HDPLEX Linear Power Supply

[NAIDIVER]

Hi sgr.

I saw your setup below, you used win8.1 and 2012 so i need your advice about them.

 

I can't use roon on 2012R2 and now i'm considering between going on 2012 and buy audio optimizer 2.0 and turning to win10 with fidelizer (no audio optimizer)

 

The reason is 2012R2, i don't know what is gonna happen next because of its flexibility and compatible to some new upcoming softwares like roon, for example.

 

Do you think it is a good idea to change my os from 2012 to 10?

 

Thanks

[sgr]

Hi,

If you want to use ROON there are two options.

 

1. If you're using a tablet like an iPad Air then install Roonserver on your Windows Server 2012 machine. Your iPad will display ROON and control it. With this option you could use the AudiophileOptimizer and Fidelizer. .

 

2. Use Windows 10 pro.

ROON can setup easily on such a machine. The excellent AudiophikeOptimizer 2.0 will run easily on Windows 10. I would use Fidelizer as well. The AudiophileOptimizer and Fidelizer work great together. You can use Fidelizer to open ROON and optimized it. Your Windows 10 pro based PC will work as well as ever.

 

If you purchase a mrendu at some point (which I highly recommend) Its ROON ready and that setup sounds outstanding.

 

At some point depending on your dad's dsd abilities you could think about HQPlayer as well.

 

Hope this helps.

Steven

[NAIDIVER]

Hi,

If you want to use ROON there are two options.

 

1. If you're using a tablet like an iPad Air then install Roonserver on your Windows Server 2012 machine. Your iPad will display ROON and control it. With this option you could use the AudiophileOptimizer and Fidelizer. .

 

2. Use Windows 10 pro.

ROON can setup easily on such a machine. The excellent AudiophikeOptimizer 2.0 will run easily on Windows 10. I would use Fidelizer as well. The AudiophileOptimizer and Fidelizer work great together. You can use Fidelizer to open ROON and optimized it. Your Windows 10 pro based PC will work as well as ever.

 

If you purchase a mrendu at some point (which I highly recommend) Its ROON ready and that setup sounds outstanding.

 

At some point depending on your dad's dsd abilities you could think about HQPlayer as well.

 

Hope this helps.

Steven

 

Thanks Stephen. ^^

 

I can't install roon on win2012R2. (there's a media pack available for wins2012essential which it is claimed to be also use with 2012R2 but actually can not.)

 

so.. is it possible to play songs from roon on my wins8.1 pc and use hq p on my wins2012R2 via lan cable?

 

PS.

for audio optimizer 2.0, is it for win10 or 2012R2 or both of them?

 

Thanks.

[sgr]

Hi,

Ok. I know it's a bit confusing. I just had this explained to me and understood it.

 

1. You are correct you can't install the full ROON system on your Windows Server PC. It does not include the graphics drivers ROON needs to operate. The way around this?

Go to the ROON download area and install RoonServer on your Windows server machine.

It is ROON without the graphics interface. Next you will need an approved Roon tablet. An iPad Air 2 will work great. Download the ROON app from the App Store. It's free if you've paid for ROON. Then in setup you tell it where your music files are located. RoonServer will read your files and make them available to use on your ROON iPad app.

With this method you can use ROON, Windows Server 2012, Fidelizer, and of course the key to great sound quality, the AudiophileOptimizer. I'm using this setup now. It works and sounds great. If you are using jPlay you can make this your Control PC. ROON server contains ROON core and output. I'd use it to send the files to your second PC.

Is this where your music files are installed?

 

Or use the second method below:

Download Windows 10 pro to replace Windows 8.1.

 

Then install the ROON package you will use it to control ROON Server.

Then install the AudiophileOptimizer 2.0. It can be installed on Windows 10 pro and Windows Server 2012.

This would be your jPlay Audio PC in a two PC setup.

 

ROON will have not let the core install on one PC. When it asks you how it's to be setup tell it you want the core on your Windows Server2012 control PC.

