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


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Most important: please realize this thread is about bleeding edge experimentation and discovery. No one has The Answer™. If you are not into tweaking, just know that you can have a musically satisfying system without doing any of the nutty things we do here.

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Yes, this tutorial explains how bridging is enabled on a QNAP NAS and has been shared on CA in the recent past.

OK thanks. I followed this thread right from the start but got lost at some point. Obviously missed the link to the QNAP tutorial. Is there a comparably easy to understand tutorial for Synology as well?

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Thank you Romaz

 

I use Foobar2k using the new version of the ASIO2 driver developped by Didier Galardon.

Have you compared the Asio driver used by Roon and this one?

 

I ask to Didier : Why have you developped a new driver?

 

He wrotes:

 

Le pilote Asio d’origine est sans doute bit perfect, mais je pense que d’autres facteurs qu’une altération du signal numérique peuvent influer sur la qualité de l’écoute.

Un signal numérique reste un signal électrique même s’il est beaucoup plus simple à traiter qu’un signal analogique, et pour moi tout ce qui intervient dans la transmission de ce signal (horloge, interfaces des équipements, câbles) peut jouer sur sa qualité. Utilisant moi-même une liaison synchrone entre ordi et DAC, Le principe du plugin asio2 a donc été de minimiser la charge de traitement côté ordinateur (par ailleurs dédié à l’écoute audio), en optimisant le codage.

L’idée m’est venu après mes expériences d’écoute avec divers players.

Je restais sur ma faim avec les plugins standards foobar (asio ou wasapi), pas tellement pour un manque de dynamique mais plutôt pour un manque de matière dans la restitution.

Sur ce dernier plan, j’ai trouvé mieux avec le player XXHighEnd, mais cette fois au détriment de la dynamique (peut être aussi parce que ce player demande une config matérielle très puissante pour bien fonctionner).

C’est en essayant un player très basique du SDK Windows démontrant l’utilisation de l’API Audio Microsoft Wasapi en mode exclusif, que j’ai trouvé une qualité supérieure. Du coup je me suis lancé dans le projet d’intégrer ce code avec foobar pour bénéficier d’une interface graphique plus évoluée, et de fil en aiguille, de développer l’équivalent en asio, et de l’optimiser progressivement.

 

L’idée de ce plugin est, du point de vue technique, d’optimiser la chaine de liaison entre l’enregistrement et la carte son, en minimisant les écritures de données audio et en codant les sections de traitement critiques en langage machine, et utilisant les instructions vectorisées (SSEn, AVX, ...). Aucune modification n’est faite sur le signal lui-même, qui reste “bit-perfect” (Perfect Null Test –PNT- effectué avec Audacity).

Sur le plan de l’écoute, ça se traduit pour moi, par une meilleur dynamique, effectivement, mais aussi plus de détails et de nuances sur tous les registres, ainsi qu’une image sonore améliorée.

 

 

I am thinking that this place is a good one to report these words.

In French not to betray him. So you can investigate about: how your Asio driver is build?

 

With my Dave and my Mojo, I describe the amelioration of the ASIO2 like him.

Your text convinces me that to go further, i need to compare foobar2k and the Poly and .... Poly_hugo2 and maybe one Day an M-SCALER-streamer for Dave.

 

Enjoy your listening

 

Jean.

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OK thanks. I followed this thread right from the start but got lost at some point. Obviously missed the link to the QNAP tutorial. Is there a comparably easy to understand tutorial for Synology as well?

I don't know if such a tutorial exist for a Synology NAS. Indeed the last time I looked Synology does not support bridging at all.

 

Happily my system has been consolidated to one machine and therefore I'm out of the bridge building business!

Pareto Audio aka nuckleheadaudio

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Did anyone test sotm/microrendu connected to PC with linear PSU and standard PSU, is there any advantages in SQ?

Im going to build PC in fanless case, which could do DSD512 upsample in HQPlayer + Roon, and dont know if it makes sense to invest in linear PSU for PC. For now i use standard PC with directly connected microRendu + uptone LPS-1 PSU

dCS Network Bridge | Audio Note DAC2 Signature | Audio Note M5 Preamp | Audio Note Empress Silver Monoblocks | Audio Note AN-E/Spe HE Speakers

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Did anyone test sotm/microrendu connected to PC with linear PSU and standard PSU, is there any advantages in SQ?

