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

[tedwoods]

Thanks, I thought I was looking in the correct place, tried it and it says I am up to date on 0.3.2, I am running an sMS-200 from a Mac, would that explain why you see a later version?

 

Re-install 0.3.2 from the Eunhasu update page (it says CLICK HERE to re-install) and then the new version 0.3.3 will be made available.

[tedwoods]

BTW - I had an email back from May on some questions and she gave me two nuggets of info:

 

 

1. the sMS-200 Ultra's SQ is improved significantly in their own listening tests by adding the tX-USB Ultra in series. Obviously, we'll need to validate that in the community, but @romaz 's findings with the dX-USB HD (with sCLK-EX clocking) certainly support this.
   
2. She doesn't have the exact specs finalized, but she thinks the sMS-200 Ultra will require at least 1.5A (this is not an official number, so don't hold me to this) - which means we may have to look at other PSes than the LPS-1 to power it. It will be interesting to see what their upcoming sPS-500 PS really is, and whether it is ultracapacitor based. She could not share any details yet.
   

I am confused... Won't the sMS-200 Ultra have the same clocks as the tX-USB Ultra?

[tedwoods]

I don't know if anyone has noticed this relatively new "audiophile" switch:

best audiophile Switch, high end switch - AQVOX Audio Devices

[tedwoods]

400 euros for a switch! No thanks... This is getting ridiculous.

 

I feel ya...

At times, it seems digital advancement and afford-ability do not always go hand in hand.

My incentive for mentioning this was mostly because of a certain degree of relativity to what's already been discussed in this thread, one of the threads that literally do keep me on my toes!

[tedwoods]

Hi All

I’ve been playing with my bridged DC powered ASrock J1900 running W10 pro/Process Lasso/Fidelizer/minimserver set up by trying out Audiophile Optimiser for the first time. TBH I really had some reservations about how effective AO could be given my lowly MOBO and My lack of experience PC wise.

From a fresh W10 pro install.

All I can say is WOW what a nice bump up in SQ using AO has turned out to be. Silky smooth, more detail, larger soundstage, more depth, more of just about everything except grain and hash helping my SMS200 to sing very nicely. The filter options are just great and allow fine tuning of the tonal balance from D4 tube like to 1A ultra Solid State. To my ears and in my set up the filter changes are pretty easy to hear. As romaz mentioned well worth the admission fee alone.

I have ATM settled on W10/ AO Ultra/C2/Minimserver Shell (no up-sampling) set to real time Game mode with Process Lasso making for a pretty light weight server. My music is stored on NAS directly connected to the bridge which I preferred to USB HDD. No Fidelizer pro yet but that’s coming once I have a better handle on the sound that I have now.

I also run HQPlayer on another machine but that’s for later.

TBH I was a little intimidated by the AO to start with but even for a numpty like myself it’s pretty easy to get the hang of and in use

works very well. I just followed the PDF guide which is comprehensive and easy to use.

AO is just superb and works very nicely in my set up.

Great Job Phil.

And secondly.

Heartbreakingly hard to admit J but I swapped out my DIY Power supply to Sbooster 12V with IFI IDC Purifier for the SMS200. It’s so much better than my 9V DIY effort (AMB a11 ) with IDC Purifier it’s a joke. Bigger, more dynamic and even more detailed which could be just the bump up in supply voltage but I suspect not.

 

I also realise that adding Uptone’s LPS-1 could improve things still further but funds are short and it’s hard to justify the extra expense ATM TBH but maybe later once the money tree has grown a little taller J.

In my set up the SBooster is money well spent. (Even if I do have to admit that the shop bought PSU beat my own work hands down L). I also compared to the stock switcher and IFI 9V supplies and well errr no contest to my ears and in my set up.

This thread as led me to a very happy place sound wise so thanks again to all who have contributed and an extra thanks to romaz for starting this interesting ride.

It’s been fun so far.

 

What impact would the ifi dc purifier after the sbooster have?

Are you also using the Ultra add-on?

I apologize for "giving you the first degree", but I've been offered a dc purifier in a trade recently, only without being able to find a viable use for it...

[tedwoods]

13 minutes ago, austinpop said:

 

While I wait on your measurements, let me ask - what's a good way to measure current draw? I have a basic multimeter, nothing fancy.

 

Looking at the tX-USBultra manual, SOtM strongly recommend using only one USB port, else SQ will be degraded. I'm not sure what the rationale for 2 ports even is for an ostensibly audio-focused component.

 

My DAC, the Codex is a bit peculiar, in that it has a built-in LPS for the headphone amp section, but the DAC appears to be Vbus powered. Actually, I don't know if that is strictly true - i.e. does it actually draw current - but it certainly requires the presence of Vbus 5V and GND to function.