 

So your configuration would look something like this.

Windows Server PC runs: RoonServer, AudiophileOptimizer, Fidelizer, Project Lasso, jPlay, and (might be configured as an HQ Player NAA not sure 100% on this one.) You could let it send files to your DAC.

 

Windows 8.1 converted to Windows 10 Pro. (Windows Home is not recommended by Phil at the AudiophileOptimizer as its missing functions the AudiophileOptimizer needs.)

Software. ROON as a control point, AudiophileOptimizer, jPlay Audio PC, HQPlayer, project Lasso, and Fidelizer.

 

I'm sending you a PM with my phone number if you still have questions. You might want to email the AudiophileOptimizer and ask Phil the owner what he thinks. I'm not that familiar with Project Lasso.

 

PS. I'm not sure how jPlay and HQ player will work together.

jPlay wants the Audio PC to be connected to your DAC.

HQPlayer wants to be the player on your audio PC with the NAA installed on the control PC.

 

If trying to use them together it might be better not to use the jPlay two PC setup. I think it would be just to run it on the PC connected to your DAC.

 

I've not used all this software together. There may be better ways to get HQPlayer and jPlay to work together. I'm sure some people have.

 

Steven

[Nikhil]

I need some help on the HDPlex 100W LPS. Does it have a "burn in" time per se?

Does it need some time to settle in before things start getting better?

 

The reason I ask is that I had the HDPlex along with my Regen but had taken it out of the chain for several months. When I put it back in I find the sound to be veiled and muddied. I'd really like to use it so would like to know if maybe there is a settling time.

 

The other question I have is to save space I'd like to power my Audio PC and the Regen with the same HDPlex LPS unit using the different voltage rails. I don't know for sure but I remember reading somewhere that this is not recommended. I vaguely recall the reason being that there would be a ground issue. Can anyone confirm this?

 

Regards.

[EuroDriver]

I need some help on the HDPlex 100W LPS. Does it have a "burn in" time per se?

Does it need some time to settle in before things start getting better?

 

The reason I ask is that I had the HDPlex along with my Regen but had taken it out of the chain for several months. When I put it back in I find the sound to be veiled and muddied. I'd really like to use it so would like to know if maybe there is a settling time.

 

The other question I have is to save space I'd like to power my Audio PC and the Regen with the same HDPlex LPS unit using the different voltage rails. I don't know for sure but I remember reading somewhere that this is not recommended. I vaguely recall the reason being that there would be a ground issue. Can anyone confirm this?

 

Regards.

 

Regen needs a better power supply than HD Plex

 

JS-2 does a good job

[Nikhil]

...

 

PS. I'm not sure how jPlay and HQ player will work together.

jPlay wants the Audio PC to be connected to your DAC.

HQPlayer wants to be the player on your audio PC with the NAA installed on the control PC.

If trying to use them together it might be better not to use the jPlay two PC setup. I think it would be just to run it on the PC connected to your DAC.

 

With regard to HQplayer: HQPlayer on the Control PC with NAA on the Audio PC

 

Just a note here - HQP and Jplay use completely different approaches to audio. HQP needs massive resources for the number crunching it does specially for DSD upsampling etc. Beefy CPU with add on graphics card processing as an option etc. On the other hand JPlay at it's highest level is all about minimizing the OS processes with AO in the mix making the computer into an "appliance" for all practical purposes.

 

Two very different approaches IMO.

[Nikhil]

Regen needs a better power supply than HD Plex

 

JS-2 does a good job

 

 

Ouch! There goes my plans to simplify my setup ...

[pl_svn]

Ouch! There goes my plans to simplify my setup ...

 

not everything is lost yet: wait for the LPS-1 to be available then use it between your HD-Plex and Regen

(this is what I'll do since I'm now using the JS-2 for both a Mac mini and Aries)

[sandyk]

Regen needs a better power supply than HD Plex

 

JS-2 does a good job

 

 

This afternoon I heard a server using a HDPlex 300W PSU, where the adjustable +9V rail went into separate halves of a VReg PCB set for +5V using LM317T voltage regulators followed by John Linsley Hood designed shunt regulators which then individually powered 2 internal SSDs. It sounded fantastic. The host then fed the same PCB for the SSDs from a JS2.

