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

[Gavin1977]

On 8/1/2019 at 6:02 PM, austinpop said:

Apologies for an admittedly OT post, but since so many of the regulars here are accomplished DIYers, I wanted to tap into your expertise.

 

One of the DC cables I got from purchasing my used SR7MR3 is a Paul Hynes DC3FSXLR fine silver cable, but it's terminated with a 4-pin Molex. I need to get it reterminated with an Oyaide 5.5x2.5 connector, which I have in hand. I've been checking around for local electronics repair places who might do the retermination for me, but I'm concerned about shoddy materials.

 

For a cable of this quality, should I be looking for them to use a particular solder? Any other considerations? Any US-based DIYer here who could do the retermination for me? I'd pay, of course.

 

Anyway, since this is OT, please PM me if you have thoughts or suggestions.

Other than WBT silver solder as already suggested, Cardas quad eutectic solder is also regarded very highly (this is what I use)  as is Audio Note solder.  I don't think there's much point in looking beyond these options as they represent the finest options.

[Gavin1977]

On 8/20/2019 at 11:20 PM, austinpop said:

Hi all,

 

It seems this thread has gone quiet in terms of posts by some of the "regulars" who have followed it from the beginning. My assumption, or at least hope, is that people are just happy with their systems now, and hence have no reason to post.

 

So as a way to revitalize this thread, I have a proposal. Please consider posting a description your system in its current state. If possible, please showcase which of the optimizations we've covered in this thread's long history you've tried, and what you found. You can be as terse or verbose as you want. For example, here's an update I posted on July 31: https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/topic/30376-a-novel-way-to-massively-improve-the-sq-of-computer-audio-streaming/?do=findComment&comment=977429

 

BTW - this isn't just for old-timers. New followers of this thread are welcome to join in. I just want the focus to be on:

• changes that have resulted in SQ improvement, as experienced by direct listening
• changes in the general area of the digital transport chain upstream of the DAC, which is the primary focus of this thread - although we do stray from time to time!

Feel free to share where you think you might optimize next, or if you're done optimizing (i.e. "happy"), say so.

 

To jog your memories, I'm listing the categories of optimizations that we have covered over the lifetime of this thread. I very likely may have missed a category or two. But you get the idea.

• Bridging Ethernet interfaces on music server
• Better PSUs (upstream of DAC)
• Better quality system clocks for USB, Ethernet, and system
• Better quality word clocks - for example in DDCs like Mutec MC-3+, SOtM dX-USB HD Ultra, Singxer DC-1
• Reference 10MHz clocks
• USB regenerators 
• Ethernet regenerators (switches)
• Standalone vs. distributed - where did you land?
• Endpoint optimization - NUCs etc
• Server optimization - mobos, cards, etc
• OS optimization - AL, Euphony etc 
• Music SW optimization - Roon, HQPlayer, SL, Stylus etc
• Assorted:
  • Digital cables - USB, Ethernet, clock, etc
  • Power cables
  • Power optimizations
    • Dedicated circuits
    • Regenerators, conditioners, isolation transformers etc.
  • Cable shielding - JSSG, JSSG360
  • Isolators, filters
  • Grounding - JSGT, etc
  • Fuses
  • Other accessories

My experiences to date...

 

I am a relatively new member, but I have followed most of the guidance on these pages and consider myself up to speed.  My journey originally began when I switched from CD playback to digital server/streamer, for functionality purposes and the ease of having a large library at your fingertips.  However the sound quality was gone.  Flat, lifeless and uninvolving sound was all I got.  I really didn't bother listening to music as a result... it was that bad that at one point I thought the only solution would be to go back to CD's again.

 

Like most people I tried lots of different solutions, I tried several different DACs, built my first media centre PC (65w Intel, mATX in a fanless streacom case), tried USB decrapifiers, very expensive USB cables etc...  I also tried switching speakers to try and get the type of sound back that I used to enjoy.  I tried a few commercial streamers as well such as Aurender, Melco – they did make an improvement, but not really that significant considering the price.

So I was still unsatisfied, until I found this thread - it's a gold mine!

