Article: Computer Audiophile Pocket Server C.A.P.S. v3 Zuma

[vpnogueira]

Joao,

 

Big thanks!

I changed the prebuffering to 20s and it solved the problem!

Cheers,

[bonkers]

I will be using the CAPS Zuma direction, but with a larger case to house 2 x internal SSD for storage and DVDr for ripping. Also a 3rd gen i3 cpu, will see how goes.

[ecwl]

Just read in the July 2013 issue of Stereophile that Kalman Rubinson uses a Zuma for his review of Mytek 5.1 DSD setup. very cool.

[Stephanl]

Hi Chris,

I built the Zuma and I am very happy with it running jRiver. You mentioned the black lightning power supply in your initial report. Are you using this supply? And could you share your experience with it?

Thank you Stephan

[geazi]

I have a CAPS Zuma bought the Small Green Computer + Jriver. Although not the focus of the outfit, I'm also using to see my Shows Bluray and DVD. And I have a problem and ask for help. The Jriver plays the DVD and Bluray, less those who have soundtrack DTS HD / Dolby HD. I've seen that is not the problem Jriver once made ​​all possible configurations and test, I used other players (DVDFab, Aurora) who had the same problem. I think it is some configuration windows, or not? (Sorry for my english it is not my native language).

 

Thanks

[firedog]

Chris-

 

Did you ever try "internal SATA drives with the existing specified CAPS v3 Zuma power supply"? Results, in terms of SQ and power problems/no problems?

 

Thanks

[TLE0629]

jmhays,

 

I was wondering about a typical setup for computer audio. So, it would be a music server (CAPS v3) only loaded with OS so a small hard drive is all that is needed. Then you would have a NAS to store your audio files on. Then you would have a DAC that would be connected to your music server and amplifier. Is this correct?

 

I have built a HTPC using XBMC to play movies. It definitely is not built like the music server. I could see building one of CA's music servers but I see that you have a HTPC and a music server in one and I like that idea.

 

NAS - what is an appropriate NAS for a music server and movie server? Are there some top rated ones for these circumstances?

 

Any ideas about the HTPC/Music Server and NAS would be very helpful.

 

Thanks,

Todd

 

Robert H,

Personally I have my NAS located two floors above my HTPC. This wasn't really done by design, but I can tell you with only a SSD and no fan in my HTPC there is no way I can ANY drive noise ;-)

 

When people are stating to use an external drive, I imagine they have a setup like mine where the NAS is located in a different room.

 

voider78,

When I was researching my HTPC configuration I wanted to make sure it would work well for both listening to music and watching music. That is why I went with the CAPS v3 Zuma build (without the SOtM USB card or filter). It was recommended by both Chris and Assassin on his HTPC Blog. Assassin is very popular on AVS Forum and has branched out and started his own Blog wher he makes HTPC build recommendations,

 

I used the Ivy Bridge i3-3225 3.3 GHz Dual Core which came with the HD4000 onboard video. According to Assassin, the Ivy Bridge i3-3220T 2.8 GHz Dual Core with the HD 2500 graphics which will do 3D, 1080p and HD Audio. When he was recommending the Sandy Bridge i3 processor he wrote:

 

"Like the Ivy Bridge, the older Sandy Bridge does it all. It has plenty of power for all 1080p and 3D movies (it will use less than 10% of it power during playback). Advantages over the even older Clarkdale is the built-in on-board HD AND 3D integrated graphics (yes you read that right — you don’t need a separate video card to watch either 1080p HD OR 3D — the HD2000 integrated graphics is built right in to the cpu and motherboard), slightly increased power, and slightly decreased power consumption. These are phenomenal systems if you need the extra power or want to have the best of the best. There is no need to “upgrade” to an i5 or i7 – this CPU is PLENTY."

 

Hope this helps. Remember, everyone has different requirements so your mileage may vary...

[tboooe]

hi folks...sorry to ask a potentially dumb question about power consumption. I am looking to get a good linear power supply for my upcoming ZUMA build so I am trying to figure out what I need. Power consumption was stated as "22 watts / 0.2 amps steady state and 60 watts / 0.7 amps maximum". If input voltage is 12V, shouldnt the amp draw be W/V or 22W/12V (1.8A) steady state and 60W/12V (5A) maximum? Please excuse my very rudimentary knowledge of anything electrical. Thank you in advance for the clarification.

