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

[Cornan]

11 minutes ago, Advieira said:

 

Whats the power supply you are using with the Brooklyn?

 

It is a balanced 12VAC ps>LS-HPULN>LS-HPULN (ie. 2pcs 10A LT3045 in series) with additional Kemet A750 caps. 

[the_doc735]

20 hours ago, andervt said:

 

Before writing my post yesterday a read Austin Pops excellent intro to orientate me in this enormous thread. Readers are told to focus on direct listening test, and that is what i did.

 

As agreed, after this was commented, it is a good thing to identify that you are in the trade, but did not think of it when I wrote the post and agree that this is something the readers should know when they read my listening comparisons.

I do think someone in the trade also should be allowed to write their listening impressions in this forum. If not this forum will become poorer.

 

My commercial gain from what I wrote yesterday is hard to see. My name, contact info, webpages or other was not revealed before an other poster wrote my name and webpage url in a comment. That a potential buyer should find me in my frosen corner on the earth and buy products from me based on this post was not very realistically until my name and webpage url was published in the thread.

 

After 35 years as audio enthusiast I am not afraid to put my head forward and tell others of  my experiences and listening impressions even it they do not correspond with others. 

My impressions of the LPS and SOTM powersupply was commented as suspect since they were different. Next time I do a listening test and the result is different from others, I will still tell my version because it is the only one I know. If all tests have to have the same result this forum has now value. 

I am not the maker or distributor of Sotm, but have choosen to offer some of the products for sale since they are the best I have tested in their class.

I think this result is most interesting for readers, and showing that 2+2 is not always 4 in hi-fi encourage to test themselves.

My intensions with this test is totally misunderstood, and I stand 100% by the listening impressions i wrote yesterday.

 

There have been a NUC "wave" in this thread, and people have replaced a full package of Sotm units including masterclock with their NUC.

So when the NUC owner and I should compare SMS-200UN and tx-USBultra with the AL NUC we almost expected it to wipe the floor with the Sotm boxes. It did not.

I think it is interesting for readers to know that there are different experiences with NUC`s.

My intensions with this test is totally misunderstood, and I stand 100% by the listening impressions i wrote yesterday.

 

Informing that I experienced good results with Strange Attractors feet under Sotm and NUC made someone meen that I was misleading readers and dishonouring the forum since I sold these feet. In the next sentense I encouraged to try with small aluminium feet or other stiff alternatives. These can be found in your home or garage and cost nothing. Try a small shot glass or something like that 🙂  This is not very commercial , and is not misleading but informing, and a good advice to improve the sound in your system.

As this thread is so big I am not aware if this has been discussed here, but placing the SA feet under NUC when doing the test made an important improvement to the sound if you see it with an audio enthusiast eyes.

This tip is absolutely misunderstood and I stand 100% by this.

 

too late! ~ you have already been found out which has led to your discredit. you should have pointed out your trade status first. I think you are only saying this because you have been found out? If you hadn't been found out you would have just carried on without this kind of post and a change of direction!

[the_doc735]

17 hours ago, Geir-T said:

 

The Paul Hynes SR4 is absolutely on my radar, and I will decide on whether to buy one to check it out after I have tested how the SPS500 compares against the LPS 1.2 in my own system.  

 

My expectations to how the NUC7PJYH would compare to 200 Ultra Neo +tX-USBultra was influenced from info in this thread. After all users of the full «spaghetti solution» including external master clock have changed to the NUC alternative. 

 

Based on my experience so far comparing these products, I can understand the change to NUC from a cost perspective. After all the NUC alternative is unbeatable in value for money and easily betters my MicroRendu. 

 

 

is your M.R. 1.3 or 1.4?

[Geir-T]

24 minutes ago, the_doc735 said:

is your M.R. 1.3 or 1.4?

I have the 1.3 version with the upgrade to latest version of Sonicorbiter

[Advieira]

On 12/4/2018 at 2:47 PM, austinpop said:

 

HyperX Kingston Technology Impact 8GB Kit (2 x 4GB) 2400MHz DDR4 CL14 SODIMM Laptop Memory HX424S14IBK2/8

 

Buy at your own risk.

 

Before you consider this - look at this post below about this being potentially incompatible: https://www.computeraudiophile.com/forums/topic/30376-a-novel-way-to-massively-improve-the-sq-of-computer-audio-streaming/?do=findComment&comment=902647

 

 

Did the Hyper X worked for you, Rajiv?

[Advieira]

2 hours ago, Cornan said:

 

It is a balanced 12VAC ps>LS-HPULN>LS-HPULN (ie. 2pcs 10A LT3045 in series) with additional Kemet A750 caps. 

 

Did you mounted it or ordered?