 

You read about audiophiles suggesting that you should put you money into your speakers, others say that source is king.  After experimentation I now believe that source is king - absolutely 100% - if the signal isn't right to start off with then you will never achieve the sound you're after.  Euphony and a good quality power supply are the largest contributors to me being satisfied with my system.  I no longer run a fanless system as I don’t think it makes a major difference (provided it’s silent).  I’ll never ever use stock power brick again, or Windows based Audiophile software.  This is why I failed with my first media centre build – I wish I hadn’t sold it now, knowing what a good power supply and Euphony could do.  But hey, that was some years ago…

 

My speakers are a pair of DIY transmission lines from IPL acoustics, they punch well above their cost (a very modest £573 kit price) and sound very similar to a pair of PMC Twenty23's to give you an idea.  These speakers sound beautiful now that they have a good source, and I think my present system would challenge some commercial system offerings in the £5-8000 range I believe.  I think my present digital setup, fed via Tidal, now surpasses CD playback – something I have not experienced before.  Even though I am very happy with my speakers, I now feel that the balance has shifted and the next stage of improvement would be a speaker upgrade.

 

As you may have guessed, I’m interested in value as well as sound quality.  I have no interest in moving to a server/endpoint model (Tidal via Stylus makes this somewhat redundant anyhow), masterclocks or network switches (I'll continue to use WiFi).

 

My present digital front end is a DNHE NUC (in its stock housing), Euphony on H10 Optane (via WiFi), Naim V1 DAC, NCore NC500 monoblocks, IPL Transmission line speakers.  This is quite a modestly priced system and much of this can be sourced second hand.

 

Knowing what I know now, if I was starting afresh with a limited budget I would buy a second hand gaming motherboard with a good quality VRM, Euphony, a lower ripple Superflower PSU, a cheap DAC such as the Khadas Tone Board. Amplifier XTZ EDGE A2-300 + speakers of your choice.  I think this combination would be an almost unbeatable value proposition.

 

Obviously my setup is somewhat above this, but I do think that gaming motherboards with high quality VRM have the potential to sound better than a NUC.  This is backed up by what others have said as well.  I’ve got a 32 phase MSI X Power motherboard and low ripple SMPS Superflower PSU in waiting to be trailed against my NUC and SR7 combination when I get around to it.  I will post the results here.  I am expecting increased dynamics and transient response, but perhaps less detail compared to the lower noise floor of the SR7… we shall see.  If you’re not obsessed with detail retrieval then based on my listening I think a server/endpoint based on a gaming motherboard with a low ripple SMPS will sound great (if you use Euphony – NOT WINDOWS!).  My other system which is a Corsair SF450 and 6 phase MSI ITX gaming motherboard sounds remarkably similar in many ways to the NUC plus SR7 – just depends on how much you value detail retrieval.  Some might see it as essential, others like me, ‘might’ be happy without.  Looking forward, I will now reinvest in some quality Ghent or Lush USB cables now that my source is so good.  I sold the very expensive (£1000) USB cable I used to have as it provided no really benefit on my old media server build.  At present I’m just using a £2 printer USB cable and couldn’t be happier with the NUC/SR7 combination as it still sounds amazing compared to my prior efforts (the stock power brick and Pico PSU in the media centre, plus Windows – oh how wrong was I). 

 

I have learnt a great deal – many thanks everyone.  More to follow.

[Gavin1977]

25 minutes ago, Blackmorec said:

Hey Gavin,

 

Really nice post! It sounds like you’re getting a lot of enjoyment and rewards from the hobby, which is what its all about. Regarding your comment about £5-8000 commercial offerings....I get what you’re saying. But this is one of those strange hobbies where you don’t always GET what you pay for. That’s because what you pay for are amplifiers, loudspeakers, media players etc whereas what you really want to get is a highly believable illusion of music being performed.  You can spend practically any amount of money these days, but unless there’s some real skill applied in its application, you may not get anywhere like the result you desire.  So your real success isn’t in emulating £5-8000 commercial products, its in using your skills to get really great sound sound for an affordable budget, which isn’t straightforward...regardless of budget. 

