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

[mriguy]

Hi Guys...  that was an epic and incredibly valuable post of information from romaz! Thanks!  I have acquired a free! NUC6 from a friend. Though the model (NUC6i3syh) has a M.2 slot, its 6th Gen processor comes up short on supporting an Optane card. So given that situation, what's my least-worst option for running Audiolinux and/or Euphony?  Should it be a mechanical drive or a NVMe SSD?  Thanks!

[mriguy]

4 hours ago, romaz said:

 

Consider just booting either AL or Euphony from a USB stick.  That's what I'm doing with my NUC.

Got it!  Thanks! 

 

If I also wanted to do some SQ experimentation with music files on the same NUC, thereby combining the server and endpoints into one NUC, would it be best to:

 

A - Place the music files on the same USB boot-stick?

B - Place the music files on a second USB stick?

C - Place the music on an external USB hardrive that is externally powered?  If so, then should this drive be a SSD or a mechanical? 

 

Lastly, have any of guys home-built a LPS based for your NUC (or anything else) using a Belleson regulator?

 

Thanks so VERY much!

[mriguy]

8 hours ago, gsquared said:

Does anyone have any advice on adding music to a Roon music library that's attached to an Intel NUC? I use a Mac and I tried the Connect to Server utility using smb://IP.ADDRESS.OF.NUC - but that did not work. I can ping my NUC IP address from terminal on my Mac, but I can't seem to reach it trying to connect to the server.

 

Can someone help me with this?

 

Yes, I can help you. I just did this the other day. In my case, I'm running Euphony on my new NUC, while all my local music files are stored and networked from my Mac Mini. My NUC has no local storage, other than the USB drive that it boots from and runs Euphony. So, here's how to do it:

 

First, you need to go to the Mac's System Preferences and select Sharing. Note your computer's name at the top of the Sharing window, as you will need it later. Make sure File Sharing is check-marked to on. The folder(s) with your music files must appear in the Shared Folders list. If not, click the + button and browse to the folder and add it to the list. Verify that in the User's window, your user account appears, when you select the Shared folder. They should have at least Read/Write status. The "File Sharing On" dot should be green. Next, click on the Options button. With your User Account selected, verify that SMB sharing is on with a check mark. Close the window. Back on the main Sharing window, you can optionally add more folders, if your music files are distributed among more than one folder. You can also add iTunes Music folder!

 

In my case, I use Euphony on my Mac. It is HIGHLY recommended, as you've probably read on this forum. So in my case, I had to tell Euphony where to find the Shared folders with my local music. If you're using some other player, you'll need to do the functional equivalent in that SW.

 

If using Euphony, launch the Euphony control panel in a web browser. In the upper-right blue gear icon, select Audio Settings. enable your desired mode of operation, in my case, I selected Roon Core. 

 

Then go to Settings in the main menu. Click on the Library tab at the top. Your shared folders need to be added to the Network Drives list. Do that, by clicking on the add network. Enter the name of your Mac Mini in the server space. Add the name of your Shared folder back on your Mac Mini (with your music on it) to the Path. Click on Add Network Drive. It will then ask you for your login credentials to the user account on your Mac Mini. Enter your User Name and Password. In the Workgroup tab, enter WORKGROUP. Click the Add network drive button. It should tell you success and add the shared folder to the list. 

 

 

If using Roon, you also need to tell Roon about your new Shared Folders too. Launch Roon, go to Settings. Click on Storage. Tell it to Add Folder. Then tell it you want to add a Network Share. In Network Share Location, tell it the name of your Mac Mini on your network and the name of the Shared Folder that you want to add. There is a syntax here... the computer name must be preceded with two backslashes, like this  \\  while the shared folder must be preceded by a single backslash, like this  \  . So it would be, \\yourcomputername\yoursharedfolder. Enter your account's user name on your Mac Mini. Enter your account's Password on the Mac MIni. In workgroup, enter WORKGROUP. Click on Add Network Share and it should add it! 

 

Lastly, tell Roon to import your music files and optionally, playlists. If you have added a folder that contains an iTunes library, tell Roon of this by enabling that import option checkbox. Tell Roon to do it and it will count-up the imported files as they are imported into the Roon Database. Sweet. Repeat these steps in Roon for as many shared folders as you want to add. I should add a tip-of-the-hat to austinpop, who inspired and helped me!

 

Hope this helps! Good Luck!

 

 

 

[mriguy]

1 minute ago, gsquared said:

 

Wow! Thank you for the detailed instructions. I am using AL on my Intel NUC and I had read about a similar method using SMB in Roon to connect to a shared folder on my Mac. 

 

I tried your instructions and I must still be doing something wrong because it's not working for me. My computer name ends in .local - do you include that when you add this to Roon? I tried it with and without and I can't get it to work. Also, regarding the path to my shared folder, do I include the full path to the shared file - ex. \Users\garygil\Downloads\music_downloads ?

 

In the past I used a SonicTransporter and I was able to see the attached music library from my Mac, so I could add music to the HDD by simply dragging and dropping music to the drive. There must be a similar way to do this connecting to the Intel NUC.