Im going to build PC in fanless case, which could do DSD512 upsample in HQPlayer + Roon, and dont know if it makes sense to invest in linear PSU for PC. For now i use standard PC with directly connected microRendu + uptone LPS-1 PSU

Yes, the impact is potentially very large. Here is an excerpt from my introductory post for this thread:

"Like with many of you, things changed when I received my LPS-1 as this power supply was eye opening in how it transformed my microRendu. This should have come as no surprise as John Swenson had been telling us all along that the microRendu, as a low noise and low impedance device, benefits from a low noise and low impedance power supply. What I wasn't prepared to experience, however, was how a good low noise, low impedance power supply would also transform my upstream components including a simple NUC or Mac Mini even with the microRendu or sMS-200 in place... In the same way that the LPS-1 improved both the macro and microdynamic capabilities of my microRendu, my Paul Hynes SR7 has also magically transformed my modified Mac Mini and internet modem/router and both the microRendu and sMS-200 fully reveal these benefits but truth be told, these benefits are much more fully realized if these endpoints themselves are powered by a low impedance PSU. This is not some mild transformation that you need to blind test to convince yourself is real, this is something a semi-deaf person can distinguish because the dynamic contrasts with the Paul Hynes SR7 driving both my Mac Mini and internet modem/router is that much more thunderous, enough so that I have had to literally turn my subwoofer down a notch. If you think about it, there's no good reason why this shouldn't be happening. The whole purpose of the microRendu or sMS-200 and devices like the USB Regen is to present a DAC with a signal of the highest integrity. Why wouldn't the microRendu or sMS-200 similarly benefit from being presented with high signal integrity by the components before it?"

 

Not all linear PSUs will make a noticeable difference, however.

"...when I first purchased my microRendu back in May, I tested it with a variety of standard sources including a Windows NUC, Windows laptop, Mac Pro, Macbook Pro and sonicTransporter and even when a certain source was powered by my HDPlex, I noticed no significant difference among these sources, at least not enough to care which one was feeding my microRendu."

 

This initial testing was done before my microRendu was directly connected to my source and so the SR7 distinguished itself even before the more revealing direction connection method was applied. I have found that this direct connection not only makes the impact of the PSU on the server all the more apparent but that the quality of the PSU on the server also makes the impact of the direct connection all the more apparent.

 

While the low noise characteristics of a PSU are important, I believe the impact of low output impedance is perhaps even more easily discerned and you don't need a golden ear to appreciate it. Those that use an LPS-1 to power their mR or sMS-200 understand very well what this means. I suspect that many believe the LPS-1 sounds so good because of lack of leakage current and ground loops but compared against a lithium-based battery supply that I was previously using to power my mR (which also had no leakage current), the LPS-1 basically walked all over my battery supply. Compared against my iFi 9V PSU which boasts a a superior 1uV noise floor, the LPS-1 walked all over that supply also. Based on my listening tests, I have to say that I don't consider my HDPlex to be low impedance. Same thing goes for my 12V Teradak and the lithium battery-based PSU of my Windows laptop. My Paul Pang and Kenneth Lau LPSUs are probably a bit better but certainly not LPS-1 or SR7 level. Again, since no one typically reports output impedance measurements for their LPSUs, each of us is forced to do our own comparisons and I would have never predicted that these would be my outcomes.

 

With all the things discussed on this thread on how to improve SQ with either the mR or sMS-200, several have PM'd me regarding what I have found to make the greatest difference and where to start. Since this direct connection potentially costs nothing to implement (provided you have certain equipment already on hand such as a server with dual NICs), I would say start there. But as far as the biggest difference maker, at least in my system, without question, the 2 biggest difference makers have been my SR-7 and LPS-1. Good clean, low impedance power, imo, should be the foundation of any worthwhile setup.

 

If you're talking about a LPSU for a power-hungry machine designed for HQP upsampling, the best thing I can suggest is to look at the lengths that Sound Galleries took to implement a LPSU into their SGM 2015 and it becomes easier to grasp how major an undertaking this potentially is to do it right. You're talking giant heavy transformers. This is why I have intentionally resisted going big.