Also, re your comment that source is king. You’re right that without a good source, you’ll never actually get anywhere, but just the same, if a great source is played through poor loudspeakers, you still won’t get too far. The most important message, I think, is that EVERYTHING matters.  You could have one of the finest sounding systems in the World but if one little thing, a bass resonance, a slight hardness or ‘shoutiness’,  keeps pulling you out of the illusion, you still won’t fully enjoy your system.  The 2 most important attributes of your system are:

• its ability to draw you in and INVOLVE you with the music
• Its ability to let you relax and KEEP you involved

Essentially when you are listening to and enjoying music with your entire being, without any intruding thoughts, then your system is truly kicking-ass 😁

 

A fair summary - perhaps what I'm trying to say is that a decent set of £500 speakers with a superb source and preceeding chain can sound WAY better than a pair of £5k speakers fed by a very poor preceeding chain.  Based on what I'm hearing now, I think that even if you're on a limited budget it would be better to have cheaper speakers and a better source/preceeding chain.  This wasn't something I would have suggested even a few months ago prior to me learning the above.

[Gavin1977]

14 minutes ago, sig8 said:

One biggest contributor to improvement in SQ has been transitioning from Windows 10 to AL, nothing comes close (tried Euphony as well).

 

I have tried all sorts of PS upgrades (all DC except the server is on two PH SR7's), NUC's, cables, etc.

 

Second was surprisingly upgrading server from an i7 to an i9-9900K.

What audiable improvement did you experience when moving to i9-9900K?  What associated components also changed?

[Gavin1977]

1 hour ago, FredM said:

 

The XTREME has impressive temp scores

 

 

Some more info here, sub titles/translate is your friend 🙂

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hZrCHUwzd1Y

https://nl.hardware.info/artikel/9411/15-amd-x570-moederborden-review-op-de-proef-met-een-3900x

 

Anyone already had the change to try the Gigabyte X570 Extreme?

 

I’ve not tried x570,  but will be trying 32 phase MSI XPower motherboard shortly based on the same logic.  Will be interested in your results as well as I’ll be moving from a small 6 phase MSI Z97 Gaming ITX.  The XPower has tantalum chokes which are apparently better as blocking high frequency noise then the super ferrite chokes.

[Gavin1977]

Hello All!  OK I have completed my VRM comparison.  The results suprised me somewhat, but perhaps my findings shouldn't have been such a suprise after alll.... read on.

 

So, I was waiting for a Gigabyte Z87 XPower motherboard with 32 Phase VRM to be delivered.  Much to my disappointment the eBay vendor sent me the wrong motherboard.  So anyway, my testing was now done on a Z87 Mpower motherboard with 16 Phase VRM, vs my older 6 Phase MSI ITX motherboard.  Both motherboards use the same capacitors and ferrite chokes.

 

Previously I had ranked some of my earlier system configurations here.  My system following the server is Naim DAC V1, Ncore NC500 Monoblocks and IPL Transmission line speakers which remained unchanged during the testing.  Playback is direct from the server via USB to the Naim V1 (i.e. not a server/endpoint config).  I do have a separate Synology NAS with a load of music on it elsewhere, but to my ears it sounds noticeable poorer than playback via Tidal using Euphony Stylus.  I use WifFi, not Cat5.

 

So, subjectively, how would I rank now (ranked according to software used, as I find this to be one of the largest determiners):

 

BEST

Euphony (DNHE NUC with Paul Hynes SR7)

.

.

.

Euphony (MSI Gaming Z97 ITX 6 Phase VRM, 4790k, Corsair SF450 20-25mV ripple)

.

.

Euphony (MSI Z87 MPower ATX 16 Phase VRM, 4790k, Super Flower Leadex III 550W Gold 5mV ripple)

.

.

Euphony (DNHE NUC with stock power brick)

Audiolinux RAMBOOT (DNHE NUC with stock power brick)

.

.

.

.

Roon Rock or Audiolinux without RAMboot (DNHE NUC with stock power brick)

.

MacBook Pro, iTunes playback within MacOS

WORST

 

This pretty much surmises my journey so far.  The audiable differences between each configuration are easy to discern, so this is not a subtle thing.

 

I have stopped using AudioLinux, and favour Euphony, so I haven't and won't be doing any further testing with AudioLinux unless there is some new amazing development.  That's why you see it lower down the list.