 

Thanks again for your help!

You just enter the name of your computer (as shown at the top of the Sharing window in System Preferences) and just the name of the Shared folder, even if it's on a different drive. Is the name of your computer something like garys-mac-mini, or something like that? Be sure to get the slashes correct...  \\yourcomputername\sharedfoldername.  I took a screengrab of my Roon settings... hope this helps! Good Luck!

[mriguy]

30 minutes ago, 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.....

 

 

Hi Everyone, 

I'll play along!  I've been meaning to publicly thank everyone (especially austinpop) for the improvements and joy that this thread (and the Euphony/AL threads) has yielded in my musical enjoyment. For me, I've been trying to get my system "sounding right" for about 4 decades. Up until about 6 years ago, it was all speaker based, but then it finally dawned on me that getting it really right in the speaker world is beyond my budget and beyond my ability to control my room acoustics. 

 

My first move in this new era was to get a Mojo, with some decent IEMs (Etymotic, Alclair and then Perfect Seal). Then came a move-up to the Sennheiser 800S. At home, all of the Mojo was driven by a Mac Mini running  Audirvana Plus, via USB. It was then that I discovered Roon. Wow, there's a new world. Roon needs an endpoint, which became a Raspberry Pi / HifiBerry, via USB. That was upgraded to a DigiOne, via SPDIF, all with great results. The physical flexibility of endpoints was a problem-solving revelation. I was quite happy here, for a quite a while. Then I was able to afford an upgraded to a Hugo 2. Oh man, that was unbelievable. Next, I discovered our "Novel/Massive" thread started digging into it and "trying" to catch-up and assimilate it. That takes a while! There was no turning back at that point.

 

So all of that brings my story up to recent history. I got hooked (read, hook, line and sinker) on the unfolding story of NUCs, AL and Euphony. I actually had a friend give me his unused NUC6i3! I know, what a friend! I tired a trial of Euphony running on a USB stick. My music library remained on the Mac Mini, as the NUCs internal drive has been removed. The stock fan is still there running. The USB cable is an Audioquest Cinnamon (USB-A to USB-micro) The PS is still the stock SMPS. And yet dispite these sins, it sounds totally wonderful. Euphony running non-distributed in combo StylusES / Roon absolutely and totally rocks, highly recommended.

 

The next chapter was a monster one. I sold my 800S and got a pair of Empyerian after listening to them at a really cool dealer, here in Chicago named "F1 Audio." They're great. They are well on their way to becoming the premier high-end headphone shop here in Chicago. It's was invaluable being able to hear so many great headphones there, for as long as I wanted. They are even a Chord dealer as well. I have always been a "detail guy," probably to a fault. I have a unfortunate and expensive history of mistaking brightness for detail. Been there, done that, don't like it. So the Empyerian are definitely not bright. It took me a little while for my brain to reprogram itself from the detail of the 800S, but reprogramming is complete and I couldn't be happier. The Empyerians are almost chamelian like in thier ability to always display satisfying detial, without ever being too bright, regardless of the song's mix. Helping them out is the detail and timing accuracy of the Hugo2, with an assist from a 3rd party cable upgrade to the Norne Silverguarde S3 cables. Wow... just wow.

 

From there, I next took a comparatively tiny chance (financially that is) on the Cisco Router model that several people have been talking about here on our thread. Cost me all of $22!  Well, that was a very nice and worthwhile improvement. Highly Recommended! Everyone talking about it on our thread was right.... yet again.

 

So... what's next for me? Here's my plan, in my planned order. Your comments, guidance and correction are more than welcome!

• Upgrading the PS to a Sean Jacobs DC3. I'm already in the queue for September! Very exciting.
  • The above supply is going to be 19V at 5A to power the NUC (or any NUC in the foreseeable future).
  • It will have a secondary, regulated output of 12V at 2A
  • This secondary supply is to power a EtherRegen, down the road sometime. I'm hoping, like everyone else, that it really does its thing.  
• Upgrade the NUC to an i7, with Optane
• Get rid of the fan with a fanless case.... Porcoolpine or Akassa
• EtherRegen - TBD... waiting for the release, reviews and discussions to begin.
• Upgrade the USB cable
  • This turns out to be a bit of a challenge...
  • It's challenging to find a great USB cable with a Micro-USB for the Hugo2
  • There is the Audioquest USB-B to USB-micro adapter
  • But it will put more stain on the Hugo 2's tiny USB connector
  • How much of the new cable's performance will be lost in the adapter (???)
• Ethernet cable upgrade. Is this more important or less important then the USB cable upgrade.... not sure?
• Maybe upgrade to a TT2 and/or Mscaler.... lot's of money there.... that's not happening anytime soon!

So, I'm really quite happy (satisfied), even as I stand right now. After the Paul Hynes PS upgrade, we'll see. I might decide to stop right there. TBD. After all this time, trying to get things right, I fully believe I'm knocking on the door... loudly. Thanks from the bottom of my heart to all of you guys for your pioneering and experimenting spirit and your willingness to share that hard-fought-for-knowledge with everyone.  

 

Best Regards... Happy Listening!