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I just have a basic monitor on my W10 Ent/AO/Bridged machine, running at 1280x1024 native resolution. The graphics adapter is an nVidia with 1GB video RAM. I tried this:

  • Removed nVidia apps and driver
  • The display driver the system reverted to was the Microsoft Basic display
  • dropped the resolution down to 800x600
  • Also, tried an experiment running AO shell replacement directly to MinimServer

The last dropped my process count from 50 to 41.

 

In terms of SQ - I really can't say I heard a difference I could be confident in. It was late, and I was tired, so I might try again, but indications are that the difference is small.

 

Perhaps remove the Nvidia card and try again?

 

No can do - I'm just using a vanilla Dell XPS 8700 desktop, and the only video ports (VGA and DVI) are on the Nvidia card. Without it, I'd be headless.

 

Larry,

 

Just wanted you to know I followed up on this. It turns out I was wrong about the integrated video ports on my box. I was looking for "outies" like a VGA port, but it turns out, the only integrated ports were "innies" - HDMI and DisplayPort. Since my display only had VGA and DVI outputs, it was off to Amazon for a DVI to Displayport adapter, which just arrived.

 

So, after a couple of missteps - success! I removed the nVidia adapter, and am now driving the display with the Intel integrated video. The misstep was realizing that Roon wouldn't start with using the Microsoft Basic Display Driver. I had to get the Intel driver, and then all was good.

 

While I was in there - now I sound like the orthopedic surgeon who operated on my knee - I also discovered my box had an active CD/DVD drive, which I also disconnected.

 

No SQ evaluations yet, will listen tonight.

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Project Lasso surprsingly has been very effective even with the simpler dual-core CPU in my Mac Mini. While continually resident in memory, it has a very small footprint. I use mine in game mode which maximizes the responsiveness of your CPU and results in this enhanced perceived immediacy to playback. Without any harshness, the image is more vivid. Not only is timing better but the timbre of instruments is truer. It was Project Lasso that really pushed me to explore minimizing latencies elsewhere in my system. Other than game mode, I run it default. If I had a quad-core CPU, I would probably experiment further but even without tweaking it, I am quite impressed.

So Roy, here's what I do with Process Lasso:

  • Set it to Gaming mode
  • Set Bitsum high performance power scheme
  • Set javaw.exe, roon.exe, and raatserver.exe to High priority
  • Set the above 3 process to "classify as a game"

 

I really haven't done any critical comparisons with these settings, so I cannot honestly say it improves SQ.

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Larry,

 

Just wanted you to know I followed up on this. It turns out I was wrong about the integrated video ports on my box. I was looking for "outies" like a VGA port, but it turns out, the only integrated ports were "innies" - HDMI and DisplayPort. Since my display only had VGA and DVI outputs, it was off to Amazon for a DVI to Displayport adapter, which just arrived.

 

So, after a couple of missteps - success! I removed the nVidia adapter, and am now driving the display with the Intel integrated video. The misstep was realizing that Roon wouldn't start with using the Microsoft Basic Display Driver. I had to get the Intel driver, and then all was good.

 

While I was in there - now I sound like the orthopedic surgeon who operated on my knee - I also discovered my box had an active CD/DVD drive, which I also disconnected.

 

No SQ evaluations yet, will listen tonight.

Rajiv,

 

Good to know you are making progress. I am surprised to hear you need a video driver for Roon. Perhaps you should install Roon server, and control the box from a wireless laptop or tablet?

 

AOs ST can be set to start HQplayer and Roon at boot. Nevertheless don't forget to install tightvnc server and client so you can remote into windows as well.

Pareto Audio aka nuckleheadaudio

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Yes, the impact is potentially very large. Here is an excerpt from my introductory post for this thread:

"Like with many of you, things changed when I received my LPS-1 as this power supply was eye opening in how it transformed my microRendu. This should have come as no surprise as John Swenson had been telling us all along that the microRendu, as a low noise and low impedance device, benefits from a low noise and low impedance power supply. What I wasn't prepared to experience, however, was how a good low noise, low impedance power supply would also transform my upstream components including a simple NUC or Mac Mini even with the microRendu or sMS-200 in place... In the same way that the LPS-1 improved both the macro and microdynamic capabilities of my microRendu, my Paul Hynes SR7 has also magically transformed my modified Mac Mini and internet modem/router and both the microRendu and sMS-200 fully reveal these benefits but truth be told, these benefits are much more fully realized if these endpoints themselves are powered by a low impedance PSU. This is not some mild transformation that you need to blind test to convince yourself is real, this is something a semi-deaf person can distinguish because the dynamic contrasts with the Paul Hynes SR7 driving both my Mac Mini and internet modem/router is that much more thunderous, enough so that I have had to literally turn my subwoofer down a notch. If you think about it, there's no good reason why this shouldn't be happening. The whole purpose of the microRendu or sMS-200 and devices like the USB Regen is to present a DAC with a signal of the highest integrity. Why wouldn't the microRendu or sMS-200 similarly benefit from being presented with high signal integrity by the components before it?"

