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

[tgb]

hi,

did someone test that direct link vs an optical network ? which one performs the best ?

I guess the optical network is better but that's just a guess...

thanks

Rgds

[tgb]

On 29/04/2018 at 9:59 PM, seeteeyou said:

This one from Corning should be somewhat flaky since it might not even last that long

https://www.corning.com/optical-cables-by-corning/worldwide/en/products/usb-optical-cables.html

 

I've been using this Corning for 3years now : very good.

The only point is that you need to cut the power from the computer & power it with better PS ; I use a power bank, even better SQ than using a modded LPS (and far cheaper, so why bother...).

[tgb]

To complete my previous post : 

to cut the 5V from the computer & power externaly the Corning with the power bank I use this adapter to  :

https://www.audiophonics.fr/fr/adaptateurs-divers/cable-adaptateur-usbb-pour-alimentation-externe-usba-p-8389.html

 

Audiophonics sells this adapter too : https://www.audiophonics.fr/fr/adaptateurs-divers/cable-adaptateur-usb-b-pour-alimentation-jack-55-21mm-femelle-p-8332.html

[tgb]

On 6/7/2020 at 7:07 PM, auricgoldfinger said:

Photos of the modified S100

 

 

Hi auric,

thanks for this great idea of clock replacement.

If it does not bother you, could you please post the same photo without the heat sink ? to see how Pink Faun connected its clock to the board. If the heat sink is glued etc, don't bother with this request of course.

 

The clock that was replaced is a CMOS clock (4 pins), or there was a crystal-oscillator circuit ?

Rgds

[tgb]

On 6/27/2020 at 1:37 PM, zerung said:

 

 

Hi,

due to shortage of GS2008 & GS2016 I bought a GS2024... to try & expecting that would sound like the other 2.

FYI, please find here my report with photo of the GS2024 : http://forum-hifi.fr/thread-16891-post-375360.html#pid375360

here the photo to compare roughly PCB of 2024 vs 2016 : http://forum-hifi.fr/thread-16891-post-375393.html#pid375393

& here my last report regarding the voltages on the PCB (should be the same on GS2008 & 2016) : http://forum-hifi.fr/thread-16891-post-375472.html#pid375472

 

Has anyone tested the GS2024 ? and compared vs GS2008/2016 ?

Straight out of the box, with its internal SMPS, that's quite harsh...

 

Regarding the mods like in the picture above, if I find it is a big & great job, I think it is a waste of time & money to feed the PCB with super clean 12VDC, whereas this 12VDC is cut in small pieces (1V / 1.5V / 3.3V) just after.

As I explain in my link above, there are some holes on the PCB just after the downstep regulations (12>3.3 ; 12>1.5 ; 12>1VDC).

Thus it is simple to feed the PCB with 1/1.5/3.3VDC.

And there are some power supplies based on LT3045 (ldovr / mpaudio) that can supply the PCB with dead clean voltage @ rather low price. Pink Faun clock is a great idea, but, this money, into 3 external PS based on LT3045 may be far more efficient. My 2 cents.

Rgds

[tgb]

21 hours ago, John769 said:

Yes, as I stated just a few posts up, @Nsxturbo compared SQ and found them 'equally good' (link below)

Thanks for the confirmation John.

After 24h "burning", the SQ of the GS2024 seems a bit better (long process for this big piece). It's going the right way. I admit I was quite desappointed with the top-harsh sound of the cold machine yesteday. Still using its internal SMPS, cause I don't have proper LPS yet for this unit.

 

Regarding the external power with 3 PS @ 1 - 1.5 - 3.3VDC, I'll have a try within 24hours & post the results (good or bad). 

Rgds

[tgb]

hi Tims,

sorry i did not give answer since the thraed went another way... & though it was no interest.

 

I tried this WE : i couldn't manage to boot this bloody switch...

Control panal with all LEDs lit... that's all I could get....

