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

[lateboomer]

I am very glad that this latest connection method works flawlessly. I have put Hqplayer in repeat mode and it plays about 3 hours now without dropping a ball. I would declare the connection is very stable. Thank you guys for this wonderful trick.

[tboooe]

I finally got around to adding the existing Mobo Ethernet port to my bridge and will be comparing how it sounds versus my dual port fiber nic connected to an FMC to my NAA. I'll report back in a few days.

 

Btw the weird thing is that when I tried to add the Mobo bridge to my bridge everything stopped working. I had to delete the bridge then recreate it with all 3 ports. Not sure what the issue was.

[Confused]

One interesting thing to note is that old switches tend to sound better than new ones. Modern switch chips tend to turn off most of the circuitry in between packets, this produces large transients on the power/ground planes. The old chips were designed in an era where going for low power was not the highest priority in the chip design, thus they usually do not generate nearly as much PG noise as newer designs.

 

I'm running my microRendu from an old 100Mb switch that is at least 10 years old and has a linear power supply, with this driving the microRendu I don't seem to have much of the issues all of you are having with different cables etc.

 

(Uh Oh, I think I just started a buying frenzy for old switches on ebay)

John S.

Ha! This worked for me. I immediately went on to ebay to buy a nice 10 year old switch, then realised I had no clue how to tell the difference between an overpriced second hand switch that had nasty modern switching anyway, and a lovely retro one per your description. How could you possibly tell? (short of a comprehensive list of model numbers?)

[Theobetley]

So how many guys using Windows 10 home are using Audiophile Optimizer with the bridging tweak? I am thinking of going this way but does the home version preclude one from some the better set ups in AO?

[lmitche]

So how many guys using Windows 10 home are using Audiophile Optimizer with the bridging tweak? I am thinking of going this way but does the home version preclude one from some the better set ups in AO?

Over here, AO and Windows 10 home are used together and I find home edition better, smaller and lighter, then windows 10 pro. Currently I don't bridge my windows HQplayer machine but know it works having done so in the past.

[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?

[tboooe]

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?

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.

[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) ?

[tboooe]

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) ?

Sort of...you would need a second port for the PC/MAC if it needs to connect to your network to access your music. But if your music is on on the PC/MAC then yes, you wont need to bridge anything, unless of course you want to be able to access the SOTM user interface from any device on your network.

[gadgetman]

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?

Both bridging and static ip can achieve direct connection. By applying static ip one can reduce another OS process in Windows/Mac which may be able to enhance the sound quality a little bit. Of course it's only theoretically speaking. It's not yet being confirmed.

[gadgetman]

Thank you tboooe for your quick response.

[gadgetman]

There's a way to bypass ssh to set static ip of Eunhasu. It's a little bit tricky and perhaps a little complicated.

 

First of all you'll need to backup the original SD card. Then make a copy and use the copy to do the test.

 

Secondly you need to download a free utility -- UNetbootin. It can help download and create a bootable USB drive of various Linux distributions including Ubuntu which I use.

 

Thirdly, you need a USB flash drive 8GB or more. Use UNetbootin to create a bootable Linux distribution.

 

Then insert USB drive into your computer and boot from it. Put the Eunhasu SD card in a card reader or the SD card slot of the PC. There's 2 files need to be modified.

SD_CARD/etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0 and SD_CARD/etc/resolv.conf

 

Follow this link to change it.

networking - How to setup Static Ip in Fedora 19 - Stack Overflow

 

You need to have root permission to make the change. You can use "sudo" for temporary root accessibility.

[Peter_T]

There's a way to bypass ssh to set static ip of Eunhasu. It's a little bit tricky and perhaps a little complicated........

 

Maybe a less complicated way to give the SOTM200 a (semi)static IP address is binding a fixed IP address to the MAC-address of the SOTM. My Ubee router/modem has the option "Static lease" where you can do that. Every time the SOTM asks for an IP address it will get the address defined in Static lease. The SOTM's MAC address can be found on the eunhasu page under settings.

[ferenc]

I am using may Macbook Pro this way, one Thunderbolt out goes to a Thunderbolt dock, one Ethernet is connected there and then the Internet, the other Thunderbolt port goes to a TB-Ethernet adapter and this cable goes directly to an Xtreamer Winbox microPC with Win 10 Home. Running Roon - HQ Player ---- NAA software combo. I do not use AO, optimized Win 10 Home as much as I could on my way.