The sound became overly warm, with poor channel separation and poorer dynamics .It was WAY below the SQ when using the adjustable rail of the HDPlex.

I am unable to explain why both supplies with similar capabilities should sound so very different.

Going by specifications, I would have expected a very minor SQ advantage in favour of the JS2.

 

Alex

[mourip]

Ouch! There goes my plans to simplify my setup ...

 

If you want to simplify your setup and increase SQ at the same time consider selling all of your USB chain including any LPS's dedicated for that purpose and buy a Focusrite RedNet 3 or D16. Either of these single box ethernet to AES/SPDIF converters will readily surpass a well tweaked USB chain.

 

It did this and removed a REGEN, Mutec +3 USB, HDPlex LPS and AQJB and assorted cables and will never look back. Depending on how much money you spent trying to overcome the deficiencies of USB you might even break even financially :-)

 

Check out the RedNet thread in the Network and Streaming forum here.

 

Just my 2 cents. Not trying to start a debate!

 

PS. I eventually added back the Mutec as a reclocker between the D16 and my DAC but even without it the SQ was much improved over the previous USB chain.

 

PPS. I have now purchased a second D16 for my headphone system to replace the USB chain there. If I can get my LAN to support a low enough latency I can then remove one PC music server with associated HDPlex LPS and let the remaining JRMC server send to both systems. THAT will be a big cost savings and be much simpler. One PC to rule them all...

 

PPPS. I have a higher opinion of the HDPlex SQ than some seem to here and use them to power my music servers. Having said that I did notice that if you use the adjustable output to give 7.5 or 9v to the REGEN the LPS gets pretty hot. I am sure it can take it but since the adjustable output is good for 7.5 to 12v you are tossing out a LOT of volts as heat when you set it to 7.5v.

[sandyk]

PPPS. I have a higher opinion of the HDPlex SQ than some seem to here and use them to power my music servers. Having said that I did notice that if you use the adjustable output to give 7.5 or 9v to the REGEN the LPS gets pretty hot. I am sure it can take it but since the adjustable output is good for 7.5 to 12v you are tossing out a LOT of volts as heat when you set it to 7.5v.

 

The amount of heat will of course depend on the amount of current the Regen needs to supply to the DAC.

For many people it won't get more than just warm. With the HDPlex 300W +9V adjustable variable supply rail set to +7.5V for example, which has a rectified voltage of around 30V, you would be dropping 22.5V, and if the Regen had to supply close to 500mA, that would see that voltage rail dissipating close to 11W of heat.

[Nikhil]

If you want to simplify your setup and increase SQ at the same time consider selling all of your USB chain including any LPS's dedicated for that purpose and buy a Focusrite RedNet 3 or D16. Either of these single box ethernet to AES/SPDIF converters will readily surpass a well tweaked USB chain.

 

Thanks for the info on the Rednet. I did look it up when you mentioned it on another discussion.

 

PPPS. I have a higher opinion of the HDPlex SQ than some seem to here and use them to power my music servers.

 

I do feel the same way. It's definitely a great value.

Although something like the JS2 should be better on design chops alone.

More choices for everyone is always a good thing.

[NAIDIVER]

Hi,

Ok. I know it's a bit confusing. I just had this explained to me and understood it.

 

1. You are correct you can't install the full ROON system on your Windows Server PC. It does not include the graphics drivers ROON needs to operate. The way around this?

Go to the ROON download area and install RoonServer on your Windows server machine.

It is ROON without the graphics interface. Next you will need an approved Roon tablet. An iPad Air 2 will work great. Download the ROON app from the App Store. It's free if you've paid for ROON. Then in setup you tell it where your music files are located. RoonServer will read your files and make them available to use on your ROON iPad app.

