes better, yes, worth the extra £000's, probably not, but it's what you have to pay.
 

Cable Monkey

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It will be appreciably better. But what you pay will be disproportionate to that. That gear is made in small volumes using modified and un-modified computer parts fitted into expensive milled alloy cases. Linear and hybrid PSU’s will add expense and heft. But think of it a bit like driving a Bentley! The likes of Bentley and RR were careful not to publish performance figures. Bentley used to quote power as adequate (where have we heard that before?!). The Mulsanne Turbo was quoted as ‘adequate plus 50%! With the Antipodes gear it will work well and sound great. But it is just hyped up PC parts and will already be dropping in value so much that, just like a PC with a pre-determined life after which it will be unsupported, the CX/EX may already be too old to have much of a future. It has already been superseded by the K and S series devices. If you have an option, screw the price right down or walk away.
 

llatpoh

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What the hell can they do to them to make them audiophile quality?
Bespoke power supplies to begin with as you mentioned, faraday cages, careful routing of cables within the enclosure, bespoke USB audio interface, disabling uneeded peripherals, etc. I suspect that compared to a fanless, linear powered i7 platform or equivalent you would be heavily into the 'laws of diminishing returns' territory. If I may suggest please do test them out and let us know.
 

psi310398

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I’m paying for convenience.

Peerless remote support and updating (even from the other side of the world) is another considerable plus for those of us who are not network engineers…Any fool can load Volumio onto a pi or Daphile onto a spare Dell but keeping them going and ironing out the repeated snags can be a real ballsache for all but the most dedicated.
 

llatpoh

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but keeping them going and ironing out the repeated snags can be a real ballsache for all but the most dedicated.
I hear you but it's not like proprietary solutions are completely seamless to the end user, quite often there would be issues to figure out regarding installation, optimization and configuration of new features, and the occsional troubleshooting.
 

psi310398

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I hear you but it's not like proprietary solutions are completely seamless to the end user, quite often there would be issues to figure out regarding installation, optimization and configuration of new features, and the occsional troubleshooting.
Sure, but I’ve had only good experience with Antipodes so far when I’ve needed help.
 
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