SOTM sMS-1000SQ Windows Edition with Roon and Word 10 mhzClock input

[pumprdave]

I met Mr. Lee with SOTM at THE SHOW NEWPORT last May, and he came to my home to demonstrate his sMS-1000SQ top of the line server with external power supply. It was connected to my TotalDac Dual Dac and D1 Reclocker. Mr. Lee said that he could create a modification for me to accept the 10 mhz word clock signal from my Stanford Research Rubidium Clock directly. Extra cost $1500. The stock server is $4000 with outboard power supply. The Stanford Research Rubidium Clock is $3900, far less than other "audiophile" clocks that may contain a Stanford Research board inside.

 

The only other server with a 44 kHz word clock input is $17,000 and out of my price range.

 

By the way most, if not all, word clock inputs accept a standard 44 kHz clock signal. I was impressed with his depth of knowledge, and three months later I had the only SOTM sMS-1000SQ in the world clocked directly to a 10 mhz Rubidium Clock. The sound was outstanding.

 

About 4 months ago I sent an email to Mr. Lee suggesting that he incorporate ROON into his product and again he proved responsive and industrious. One month ago I sent my server back to Korea for an upgrade to the sMS-1000SQ Windows Edition. I had it back in two weeks. I now run Windows Server 2012 with Audiophile Optimizer and ROON. Sound quality was improved again, and ROON is a life changer.

 

When I get around to it I will next experiment with ROON outputting to HQ Player to try the many filter options.

 

Many of my best sounding digital files seem to be from High Definition Tape transfers. These are DSD files made directly from Safety Master Tapes. Indigos by Ellington is my favorite, and I also own it on an audiophile remastered vinyl LP. They are very close in sound quality but analog is still king. But then ROON doesn't run on my turntable.

 

I can heartily recommend SOTM to anyone who is looking for a high end music server with ROON. If you are looking for a work clock input it is the only option less than $17,000 that I know of.

 

I want to congratulate Mr. Lee for being at the bleeding edge of the server business.

 

David Levinson

Vice President, Los Angeles and Orange County Audiophile Society

[firedog]

Sounds fantastic.

 

As far as HQP playback, I'm understanding from your description that you are a PCM only playback guy? Does your setup play DSD output? (The SOtM website indicates the unit is PCM only).

 

Many HQP users use it to upsample on the fly to DSD. I'm not sure your server can handle that without issue - it's a CPU speed issue. If you're interested in DSD upsampling you should check. PCM playback with upsampling in HQP or straight DSD playback shouldn't be an issue.

 

On the other hand, IME HQP does some great things for PCM playback, too.

[pumprdave]

Sounds fantastic.

 

As far as HQP playback, I'm understanding from your description that you are a PCM only playback guy? Does your setup play DSD output? (The SOtM website indicates the unit is PCM only).

 

Many HQP users use it to upsample on the fly to DSD. I'm not sure your server can handle that without issue - it's a CPU speed issue. If you're interested in DSD upsampling you should check. PCM playback with upsampling in HQP or straight DSD playback shouldn't be an issue.

 

On the other hand, IME HQP does some great things for PCM playback, too.

 

 

 

SOTM does DSD but my TotalDac is limited to DSD64 so I don't do higher DSD sampling rates. I just set ROON to max output rates of 24/192 and DSD64.

[Kal Rubinson]

SOTM does DSD but my TotalDac is limited to DSD64 so I don't do higher DSD sampling rates. I just set ROON to max output rates of 24/192 and DSD64.

The SOtM I just received says it does DSD64 and DSD128.

[fakeM]

I met Mr. Lee with SOTM at THE SHOW NEWPORT last May, and he came to my home to demonstrate his sMS-1000SQ top of the line server with external power supply. It was connected to my TotalDac Dual Dac and D1 Reclocker. Mr. Lee said that he could create a modification for me to accept the 10 mhz word clock signal from my Stanford Research Rubidium Clock directly. Extra cost $1500. The stock server is $4000 with outboard power supply. The Stanford Research Rubidium Clock is $3900, far less than other "audiophile" clocks that may contain a Stanford Research board inside.

 

The only other server with a 44 kHz word clock input is $17,000 and out of my price range.

 

By the way most, if not all, word clock inputs accept a standard 44 kHz clock signal. I was impressed with his depth of knowledge, and three months later I had the only SOTM sMS-1000SQ in the world clocked directly to a 10 mhz Rubidium Clock. The sound was outstanding.

 

About 4 months ago I sent an email to Mr. Lee suggesting that he incorporate ROON into his product and again he proved responsive and industrious. One month ago I sent my server back to Korea for an upgrade to the sMS-1000SQ Windows Edition. I had it back in two weeks. I now run Windows Server 2012 with Audiophile Optimizer and ROON. Sound quality was improved again, and ROON is a life changer.

 

When I get around to it I will next experiment with ROON outputting to HQ Player to try the many filter options.

 

Many of my best sounding digital files seem to be from High Definition Tape transfers. These are DSD files made directly from Safety Master Tapes. Indigos by Ellington is my favorite, and I also own it on an audiophile remastered vinyl LP. They are very close in sound quality but analog is still king. But then ROON doesn't run on my turntable.

 

I can heartily recommend SOTM to anyone who is looking for a high end music server with ROON. If you are looking for a work clock input it is the only option less than $17,000 that I know of.

 

I want to congratulate Mr. Lee for being at the bleeding edge of the server business.

 

David Levinson

Vice President, Los Angeles and Orange County Audiophile Society

 

so the SOtM Windows Edition sounds better than the original Linux version ? that is outstanding and really would like to try the one!

