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

[AmusedToD]

6 minutes ago, MayfromSOtM said:

Hi AmusedToD, 

Not yet ready for the price information, so sorry, but yes, we are planning to show up the switch for the first time to coming AXPONA and Munich show!!

 

Thank you!

Best regards, May

 

Ok, good job.

 

Are you able to share some info regarding the specs of the switch? Will it accept 12V power supplies? Is it based on the sCLK platform? Do the inputs/outputs have some sort of audio grade isolation?

[Al Jones]

Wow, the Oppo’s seem heavily modable. Mine is currently in Norway for mods by Coris (search Oppo mods, Coris). Photos on diyaudio.com.

 

The mods consist of:

280€ R-core LPS

40€ DC blocking filter

200€ Clock board with battery

200€ Elastic drive damping

50€ New ventilated side panels

Incl. cable shielding, improved ground, silent fan installation, front panel battery charge status indicator

[MayfromSOtM]

13 minutes ago, AmusedToD said:

 

Ok, good job.

 

Are you able to share some info regarding the specs of the switch? Will it accept 12V power supplies? Is it based on the sCLK platform? Do the inputs/outputs have some sort of audio grade isolation?

have not much infomation to share since I've already shared the information which I've known  It will be 12V input and the sCLK-EX would be installed optionally and the audio grade filter feature will be used which has been used in iSO-CAT6.

 

Thank you~

Best regards, May

 

[AmusedToD]

3 minutes ago, MayfromSOtM said:

have not much infomation to share since I've already shared the information which I've known  It will be 12V input and the sCLK-EX would be installed optionally and the audio grade filter feature will be used which has been used in iSO-CAT6.

 

Thank you~

Best regards, May

 

 

Thanks, May.

 

I already have and use the ISO-CAT6, does this mean I won’t need it anymore if I buy your switch?

[MayfromSOtM]

23 minutes ago, AmusedToD said:

 

Thanks, May.

 

I already have and use the ISO-CAT6, does this mean I won’t need it anymore if I buy your switch?

No, I mean this feature is applied to our new switch, and still the iSO-CAT6 works in the position.

Thank you~

Best regards May

[Coris]

15 hours ago, Johnseye said:

Roy brought up the Oppo mod the other day and May replied here that they can do something similar.  I am very tempted to do this to improve my home theater experience so I asked May about it.  The cost is a bit more than from Oppomod which Roy recommended, but it is the sCLK.  They'll also swap out caps.

 

She also gave me some info on their new switch I thought I would share below.

 

Replacing sCLK-EX(4 points) with 10MHz Master clock input : USD1050

1.     Main clock

2.     2 Channel output

3.     7.1 Channel output

4.     Bluray driver chipset

 

 

Replacing capacitors :

For a digital board and analog boards(32points) : USD200

For bulk CAPS on the analog board input : USD100

For OPAmp(OPA1642) on Analog 7.1 channel : USD150

 

Replacing power input board : USD550

The above is the original power board on the digital part and below is the new power board designed by us.

 

The new SOtM switch

 

I have better and far more complete solutions for Oppo improvements...

[Johnseye]

51 minutes ago, Con said:

I have better and far more complete solutions for Oppo improvements...

 

Not sure if you're bragging or want to help and inform others. If it's the latter maybe explain what your pictures represent. 

[auricgoldfinger]

5 hours ago, str-1 said:

Thanks, I didn’t know that.  Two of each seems like a good idea.  

 

Also, I now see that the SOtM boxes are much smaller than the Mutec and probably carry little or no penality in terms of space requirements in my vertical equipment rack.  Do you think it would be ok to stack the sCLK-OCX10 and sPS-500 (and which way round), or any 1+2 combination including the tX-USBultra, or would resulting increase in interference negate any benefits to be gained from shortest possible cables?

 

Finally, and the most important question of all, just how big an improvement can I expect from using an sCLK-OCX10/sPS-500 combo with my SR4-powered tX-USBultra inbetween my Zenith SE and Chord Blu 2/DAVE?  Thanks.

 

I have seen 2 or 3 posts from sCLK-OCX10/sPS-500 owners who are very happy with the combination.  Here is one owner who also happens to stack his 5 SOtM devices. 