[MarcB83]

hi folks...sorry to ask a potentially dumb question about power consumption. I am looking to get a good linear power supply for my upcoming ZUMA build so I am trying to figure out what I need. Power consumption was stated as "22 watts / 0.2 amps steady state and 60 watts / 0.7 amps maximum". If input voltage is 12V, shouldnt the amp draw be W/V or 22W/12V (1.8A) steady state and 60W/12V (5A) maximum? Please excuse my very rudimentary knowledge of anything electrical. Thank you in advance for the clarification.

 

I'm no expert either but I've researched the question quite a bit and it appears to be somewhat a waste of time to try to power the whole computer with a linear power supply. Computers are meant to be powered by a switching power supply.

 

I have built multiple Music Players based on Chris design and never had an issue with electrical noise contaminating my sound; however it is important that you keep it as simple as possible - no optical drive; low-power Pentium CPU (which is already plenty powerful to run JRiver); no other programs running on the Player; removal of anything that goes on the Internet running in the background; etc.

 

Regardless, I also purchased the SOtM tX-USB expansion card and I've tested it standalone (i.e. powered by the computer USB), and using an external linear power supply (Kingrex PSU MKii). To be honest, and to my disappointment, I have been unable to hear any difference in either scenarios compared to using straight USB out of the computer into my DAC!

[tboooe]

Regardless, I also purchased the SOtM tX-USB expansion card and I've tested it standalone (i.e. powered by the computer USB), and using an external linear power supply (Kingrex PSU MKii). To be honest, and to my disappointment, I have been unable to hear any difference in either scenarios compared to using straight USB out of the computer into my DAC!

Thank you for the reply. I am going into this with a little bit of skepticism too! I have the PS Audio P3 AC regenerator powering my entire system and the positive impact was huge so I am a believer in what good power can do for a system. However, I wonder if adding a linear power supply to my music server pc will yield any sonic benefits if I already have clean power being fed to the wall wart? That being said, I am sourcing a well reviewed linear power supply from overseas for $310 so its a relatively low cost experiment.

 

BTW, may I ask what the rest of your audio system is made up of?

[MarcB83]

Thank you for the reply. I am going into this with a little bit of skepticism too! I have the PS Audio P3 AC regenerator powering my entire system and the positive impact was huge so I am a believer in what good power can do for a system. However, I wonder if adding a linear power supply to my music server pc will yield any sonic benefits if I already have clean power being fed to the wall wart? That being said, I am sourcing a well reviewed linear power supply from overseas for $310 so its a relatively low cost experiment.

 

BTW, may I ask what the rest of your audio system is made up of?

 

AudioQuest USB Coffee cable

NAD M51 DAC

Wireworld Luna balanced cables

Class D Audio amplifier

VooDoo Velocity speaker cables

PSB Synchrony One speakers

 

A last comment: although all links in the chain are important (a chain is as strong as its weakest link...), my observation is that the DAC is the most critical piece of the total equation; and I can see that you have a highly praised one! Everything else being equal, I would strongly recommend allocating a proportionally bigger piece of the overall budget on that link.

 

My turn for a couple questions.

 

#1 - Glad to hear about the impact of the PS Audio regenerator. Do you have any idea if your starting point (i.e. quality/cleanliness of power from local utility) pre-regenerator? Do you believe the benefit of the regenerator to be equal in all context (where power is pretty clean to start with) of revealing systems?

 

#2 - I see that you use a USB to S/PDIF converter before going into your DAC. I suppose you did compare that setup to a direct USB to the Luxman setup. I would be curious to read your comments on the differences.

 

Thanks.

[MarcB83]

Thank you for the reply. I am going into this with a little bit of skepticism too! I have the PS Audio P3 AC regenerator powering my entire system and the positive impact was huge so I am a believer in what good power can do for a system. However, I wonder if adding a linear power supply to my music server pc will yield any sonic benefits if I already have clean power being fed to the wall wart? That being said, I am sourcing a well reviewed linear power supply from overseas for $310 so its a relatively low cost experiment.

 

BTW, may I ask what the rest of your audio system is made up of?

 

An additional comment. Just saw a couple weeks ago an announcement from Gigabyte that their new generation of BRIX (fanless ultra-compact PC - similar to Intel NUC) will come with a S/PDIF connector. This could prove to be a very simple & effective solution for a headless music player.

[DavidZ]

I had asked my friend and audio engineer Bascom King about how to get a complete 6.5-9V power supply to use in addition to a 12v supply to power the Zuma. He brought up the possibility of using a separate regulator fed off the 12V supply instead. He wanted to

know what current is drawn from the 12V and 6.5-9V supplies in order to figure out the viability of the separate 6.5-9V regulator fed off the 12V supply.