 

A few weeks ago, I did it on my TP-Link SG5412F : straight forward trick : you plug the external power at the pins of of cap after the regulation steps (3.3V / 1.8V 1V in this case) => power on with the 3 external PS => the switch boot & run... easy. The SQ improves a lot on 3D / placement etc. typical in this mods.

 

With this Buffalo, there is a trick womewhere... is there is a feedback control to check if the 12VDC is still there ? I don't know.

 

Theere are numerous points to measure 3.3 / 1.5 / 1V on the PCB.

Power the control panel thru the 3.3V is easy.

Regarding the 1.5V for instance : tricky. If you give 1.5V on the PCB without 3.3V on => no power delivered. The 1.5V powers on IF you supply 3.3V besides.

Quite disappointed because you have on the PCB very nice & clear marks - / + with soldier on 1V & 1.5VDC parts, but when you plug on ithem : no boot... 

 

To be clear, I received the GS2024 5days ago, it burns.... burns... & still sounds awful compred to my current optical network. Thus I tried these tweaks without being "invasive" on the PCB (no soldier etc) because as this switch is a big step back vs SQ for me, shortly I will have to send it back to the vendor to get my money back.

Maybe a deeper & more invasive tweak could make it boot... don't know...

 

Have a try. Hope you find the trick !

BRgds

[tgb]

3 hours ago, Nenon said:

Buffalo switches - does the 8-port model sound like the 16-port model? Time to find out.

But first, some serious burn-in time needed.

Hi Nenon,

How long was it for your 2016s ? How long is "serious time" :-) ?

My 2024 has been burning for 6 days now : still far from being acceptable, & far behind my previous network setup based on optical LAN with modded switch & FMCs.

 

The life of my GS2024, streaming music, is in your hands. In 2 days time, if it is still harsh, I get my money back and the Buffalo will go back to the vendor b4 ending its life in a datacenter or anywhere, but no more music to stream for it ! :-))

Rgds

[tgb]

3 hours ago, Exocer said:

 

@tgb, With the BS-GS2016, the bottom ports are preferred. Not sure which ports are audibly superior on the 24 port model. Which ports are you using?

 

I have a bone stock BS-GS2016P and I do not consider it to add harshness to the sound I get with my LPS 1.2 powered Etherregen downstream. This is only with the "proper" ports in use. The top ports sharpen the sounds too much.

Hi Exocer,

I tried diffrent prots & SQ is quite equal... not good.

 

With the GS2024, the architecture is quite different from 2008 & 2016.

For instance, you have 2 heat sinks, the HSink 1, like 2016s, seems to manage the 12 first ports, this one is quite hot at 43°C ; the 2nd one seems to manage the last 12 ports & the SFPs and is much colder at 32°C. This diff in temperature is very big and may have a role in the switching... don't know.

 

Given that, I tested :

port 2-3, then forward 5-7, bottom of the 1st buch ports 10-12

on the 2nd bunch : port 14-16, then forward 18-20, and then 22-SFP thru 24

I mixed both bunches : SFP (port24) + port 2 etc...

etc...

after "a while", all ports will be burnt ! for sure !

 

Another point : the vendor sent it in the carton box they received from Buffalo. It was the last one in the box of 2 switches, they found convenient to send the big box.

There is a label on the box with Buffalo stamps etc with the shpping date from Buffalo : June '18. This make me think it is quite an old one, & maybe needs for extra-time to burn... don't know... 🙂

Rgds

[tgb]

hi,

2nd attempt, I finally managed to boot & stream music with my GS2024 using 3 external PS, bypassing the internal regulation from 12 to 3.3/1.5/1V.

That's was just a rough test. It works.

Next step : find the right way to give it a clean current.

The trick is : as you all notice, the heat sink is quite hot (the 2nd one on my GS2024 is mild vs the common one), thus nearly all the power goes thru these 3 tiny voltages, thus : high current.

Please find here my report => http://forum-hifi.fr/thread-16891-post-378333.html#pid378333

If Google translate get stuck with my French, I'll post here the ENG version. Just ask.