I think maybe you could facilitate the use a dual headed USB cable with the tX-USBUltra: one port with the 5V bus engaged and one port with the 5v off as data only.

[tedwoods]

1 hour ago, austinpop said:

 

Ok understood, but assuming your target is a single DAC, is there value to sending VBUS and GND from one port and + and - from another on a dual headed cable? How is that superior to just sending all 4 on the same cable?

The very existence of dual headed cables (i-fi and such) or semi dual headed cables (like the Curious) is based on the theory of physical separation of the power and data lines and the beneficial effect that absence of proximity has on sound.

Companies like i-fi for example also use twin USB ports on their hubs, for the same reason.

Regardless of whether that theory has any merit, if you have the ability to move power and data away from each other, in a scenario where the DAC is USB powered, all for the better. It's always nice to have more options.

[tedwoods]

47 minutes ago, Sam Lord said:

I asked about the how the SMS200 sounds with the new iPower.  I’ve built lots of power supplies and regulators: the goals are low noise and low impedance.  SMPSes can be extremely good, but I like to get subjective opinions.  FWIW I didn’t say the iFi won’t match a $400 PS: there is a difference between a *good* PS and a PS.  John Swenson certainly understands how to design good components, and I don’t expect I would ever regret paying for an Uptone product.  It’s just that these days I’m looking harder for great performance/cost.

If you're looking for a cost vs performance power supply you may try the sbooster (12V for the sms-200). It sounds considerably better than the i-power (12V) it replaced in my system, compares favorably with the LPS-1 and doesn't break the bank.

[tedwoods]

2 hours ago, greenleo said:

Was it a simple sbooster only or you need to add the ultra filter as well?

Initially, I started out with the standard one and soon after, I added the ultra add-on, which elevated the unit's performance even more. The add-on is not expensive and you can always add it at a later date, when funds allow.

Overall, I am very happy with sbooster's performance. It's clean, dynamic and reliable and the benefits it brings over a run-of-the-mill psu are quite evident, dramatic even...

[tedwoods]

6 hours ago, greenleo said:

How much with the add-on?  You did compare it with theLPS-1?  What device were they used to power, mR, sms-200 or what?

I've paid less than 300 Euro for the lot. The add-on was 50 Euro.

I have both the sbooster and the LPS-1, which I recently got from a friend of mine who chose a different path for his system and traded me the LPS-1 against some of my tubes.

I like them both. The differences between them when powering my sms-200 are very hard to pin down in my system.

The sbooster seems to be more ..."in your face", which I like, but then it's 12V as opposed to the 7V of the LPS-1. I really don't know...

Yesterday, I was thinking to my self how dynamic my system was and I was almost certain that I had the sbooster connected, but then I realised I had the LPS-1 on... Go figure...

Maybe it's because I use the sms-200 as NAA, so the demands on the psu are smaller and when the psu is great to begin with, the differences are ameliorated to some extent.

In any case the sbooster is a superb psu for a totally reasonable expenditure.

Hans Beekhuyzen does a comparison between the two here, but it's the LPS-1 with sbooster 5-6V model when powering a mR i think : 

 

[tedwoods]

First off, major props to @romaz , @austinpop and the many contributors here is in order.

Thank you guys for your relentless efforts: the direct connection, especially with switch re-clocking is indisputably better sounding.

To my mind, only one thing remains, that desperately needs to be addressed by audio manufacturers:

The introduction of a stand alone audio ethernet re-clocker with built in filtering!

[tedwoods]

1 hour ago, greenleo said:

JCAT mentioned that they're going to introduce one.  But no sign yet.

 

16 minutes ago, lmitche said:

Isn't the reclocked switch from SOTM one of these?  Kinda like a REGEN for Ethernet?

I saw only a "modified" switch on the JCAT site -with decent pricing too- and was also considering the SOTM mod at some point.

I was just hoping for a product that wasn't a modded version of a standard switch but rather something original, designed from the ground up as an "audiophile thoroughbred" of sorts, that also included filtering/isolation technology at the input and a dedicated endpoint output, so as to simplify things.

[tedwoods]

13 minutes ago, austinpop said:

 

 

 

Having personally experienced the improvement wrought by this Ethernet regeneration, the next question is, indeed, where do manufacturers go from here?

 

@JohnSwenson, who is consistently honest and candid in these forums, has stated that this is an area he is interested in, and the science of what we're hearing is not well understood. I hope I paraphrased his views correctly.

 

Even if the science behind these improvements on the Ethernet is not yet baked, several questions arise going forward:

1. what makes the SOtM sCLK-EX so special, as to surpass previous reclocked TCXO/OCXO switch offerings like the Pang, the AQvox, etc, that Roy had heard?
2. how will SOtM modularize their offering? Right now, they have a single clock board - sCLK-EX - with 4 taps that they distribute both internally and externally. This approach is inherently limited by the length of the clock wire. What would make sense is to figure out a way to embed a fit-for-purpose sCLK-EX in each component. The current Ultra approach is wasteful and expensive - i.e. embed a full-size sCLK-EX board in each Ultra component.
3. how will other manufacturers respond? And will we see new designs that compete with, and even exceed the SOtM solution, at equal or lower prices? As consumers, I sure hope so!