 

So, what I have found with the VRM experiment is that a very high quality VRM - 16 Phases in this case - when combined with a low ripple power supply sounds really very detailed, I would say it is close to the DNHE / SR7 combination in terms of detail retrieval.  The 16 Phase VRM on the MSI Z87 MPower is apparently able to control voltages with an accuracy of 0.001v. So high phase VRM when paired with a low ripple power supply = more detail than a 6 Phase VRM and a higher ripple power supply.  This would make sense and is completely logical!

 

However, I have lost tonal colour and dynamics/transient response compared to the Z97 ITX 6 Phase with the Corsair PSU (this is why I rank the Corsair solution higher).  I have not tested, but I am pretty sure this is due to the differences in PSU design.  Perhaps to achieve the low 5mV ripple the SuperFlower PSU has more voltage regulation applied in its design and this has damped it's performance as a power supply for audio purposes when compared with the Corsair.

 

So what have I learnt.  It's all about system design.  Paul Hynes SR7 not only sounds good because of it's low ripple, it's also down to Paul knowing how different circuits and components sound (e.g. capacitor brand X vs capacitor brand Y).  This is were it becomes a matter of experience and time, and 'perhaps' were commercial companies succeed compared to the DIY route due to the knowledge and resources available.  I'm now of the presumption that it not will not be easy to match the performance of a Pink Fawn or Sound Galleries Music Server as you need a specially designed PSU (this was not my aim anyhow!).  The Superflower SMPS has the lowest ripple in it's class, so I think we're pretty much maxed out before adopting something like a HDPLEX PSU.  Since the combination of a lower power DNHE NUC and a SR7 achieves lashings of detail, dynamics and tonal colour I don't think it would be worth my while investigating different combinations of ATX motherboards and power supplies.  I do not have the experience (e.g. capacitor brand X vs capacitor brand Y), time or resources to evaluate lots of different combinations to get the right balance of characteristics.

 

I was lucky to get hold of an SR7 second hand, prior to this I was going to retire the NUC and use the MSI Gaming Z97 with the Corsair PSU.  It really does sound great, and provided you don't mind the reduction in detail you find it very cost effective and musically satisfying.  I'm going to sell the PC's now, I might try a SOtM tx-USBultra with the proceeds as my next step as I'm lucky to have a spare rail on my SR7.  This would be logical as I completely trust the experience of AustinPop and he has done something similar, although I intend to limit my digital frontend to no more than two boxes :-)

 

I hope this helps others.

[Gavin1977]

Both have the same specs and just differ in capacity.  CAS latency of 15 is nothing special,  12 or 10 would be better if available.  I’m not familiar with EEC memory, but maybe CAS latency is slightly higher with EEC.  Have a look and see what you can find.

[Gavin1977]

Given that ECC is unsupported in the PJYH NUC (Pentium J5005 officieally doesn't support ECC) yet is still reported to work, has anyone tried ECC in DNHE NUC?

 

I am wondering which is of most benefit - ECC, Wide Temperature or both?

[Gavin1977]

24 minutes ago, yellowblue said:

What is your source that ECC work with a PJYH NUC?

Appologies - I might have got this wrong, I thought the source of this was earlier in this thread.  Anyway - the question still stands.

[Gavin1977]

Thanks Seeteeyou - so what is more important ECC, Wide temperature or Industrial grade?

[Gavin1977]

43 minutes ago, yellowblue said:

The Quartz Canyon NUCs will come with a 500W internal power supply...😥

I know - really gutted about this, but could be modded I guess 🙂

[Gavin1977]

Farad Super12 should be a really welcome addition at 999 euro ex VAT and is something I'm watching since it's performance is reported to be close to that of an SR7.  A single SR7 rail for a NUC is obviously rare, very expensive and the cost of an even higher ampage version deters from these higher end configurations from being used.  Having said that I'm still not sure if the difference in sound quality would be worth it.  One thing I keep thinking about is if someone had the time to experiment and report back on disabling CPU cores on these processors and running them lean with lower amperage - how low can there power draw be taken?  I also think it'd be great if there was some form of current sensing ATX DC-DC converter that switched from linear power to a standard SMPS once say 2-3A had been surpassed - that'd be great and best of both worlds.

