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

[greenleo]

2 hours ago, the_doc735 said:

yes I read carefully.

mine is done as a labour of human rights and collective peer pressure and I don;t feel TLS price is reasonable compared to $120 NUC.

"enjoy and can afford", maybe more money than brains? Just need re-educating, have you seen:rich kids go skint - on TV? Maybe "with compassion" they could 'see' a more economical alternative, than simply paying out regardless, e.g. £4000 for a pair of trainers! Yes maybe they can afford it, but is it right and are the one percent super rich really dictating market forces? I beg to differ "IF" the other 99% united in solidarity using the FREE (TBL) WWW.

I also built a one box solution for £1650 and now see the error of my ways inlight of the NUC/AL discovery!

$1600?

respect for your input!

Doc,

 

I respect for your input.  The ds-1 can't be $120 though.  For an audio shop that can SURVIVE, a 200-300% profit is not atypical.  Just food for thought.

 

For the 1% people who can afford a 0.1M a handbag, I have no words with them.

Sadly, this is the way of the world.  

[jean-michel6]

3 hours ago, BigAlMc said:

 

I think the main difference is the DNBE doesn't have built in WiFi which is a potential source of noise.

 

On paper its better suited but the difference might be small.

Thank for the answer. 

According to previous posts it seems that the WiFi can be deactivated in the bios and may be for this board physically removed. 

[yellowblue]

I am interested in the user experience with the NUC dual setup and AL. If I want to shut down the NUCs or reboot them. How long does it take to actually get them playing music? With a Zenith SE everyting is very comfortable. What will be the difference? Using extreme mode - is there a possibility to have som kind of energy saving mode while not using the NUCs?

[BigAlMc]

17 minutes ago, yellowblue said:

I am interested in the user experience with the NUC dual setup and AL. If I want to shut down the NUCs or reboot them. How long does it take to actually get them playing music? With a Zenith SE everyting is very comfortable. What will be the difference? Using extreme mode - is there a possibility to have som kind of energy saving mode while not using the NUCs?

 

Hi Ralf,

 

Not sure about the energy saving mode question but for the rest of it:

 

Power on

Boots from the USB stick - perhaps 2 mins

Then autoboots into RAM - perhaps another 2 mins

 

Roon or whatever should be available now. You can remove the USB stick now (to increase SQ by removing a noisy USB drive)

 

Runs on around 12v so you can just leave it on now and forget about it. Or switch it off when done if you're saving the planet ?

 

Cheers,

Alan

[yellowblue]

Thamk you for your answer, Alan! No need to activate extreme mode seperately every time? Do I need a monitor to start/reboot AL?

[BigAlMc]

50 minutes ago, yellowblue said:

Thamk you for your answer, Alan! No need to activate extreme mode seperately every time? Do I need a monitor to start/reboot AL?

 

No idea as I've yet to try extreme mode. Need to save some fun for the weekend.

[auricgoldfinger]

8 hours ago, Em2016 said:

 

Do you know which NUC board he's used?

 

And apart from the mention of clocks, any idea if switching regulators have been replaced with ultra low noise linear regulators? For example.

 

Or apart from the mentioned clocks, it's just the stock NUC board?

 

I don't know anything more than is listed on the website.

[Solstice380]

12 hours ago, greenleo said:

Can this NAA switch mode between standard mode and extreme mode?

 

Not in the way that AL can be switched.  But, the NAA images only have what’s necessary to run the NAA prog.

[mourip]

Two questions...

 

Does anyone have a good way to clone a USB drive? Can Rufus do that? I think that my current USB drive is a USB2 and it takes a long time to boot all the way to ramroot. My ports are USB3 so I was thinking of buying a new drive to see if it would speed boot-up.

 

Second. I have not used USB in my system for a couple of years. I have been using Dante ethernet to AES. Any suggestions for a good "bang for the buck" USB cable?

[Dutch]

2 hours ago, jean-michel6 said:

Thank for the answer. 

According to previous posts it seems that the WiFi can be deactivated in the bios and may be for this board physically removed. 

 

Correct, when I look at pictures of the dnhe I can see the WiFi/BT module is an add-in card.

 

edit; see this for example: https://www.pcper.com/reviews/General-Tech/Intel-NUC7i7DNHE-Dawson-Canyon-Review-Quad-Core-Mobile-Hits-Desktop/Pricing-and

[greenleo]

Just now, Solstice380 said:

 

Not in the way that AL can be switched.  But, the NAA images only have what’s necessary to run the NAA prog.

Thanks for the reply.

 

To be able to switch between the extreme mode and the standard mode to me is important.

[Dutch]

4 hours ago, greenleo said:

Please describe your system in more details.  Which is the audio PC, which is the control PC?  Or both are used as the audio PC with an identical server?

 

He wrote that he used his Dell workstation as the music server, like in part 1 and compared the celeron NUC to the i7 NUC as end-points/renderers/NAA’s or whatever we’d like to call it.

[auricgoldfinger]

1 hour ago, yellowblue said:

Thamk you for your answer, Alan! No need to activate extreme mode seperately every time? Do I need a monitor to start/reboot AL?

 

My AL NUC endpoint doesn't require a monitor to boot.  Nothing needs to be done other than inserting the USB stick and then removing it once AL is up and running.

[yellowblue]

Many questions just today because I am just about to order a NUC: Someone who know if a NUC7i7DNH (15W) on AL extreme mode will work with a LPS 1.2?

