SOTM USB card vs PPAstudio USB Card v2

[ALRAINBOW]

I have a fully loaded MSB stack with two PSU,s . It truly is amazing sound . But I DId buy and I a M waiting a delivery of a fully loaded sever 2012 as well . I am sure it will improve things . And besides I have other dacs as well to play with. Too many people swear by the improvement for it not to exist. I went with the PPA usb card .

When done I can post my results . But I do agree all this stuff is subjective to each of us and our systems. There us just too many variables for us to say this is better then the rest .

 

al

[ALRAINBOW]

Barrows I concur with you. I have three systems in different locations. And I play the same music in all places. I hear differences between them. And I have multiple speaker rigs as well as headphones. Most likely more than most here. Not saying I am special but clearly there is plenty to mAke a difference in all of the sounds of different cards. However it is fine for an individual to feel one is better than the rest. We all have made this conclusion. Now given one is mAde for the purpose and another is modded this makes both of them qualified for me to try. Now we all want the best and I can see myself doing the two card comparison .

Al

[ALRAINBOW]

May I ask what psu did I use for the PPA ?

[ALRAINBOW]

Yes I was looking for a comparison is PSU for the two cards. I have been told the PPA card is the card to choose. In all,of this is choice and in that is the point of view on what we think as individuals as better. Although some choices are just obvious but I also feel system dependicy also has a hand in this. I own bothan offramp loaded and there PSU and the ap1/PP. I have them for a year or more. I put blame on almost all dac makers as not caring enough about PSU and cleaning up the USB on our dacs. Having spent the money on them was the best cash I ever spent . The increase in low end and treble clarity is amazing. I cannot understand how someone can make a dac and not consider this issue.

To buy a dac at 2000 or more and no choice but to spend much more to obtain far better quality is just not cool.

Al

[ALRAINBOW]

I own a msb platinum pro , galaxy clock with UMT plus and diamond and dual transport PSU,s. The sound is truly amazing. But I ordered a no holes barred server setup from Phil

and cannot wait to hear it. I also have a lampi level 7 coming as well. Now the lampi was improved with the offramp or AP1/PP. SO I am sure it will benifit from this as well. Audiophile if you would be so kind to feel in the blanks on what I ordered please here for me please . With all the money we spend it was about 6k more for top shelf Althogh I have not heard it yet as it's not here . Hurry up phile hahaha

also a little off topic. There is two recordings I highly reccomned for us dsd people.

One is Elvis stele 57 essentials vol 2 find it on dsd amazing also the new opus 3 dsd it has house of the rising sun a female vocal . These two albums are Among the best out there . A must for us.

Al

[ALRAINBOW]

Both really I asked phil to help pick it all,out for me. Really nice guy for sure.

Al

[ALRAINBOW]

Absolutely USB if taken care of with a card is greatly improved. When I bought the stack I bought the UMT plus with it. So I only streamed over ip from a nas with SS drives. When I use USB it is for dsd 128 only . Now since I only own the stack from late last year the newer USB driver was always around. The only USB improvement was a firmware update .

regarding the PSU,s yes they are very large . But the USB and infect any input is greatly cared for and resampled or reclocked . Vince there rep told of many things going on inside to lower the jitter . Also power supply is very important not the PSU but the mains power.

It should be from a home run and min 10 gauge. If you wish I can post it here .

So before any of our improved interconnects and power cords are used how power gets there is very important. Now although I did all that the plan illustrated I never did an A/B test to try and hear a change.

If you wish ask and I will,post it .

al

[ALRAINBOW]

The PPA card works in core mode others have complained about the sotom and core mode is well

al

[ALRAINBOW]

I guess I should shut up now. As it appears there is no wrong or right . Sorry. But a battery or l PSU does matter big time in any USB converter or CPU server .

al

[ALRAINBOW]

You can use the internal power from the PSU. But this is noisey and a good reg linear PSU or PPA ,,s regulated power supply should be used. He sells it on his website and then you need some batterers lipo type stated there . In this way you will be getting the most out of the card.

 

Regarding jcat cat does anybody know wha the pinout is on the power input . If intro bone I want to use my own power and not the internal PSU. Also does the Jcat USB support win server 2012 in core mode ??

al

[ALRAINBOW]

You need 5 volts to be regulated . And then it's fine

[ALRAINBOW]

Good question. My ps audio needs to be rebooted if I take the cable out and then reinsert it. My msb platinum flipped out and list the USB and I had to reinstall the firmware. I think we are in right sea wit the stuff and go me I shut things down including battery packs and external linear psu , s.

Its best all around. And sorry I only play with PPA stuff. Some say the other cards are better his are cheap and seem tondo an amazing job if running serv 2012 and the audio optimizer. The DS never sounded so good in core mode. Truly very good.

Al

[ALRAINBOW]

I think your worried about something no one here can hear. Relax and build the unit. There is just to many special heating people making claims that I feel are just not true. However if you insist use a normal CPU case not a low profile one. And try it both ways and post what you hear

al

[ALRAINBOW]

]I have one to be ordered I am waiting on Paul to invoice my paypal . I listened to Phil and own two bakoons and one black lighting . All pauls stuff inside except for the xion I7. It makes a big difference for sure. Not so sure about the internal drives from Paul compared to a SSD drive from Samsung though. But pure dc or a good linear PSU is a must for top end performance. I'll post when I get one.

[ALRAINBOW]

I rec mine two days ago and I have not had time to try it. Can someone post why I would want the main board clock upgrade. ???

i have one ona MSI board from him all out setup. But honestly it's not any better than non chipped boards

al

[ALRAINBOW]

Main board as shown. But keep in mind this is all out

I have there seperate battery psu units.

The main board is alone feeding from a red wine black lighting

and two bakoons feeding the PPA usb card and two SS DRIVES

only one bakoon is just iOS SS drive and the other does the music drive and PPA usb card.

And of course all the fancy cables inside. To me the cables are a waist of money.

Only the ss drives , iOS system weather SER 2012 or win 8

then batteries and AO software. All of these matter greatly

as the cables do not hurt but it seems to me just not worth the money.

Thanks I will try the seperate power tonight.

Also HDPLEX. Makes for about 400 usd Both a linaer psu and ATX psu that rival a complete battery setup. At a fraction of the cost of batteries

al

[ALRAINBOW]

I have the ap1/pp also the offramp 5.

A real caps news that stuff away.

Usb cards and seperate psu are to me no worth doing alone.

Al