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

[jaspal kallar]

I tried the bridging today on my iMac (which normally resides in another room).

I bought an external usb-to-ethernet adapter (my iMac is old and so does not have thunderbolt). The bridging was easy and it worked with my Sotm sms-200 first time with any problems.

My system is very old compared to others but I still heard a considerable difference.

I can’t believe the clarity I’m getting in voices, the air around instruments, much more relaxed when listening to busy passages of music, wider and deeper soundstage where everything seems more integrated as opposed to before being disjointed. I feel the “tweak” (if you could put it that way) is on par with when I got my SOTM sms-200, it improved the sound that much.

I’ve put the iMac back in its’s original place, so I will see what the sound is like without the direct connection in the coming days.

I recently ripped all my CD’s using XLD to my iMac.

A couple of weeks ago I received my SOTM sms-200, a Curious usb cable (20cm) and a Singxer F1 usb-to-spdif converter to go with my dac (which doesn’t have a usb input). All this is an interim solution whilst I consider newer dac (and amps). So no more spinning cd’s for me.

My system is now normally configured:

iMac (Roon, wireless) —> Router —> cat 6 —> Sotm sms-200 (standard PSU) —> Curious usb (20cm) cable —> Singxer F1 —> Trends Audio TA 10.1 integrated amp —> Kef 103/4

I’ve ordered a UltraCap LPS-1 PSU for sms-200 (hopefully arrives by mid February).

Since the direct connection was so good (although I will reserve judgement until I’ve heard without it and when I get the UltraCap LPS-1) I may need to look at a small computer e.g. like a SonicTransporter, instead of going for another dac first.

Of course YMMV but the point I’m trying to get across is that getting a SMS-200 (or similar) with a cheapish but good usb-to-spdif converter like the F1 and direct connection can still get a lot more out of the current system (dac), even if it is (like mine) of really modest quality.

Many thanks to all that have contributed to this thread so far and especially to "romaz" for bringing our attention to the direct connection.

[jaspal kallar]

iMac (Roon, wireless) —> Router —> cat 6 —> Sotm sms-200 (standard PSU) —> Curious usb (20cm) cable —> Singxer F1 —> Trends Audio TA 10.1 integrated amp —> Kef 103/4

Opps, I missed the my dac in the chain which should look like :

 

iMac (Roon, wireless) —> Router —> cat 6 —> Sotm sms-200 (standard PSU) —> Curious usb (20cm) cable —> Singxer F1 —> Audiolab 8000 Dac --> Trends Audio TA 10.1 integrated amp —> Kef 103/4

[jaspal kallar]

Regarding the ssh login account of Eunhasu, I've contacted May@SOtM. She gave me the information but said that it's confidential. So I'm not allowed to share it with everyone.

 

However May gave me a good news which I quote it here:

 

"and we are going to change the settings on Eunhasu to be able to make the Static IP."

 

She didn't mention when the new feature will be ready but let's hope it'll coming soon.

 

 

I'm not all that clued up with networking, so what will enabling a static IP address on the SOTM achieve wrt a direct connection?

[jaspal kallar]

Every device on your network needs an IP Address. Normally if a device is connected to a router (wired or wirelessly), the router will automatically assign the IP Address or you can set it manually in the device network adapter settings. If you connect the SOTM directly to a PC either that PC needs to have its own DHCP server running or the device needs to have an IP Address already defined.

 

Ok does this mean that we could have a direct connection between a pc/mac to the SOTM Sms 200 thus negating the need for bridging (i.e the need for 2 nics in the pc/mac) ?

[jaspal kallar]

10 hours ago, atxkyle said:

Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying, and it's not at all subtle.  The SQ when feeding mR from bare-bones AO optimized server is MUCH better than when I was just using my office PC.  ( given this, my next step at some point is going to be to feed the Intel NUC a better power supply )

 

Not quite the same but I added a Sbooster power supply to my NUC 7i3 running Roon ROCK and the difference was rather large even for my quite old system .  I would always recommend this to everyone running a Roon ROCK on a Nuc.  Another user on the Roon forums called the upgrade shocking (in a good way of course).   

 

[NUC 7i3 (ROCK)  + Sbooster 19V PS --> SOtM sMS-200 (+Uptone LPS-1) --> Singxer F1 (usb to spdif cable) --> Audiolab 8000 Dac (25 years old) --> Trends Audio 10.1 Integrated Amp --> Kef 103/4 speakers]

[jaspal kallar]

31 minutes ago, auricgoldfinger said:

 

I bought my cable from Ghent Audio.  You have to email Ghent at [email protected] to make the arrangements as this cable is not listed on his website.  Tell him that you want a custom 4S6 DC cable with DC-2.1G to 2 x banana plugs (4mm) and let him know the length you need.