 

Not all linear PSUs will make a noticeable difference, however.

"...when I first purchased my microRendu back in May, I tested it with a variety of standard sources including a Windows NUC, Windows laptop, Mac Pro, Macbook Pro and sonicTransporter and even when a certain source was powered by my HDPlex, I noticed no significant difference among these sources, at least not enough to care which one was feeding my microRendu."

 

This initial testing was done before my microRendu was directly connected to my source and so the SR7 distinguished itself even before the more revealing direction connection method was applied. I have found that this direct connection not only makes the impact of the PSU on the server all the more apparent but that the quality of the PSU on the server also makes the impact of the direct connection all the more apparent.

 

While the low noise characteristics of a PSU are important, I believe the impact of low output impedance is perhaps even more easily discerned and you don't need a golden ear to appreciate it. Those that use an LPS-1 to power their mR or sMS-200 understand very well what this means. I suspect that many believe the LPS-1 sounds so good because of lack of leakage current and ground loops but compared against a lithium-based battery supply that I was previously using to power my mR (which also had no leakage current), the LPS-1 basically walked all over my battery supply. Compared against my iFi 9V PSU which boasts a a superior 1uV noise floor, the LPS-1 walked all over that supply also. Based on my listening tests, I have to say that I don't consider my HDPlex to be low impedance. Same thing goes for my 12V Teradak and the lithium battery-based PSU of my Windows laptop. My Paul Pang and Kenneth Lau LPSUs are probably a bit better but certainly not LPS-1 or SR7 level. Again, since no one typically reports output impedance measurements for their LPSUs, each of us is forced to do our own comparisons and I would have never predicted that these would be my outcomes.

 

With all the things discussed on this thread on how to improve SQ with either the mR or sMS-200, several have PM'd me regarding what I have found to make the greatest difference and where to start. Since this direct connection potentially costs nothing to implement (provided you have certain equipment already on hand such as a server with dual NICs), I would say start there. But as far as the biggest difference maker, at least in my system, without question, the 2 biggest difference makers have been my SR-7 and LPS-1. Good clean, low impedance power, imo, should be the foundation of any worthwhile setup.

 

If you're talking about a LPSU for a power-hungry machine designed for HQP upsampling, the best thing I can suggest is to look at the lengths that Sound Galleries took to implement a LPSU into their SGM 2015 and it becomes easier to grasp how major an undertaking this potentially is to do it right. You're talking giant heavy transformers. This is why I have intentionally resisted going big.

Roy,

 

With just a titanium class ATX SMPS here, things sound terrific! I am not sure that a linear power supply is warranted anymore. I am using what may be the most expensive ATX power supply an EVGA 1600 watt titanium model, but since it was purchased several manufacturers have shipped lower wattage titanium models including EVGA and Seasonic that cost half as much. My guess is that these models will sound as good or better then what I have here. The Seasonic just got a score of 10 out of 10 on a leading reviewers website.

 

I am certainly in no rush to buy a linear power supply for my rig anytime soon. It's not even on the radar of future enhancements. If one came my way for testing I'd have listen, but I'd be surprised if it mattered much.

Pareto Audio aka nuckleheadaudio

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Rajiv,

 

Good to know you are making progress. I am surprised to hear you need a video driver for Roon. Perhaps you should install Roon server, and control the box from a wireless laptop or tablet?

 

Yes, it's the Roon control application that needs OpenGL. I guess I could just install Roon Server, but the problem was easy enough to solve with the Intel driver.

 

AOs ST can be set to start HQplayer and Roon at boot. Nevertheless don't forget to install tightvnc server and client so you can remote into windows as well.

