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A novel way to massively improve the SQ of computer audio streaming


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Most important: please realize this thread is about bleeding edge experimentation and discovery. No one has The Answer™. If you are not into tweaking, just know that you can have a musically satisfying system without doing any of the nutty things we do here.

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Based upon everyone's feedback and praise, I've also just ordered a new Farad3 19v from Mattijs.  As others have pointed out, I've ordered it with the Rhodium fuse.  It will be be used primarily for a new custom audio PC I'm building specifically for Euphony. I'm using an HDPLEX H3 v2 Fan less chassis in conjunction with their 400W HIFI DC to ATX converter for the time being.  This Farad 3 will supply the power to that unit.  I've used the HDPLEX 200W LPS to power another identical build and am curious to hear the difference.

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On 9/9/2019 at 2:24 PM, austinpop said:

 

 

Just a caveat - are you sure a single Farad 3 supply has enough power for your needs? It's a great PSU, but it's limited to 3A, as you know.

 

The whole point of the single server that Roy mentioned - see this post and this one - is to power it with generously overprovisioned PSUs, which we think contribute to the outstanding dynamics. Even with his current server, which I believe he mentioned consumes under 50W steady state, he is powering it with 2 rails from his SR-7:

  • a 19V/5A rail to an HDPlex DC-ATX adapter, which then feeds the ATX input (12v, 5v, 3.3v) of the motherboard.
  • a separate 12V/5A rail to the EPS input of the motherboard, to power the CPU separately.

That's way more than a single Farad Super 3 can supply - nor is it designed to.

Sorry for the delayed response here.  After having a conversation with Mattijs, I've decided to wait for his upcoming 12V 12A that he's still prototyping as that would be perfect for my scenario and the audio pc I'm building.  Rather than refund me for my Farad 3 purchase, I decided to use the credit and wait for him to finish up his "Super 12".  Hopefully he'll have that out before the end of the year. 

 

In the meantime, I'll be using a second HDPlex 200w LPS I have, along with the HDPlex 400W DC-ATX adapter (the latest version of the adapter that Larry just started shipping a couple of weeks ago).  After trying out the latest version of the HDPlex 400W DC-ATX,I noticed an improvement in sound over the version I had purchased back in January of this year.  I've been using that unit in an audio PC I built earlier this year.  However, after I swapped it out with the newest version, I noticed a slight improvement in SQ.  I'm not great at explaining things in audiophile speak, so please forgive my lack of specific details.  It just sounds slightly more forward and detailed, with even a little extra texture to the mids and highs is the best way I can put it.  At only USD$95, it was a bargain for slight improvement I noticed.  Mattijs is also planning to build his own similar 400W DC-ATX converter but that's a little farther down the road he said. 

 

Lastly, I'm very curious about the use of an I2S Bridge vs. USB interface between audio PC and DAC.  I'm quite happy with the SOtM tX-USBexp PCIe to USB audio card I installed and found it a definite improvement over the standard USB provided by the Mobo.  However, I've noticed that PinkFaun offers an I2S Bridge for the same price as their base USB Bridge (USD $325 without clock upgrades).  My PS Audio Direct Stream DAC is on their list as compatible with this card.  Here's a link to the PinkFaun I2S bridge:

 

https://www.pinkfaun.com/shop/bridge/69-2726-i2s-bridge.html#/164-compatible_i2s_dac_s-hdmi_ps_audio_direct_stream_dac/195-bracket_height-792_mm_3118_inch/196-additional_clock_for_bridge-no

 

Has anyone tried out this type of I2S link and compared it to a similar quality USB connection (e.g., SOtM, JCAT, etc.)?  If there's a unique thread for a discussion along those lines, please point me towards it.

 

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1 hour ago, Nenon said:

 

Yes, and I like the I2S better than USB... especially if you get the OCXO clock and a good external LPS. Give it a try if you have a chance. 

Just keep in mind that the I2S card does not work on Intel Core CPUs.

That's surprising to hear.  Does it only work on AMD CPU's then? 

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2 hours ago, Nenon said:

I stand corrected. Too late to edit my post, so let me say that my experience is limited to DACs that do not reclock the I2s signal. 

 

I did have a PS Audio DirectStream DAC and was aware about the I2s recklocking but for some reason I thought that was the exception, not the rule. A little research confirmed that more DACs recklock the I2s that don't. I also owned a Denafrips Terminator for almost a year, but never tried with good quality I2s. I wish I did...

 

So you are still using USB and then converting to I2s. My post was about eliminating USB altogether and going PCIe->I2s / LVDS -> DAC. This is when the magic happens in my opinion.

 

But that brings up another really good point. There is no universal solution. And it's essential to understand the design of our DAC before building a server. If I was to bring back the PS Audio DAC, which BTW I have no intention to do, knowing that it is a pure DSD DAC, I would try upsampling my music to DSD first. It's a completely different approach than the PinkFaun I2s I have been talking about and most likely would have to be done with USB. It may or may not sound better than I2s. And then, even with the next firmware release, things can change completely... there is no universal formula here. 

Now I'm more than intrigued about trying out PCIe->I2S/LVDS->PS Audio Direct Stream DAC and not implementing a USB solution within this new build.  It's currently configured with an Intel I9-9900 CPU on a mini-ITX  Asus ROG STRIX Z390-I Gaming board.  I choose the I9-9900 vs. the I9-9900K because of it's lower TDP value of 65W vs the I9-9900K having a TDP of 95W.  I was about to pull the trigger on a PinkFaun USB Bridge, and noticed their I2S Bridge for the same price (with their base TXCO Clock) €325.00 (or $358 rounding up with today's exchange rate).  I've got an email question out to PinkFaun about the compatibility with my Intel CPU based system.  However, if their I2S Bridge is PCIe based, which is the industry standard, then it should fit like a glove into the single PCIe slot on the Asus MoBo I'm using.  Pink Faun offers that card in the half height bracket even, which is perfect for the HD PLEX H3 V2 chassis it's going into.  I just hope my idea doesn't go down in flames if for some reason their I2S bridge can't be used within this current new build (I think I should start identifying them by build date or something...it's hard to keep them straight.)

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