 

 

Is This the Ghent DC cable  i.e 4S6 DC cable with DC-2.1G to 2 x banana plugs (4mm)  ?

[jaspal kallar]

3 minutes ago, auricgoldfinger said:

 

Yes, that's the one.  You need the DC-2.1G plug.

 

OK, thanks.   In my case (for a router) I will be needing the DC-2.5G plug which is selectable from the drop down menu.

 

 

[jaspal kallar]

44 minutes ago, mozes said:

System update: Radical change!

 

Well, I think it's about time to share an update about my system although it is still not where I want to end up with. Anyhow, I guess it is always WIP as usual.

 

Over the last few months, I have read various posts by @Romaz and @ElviaCaprice regarding their minimalist approach to their audio chain, that is going straight from DAC to speakers and the advantages this strategy yields. I became very intrigued given the isolation from AC mains, reduction of box count and increased transparency.

Of course, not any dac or speaker will work, so I had to make some tough decisions, and in the end I made up my mind. I sold my Naim gear, Brooklyn Dac and its VR Mini PSU, and replaced them with Chord Dave. Second, I bought two sets of speakers, Spendor D7 and Omega Super 8XRS with silver/gold wiring and high end Furutech binding posts. Why did I buy the Spendors and they are 90db only at 8 Ohms impedance? simply I fell in love with these speakers. They are one of the best speakers that engaged me regardless of price and I couldn't resist pulling the trigger. It seems, I have a weakness to everything made in the UK, having owned Naim, Neat, Chord and Spendor and who knows what more.

 

In the meantime, I also hunted a second hand tX USB ultra and I sent both tXs to SOTM who upgraded the DC wiring to silver, added Master clock inputs and modded a D-link switch from one of the tX units. I also got a 1m Lush USB cable that I added to my chain. To cut the story short, I am not going to talk about the many many tests I did and all the combinations I tried. I will simply share what my ultimate chain is so far which gave me the best sound ever till now

 

Nimitra (VR mini)>USPCB>Iso-Regen(LPS-1)>Elijah Audio USB cable (signal and ground only)>tX-USBultra(LPS-1)>USPCB>tX-USBultra(LPS-1)>1m Lush USB cable>Chord Dave>Spendor D7

 

Grounding: My Nimitra and Dave are grounded to Entreq Olympus Minimus and D-Link switch is grounded to Silver Minimus. Each of the D7 speakers have its negative speaker binding post grounded to an Aucharm Box.

 

This setup simply blows away anything I have had before in my system and I have tried real high end Naim gear (up to 500 series level). What I am getting is transparency and resolution like crazy! Music sounds just real, I have no better description.

 

The crown jewel of my system is undoubtedly the Dave, this little box amazes me. It is my dac, preamp and power amp and it gloriously drives 90db speakers to levels beyond my tolerance level and there is no need for any subwoofer. How can this little beats do that? only 2 watts!! I guess the answer is as @Romaz highlighted before, its ultra low impedance of only 0.055 ohms. I also bought a Rogue Cronus Magnum 2 tube amp to see what tubes offer. I tried Dave with the Rogue and it sounds very very sweet, but I prefer Dave directly to the D7s, I simply didn't want to compromise on transparency and resolution. With Dave driving the D7s directly, I put my ears on the tweeters and there is no noise at all, I mean literally ZERO noise, this is crazy, I haven't had any amplifier that it is DEAD quiet. This explains why I am enjoying now low level late night listening, as I feel that all the details are there, hard to describe what I am hearing, it is pure enjoyment.

 

My Tidal now sounds way better than my locally stored music in my previous system. You won't believe that this is streaming, it is like high res playing. The modded switch with Dave takes Tidal to a completely different level.

For now, I am waiting for the delivery of my Omegas which at 98db and 8Ohms impedance, will be a piece of cake for Dave, so I expect that I will get better dynamics and effortless delivery of music. Given what I am hearing with the D7s now, I am not sure that the Omegas will be better in all aspects.

 

Finally, big thanks to all the contributors to this thread and especially @Romaz and @ElviaCaprice for their advice and helpful tips.

 

To be continued!

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the feedback!  What speaker cable do you use ?  