 

 

 

As for my situation, SOtM's failure to follow my order instructions resulted in a problem with my first sCLK-OCX10.  Thankfully, I had placed the order through Crux Audio, and when SOtM was atypically unhelpful, Kamal stepped in to rectify the problem himself.  However, I still have not received the replacement unit, so I am unable offer my own listening impressions.

 

I have considered stacking my devices like @ronfint but probably won't do so unless I have space constraints.  I share your concern about interference, but there is really no way to know without doing a comparison.

[str-1]

5 hours ago, auricgoldfinger said:

 

I have seen 2 or 3 posts from sCLK-OCX10/sPS-500 owners who are very happy with the combination.  Here is one owner who also happens to stack his 5 SOtM devices. 

 

 

 

As for my situation, SOtM's failure to follow my order instructions resulted in a problem with my first sCLK-OCX10.  Thankfully, I had placed the order through Crux Audio, and when SOtM was atypically unhelpful, Kamal stepped in to rectify the problem himself.  However, I still have not received the replacement unit, so I am unable offer my own listening impressions.

 

I have considered stacking my devices like @ronfint but probably won't do so unless I have space constraints.  I share your concern about interference, but there is really no way to know without doing a comparison.

Thanks again.  Sorry to hear about your problems with the sCLK-OCX10.  

[Summit]

On 2018-03-25 at 3:53 PM, BigGuy said:

IIRC, I was told that the early versions like the P300, P500 were Class A based and as expected ran very hot.  In fact, a second version of the P300, etc had a cooling fan.  I have been using the P300 for front end components since it was first offered and have been using external cooling to extend the unit life.

 

I was under the impression that the latest series P5, P10, and now P20 might be Class D since even the largest does not have cooling?!

 

P300 and P500 was not class A, they was high biased class A/B with 50 percent efficiency.

 

I don’t know much about the bias in the new line of regenerators from PS Audio. What I know is they have a new type of DAC in the latest series of P5, P10, and P20 that generates DSD instead of PCM.  

[Johnseye]

@mozes or @ElviaCaprice, I have a Dave on loan to audition.  I was under the impression it can upsample.  How do you enable it to upsample?  I couldn't find anything in the instructions.

 

My first impressions when comparing it with my Audio Alchemy is that there is more weight or more resonance to the music.  I literally feel the music from a vibration or sound pressure perspective.  Similar to when using a sub for 2.1.  From an actual sound quality or tonal perspective it is very similar and when using certain filters in HQPlayer it comes pretty darn close.  It's different, but subtly.  Definitely better, but not $12k better.  I'm still listening to it through my ARC pre but will directly connect it to my amp.  I will not be bypassing the amp for a direct connection with my speakers. 

 

 My current server is unable to upsample to DSD256 and I haven't been able to test that in the past as my Audio Alchemy can only process DSD64.  It's good to know that it can't.  PCM upsampling was never an issue, but DSD is another story.  If the Dave can not upsample on its own, I'm very tempted to have SOtM modify a different motherboard for me.  If I were to purchase a new DAC this would be the main reason.

[ismewor]

@Johnseye Dave by itself can’t up sampling. Blu2 is the upsampling unit. 

[Johnseye]

7 minutes ago, ismewor said:

@Johnseye Dave by itself can’t up sampling. Blu2 is the upsampling unit. 

 

Ah ok, for some reason I thought the DAVE did it.  Well that would be another $12k and $24k for the combo is too rich for my blood.

 

Thanks

[mozes]

1 hour ago, Johnseye said:

@mozes or @ElviaCaprice, I have a Dave on loan to audition.  I was under the impression it can upsample.  How do you enable it to upsample?  I couldn't find anything in the instructions.

 

My first impressions when comparing it with my Audio Alchemy is that there is more weight or more resonance to the music.  I literally feel the music from a vibration or sound pressure perspective.  Similar to when using a sub for 2.1.  From an actual sound quality or tonal perspective it is very similar and when using certain filters in HQPlayer it comes pretty darn close.  It's different, but subtly.  Definitely better, but not $12k better.  I'm still listening to it through my ARC pre but will directly connect it to my amp.  I will not be bypassing the amp for a direct connection with my speakers. 

 

 My current server is unable to upsample to DSD256 and I haven't been able to test that in the past as my Audio Alchemy can only process DSD64.  It's good to know that it can't.  PCM upsampling was never an issue, but DSD is another story.  If the Dave can not upsample on its own, I'm very tempted to have SOtM modify a different motherboard for me.  If I were to purchase a new DAC this would be the main reason.