[LTG2010]

3 hours ago, jean-michel6 said:

According to previous posts it seems that the WiFi can be deactivated in the bios and may be for this board physically removed. 

You can remove the WiFi module on the i7 board. It might be worth trying out the WiFi method a la Larry. I quite like the idea of no cables, isolators, switches, bridges to worry about.

[Narcissus]

1 hour ago, auricgoldfinger said:

 

My AL NUC endpoint doesn't require a monitor to boot.  Nothing needs to be done other than inserting the USB stick and then removing it once AL is up and running.

But don't you have to physically punch the "y/n" on the keyboard for entering ramroot? And then click on "Roon bridge", "HQPe" or Squeezelite whatever you're pairing up your server with?

[LTG2010]

9 minutes ago, Narcissus said:

But don't you have to physically punch the "y/n" on the keyboard for entering ramroot? And then click on "Roon bridge", "HQPe" or Squeezelite whatever you're pairing up your server with?

Nope a few secs after the Y? It will boot into ram auto.

Similar once you 'enable' Roonbridge it should start auto after each reboot.

Also there are remote login tools like 'Putty' which will give you access to the console ( and alconf) remotely from another machine.

[greenleo]

Just now, Dutch said:

 

He wrote that he used his Dell workstation as the music server, like in part 1 and compared the celeron NUC to the i7 NUC as end-points/renderers/NAA’s or whatever we’d like to call it.

Thank you Dutch.  I read too fast and have missed the description. 

Sorry Rajiv.

 

 

[tapatrick]

Just reposting Ravi's helpful tip.

"The Guide page actually has a lot of useful info: http://www.audio-linux.com/#GUIDE. I just use "find" in Chrome to search within the page."

 

Probably should go at top of each page...:)

I know it's difficult with more postings, but I'm trying hard to focus on the latest listening reports.

 

How about we try to keep the technical NUC stuff on the other thread - then its easier to find. Is there an easy way to transfer technical posts to the other thread? Cheers all...

[austinpop]

8 hours ago, greenleo said:

Rajiv, 

Thank you for the great post.

 

Please describe your system in more details.  Which is the audio PC, which is the control PC?  Or both are used as the audio PC with an identical server?  

 

Suppose the best SQ is 10, what is the score for the 7CJYH?  It would be great if the SQ of the NUCs using the stock PSU are described as well.  SR7 is an unobtainaium and the queue takes at least a year.  Hence the SQ of the NUCs being powered by a lesser PSU would be very useful.

 

Thank you.

 

7 hours ago, rickca said:

Please remind me, are you still using tX-USBultra/REF10 with this endpoint?  If so, how significant is the contribution to SQ compared to using it with the SE/AL endpoint? 

 

Guys, I varied these things in my first part here: https://www.computeraudiophile.com/forums/topic/30376-a-novel-way-to-massively-improve-the-sq-of-computer-audio-streaming/?do=findComment&comment=902212

 

 

This second round was just focused on just the Celeron vs. i7 NUC, using the SR-7 (while I still have it on loan), and with the tX-U in the chain. Over time, I'll play with other combinations.

[greenleo]

2 hours ago, Narcissus said:

But don't you have to physically punch the "y/n" on the keyboard for entering ramroot? And then click on "Roon bridge", "HQPe" or Squeezelite whatever you're pairing up your server with?

Once RAMBoot enabled, you may just wait and RAMBoot will be run automatically.

[greenleo]

Not sure if here is the right place for this post.

 

For the users who changed the chassis of the NUC7CJYH, how did you get out the main board?  Is it by brute force?  Any tricks?

 

[austinpop]

5 hours ago, yellowblue said:

I am interested in the user experience with the NUC dual setup and AL. If I want to shut down the NUCs or reboot them. How long does it take to actually get them playing music? With a Zenith SE everyting is very comfortable. What will be the difference? Using extreme mode - is there a possibility to have som kind of energy saving mode while not using the NUCs?

 

5 hours ago, yellowblue said:

Thamk you for your answer, Alan! No need to activate extreme mode seperately every time? Do I need a monitor to start/reboot AL?

3 hours ago, mourip said:

Two questions...

 

Does anyone have a good way to clone a USB drive? Can Rufus do that? I think that my current USB drive is a USB2 and it takes a long time to boot all the way to ramroot. My ports are USB3 so I was thinking of buying a new drive to see if it would speed boot-up.

 

Second. I have not used USB in my system for a couple of years. I have been using Dante ethernet to AES. Any suggestions for a good "bang for the buck" USB cable?

 

Folks - please follow this thread below, and post these kinds of questions there. 

 

I would really appreciate it. I'm sure we don't want this thread to get even more cluttered than it is.

 

 

 

[austinpop]

1 hour ago, tapatrick said:

Is there an easy way to transfer technical posts to the other thread? Cheers all...

 

Only @The Computer Audiophile can transfer posts from one thread to another - I certainly don't have those permissions.

 

But that is tedious work. All - please don't make work for us. Next time you have a functional or troubleshooting question about NUCs and/or AL, hop over to the other thread.

 

Operators are standing by. Some restrictions apply. Void where prohibited by law.

[Forehaven]

36 minutes ago, greenleo said:

Not sure if here is the right place for this post.

 

For the users who changed the chassis of the NUC7CJYH, how did you get out the main board?  Is it by brute force?  Any tricks?

 

It just takes a bit of tweaking to get the side case off.  Not hard at all.