As I often like to say - it's an exciting time to be a computer audiophile!

I couldn't agree more!

[tedwoods]

3 hours ago, simonklp said:

For example, in case of playback using HQPlayer with NAA, the NAA isolates as much as possible at the software side by using a large asynchronous FIFO buffer. Is there really a substantial improvement by replacing the original clocks by better ones at the upstream side of DAC? Was there any experiment on this case?

You are raising a very valid point.

The fact that we all possess different systems and we also use different formats and software, makes it very difficult to isolate info that directly relates to an audio situation that closely resembles our own.

It would be interesting to see if there's any interaction  between improved clocking and the different software used, HQPlayer NAA in particular, from members who have been able to perform their own listening comparisons between such.

 

[tedwoods]

16 hours ago, afrancois said:

Hans Beekhuyzen goes berserk over the sMS-200 ultra. I too was really surprised when I heard the improvements over my standard sMS-200.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCoFIdPLcUk

You can tell he was genuinely impressed...

Maybe he needs a bit more time with the sPS-500...

I just couldn't believe how much better the overall SQ of the Ultra got, especially in the frequency extremes and the ease of delivery in dynamic passages, when it was added in the mix.

[tedwoods]

A question for those who attended RMAF, if I may: any first hand info on the SOtM cables (usb or other)?

[tedwoods]

12 hours ago, unbalanced output said:

However, the Lampi in DSD is a completely different that I could describe as taking a big screen off the front of the speakers.

I agree.

What I gathered from listening through a wide variety of systems was that the format/player/DAC  topology has to be viewed as a chain of sorts.

DSD through the chipless Lampi has an uncanny ability to present things in a most natural and intuitive way.

With the SOtM chain this trait has been elevated to almost frightening yet utterly exciting levels of palpability.

[tedwoods]

Happiness looks like this: 

 

[tedwoods]

5 minutes ago, thyname said:

 

 

What are those?

 

i just got the sms-200 Ultra with clock connector. But there is no clock yet from SOtM, no?

 

it is being powered by lps-1

 

what can I add to improve it even further?

From left to right: sPS-500, sMS-200 (ultra-fied ), tx-USBultra.

No clock yet, but the sound is just amazing.

I've recently auditioned the iSO-CAT6 and would heartily recommend that and I am waiting for the new SOtM USB cable to be released in order to  decide between either that or the dCBL-CAT7.

Then there's the up-coming SOtM switch early next year...

All the above are worth a try -me thinks-  to further improve our set-ups.

Talk about these guys keeping us busy! 

[tedwoods]

Allnic Audio, an esteemed Korean manufacturer of tube audio gear, has a whole line of analog and power cables with mu-metal shielding.

I'm trying this over the weekend: http://allnicaudio.com/?page_id=1080

[tedwoods]

1 hour ago, austinpop said:

The Impact of a Dedicated Circuit - My Experience

 

I recently added a dedicated AC circuit. I had been wanting to do this for a while, but was motivated to act after private communication with Roy. He had recently made contact with Jim Weill, the owner and founder of Sound Application, a company that makes some very high-end line conditioners. Roy was blown away by what he heard, as he reported here.

 

Jim also urged Roy to run dedicated circuits using 6 AWG cable that he sources both for its low impedance, and to aid the power factor correction of his conditioners. I don't claim to understand, or to have heard his products. But one of these circuits in Roy's home was run to a room that already had dedicated circuits with Romex 10-2. My interest was piqued when Roy reported to me that this new 6 gauge circuit improved significantly over even his previous 10 gauge dedicated circuit.

 

The final piece of the puzzle clicked into place when I found an electrician who was willing to work with 6 AWG wire. While he chewed my ear off the whole time by expressing profound skepticism about the whole exercise, he was happy to do the work because, as he said, "it's your money." Damn straight!

 

Materials

 

Based on discussions with Jim, I acquired:

1. 6' of his 6AWG cable - see site planning below for why this length
2. his supplied outlet - which he sources from Hubbell to his own specs, and built to accept 6AWG cable
3. a standard Square-D 30amp breaker my electrician picked up from the local electrical supply store.

Jim doesn't recommend anything fancy, with breakers, nor does he recommend the silver paste stuff that Vincent Galbo does here. 

 

Site Planning

 

My house has a 200amp main panel on the side of the house, next to to the electric meter, which drives an 80amp sub panel in my garage, along with my 2 AC units, furnace, and major appliances. The sub panel is pretty heavily populated with circuits already - essentially all the rest of the circuits in the house. 