Dave doesn’t have any upsampling options  on the menu. It does its own internal upsampling based on the FPGA programming.

[Johnseye]

6 minutes ago, mozes said:

Dave doesn’t have any upsampling options  on the menu. It does its own internal upsampling based on the FPGA programming.

 

What do you mean by internal upsampling?

[ted_b]

9 minutes ago, Johnseye said:

 

What do you mean by internal upsampling?

Most dacs take a music file and internally oversample it and then send that result out to the analog stage.  Many reasons for this, not the least of which is easier filtering when the signal is in the upper atmosphere of sample rates.  Only dacs that have an NOS (non-oversampling) option, or are NOS out of the gate, do no oversampling internally.   They are unique enough to be labeled NOS dacs.  In those cases (like my Holo Spring in NOS mode) folks do their upsampling with a good upsampling engine like a powerful server with HQPlayer, for example.  Then the resultant file is untouched by the DAC, other than processed as-is.

 

This is over-simplified.

[mozes]

This document gives an overview of how Dave works.

 

https://chordelectronics.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/DAVE-Technology-Presentation.pptx

 

 

[Johnseye]

17 minutes ago, ted_b said:

Most dacs take a music file and internally oversample it and then send that result out to the analog stage.  Many reasons for this, not the least of which is easier filtering when the signal is in the upper atmosphere of sample rates.  Only dacs that have an NOS (non-oversampling) option, or are NOS out of the gate, do no oversampling internally.   They are unique enough to be labeled NOS dacs.  In those cases (like my Holo Spring in NOS mode) folks do their upsampling with a good upsampling engine like a powerful server with HQPlayer, for example.  Then the resultant file is untouched by the DAC, other than processed as-is.

 

This is over-simplified.

 

Thanks Ted, I didn't realize that.  I wonder what rate the DACs upsample to.  I've never seen this documented.  How do you like the Holo Spring?  Would you recommend it?

 

By the way, I reached out to Jeff Hedback and used you as a reference.  I haven't heard back from him.

[Johnseye]

44 minutes ago, Johnseye said:

 

Thanks Ted, I didn't realize that.  I wonder what rate the DACs upsample to.  I've never seen this documented.  How do you like the Holo Spring?  Would you recommend it?

 

By the way, I reached out to Jeff Hedback and used you as a reference.  I haven't heard back from him.

 

@ted_b I read your review of the Holo Spring.  I should rephrase my question, has your opinion changed at all since you wrote the review?

[ted_b]

No, I continue to love the music coming out of it.  I have settled on I2S as its best input (mainly due to the Singxer's better clocks), and use both R2R sides of the dac; that is, I upsample everything PCM to 352.8/384k and everything DSD to DSD512.  I like the sound of the PCM side (as PCM) and the nice byproduct is that it lessens the need for the ulimate cpu horsepower, as PCM-to-PCM or DSD-to_DSD is easier on HQPlayer and the server than going PCM to DSD512.

[ElviaCaprice]

4 hours ago, Johnseye said:

@mozes or @ElviaCaprice, I have a Dave on loan to audition.  I was under the impression it can upsample.  How do you enable it to upsample?  I couldn't find anything in the instructions.

 

My first impressions when comparing it with my Audio Alchemy is that there is more weight or more resonance to the music.  I literally feel the music from a vibration or sound pressure perspective.  Similar to when using a sub for 2.1.  From an actual sound quality or tonal perspective it is very similar and when using certain filters in HQPlayer it comes pretty darn close.  It's different, but subtly.  Definitely better, but not $12k better.  I'm still listening to it through my ARC pre but will directly connect it to my amp.  I will not be bypassing the amp for a direct connection with my speakers. 

 

 My current server is unable to upsample to DSD256 and I haven't been able to test that in the past as my Audio Alchemy can only process DSD64.  It's good to know that it can't.  PCM upsampling was never an issue, but DSD is another story.  If the Dave can not upsample on its own, I'm very tempted to have SOtM modify a different motherboard for me.  If I were to purchase a new DAC this would be the main reason.

 

I don't have a DAVE, a bit rich for my budget.  I use the 2Qute ($800).  All Chord DAC's have automatic internal upsampling.  But your really missing one of the key features of using a Chord DAC.  And that is to drive high efficient speakers directly with it's extremely low impedance amp output.  I can't stress enough the importance of this simplification in the system chain, every time you add an analog component your losing precision in the sound.  If your not looking to go the highly efficient speaker route or direct headphones, I wouldn't recommend the DAVE or any Chord DAC for that matter.