 

This is something that intrigues me since I'm after a new dac, pre and amp as well perhaps considering a speaker change.

 

I gather reading from someones Chord Hugo 2 head-fi review that you can do similar although they thought one needed a sub.  

 

Would anybody know if one could use the Chord TT instead of the Dave?

 

 

 

 

[jaspal kallar]

12 hours ago, austinpop said:

Anyway, I've caved. I recently bought Ghent's JSSG Ethernet cabe with Metz plugs, in the hope that it would match up to the dCBL-Cat7. Sadly, no such luck. The JSSG is a nice cable, about on par with the Supra. But compared to it, the dCBL-Cat7 is a significant step up.

 

 

Good to know.  I have the same Ghent ethernet cable, so I know what is the next level

[jaspal kallar]

6 hours ago, BigAlMc said:

 

a) No. The Zeniths support FLAC & WAV. 

 

 

I presume it can play back AIFF files (among others), however ripping only supports FLAC & WAV. Is that correct?

[jaspal kallar]

1 hour ago, elan120 said:

NUC NUC here I come...my early stage of NUC impression.

 

After seeing many successful NUC setup in the past weeks, I decided to give NUC a try also, and with the help from Larry, I have mine up and running few days ago, and can say my WOW moment came soon after setup was completed and started listening few of my favorite tracks.

 

My system prior to setting up NUC as an endpoint consist of a recent build PC with AMD Threadripper 1950X to run HQPlayer, upsample all music files to DSD512 with non-2s filters.  This system is clock centric, where a sCLK-OCX10 connected sCLK-EX clock board inside the PC provide clocking signals to MOBO, ethernet ports, JCAT Net Card, and tX-USBexp.  Signal output from tX-USBexp is connected to txUSBUltra directly that is sCLK-OCX10 connected as well, and the output from txUSBUltra goes into Singxer SU-1 that is also clocked by sCLK-EX inside of txUSBUltra, finally, SU-1 is connected to Holo Spring L3 DAC.  I have spent considerable amount of efforts tweaking this system such as different power supplies, cables, isolation...etc., and was very pleased with the result to the point that I feel the end of tweaking is near.  However, after having many posts from well respected CAers about the NUC setup, I contacted Larry to help improve my learning curve since I am quite green in Linux.  It didn't take Larry long to get the NUC going in my system, and compare to my prior setup, I can say comfortably that this IS easily the best and most realistic sound I have extracted from my system to date, and this is still early in testing different setup configurations, which I can only imaging what it will be like after more tweaks are done.

 

As many have said it before, try it!  This is quite a breakthrough discovery that based on the relatively low entry cost, it should be quite an easy decision to make.  I am very glad I did, and I will be busy over the year end holidays enjoy my system.

 

Thanks for this, most interesting.

 

What's NUC model?

 

Where is your music stored eg NAS or internal drive?

 

Clocking centric aside for a rather simplistic view, your chain prior to the NUC was:

 

PC (AMD Threadripper 1950X to run HQPlayer, non-2s, to DSD512,tX-USBexp) >  txUSBUltra > Singxer SU-1 > Holo Spring L3 DAC

 

How does the chain look now with the NUC as the endpoint?  I presume PC is the server?

 

[jaspal kallar]

3 hours ago, Bricki said:

Very good descriptions ?. I can agree with all these descriptions from my experience so far with AL on the NUC7CJYH as a roon endpoint. The effect is heightened with AL on my sonicTransporter i5 in ramroot and is certainly an improvement over sonicorbitor os. 

Curious, is your music stored on a NAS or internal on the ST i5?

[jaspal kallar]

16 hours ago, austinpop said:

 

Peter, I think you've got that backward. Our nomenclature is:

• Endpoint that you call the Audio Playing PC
  • Runs the music player like Roon Bridge or squeezelite that:
    • connects to the DAC or DDC via USB
    • connects to the music server via Ethernet
• Server, is that a Control PC in your world?
  • runs the music server (like Roon or LMS) that does
    • library management
    • serves music files from local storage or network storage
    • connects to endpoint over network.

 

 For the server  -- 'connects to endpoint over network.' -- is this a bridged ?

[jaspal kallar]

15 minutes ago, rickca said:

It's currently a standalone box running LMS/Squeezelite streaming Qobuz over wireless.  I use iPeng on an iPad Pro as a controller.  I decided to start with something as simple as possible.

Was this in comparison to the Innuos Zenith SE?