 

Sending DSD256 through the network to NAA, then it is connected to an RME ADI 2 Pro AD-D/A converter in its direct DSD mode.

 

Sounds really good, I like it. A lot. Really impressive.

 

Over here, AO and Windows 10 home are used together and I find home edition better, smaller and lighter, then windows 10 pro. Currently I don't bridge my windows HQplayer machine but know it works having done so in the past.

[Peter_T]

.....Disadvantages : You can only see the control webpage of your renderer when your are in W10 or W2012-GUI and then only on your server-PC. So If you go to W2012-minimal-server-mode or core then you can longer switch renderer modes........

 

This disadvantage is gone : In another forum I read that the latest version of firefox can actually be installed in W2016-core (and probably also W2012R2-core). It works in my setup (see the complete post I quoted) : I can use the "eunhasu" webpage again in W2016-core and change settings!

[tboooe]

This disadvantage is gone : In another forum I read that the latest version of firefox can actually be installed in W2016-core (and probably also W2012R2-core). It works in my setup (see the complete post I quoted) : I can use the "eunhasu" webpage again in W2016-core and change settings!

Thats great to hear. So no bridging required and you can remote desktop into the server PC, manually launch firefox and access settings. Nice solution!

[gadgetman]

I tested Eunhasu 0.3.3 today. Here's what I feels.

 

At first it seems the volume is been turned down one scale compared to 0.3.2. Then I realize that the depth is increased a notch. Each instrument seems to be seperated a bit more. There seems to be more micro detail now.

 

IMHO 0.3.3 is better than 0.3.2

[R1200CL]

Here is how I've done connection by using my Qnap. However I have no idea if this actually utilizes the suggested tweaks [emoji3]

 

The connected devices are a switch (of cause), MicroRendu, and a SonicTransporter i5.

 

[Carcrashboy]

Hi,

 

Where did you get 0.3.3, I'm keen to test..

 

Thanks

[gadgetman]

Hi,

 

Where did you get 0.3.3, I'm keen to test..

 

Thanks

In system setup menu tap the middle icon which looks like a pointer going from left to right then goes straight up.

 

If you plan to roll back to your current version you better make a backup copy before doing software upgrade. You can use Win32 Disk Imager to do the job. It's totally free.

[Carcrashboy]

In system setup menu tap the middle icon which looks like a pointer going from left to right then goes straight up.

 

If you plan to roll back to your current version you better make a backup copy before doing software upgrade. You can use Win32 Disk Imager to do the job. It's totally free.

 

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?

[gadgetman]

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?

Hmm, that's odd. It shouldn't be OS or machine dependent. As a matter of fact you should see a yellow pointer right at the System Setup menu.

 

What browser are you using? Have you tried google Chrome? Perhaps your browser or system security setting is blocking the update. Try using other browser or different computer.

[greenleo]

My method for a PC connected to mR directly with HQplayer running without static IP.

 

System: Win10 Ent 64 on a PC

Steps:

1. Onboard LAN1(to router), PCIe LAN2(to mR) and USB WiFi3 adapter(dummy, connect to nothing) form a network bridge. IP of mR is now designated.

2. Run HQPlayer NAA as backend. (mR is now found by HQPlayer)

3. Remove WiFi3 (I use the safely remove device method). HQPlayer still works.

4. Disable LAN1. (Now complete isolation.). HQPlayer still works.

5. Stop and then start HQPlayer again as a check. It should be running.

 

Need to repeat the steps once PC after rebooting PC.

[romaz]

My method for a PC connected to mR directly with HQplayer running without static IP.

 

System: Win10 Ent 64 on a PC

Steps:

1. Onboard LAN1(to router), PCIe LAN2(to mR) and USB WiFi3 adapter(dummy, connect to nothing) form a network bridge. IP of mR is now designated.

2. Run HQPlayer NAA as backend. (mR is now found by HQPlayer)

3. Remove WiFi3 (I use the safely remove device method). HQPlayer still works.

4. Disable LAN1. (Now complete isolation.). HQPlayer still works.

5. Stop and then start HQPlayer again as a check. It should be running.

 

Need to repeat the steps once PC after rebooting PC.

Thanks for sharing what you've done, GreenLeo. I imagine that at some point, you'll have to go through these steps again as the mR won't retain its IP address indefinitely. What was your purpose for disconnecting your router altogether? Did you feel that complete isolation from the router led to further SQ improvement in your system? I can't imagine that it would.

[ted_b]

delete.....read something incorrectly and therefore responded incorrectly.