Rgds

[tgb]

Hi RickyV & Nenon,

yesteday eve I had no time to do it (too late) 

I think the best is to gather this special modd on GS20xx switches on a dedicated thread, in the network part of this forum => here it is : 

 

@ RickyV, I posted there my reply to your post

Rgds

 

[tgb]

On 6/8/2020 at 9:11 PM, seeteeyou said:

Both Juniper SRX300 and revision C1 of D-Link DGS-1210 series are sharing the same BCM53343 (Broadcom Hurricane 2 SoC) inside Buffalo / Melco

 

https://openwrt.org/toh/d-link/dgs-1210

https://forum.openwrt.org/t/juniper-srx300-octeon-3-bcm-hurricane-2-soc-switch-any-chance-to-get-switch-working/45956

 

Let's take a look at the GPL Source Code section linked below, all 10/24/28/52-port models of DGS-120 (revision C1) are pointing to the same stuff @ 155.49 MB

 

https://tsd.dlink.com.tw/downloads2008list.asp?Category=Product%20Data%20II%3ESwitch%3ESmart%20GE

 

For firmware updates, all BS-GS20XX/BS-GS20XXP models from Buffalo are sharing the same bsgs20-10352.exe file

 

https://www.buffalo.jp/support/download/detail/?dl_contents_id=60675

 

Extract that with 7-Zip etc. and we'll end up with only bsgs20-10352.rom and readme.txt afterwards.

 

Regarding the specs, the count of address table turned out to be 16,384 for all models and then it's the same deal again for the amount of main memory

 

https://www.buffalo.jp/product/detail/bs-gs2016.html

 

Granted it's more like a marketing ploy of some sort

 

https://www.melco-audio-masters.com/uploads/1/0/1/5/101505220/mel_2073_s100_a4_2pp_info_sheet_v3.pdf#page=2

 

Though it's still kinda interesting to try BS-GS2048 for about $500 by disabling 40 outta 48 ports while getting rid of the fan(s), provided that won't be complaining about the lack of active cooling

 

https://www.buffalo.jp/product/detail/bs-gs2048.html

 

Hi seeteeyou,

I've just come thru your pretty interesting post.

Thanks for finding these info.

 

Did you try a D-Link DGS-1210 series switch ?

Has someone try one ?

 

Roughly, based on your info, the Buffalo GS-serie should sound like these D-link. In this kind of product, the SoC is doing all the work. Same SoC, same sound.

The Buffalos GS-series are discoutinued, the D-link DGS-1210s are available on the market (price is good, more models in the productmix vs Buffalo, more choice vs number of SFP ports for instance).

 

Shortage of Buffs is therefore a no issue => let's swap to these D-link !

Rgds

[tgb]

Hi Elan120,

what LPS do you use to power the device ?

with this mod, what's the "size" of the SQ improvement ?

 

The few times I tried this very popular kind of mod (changing caps for "better" ones / adding caps here & there) : the improvement was not night/day.

I changed my mind about this kind of mod. Now I prefer not to pay for a cheap chinese LPS & add this kind of mod, but pay a little bit more for a better PS (LT3045 based) & just connect this PS to the device with any electric wire : no brainer, better SQ improvement.

(I confess that I'm really good at soldering... :-) )

Rgds

[tgb]

6 hours ago, sunny_time_99 said:

With one neutron Star, a 20 Bucks mini fanless PC from Ebay you can build the NUC7i7/Euphony Killing device. Much higher resolution, higher dynamics, better music flow and definition of instruments. The step up in sq is higher than using a Buffalo switch, ER instead of not using it. If someone is interested, i can post it here

Hi Sunny !

Please do !

Feel free to post & present yours mods ! 👍

 

I use a Neutron Star 2 on the spdif part of my DC/DC converter (Singxer SU-1) : great job => sound is smooth... Crystek clock (although PS is OK) sounds harsh in comparison.

 

Regarding your photo of your Buffalo (above) : 12VDC to power & just the Neutron Star 3 ?

I've tested a triple LPS on my Buffalo : mistake ! I thought it would help the internal clock but finally it does not help much. The Buff SQ stays behind my other source (see sign.)

BRgds