 

Mike --- How did you resolve the question of powering the SOTM board? I'm planning to build a Zuma soon -- just got that board, and haven't even opened it up. Thanks. -- David

[MarcB83]

Mike --- How did you resolve the question of powering the SOTM board? I'm planning to build a Zuma soon -- just got that board, and haven't even opened it up. Thanks. -- David

 

The board as a power connector with a switch to decide you want the power from the USB cable coming from the computer, or from the external connector. Make sure you have the right connector!

[DavidZ]

The board as a power connector with a switch to decide you want the power from the USB cable coming from the computer, or from the external connector. Make sure you have the right connector!

 

Marc --- Thanks. I'm a little confused. Let's start with the SOTM board. It is powered internally --- off the Pico PSU or the motherboard? Then -- separate question -- that DC port facing out on the board is for powering the USB circuit in the DAC, yes? -- David

[MarcB83]

Marc --- Thanks. I'm a little confused. Let's start with the SOTM board. It is powered internally --- off the Pico PSU or the motherboard? Then -- separate question -- that DC port facing out on the board is for powering the USB circuit in the DAC, yes? -- David

 

It is a card directly connected into the motherboard through its PCI connector; this is where it is powered from by default. The main benefit from the SOTM card is the possibility to power it externally and bypass the theoretically "dirty" power from the PC. Therefore, what ends up at the DAC is a combination of "clean" power + data. But as I said earlier, it did not do anything for me - I suspect that it would possibly have if my music player was not a totally dedicated unit only running JRiver.

[DavidZ]

It is a card directly connected into the motherboard through its PCI connector; this is where it is powered from by default. The main benefit from the SOTM card is the possibility to power it externally and bypass the theoretically "dirty" power from the PC. Therefore, what ends up at the DAC is a combination of "clean" power + data. But as I said earlier, it did not do anything for me - I suspect that it would possibly have if my music player was not a totally dedicated unit only running JRiver.

 

Got it, thanks. I do believe the SOTM card also has a switch to cut/enable the power from the SOTM board to the usb receiver in the DAC. For example, the usb receiver in my DAC has its own power supply; the extra power from the usb cable does no good, and maybe causes RFI --- who knows? After I install it, I get to see if the difference is audible. Seems like almost everything is. ;<)

[tboooe]

AudioQuest USB Coffee cable

NAD M51 DAC

Wireworld Luna balanced cables

Class D Audio amplifier

VooDoo Velocity speaker cables

PSB Synchrony One speakers

 

A last comment: although all links in the chain are important (a chain is as strong as its weakest link...), my observation is that the DAC is the most critical piece of the total equation; and I can see that you have a highly praised one! Everything else being equal, I would strongly recommend allocating a proportionally bigger piece of the overall budget on that link.

 

My turn for a couple questions.

 

#1 - Glad to hear about the impact of the PS Audio regenerator. Do you have any idea if your starting point (i.e. quality/cleanliness of power from local utility) pre-regenerator? Do you believe the benefit of the regenerator to be equal in all context (where power is pretty clean to start with) of revealing systems?

 

#2 - I see that you use a USB to S/PDIF converter before going into your DAC. I suppose you did compare that setup to a direct USB to the Luxman setup. I would be curious to read your comments on the differences.

 

Thanks.

Nice system! I have read great things about the M51 DAC and PSB speakers!

 

Re: PS Audio AC regenerator, I am not sure about my starting point other than it was not a dedicated line and the power fluctuates between 114-119V. I live in a residential area in Orange County Calif so I imagine my power was not that clean to begin with. That being said, I know of people who have dedicated lines and use the PS Audio with good results. I think the key is that the PS Audio generates not only clean power but also consistent voltage as well as isolates each of the components that are plugged into it.

 

Re: USB converter, I have not tried going straight from USB into my DAC primarily because my DAC does not have a USB input. I am using the D-06 cdp's digital inputs. I would like to upgrade to the DA-06 DAC soon so I can try DSD and PCM2DSD.

[MarcB83]

Nice system! I have read great things about the M51 DAC and PSB speakers!

 

Re: PS Audio AC regenerator, I am not sure about my starting point other than it was not a dedicated line and the power fluctuates between 114-119V. I live in a residential area in Orange County Calif so I imagine my power was not that clean to begin with. That being said, I know of people who have dedicated lines and use the PS Audio with good results. I think the key is that the PS Audio generates not only clean power but also consistent voltage as well as isolates each of the components that are plugged into it.