[RickyV]

4 hours ago, Johnseye said:

@mozes or @ElviaCaprice, I have a Dave on loan to audition.  I was under the impression it can upsample.  How do you enable it to upsample?  I couldn't find anything in the instructions.

 

My first impressions when comparing it with my Audio Alchemy is that there is more weight or more resonance to the music.  I literally feel the music from a vibration or sound pressure perspective.  Similar to when using a sub for 2.1.  From an actual sound quality or tonal perspective it is very similar and when using certain filters in HQPlayer it comes pretty darn close.  It's different, but subtly.  Definitely better, but not $12k better.  I'm still listening to it through my ARC pre but will directly connect it to my amp.  I will not be bypassing the amp for a direct connection with my speakers. 

 

 My current server is unable to upsample to DSD256 and I haven't been able to test that in the past as my Audio Alchemy can only process DSD64.  It's good to know that it can't.  PCM upsampling was never an issue, but DSD is another story.  If the Dave can not upsample on its own, I'm very tempted to have SOtM modify a different motherboard for me.  If I were to purchase a new DAC this would be the main reason.

Hi Johnseye, 

What mobo are you using now and what mobo are you tempted  to upgrade? 

[Johnseye]

2 minutes ago, ElviaCaprice said:

 

I don't have a DAVE, a bit rich for my budget.  I use the 2Qute.  All Chord DAC's have automatic internal upsampling.  But your really missing the key feature of using a Chord DAC.  And that is to drive high efficient speakers directly with it's extremely low impedance amp output.  I can't stress enough the importance of this simplification in the system chain, every time you add an analog component your losing precision in the sound.  If your not looking to go the highly efficient speaker route or direct headphones, I wouldn't recommend the DAVE or any Chord DAC for that matter.

 

Yea, so do you drive your speakers from the headphone jack?  How'd you set that up?

 

I think the Dave is a sweet sounding dac, I just don't think it's $12k sweet when comparing it to others.  I should have mentioned it creates a nice deep soundstage, but I already get something similar with my Audio Alchemy.   I am tempted to try the Hugo 2 or the Mojo with the Poly as a portable DAC I can use at work, while biking or in the car.

[Johnseye]

4 minutes ago, RickyV said:

Hi Johnseye, 

What mobo are you using now and what mobo are you tempted  to upgrade? 

 

Jetway NF591-3160.  It's a great low power board but can't handle DSD256 upsampling.

 

I was going to search the threads that @lmitche started recently for a good board.  I have a Asus Q170T/CSM but it doesn't have a PCI slot which I now need for my tX-USBexp.  I already have the proc and memory for that board which is a new i7 which will handle the DSD upsampling.

[ElviaCaprice]

20 minutes ago, Johnseye said:

 

Yea, so do you drive your speakers from the headphone jack?  How'd you set that up?

 

I think the Dave is a sweet sounding dac, I just don't think it's $12k sweet when comparing it to others.  I should have mentioned it creates a nice deep soundstage, but I already get something similar with my Audio Alchemy.   I am tempted to try the Hugo 2 or the Mojo with the Poly as a portable DAC I can use at work, while biking or in the car.

 

The 2Qute only has RCA out (note:  Qutest replaces the 2Qute).  So I made my own Canare speaker cables terminated with spades on one end and RCA on the other.  

The DAVE has other options besides RCA, which I've heard are best on DAVE.  You also have balanced and headphone jack.  If you got the coin, DAVE is nice to have, bigger amp, digital control.  If it has a weakness it might be the inability to change out the power supply.  You can get a new DAVE, 7k to 8k if you shop around, definitely used.  Woaaa, see they have gone up a little in Dollar pricing, $8600.  Here is where I would buy new, good reputation, which is still too rich for my blood.  

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a230r.1.14.8.7dc774ddo4OmYi&id=536193568643&ns=1&abbucket=2#detail

 

     I've thought of upgrading to Hugo 2 so as to gain digital volume control and a bigger amp stage, but I'm not so hot on Lipo battery sound signature and I despise the micro inputs.  Think I'd get the Mojo or better something lighter/compact on the cheap if I just wanted a portable.  I'm not into mobile.