[Gavin1977]

47 minutes ago, seeteeyou said:

Just wanna quote some kind words as follows and kudos to Rajiv as usual

 

https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/taiko-audio-sgm-extreme-the-crème-de-la-crème.27433/page-58#post-596786

 

Speaking of SGM Extreme, they weren't shy about showing us what the motherboard is

 

https://avx.hu/forum/download/file.php?id=60828

 

https://www.asus.com/Commercial-Servers-Workstations/WS-C621E-SAGE/

https://www.newegg.com/asus-ws-c621e-sage-dual-intel-socket-p-for-intel-xeon-scalable-processors-family/p/N82E16813119064

 

Processors were stated to be 1st gen Xeon Scalable with 10C/20T so the only possibilities should be 4114 / 4114T / 5115 with the same 85W TDP

 

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/123550/intel-xeon-silver-4114-processor-13-75m-cache-2-20-ghz.html

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/126153/intel-xeon-silver-4114t-processor-13-75m-cache-2-20-ghz.html

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/120484/intel-xeon-gold-5115-processor-13-75m-cache-2-40-ghz.html

 

Regarding VRM, "only" 7+1 phase for CPU and then 2 phase for DRAM

 

https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/850609-asus-ws-c621e-sage/

 

We can't really match their RAM but at the very least we'll get something decent from Apacer.

 

They said it's all about "noise management" and therefore the chassis etc. must have played a really important role. Finally it might take quite a few excellent rails from the usual suspects to rival their PSU that should be hardwired internally.

 

It's kinda funny to read that similarly priced Aurender W20SE couldn't match SGM Extreme so it might take quite a bit of time and effort to beat the king

 

https://www.aurenderdirect.com/store/p2/W20SE.html

https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/taiko-audio-sgm-extreme-the-crème-de-la-crème.27433/page-58#post-596874

 

In the end maybe the motherboard itself doesn't have to be THAT special then? No matter what there will be switching regulators here and there

 

http://taikoaudio.com/products/sound-galleries-music-server/

 

Wow - what’s going on with the memory though, why so many banks?

[Gavin1977]

Well just following SGM it’d have to be 6 DIMMs per CPU.  Memory bandwidth must therefore be important.  Power it all with a Farad super12?

[Gavin1977]

24 minutes ago, auricgoldfinger said:

 

I'm unaware of anyone who has heard a Farad Super12, much less compared one to an SR7.  What is basis for your comment?  Thanks.

Austinpops review of Farad Super 3

 

 

[Gavin1977]

3 hours ago, seeteeyou said:

 

BTW, how would you rank Poweradd Pilot Pro2 + DC-7N16C Neotech UPOCC 7N Copper when compared to the rest of your PSUs? This particular comment below looked quite interesting to me

 

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/hugo-m-scaler-by-chord-electronics-the-official-thread.885042/page-547#post-15181782

 

Thank you.

Would be an interesting experiment, perhaps some of the delta can be explained by the fact that the PSU to the endpoint makes the most difference?

[Gavin1977]

8 hours ago, elan120 said:

I concur the findings.  Installed the RAMs two days ago, and like these Apacer memories quite a bit.

 

Here is a picture with Apacer DDR4 SDRAM in action:

Wow - description of your mods please 🙂. What’s the capacitor near the back plate of the NUC MB?

[Gavin1977]

The link provided earlier in this thread is a must read:

 

https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/taiko-audio-sgm-extreme-the-crème-de-la-crème.27433/page-2

 

Great info from Emile from Taiko Audio

 

Addressing memory modules:

One of the largest disturbances on server music playback quality we found is DRAM refresh. The charge on DRAM memory cells weakens over time therefor it needs to be refreshed in pre-set time intervals. During the refresh period all memory operations halt. Memory current draw peaks during refresh, a single memory dim can easily draw 2.5A or higher during the refresh cycle. This is the main reason for DIY community feedback that fewer, or lower speed, dimms sound better, which can be true except you're seriously limiting bandwidth as you have more then just a single memory channel in modern high performance systems.