 

Re: USB converter, I have not tried going straight from USB into my DAC primarily because my DAC does not have a USB input. I am using the D-06 cdp's digital inputs. I would like to upgrade to the DA-06 DAC soon so I can try DSD and PCM2DSD.

 

Thanks. The DA-06 got amazing and unanimous reviews!!! I am sure you are dying to hear it out!!

[tboooe]

Thanks. The DA-06 got amazing and unanimous reviews!!! I am sure you are dying to hear it out!!

Actually I am in no hurry. I have read that the D-06 and DA-06 share the same internals so I imagine the sound is the same. The only thing I am missing is the ability to stream DSD and utilize a direct connection via the USB. I don't have any DSD files and am only now buying high res music which I can stream just fine with my D-06 cdp. I am curious what PCM2DSD would sound like but I will need to build a Zuma CAPS first because my little Atom based music server wouldn't be able to handle this, maybe over the next 6 months. I have a few other things I want to do first with my current setup to maximize its potential.

[MarcB83]

Actually I am in no hurry. I have read that the D-06 and DA-06 share the same internals so I imagine the sound is the same. The only thing I am missing is the ability to stream DSD and utilize a direct connection via the USB. I don't have any DSD files and am only now buying high res music which I can stream just fine with my D-06 cdp. I am curious what PCM2DSD would sound like but I will need to build a Zuma CAPS first because my little Atom based music server wouldn't be able to handle this, maybe over the next 6 months. I have a few other things I want to do first with my current setup to maximize its potential.

 

In order to develop further your understanding of the pros & cons of DSD, here are two blogs I am following which are more or less of opposite opinions.

 

First, there is Mark Waldrep blog from AIX Records. He is highly skeptical/critical on DSD and his explanations are backed by science and deep knowhow. A must-read in my opinion.

 

Second, there is Paul McGowan blog from PS Audio. Again, always very informative. Paul's latest blogs are to the effect that DSD is the future. Here is the beginning of this morning's blog:

 

In my opinion the future of all high resolution capable DACS is DSD. As mentioned earlier, most modern DACS are already converting PCM to DSD internally anyway, even many low cost USB only DACS that handle 192kHz/24bits are Delta Sigma converters (at their hearts) and thus the architectureused is essentially that of DSD.

So one might ask why not start with DSD in the first place? Why convert from PCM to DSD when a pure DSD stream would make more sense? There are a number of good reasons why this hasn’t yet happened more. Certainly there’s an increase in DSD downloads available; for which you need a DSD capable DAC to play them. There are also a few original PCM recordings that have been converted to DSD – a practice I find loathsome at best,certainly not on the up and up at the least. An original DSD recording is one thing, converted analog to DSD is a great practice, converting original PCM to DSD and calling it “DSD” is not kosher IMHO.

...

 

Another must-read!

[tboooe]

Thank you for the links. Bottom line is that I am going to let my ears decide.

[exssrerion]

How about case temperature during operate? Normally I doesn't turn air condition for all day. Can I use in room temperature 35C. (95F) ?

[Vectra]

If I don't need a silent PC (due to PC being located in a closet with cable through wall to pre/pro in listening room) or care about the size & appearance of the case, would that eliminate the need for the more complicated heat pipe cooling? Would the addition of fans impact the "clean power" pursuit or just avoided due to the whiling sound they can make?

 

I would like to play music w/JRiver and movies with other apps.

 

I am currently using a traditional HTPC w/optical drive & maudio Revolution digital out card, but it's a P4 and I've been thinking of upgrading to a new DAC and PC. The linear power supply and USB card like SOtM seem recommended over a traditional HTPC design.

[upp3rd0g]

Here are my experiences:

 

I just built my Caps Zuma using a Intel Core I5 4670T haswell processor and an Asus H87M-E mainboard. I used a Streacom NanoPSU instead of the recommended PicoPSU.

 

I had zero issues while building the Zuma. Everything fits and works perfectly fine.

 

I did have to install Windows8-pro twice because the initial installation considered my upgrade-productkey unsuitable as I did a fresh/clean install. This was solved by installing Windows8 a second time.

 

I also did a Prime95 stresstest to heat up the CPU, after 30mins the temperature reached 75 degrees Celsius. I don't think this system can be pushed to the max for hours and hours, it will probably throttle down to deal with the excess heat.