[austinpop]

1 minute ago, Advieira said:

 

Did the Hyper X worked for you, Rajiv?

 

Yes - on the i7DNBE in Akasa Plato X7D case.

[Cornan]

25 minutes ago, Advieira said:

 

Did you mounted it or ordered?

 

Ordered the devices and parts and just put it together really. Anyone with a little knowledge of electricity can do it easily. 

[taipan254]

14 minutes ago, Cornan said:

 

Ordered the devices and parts and just put it together really. Anyone with a little knowledge of electricity can do it easily. 

 

How do you deal with enclosures and making holes for the IEC connectors and barrel plug / XLR outputs on the PS??

[Cornan]

1 hour ago, taipan254 said:

 

How do you deal with enclosures and making holes for the IEC connectors and barrel plug / XLR outputs on the PS??

 

Simply put. The balanced ac-ac ps is bought ready made in aluminium enclosure with IEC inlet and DC style AC oulet. All other parts is screw mounted together outside any boxes. 

[Middy]

Always ways with tools. You can draw around a connector. Drill lots of little  holes near, then file out the rough bits.

3mm hss drill and needle files...

Rubber grommets for sharp edges...

Sorry OT

[Metnoc]

Hi my first post on this forum with my own impressions rather than a question.

So obviously I wanted to try Audiolinux as well since its held in such a high regard by many.

I have a Zotac 620 computer running Roon core, it has passive cooling, external power supply and two ethernetports, I use one of them for direct connection to my sms200ultra.
Usually I run roon core on win10 with fidelizer in purist/streaming mode, so I compared this to Audiolinux in ramboot mode.
Well, I must say that I agree with the guy behind Fidelizer with what he as written about the sound difference between the two OS.

https://www.fidelizer-audio.com/extreme-dual-pc-computer-audio-setup-shootout-between-audiolinux-and-windows-server-2019/
Audiolinux might have better transparency and sound a little snappier but it also sounds thin with quite poor harmonics. As a whole, AL doesn't sound very natural at all.
So I prefer win10/fidelizer over AL. 

[mourip]

1 hour ago, Metnoc said:

Hi my first post on this forum with my own impressions rather than a question.

So obviously I wanted to try Audiolinux as well since its held in such a high regard by many.

I have a Zotac 620 computer running Roon core, it has passive cooling, external power supply and two ethernetports, I use one of them for direct connection to my sms200ultra.
Usually I run roon core on win10 with fidelizer in purist/streaming mode, so I compared this to Audiolinux in ramboot mode.
Well, I must say that I agree with the guy behind Fidelizer with what he as written about the sound difference between the two OS.

https://www.fidelizer-audio.com/extreme-dual-pc-computer-audio-setup-shootout-between-audiolinux-and-windows-server-2019/
Audiolinux might have better transparency and sound a little snappier but it also sounds thin with quite poor harmonics. As a whole, AL doesn't sound very natural at all.
So I prefer win10/fidelizer over AL. 

 

There are so many variables in system setup that it is no wonder that outcomes vary. My experience has not been the same as the Fidelizer vendor but I can understand it. My theory after experimenting a lot is that it is a very revealing configuration and may not always play well with others.

[Advieira]

I´m building a audio pc NUC based and I´ll try AL and WS16 ram mode, both. Roon in both. Jplay in WS16. I´ll let you know soon.

[FelipeRolim]

I just tested Fidelizer free and I didn't like it. I use the Audiophile Optimizer. As I said, there's no way to compare operating systems. Who really knows what it does, knows how to configure and LISTEN, uses Windows Server with Intel hardware.

[Metnoc]

It might be useful to state what components I use.
Regular cat 7 -> Regular switch with ifi iPower -> Supra cat 8 - > Zotac 620 with os and flac files on SSD and just regular PSU -> Chord Shawline (can recommend this ethernetcable, it sounds very reasonable, actually prefer this over the more expensive Chord epic that had more details but also a thinner sound) -> SMS200Ultra powered by Uptone lps 1.2 -> Anti-Cables usb (highly revealing cable, In comparison my old Nordost Blue Heaven sounds dark! The Anti-Cables is also more detailed than Ansuz A2 usb) -> Aqua La Scala mk2 dac with Mullard NOS tubes.
Other components are Karan amp, Verity Parsifal speakers and Ansuz D8 with C1 power cord.
With Fidelizer I use purist/streaming mode with cplay option which gives a more detailed sound than the standard option.
As I said AL lacked in harmonics, the "surrounding" information around the music faded to quickly which resulted in a lesser musical experience. Im not sure AL was very much more transparent than Fidelizer it was mostly a different sound signature, and at least in my system and to my preferences it didn't sound very convincing at all.
Well Im glad I tried it.