With the EVO we started focussing on reducing the amount of refresh intervals and refresh period time with quite significant advances in playback fidelity. For this to work you need a higher then average selection of memory chip quality, close chip matching and keep temperatures as low as possible. For the EVO we bought virtually all available consumer level dimms and selected those in which we could get the lowest memory refresh rate / length. As it turned out quality varies from dimm to dimm, so on top of that we started cherry picking the best of the bunch.

For the Extreme we took this a few steps further, these dimms have factory pre-selected A-grade memory modules, all dimm components (memory chips, capacitors, resistors etc) are matched to within a 1% tolerance and selected for low current draw. The side effect of this is refresh rate burst current is reduced by almost 50% and operating temperatures are much lower allowing lower refresh rates. Combined with power supply filtering this allows us to use 12 memory dimms with a very high combined bandwidth at very low refresh noise levels.

 

Also on Page 3:

 

It can go by different descriptions depending on bios / motherboard manufacturer.
The relevant settings are DRAM REF Cycle Time and DRAM Refresh Interval.

But I cannot recommend just changing them without a very solid testing protocol. As modifying these can easily lead to data corruption and/or increased error rates. Your motherboard executes something called a "MCH FULL CHECK" when you install new memory modules in your system and sets these values automatically based on your memory module capabilities. We select our memory modules and test them extensively for lowest overall latency and error rates while modifying these parameters. For the daring hobbyist its a way to very significantly (more then altering CAS/RAS latencies) impact overall memory access latency and power usage. But AGAIN, you can easily make things worse in stead of better, worst case being a complete operating system reinstall.

[Gavin1977]

18 minutes ago, seeteeyou said:

 

Here's a little something from Brent Rowe and I found some pictures on his site that looked fairly close to Studer 900

 

https://www.fidelityaudio.co.uk/customer-choice-psus-271-c.asp

https://www.fidelityaudio.co.uk/digital-psus-dacs-285-c.asp

 

Basically their flagship UBER model could provide up to 3.6A continuously, pricing is the same as Dr. Sean Jacobs' DC3 without any upgrades. That means roughly twice the current at the same price but there's already Farad Super3 @ 3A with such a nice price tag

 

http://www.custom-hifi-cables.co.uk/home/power-supplies/dc3-power-supply

https://faradpowersupplies.com/shop/en/home/42-7761-super3-power-supply.html

 

There's also this C5 Ultra low jitter clock in the pipeline, let's wait and see if that were able to beat Ultra OCXO from Pink Faun then

 

https://www.fidelityaudio.co.uk/c4-uber-clock-1548-p.asp

https://www.fidelityaudio.co.uk/c5-ultra-low-jitter-clock-4461-p.asp

 

So far they seemed to be legit and unlikely to be yet another Adrian Wun IMHO

 

https://www.fidelityaudio.co.uk/--about---1-w.asp

https://www.fidelitysoundandvision.co.uk/repairs-22-w.asp

https://www.diyaudio.com/forums/members/fidelity-audio.html

Excellent find!  Also, very interesting that they'll launch DIY Linear power supply kits in the near future.

[Gavin1977]

14 minutes ago, Energy said:

I've just purchased the 8GB version of the Apacer Industrial RAM. Will see how it compares to the 8GB version of the HyperX Consumer RAM. CL17 vs C14, but with the difference in industrial grade. Have no heard 2 sticks so I am only able to do a stick vs stick comparison.

 

On other news, it seems like there's now a rise for AMD-based NUC's. The one I saw was the iBox-R1000. I wonder how it sounds compared to an Intel NUC7i7DNHE (Asaka Plato X7D). The cool thing is that they already come in a fanless case and feature displayport with dual Ethernet. If those aren't used, the one interesting thing to point out is their ECC RAM support. TDP is kind of high though at 12-25W but that might depend on how many utilities are being used.

This one also looks good: https://www.bvm.co.uk/Datasheets/4X4 BOX-V1000.pdf

[Gavin1977]

57 minutes ago, ASRMichael said:

Hi, I am looking for advice/recommendations/thoughts with regards to new build I am planning. After the TLS issues I want to make sure I get this right this time..... Here are my initial thoughts...