 

Yes, I'm aware I can use Service Tool to replace Roon as the default shell - and I do plan to play with that. My earlier experience with shell replacement was with MinimServer, that didn't seem to work too well for me. Oh now I remember, I had to turn off autologon.

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I am thinking that this place is a good one to report these words.

In French not to betray him. So you can investigate about: how your Asio driver is build?

 

Thanks, Jean. It's always interesting to see what creative and resourceful people like Didier come up with to solve a problem that they face. I have no doubt that a well conceived and implemented ASIO driver can result in improved SQ. In your comparison, was Didier's ASIO driver better than Chord's ASIO driver?

 

When using Roon and a Roon Ready endpoint like the microRendu or sMS-200, you cannot use the ASIO driver that comes with your DAC or any third party ASIO driver. Instead, the Roon Ready endpoint shows up as a network device within Roon which you then select. Neither the mR nor sMS-200 require any special drivers to interface with a DAC since they utilize Linux.

 

I can only offer you a comparison of my Windows PC using Chord's ASIO driver vs my Mac (which doesn't require a driver) vs either the mR or sMS-200 connected directly to my PC or Mac and in every way, I have found either the mR or sMS-200 (when connected to a good PSU) to be superior.

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So Roy, here's what I do with Process Lasso:

  • Set it to Gaming mode
  • Set Bitsum high performance power scheme
  • Set javaw.exe, roon.exe, and raatserver.exe to High priority
  • Set the above 3 process to "classify as a game"

 

I really haven't done any critical comparisons with these settings, so I cannot honestly say it improves SQ.

Rajiv,

 

Each of the steps you've highlighted above are essentially the same thing. Gaming mode = Bitsum Highest Performance Mode. No harm in individually classifying each program as a game but when you select Bitsum Highest Performance Mode, you are essentially classifying everything as a game. At least this is how Jeremy Collake described it to me since I was curious about this as well.

 

In describing how a certain tweak results in an improvement in SQ, I have found it easier to describe the qualitative improvements (better clarity, better dynamics, etc) but it is much harder to accurately convey the degree of improvement. I would say that Process Lasso won't transform a poor setup into a "must have" setup and the improvement it brings isn't as pronounced as what AO brings, however, in my system, the improvements were quite notable and surprisingly so. Whether its impact is greater with a dual-core CPU having to juggle a greater number of tasks or with a hexa-core CPU with fewer tasks is not clear. One other benefit I have noticed with PL is that with playback of native DSD256 files, with either the mR or sMS-200 and my DAVE, there are much fewer dropouts.

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Roy,

 

With just a titanium class ATX SMPS here, things sound terrific! I am not sure that a linear power supply is warranted anymore. I am using what may be the most expensive ATX power supply an EVGA 1600 watt titanium model, but since it was purchased several manufacturers have shipped lower wattage titanium models including EVGA and Seasonic that cost half as much. My guess is that these models will sound as good or better then what I have here. The Seasonic just got a score of 10 out of 10 on a leading reviewers website.

 

I am certainly in no rush to buy a linear power supply for my rig anytime soon. It's not even on the radar of future enhancements. If one came my way for testing I'd have listen, but I'd be surprised if it mattered much.

I would love to hear the EVGA. I obviously haven't heard everything and love to be surprised by things that sound better than what I was expecting.

 

My point is, especially with power supplies, it's very hard to know what is good and how one PSU compares against another due to the scarcity of measurements that are reported beyond ripple noise.

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With just a titanium class ATX SMPS here, things sound terrific! I am not sure that a linear power supply is warranted anymore. I am using what may be the most expensive ATX power supply an EVGA 1600 watt titanium model, but since it was purchased several manufacturers have shipped lower wattage titanium models including EVGA and Seasonic that cost half as much. My guess is that these models will sound as good or better then what I have here. The Seasonic just got a score of 10 out of 10 on a leading reviewers website.

 

I am certainly in no rush to buy a linear power supply for my rig anytime soon. It's not even on the radar of future enhancements. If one came my way for testing I'd have listen, but I'd be surprised if it mattered much.