With this method you can use ROON, Windows Server 2012, Fidelizer, and of course the key to great sound quality, the AudiophileOptimizer. I'm using this setup now. It works and sounds great. If you are using jPlay you can make this your Control PC. ROON server contains ROON core and output. I'd use it to send the files to your second PC.

Is this where your music files are installed?

 

Or use the second method below:

Download Windows 10 pro to replace Windows 8.1.

 

Then install the ROON package you will use it to control ROON Server.

Then install the AudiophileOptimizer 2.0. It can be installed on Windows 10 pro and Windows Server 2012.

This would be your jPlay Audio PC in a two PC setup.

 

ROON will have not let the core install on one PC. When it asks you how it's to be setup tell it you want the core on your Windows Server2012 control PC.

 

So your configuration would look something like this.

Windows Server PC runs: RoonServer, AudiophileOptimizer, Fidelizer, Project Lasso, jPlay, and (might be configured as an HQ Player NAA not sure 100% on this one.) You could let it send files to your DAC.

 

Windows 8.1 converted to Windows 10 Pro. (Windows Home is not recommended by Phil at the AudiophileOptimizer as its missing functions the AudiophileOptimizer needs.)

Software. ROON as a control point, AudiophileOptimizer, jPlay Audio PC, HQPlayer, project Lasso, and Fidelizer.

 

I'm sending you a PM with my phone number if you still have questions. You might want to email the AudiophileOptimizer and ask Phil the owner what he thinks. I'm not that familiar with Project Lasso.

 

PS. I'm not sure how jPlay and HQ player will work together.

jPlay wants the Audio PC to be connected to your DAC.

HQPlayer wants to be the player on your audio PC with the NAA installed on the control PC.

 

If trying to use them together it might be better not to use the jPlay two PC setup. I think it would be just to run it on the PC connected to your DAC.

 

I've not used all this software together. There may be better ways to get HQPlayer and jPlay to work together. I'm sure some people have.

 

Steven

 

Thanks Stephen.

For JPLAY and Hq p, it seems to be unfriendly to each other LOL..

 

Actually as i tried, Hq p with JPLAY driver sounds great. More definition and detail than mytek ASIO driver. But they worked only for awhile and then stop, after that .... JPLAY unable to connect , something like that.

 

From my experiences, JPLAY is not steady, sometime work, sometime not.

 

I don't use it now. It makes me got a headache.

 

Thanks again Stephen for your kind and very useful replied.

^^

[mourip]

The amount of heat will of course depend on the amount of current the Regen needs to supply to the DAC.

For many people it won't get more than just warm. With the HDPlex 300W +9V adjustable variable supply rail set to +7.5V for example, which has a rectified voltage of around 30V, you would be dropping 22.5V, and if the Regen had to supply close to 500mA, that would see that voltage rail dissipating close to 11W of heat.

 

Thanks for the input. It may be that my DAC is(was) also pulling additional current through the USB chain also...

[r11bordo]

Hi,

Anybody has compared HDPlex Linear PSU to a Ifi iPower 5V or 9V ?

Thanks

[charlesphoto]

Currently using an HDPLEX just purchased from another AC member. To my ears better than the 9v iPower that came with the microrendu though the power was fine. More body and more musical swing. Not sure how much further something like the JS-2 will get you over the HD if the network behind it isn't tight as well. Getting really close if not better than good vinyl playback. I'm also powering a 5v switch with one of the outputs. Tried also powering my 12v 5a Vortexbox at the same time but the HD got overly warm for my tastes and everything seemed to lose some dynamics. Pushing it too hard. Have on order the best looking of the Hong Kong 12v 6a "el cheapos" for the VB now.

[sockpit]

I sold the HD plex to charlesphoto because I decided to splurge for the JS-2, so I have heard both in my system running my microrendu and DAC. The HD is a very versatile and well built piece, and made a quite noticeable improvement from the wall wart I had. If you want to spend less that $400, its a great value. The JS2 will cost you 2.5 times more. Is it worth it? Yes, if you can afford it. It took away what was left of the digital edginess-period, so I think analogue-like is no exaggeration. That said I could have lived with the HD plex for a good long time. Whether Larry at HD or Alex at Uptone, the service was superb.