 

The existing location for my gear would have required about 20' of cable if fed from the subpanel, but with some messy cutting of drywall involved. In discussing the situation with Jim, he strongly recommended running a circuit from the main 200amp panel, but this would have been extremely difficult to my existing location. However, I had an alternate location I could move the gear to, that was literally on the inside wall beneath my main 200amp panel. This ended up requiring all of 5' of cable from panel to outlet!

 

While Jim cautioned that he's found his cable actually sounded best in longer lengths around 15-20', given the location challenges, I stuck with this location. 

 

The supplied cable is actually rated for outdoor and indoor use, but my electrician ran it inside a flexible PVC conduit down from the panel and then straight through the exterior brick into the outlet location. The rest was easy.

 

One final note of prep. Jim recommended cleaning the freshly stripped cable in a bath of isopropyl alcohol. In Roy's install, he actually used an ultrasonic machine to do this. We made do with an old toothbrush.

 

Listening Impressions

 

I ran in the circuit by running my vacuum cleaner, a space heater, an iron, and other high current appliances for a few hours. I then moved my equipment over. Since I was already in the burn in for my Zenith SE, SR-4, etc, I just let this burn in happen on this new circuit for a few days.

 

Yesterday, I finally did a controlled listening session, where I held my setup constant, and just varied the circuit it was plugged into. Since my tX-USBultra was on its way to Korea for repair, I ran the following chain:

• router > JSGT Netgear switch > Zenith SE > ISO-Regen > Codex

Switching from a regular 14 gauge shared circuit to my dedicated circuit, it took all of 5 seconds to notice a difference. It was not subtle!

1. There was a palpable increase in bass.
2. There was a palpable increase in dynamism. The music sounded more exciting somehow. It felt like the volume had gone up a couple of notches - or said another way, it felt like I could turn down the volume a couple of notches.
3. The image was bigger
4. The background was blacker
5. Tonally, the sound was smoother and richer.

For the just over $300 I spent for this in parts and labor, this was a massive bang for the buck.

 

Final Thoughts

 

If you've been toying with the idea of putting in dedicated circuit(s) - do it! I have no direct experience to say that you need to use 6AWG cable. For short enough runs, I suspect standard Romex 10-2 would work fine too. I was staggered by the improvement, especially since I have a PS Audio P5 Regenerator already. Even with this in place, the effect of the dedicated circuit was large.

 

Highly recommended.

I've had a similar experience when I re-wired my  (audio) living - room last year .

I've used this: http://www.gigawatt.eu/produkt/in-wall-cable-gigawatt-lc-y-3x4-mk3/  along with their circuit breaker and wall receptacle and have been very happy with the results.

Very economical too, since the main panel is situated on the adjoining wall...

[tedwoods]

28 minutes ago, Superdad said:

 

Hi Ted,

I've long had my eye on Carlng hydraulic-magnetic breakers, so it was interesting just now to see that Gigawatt offers customized Carlings.  I wonder what their optimizations are and if they sell them here in the states for a reasonable price ($80 or less?).

Thanks,

--Alex C.

To be honest, I don't know what the optimizations over the standard Carlings are...

I got mine directly from Poland: https://avcorp.pl/product-eng-1769-GigaWatt-G-C20A-Installation-Circuit-Breaker-mono-phase.html

 

 

[tedwoods]

1 hour ago, KingRex said:

That is a din rail mounted breaker.  I dont know where you live, but in the USA, that would require an external box fed from a CB in the main panel.  Would like to know how it is installed and how it sounds.  Thanks 

I currently live in the EU.

My electrician did the installation, so I don't really have the specifics.

In comparison to what I had before (some sort of medium thickness unbranded in-wall cable, Siemens circuit breaker and Legrand receptacle) I immediately noticed improved bass, control and dynamics and over time an overall feel of ease of delivery.

I can't pinpoint the effect of the circuit breaker individually though, as the cable, breaker and receptacle were installed simultaneously.

 

 

 

[tedwoods]

22 minutes ago, KingRex said:

Think about clarity, clearness.  Did it get better, no change, worse.   I'm  curious as to what the twisting may or may not have done.  Were you at all involved in the twisting.  Did you see how tight it got.  How many twist?   Was it a sheathed cable?  Glad is sounds to have provided a positive result.  Good on you for getting it done.  

Definitely clearer too.

Adding an isolation transformer also works wonders for clarity, at least in my system it did.

The cable I've used (Gigawatt) was ready made, so I didn't try any tweaks on it.

It is however, twisted and shielded internally and has some sort of anti-vibration coating too.

 

[tedwoods]

Then of course there's this cable: https://www.sotm-audio.com/sotmwp/english/portfolio-item/dcbl-uf/