[firedog]

The SOtM I just received says it does DSD64 and DSD128.

 

So the English page for the unit on the web site is incorrect - it only mentions PCM up to 192. I'm always amazed when otherwise well run companies can't seem to remember to update their web sites. Don't they know that's how most people get info today?

[fakeM]

So the English page for the unit on the web site is incorrect - it only mentions PCM up to 192. I'm always amazed when otherwise well run companies can't seem to remember to update their web sites. Don't they know that's how most people get info today?

 

I think they are talking about the SOtM DAC, sDP-1000EX, it says the sDP-1000EX is supportive for 32bit/384KHz PCM, DSDx64, DSDx128 on their website correctly.

[firedog]

I think they are talking about the SOtM DAC, sDP-1000EX, it says the sDP-1000EX is supportive for 32bit/384KHz PCM, DSDx64, DSDx128 on their website correctly.

 

I don't know about the DAC. The thread is about the sms-1000sq windows edition server. Not the stand alone DAC. That's what I[m referring tool

[ChrisG]

Interesting to learn this about the Windows Edition of this server, thanks for sharing.

 

I had a Total DAC d1-dual for a brief time (was thinking about replacing my Yggy with it), but I added a Mutec MC-3+USB reclocker to it and decided to keep Yggy instead. My server is a Win10 based PC which is dedicated to audio playback.

 

So in some sense, prior to adding the Rubidium clock, we have the same set-up

 

Server -> reclocker -> DAC.

 

My Mutec reclocker will accept an external Rubidium clock, but I've held off doing it because I've read that the value of one of these clocks is slaving the DAC directly (if you don't have a reclocker) or both the DAC & reclocker to the external clock so everything is working off the same clock.

 

So, since Yggy (and the d-1 dual) don't have an input for an external clock, I dismissed trying it out.

 

From what I know about Total DAC, neither their reclocker or d-1 dual DAC have external clock inputs.

 

So if I understand correctly, you're saying that even if you can't slave all of the equipment in the digital chain to an external clock, adding an external Rubidium clock to just one piece of equipment in the chain makes a significant improvement?

 

Thanks.

 

Chris

[pumprdave]

Chris, I don't know the answer to your question other than to say that it is probably dependent on your own tastes and the rest of your system. I also purchased a Mutec MC-3 to reclock between my TotalDAC D1 Reclocker and the TotalDAC Dac. I then purchased the Stanford Research clock to slave the Mutec which has a 10mhz atomic clock input. I also run the Mutec MC-3 word clock signal to my Tascam DA-3000 Digital Recorder.

 

Unfortunately, we preferred the sound of the TotalDac WITHOUT the Mutec reclocker. The Mutec may have added some detail but at the expense of the overall analog-type musicality of the TotalDac. No wonder Vincent Brient does not supply his TotalDacs with a word clock input. His internal clocking must be superior. Other Dacs may benefit from reclocking by the Mutec, but I don't think the TotalDac does, at least in my system.

 

So when I purchased the Sotm Server I already owned an underused Stanford Rubidium clock so why not engage Mr. Lee to build me a word clock input that accepts a 10 mhz clock signal. That's pretty unique isn't it, and certainly worth trying. And we did, and it is great. Mr. Lee is a master digital circuit designer as well as a company owner. He loves experimenting just like me. And I believe that makes his products special.

[phusis]

pumprdave --

 

I'm strongly considering the SOtM sMS-1000SQ as well and another Linux-based candidate, the Ripstreamer XL. The latter is cheaper, but the former likely trumps in the sonic department. I own SOtM's sDP-1000 DAC/preamp, a great product.

[AudioPhil]

Hello David

 

I am very glad to hear that you're enjoying your "upgraded" Server so much. Both SOtM as well as myself put a lot of effort in this new Windows Edition of the sMS-1000SQ and it's great to see it's working so well. I will start the "official" sMS-1000SQ Thread as soon as i am back from my business trip to germany. There will be insights about the development of our Windows Image SOtM is using to stage the servers, some technical details as about the hardware as well as a compilation of all offical Guide's (SOtM'S Guick Guide for Roon & AO as well as our own AO Setup guide wich is already available).

 

Very best from munich,

Phil

[fakeM]

pumprdave --

 

I'm strongly considering the SOtM sMS-1000SQ as well and another Linux-based candidate, the Ripstreamer XL. The latter is cheaper, but the former likely trumps in the sonic department. I own SOtM's sDP-1000 DAC/preamp, a great product.

 

 

Wish I have a chance to compare the Linux version of sMS-1000SQ which is the original one and the Windows Edition, if anyone can describe the differences or just impression as David described, it will be really good for me and others too.

Personally I am not very much like a geek person, so I'd prefer to go with the Windows edition rather than using the Linux version.

[Audioclyde]

This is likely a dumb question, but could the Uptine Audio JS-1 power supply be used to power this server?

[AudioPhil]

Hi

 

As far as I know ChrisG is using this power supply together with the sMS-1000SQ Windows Edition. Hopefully he has some comments.

 

Best,

Phil

[ChrisG]

Yes I am and it works great!

[Audioclyde]

Yes I am and it works great!

 

Thanks, as I own and like the JS-1. Do you use it to power both the server and the USB card?

 

Randy

[ChrisG]

I'm using my JS-2 to power the server and a REGEN

[MayfromSOtM]

Hi David! you are amazing!

[MayfromSOtM]

Hi Chris, glad to meet through this chance and happy to hear that you are satisfied with the server!