• One box server
• Existing HDplex H5 case or other recommendations?, higher TDP?
• Mother board - Gigabyte Z390 Aorus Extreme MB, 16 Phases IR digital VRM (My understanding is lower noise output)
• CPU - Intel i9900k (run at 3.6gz base clock) (95 TDP)
• Existing JCAT Ethernet Card
• Existing data WD SSD drive
• RAM - 8GB - Apacer 2666 (What model? no idea yet?)
• OXCO Clocks - Modified Motherboard clocks for USB+Chipset by Fidelityaudio UK
• LPS - Custom Sean Jacobs 7 Rails in total for everything+Ghent PSU cables
• I'll be running Audiolinux or Euphony
• I'll be using Roon and HQplayer
• USB output to Innuos Phoenix USB reclocker
• I might add GPU at later date to help HQplayer CUDA offload (if required)

The above if more of less an Innuos statement, but would be more powerful, and 4k cheaper. 

 

Thanks in advance

 

Innuos Statement already includes the USB reclocker so that would be a saving if you purchased the Statement (see earlier video posted on this thread).  If you're spending this much then I would definately read the Taiko Audio thread:  https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/taiko-audio-sgm-extreme-the-crème-de-la-crème.27433/

 

SGM Extreme uses a server grade motherboard with two CPU's  - server and renderer (WS C621E Sage with 2X Silver 4114).  Also PCIe SSD Hard Drive is largely preferrable to SATA as PCIe bus is directly connected via a dedicated lane to the CPU - no other bottlenecks or services. 16Phase VRM might not matter that much if you have a very good power supply.

 

If I had the money then that's what I'd do. Or If I has less then this is a bit of a bargain: https://www.mojo-audio.com/used-high-performance-music-server/

[Gavin1977]

10 minutes ago, Energy said:

On ldovr.com LT3045 boards the ILIM is connected to GND since monitoring is not used. All the methods on the data sheet also suggest connecting it to GND.

 

If there was a way to cut the output impedance by half I’d do it to all of my LT3045 boards. Please enlighten us. I spent half an hour looking at the data-sheet

Yes - I'm interested too - please spill the beans :-) Could be used to power components individually and interconnected for higher amperage?

 

I also found this on  https://dxpwr.com/

 

Modules with Input Output connectors and On/Off Switch, can be used stand alone or interconnected with other modules.

LT3045-1A5IO : 3xLT3045 Input/Output Board 1V-15V, 1.5A
LT3045-3A5IO : 6xLT3045 Input/Output Board 1V-15V, 3.0A
(coming soon)
TP4701-2A0IO :  2xTPS7A4701 Board 1.4V-20.5V, 2A
(under development)

 

[Gavin1977]

12 hours ago, lwr said:

Is it a clear step up in technical specs only, or a clear step up in SQ?  If it’s a clear step up in SQ, is it as big a step up as from consumer grade memory to industrial grade memory? 

Mouser (UK's APacer distributer) are unable to identify this memory.  D31.23185S.001 DDR4 4GB ECC UDIMM

 

Marcin - Are you able to provide a weblink?  Also, any non-ECC version and feedback on sound?

[Gavin1977]

Probably of interest to others:

 

https://www.udoo.org/udoo-bolt/

 

Embeded Ryzen with ECC support, TDP-down of 12 W and TDP-up of 25 W.  Typical 20V 2.25A (45W) power supply min once memory/SSD is installed, so existing linear power supplies for NUCs like the Paul Hynes SR4 'should' work fine.

 

Also check out the new thread on the LattePanda Alpha - what's really interesting about this Intel Core M3 based system is its 5w/2A amp current draw as this removes the need for costly large amperage linear power supplies to achieve a server/endpoint config.

 

But is the use of Apacer Wide Temperature ECC RAM, as opposed to Non-ECC, worth the extra expense and higher power envelope of the Udoo Bolt V8? Anyone here undertaken comparisions?

 

I ask because the LattePanda Alpha's lower power requirements means that potentially two LattePandas could be used in a server/endpoint config and probably still be powered by a single NUC linear power supply if you're careful about power budget.

[Gavin1977]

1 hour ago, RickyV said:

If people have looked in there Tidal settings and are wondering what loudness normalization is, read this. Also from the hands of Eelco Grimm.

 

https://www.audioxpress.com/news/tidal-implements-album-loudness-normalization-and-activates-it-by-default-for-mobile-players

Nice post - really positive