[NAIDIVER]

The JS2 will cost you 2.5 times more. Is it worth it? Yes, if you can afford it. It took away what was left of the digital edginess-period, so I think analogue-like is no exaggeration. That said I could have lived with the HD plex for a good long time. Whether Larry at HD or Alex at Uptone, the service was superb.

 

Agree!

JS-2 made my brooklyn up to the next level. Its SQ went up to $3,400-4,000 price range DAC.

[charlesphoto]

Thanks Sockpit! Working great.

 

Like everything in hifi, and life, it's all relative what choice you make for your power supplies. I decided that it didn't make any sense to spend more than I have, in relation to the cost of my amp, speakers, etc. I also decided that splitting up power supplies for the Nas and rendu made more sense than whole hog on one. I also have a pretty robust network feeding into the rendu (lps powered switches, AQ cinnamon rj/e, etc). I also have an AV Options cryo'ed tibia plus cable on the HDPLEX. For what I've spent on the rendu and power supply, in relation to what the rest of my system is worth (south of $6k all in, DAC V1, NAP110, LS50's, cables, stands, mix of new and used), I never thought I would have a stereo that sounds this good with the existing gear I had. The rendu really is revolutionary in that way.

[sockpit]

Charlesphoto: if I put a synology NAS upstairs on another circuit, do I need to worry about its power supply? And buy the HDPlex back from you?

 

But seriously how sensitive would the uRendu be to a distant NAS?

[charlesphoto]

I don't think it matters how distant the nas is; the rendu will play what is thrown at it, and if the smps (or others on the same circuit) is putting noise back into the nas then that will be pushed along and picked up by the rendu. I also have a Meico ethernet cable from the nas to switch; good cabling makes a difference for sure, so that would be a pro actually of having the nas nearer to the hifi. I did notice an increase in smoothness, esp the top end , when running the vortex box from the HDPLEX as well, but like I said the heat was disconcerting and it seemed to compress the dynamics, which returned when running just the rendu and switch. I'll let you know how I get on with the Chinese knock off for $185 (including shipping). It has the best looking specs and build of all of them, but who knows. Can't hurt as long as the voltage is correct.

[Ronald]

How about the KECES? DC-116 and DC-216?

http://www.kecesaudio.com

[davide256]

I don't think it matters how distant the nas is; the rendu will play what is thrown at it, and if the smps (or others on the same circuit) is putting noise back into the nas then that will be pushed along and picked up by the rendu. I also have a Meico ethernet cable from the nas to switch; good cabling makes a difference for sure, so that would be a pro actually of having the nas nearer to the hifi. I did notice an increase in smoothness, esp the top end , when running the vortex box from the HDPLEX as well, but like I said the heat was disconcerting and it seemed to compress the dynamics, which returned when running just the rendu and switch. I'll let you know how I get on with the Chinese knock off for $185 (including shipping). It has the best looking specs and build of all of them, but who knows. Can't hurt as long as the voltage is correct.

 

Not so... NAS is not electrically connected to the mRendu, its connected to a switch or router. Using the LPS with mRendu matters, a next logical step would be to use optical Ethernet between mRendu and switch/router.

[charlesphoto]

Not exactly sure what either of us are saying (its been a crazy few weeks), but I also have an lps on my switch, so maybe that makes more of a difference than one on the NAS? My point is that the Rendu is so revealing that it's garbage in, garbage out. It's a bit like if the server now is the vinyl, and if you don't clean the vinyl, you'll hear the dirt, esp the pricier the cartridge. Fortunately, I have the modem, server, switch, lps's etc in a closet right below the hifi, so it's a matter of a 2m run of AQ cinnamon up to the mR. Optical ethernet sounds interesting though...