 

Larry,

I can understand the reluctance to pursue a very expensive if not impossible task to power a HQP server, properly. But everything we seem to be discovering about power supplies and their huge influence on sound quality of the stream, would suggest that those ATX switching power supplies are in no way a good thing for SQ. That is why I am so reluctant to want to go down the HQP path. I am not convinced that the benefits of HQP can overcome the deficiencies in those poor PSU's and the need for high power computations. Thus I will stick to Chord DAC's and their extensive filtering for better SQ and build a better low power (as low as possible) mobo with a great PSU. I am convinced that it is critical to start the audio stream as clean and precise as possible. Romaz and others findings have helped solidify this notion I've had.

In no way is the HDPlex a great power supply. It's just a stepping stone at the moment. I'll definitely be looking to use an LPS-1, SR7 or Rossi power supply for my future mobo build.

(JRiver) Jetway barebones NUC (mod 3 sCLK-EX, Cybershaft OP 14)  (PH SR7) => mini pcie adapter to PCIe 1X => tXUSBexp PCIe card (mod sCLK-EX) (PH SR7) => (USPCB) Chord DAVE => Omega Super 8XRS/REL t5i  (All powered thru Topaz Isolation Transformer)

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Larry,

I can understand the reluctance to pursue a very expensive if not impossible task to power a HQP server, properly. But everything we seem to be discovering about power supplies and their huge influence on sound quality of the stream, would suggest that those ATX switching power supplies are in no way a good thing for SQ. That is why I am so reluctant to want to go down the HQP path. I am not convinced that the benefits of HQP can overcome the deficiencies in those poor PSU's and the need for high power computations. Thus I will stick to Chord DAC's and their extensive filtering for better SQ and build a better low power (as low as possible) mobo with a great PSU. I am convinced that it is critical to start the audio stream as clean and precise as possible. Romaz and others findings have helped solidify this notion I've had.

In no way is the HDPlex a great power supply. It's just a stepping stone at the moment. I'll definitely be looking to use an LPS-1, SR7 or Rossi power supply for my future mobo build.

Elvia,

 

Here is what a friend with a duplicate of my system wrote when he removed his boot SSD and moved to a hard disk.

 

"Simply unbelievable…everything you said…presence, imaging, warmth…I see why you said you were done…"

 

He is using a fanless Seasonic ATX SMPS to power his system. We both use a LPS-1 to power an Adnaco fiber (PCIE) to copper (USB) box.

 

So I agree, good power supplies matter. I am just not sure you need anything more then a good ATX SMPS for the motherboard, CPU/RAM and a 12 volt 3.5 inch hard disk.

 

We won't know for sure until a high quality, high current power supply is tested against the SMPS solutions. Besides the hdplex, I can't think of one lps powerful enough for the 6700k. Even then there will still be a need for a DC to DC SMPS to break down the voltages to the various requirements for a motherboard.

Pareto Audio aka nuckleheadaudio

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romaz, imitche, thanks guys for detailed answers!

I will put into my wishlist some most expensive PC PSUs, like Seasonic.

 

I also found HDPLEX Fanless 400W ATX Linear Power Supply with Modular ATX Output

But...800 bucks, i guess its too much))

 

Remember that just because it is a linear design does not mean it puts out high quality DC power the ripple can be high and the output impedance also high and as I understand low ripple and low impedance is what makes a PSU good.

 

I think that the old 100W HD Plex had around 20-30mV ripple, compare that to a paul Hynes that has single digits microvolts of ripple and really low impedance.

 

I have looked at the new 200W HD Plex but was adviced to spend more money and get the real deal directly.

Main system
TAD D1000mk2, TAD M2500mk2, TAD CE-1, Ansuz Mainz 8 C2, Ansuz Darkz D-TC, 
Qobuz Studio -> Roon ROCK on NUC -> Uptone etherREGEN -> dCS Network Bridge -> AES/EBU -> DAC
HD Plex 200W PSU (4 rail for ISP fiber, router, etherREGEN and NUC)
 
Second system
Qobuz Studio -> Devialet Silver Phantom, Devialet Tree
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Rajiv,

 

Each of the steps you've highlighted above are essentially the same thing. Gaming mode = Bitsum Highest Performance Mode. No harm in individually classifying each program as a game but when you select Bitsum Highest Performance Mode, you are essentially classifying everything as a game. At least this is how Jeremy Collake described it to me since I was curious about this as well.

 

LOL! That's funny.

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Larry,

 

Just wanted you to know I followed up on this. It turns out I was wrong about the integrated video ports on my box. I was looking for "outies" like a VGA port, but it turns out, the only integrated ports were "innies" - HDMI and DisplayPort. Since my display only had VGA and DVI outputs, it was off to Amazon for a DVI to Displayport adapter, which just arrived.

 

So, after a couple of missteps - success! I removed the nVidia adapter, and am now driving the display with the Intel integrated video. The misstep was realizing that Roon wouldn't start with using the Microsoft Basic Display Driver. I had to get the Intel driver, and then all was good.

 

While I was in there - now I sound like the orthopedic surgeon who operated on my knee - I also discovered my box had an active CD/DVD drive, which I also disconnected.

 

No SQ evaluations yet, will listen tonight.

Well, this is the kind of thing I can't A/B, since it took a while to pull out the video card etc.

 

But I do feel there was an uptick in SQ. Small, but beneficial. I did try different resolutions on my monitor, now using the integrated Intel video: 1280x1024 (native) vs 800x600, and really couldn't hear a difference.

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Elvia,

Here is what a friend with a duplicate of my system wrote when he removed his boot SSD and moved to a hard disk.

"Simply unbelievable…everything you said…presence, imaging, warmth…I see why you said you were done…"

He is using a fanless Seasonic ATX SMPS to power his system. We both use a LPS-1 to power an Adnaco fiber (PCIE) to copper (USB) box.

 

I don't disagree with this finding, but I don't think it reflects on any specific power supply, but the hard drive in itself and it's influence on sound signature.

 

So I agree, good power supplies matter. I am just not sure you need anything more then a good ATX SMPS for the motherboard, CPU/RAM and a 12 volt 3.5 inch hard disk.

 

I would agree, a large gaming/server ATX mobo probably could not even benefit from anything more than what your doing with a quality ATX power supply. Since your dirty already, yeah, go for the full 3.5" HDD, that's what I would do with a HQP server. Do I think this is the path for superior SQ? Hardly convinced, a dead end and limited in my mind. What is the alternative, not so great either, yet, but I think we are fast approaching to a very small mobo, great clocking, very low power, low impedance.

 

We won't know for sure until a high quality, high current power supply is tested against the SMPS solutions. Besides the hdplex, I can't think of one lps powerful enough for the 6700k. Even then there will still be a need for a DC to DC SMPS to break down the voltages to the various requirements for a motherboard.

 

I agree, I think the good Seasonic ATX is probably better than the HDPlex, or at least not much worse. What would be nice is a comparison of a high powered ATX HQP server, any DAC, up against a low clean power mobo server playing bit perfect to a Chord DAC. That would be interesting.

(JRiver) Jetway barebones NUC (mod 3 sCLK-EX, Cybershaft OP 14)  (PH SR7) => mini pcie adapter to PCIe 1X => tXUSBexp PCIe card (mod sCLK-EX) (PH SR7) => (USPCB) Chord DAVE => Omega Super 8XRS/REL t5i  (All powered thru Topaz Isolation Transformer)

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yeah, go for the full 3.5" HDD, that's what I would do with a HQP server.

I may missed something, why do you suggest 3.5HDD? I see everywhere people suggest to go with ssd and if possible even with m.2 ssd.

dCS Network Bridge | Audio Note DAC2 Signature | Audio Note M5 Preamp | Audio Note Empress Silver Monoblocks | Audio Note AN-E/Spe HE Speakers

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I may missed something, why do you suggest 3.5HDD? I see everywhere people suggest to go with ssd and if possible even with m.2 ssd.

Well the 3.5 HDD just sounds better. First they run off the 12 volt bus away from the USB 5 volt power. Second they are much quieter electrically. My jaw hit the ground when I first heard my machine without an SSD.

Pareto Audio aka nuckleheadaudio

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Well the 3.5 HDD just sounds better. First they run off the 12 volt bus away from the USB 5 volt power. Second they are much quieter electrically. My jaw hit the ground when I first heard my machine without an SSD.

Given Imitche's findings, I guess Romaz's approach of using a Mobo that supports IDE mode is very appealing. I remember Pang Pang said IDE > SATA2 > SATA3 SQ-wise because of the electrical noise. Also, Pang insist that CF sounds best again because of the lowest electrical noise.

@romaz

Are you now already using the 512GB CF? Any findings?

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