[Metnoc]

43 minutes ago, mourip said:

 

There are so many variables in system setup that it is no wonder that outcomes vary. My experience has not been the same as the Fidelizer vendor but I can understand it. My theory after experimenting a lot is that it is a very revealing configuration and may not always play well with others.

Yes, a lot of factors matters for the sound quality and streaming is relatively new so we gather new insights by the day.

[U2nite]

Hi all,

I seldom post in forums and this is my first post here. 

 

Thanks to all for the interesting posts and sharing in this topic. Decided to try AL.

 

Now have AL/ramboot/extreem on a HiGame Core i7 PC 8GB as Roon Bridge and like the Sound Quality. 

 

Dac is Hugo2.  Roon server is on a Intel i7 Win10 pc. Music is non oversample CD quality on NAS or from Tidal.

 

Will continue to use AL and try other things over time. Like AL for Roon server (replace win10), remove SSD, power supply etc - lots of things to try. Fun and improved SQ as a bonus!

 

See many have experiance good sound quality with the NUC7 series like:

 

NUC7¡7DNKE & NUC7¡7DNHE Intel® NUC Board NUC7¡7DNBE

 

Question: How is the Sound Quality of the NUC8 services with AL/ramboot/Extreme ? As Roon Bridge, Roon Server, Squezelite/LMS etc.

 

Will love to hear from anyone who has compared the 2 serices, NUC7 and NUC8 for sound quality.

 

Which specific NUC7 and NUC8 models sounds best from what you hear?

 

Happy listening

 

 

[Jud]

Curious to try this out, though the computer I'll be using is an ASUS VivoMini with a 19V 65W SMPS, so I'm not getting my hopes up.

 

I need to know 4 things:

 

- Where the mpd.conf file is in the AL filesystem.

 

- How to edit that file so the changes persist across reboots.

 

- Whether I remember correctly that upmpdcli is installed.

 

- How to switch between NAA and UPnP/DLNA, preferably using my iPhone.

 

Thanks in advance for any help.

[Dev]

17 minutes ago, U2nite said:

Hi all,

I seldom post in forums and this is my first post here. 

 

Thanks to all for the interesting posts and sharing in this topic. Decided to try AL.

 

Now have AL/ramboot/extreem on a HiGame Core i7 PC 8GB as Roon Bridge and like the Sound Quality. 

 

Dac is Hugo2.  Roon server is on a Intel i7 Win10 pc. Music is non oversample CD quality on NAS or from Tidal.

 

Will continue to use AL and try other things over time. Like AL for Roon server (replace win10), remove SSD, power supply etc - lots of things to try. Fun and improved SQ as a bonus!

 

See many have experiance good sound quality with the NUC7 series like:

 

NUC7¡7DNKE & NUC7¡7DNHE Intel® NUC Board NUC7¡7DNBE

 

Question: How is the Sound Quality of the NUC8 services with AL/ramboot/Extreme ? As Roon Bridge, Roon Server, Squezelite/LMS etc.

 

Will love to hear from anyone who has compared the 2 serices, NUC7 and NUC8 for sound quality.

 

Which specific NUC7 and NUC8 models sounds best from what you hear?

 

Happy listening

 

 

 

There is no fanless case for the NUC8 (I had it for couple of weeks). A NUC7 in a fanless case sounds better than a NUC8 in stock case. I will try out a NUC8 once the fanless case is released - it has a newer board than NUC7DNHE/BE, though both has the 8th gen processor, which may or may not sound good for audio but an interesting experiment nonetheless.

[U2nite]

8 hours ago, Dev said:

 

There is no fanless case for the NUC8 (I had it for couple of weeks). A NUC7 in a fanless case sounds better than a NUC8 in stock case. I will try out a NUC8 once the fanless case is released - it has a newer board than NUC7DNHE/BE, though both has the 8th gen processor, which may or may not sound good for audio but an interesting experiment nonetheless.

 

@Dev,

Thanks for sharing there is no fanless case for NUC8 yet. Hope to hear news here if new fanless cases for NUC8 are available.  

 

I eagerly wait for people to share their comparison of sound quality  in AL between NUC7 and NUC8 models.

 

Indeed that's an interesting experiment. 

 

[EnjoyTheMusicNow]

Has anyone who runs and SOtM sms200 ultra and a seperate roon core noticed a huge difference in sound when changing the settings from Fixed volume to Software controls volume? I would have thought Fixed volume would have been best - allowing the preamp to control the volume. However, using the software to control the volume is making a massive improvement in my sound. It is like I just took a sheet off my speakers. The sound is so much more crisp from low to high. I now have my DAC running direct to my amp, bypassing the pass labs preamp.

 

Any others with similar experience?

[kelvinwsy]

15 hours ago, mourip said:

 

There are so many variables in system setup that it is no wonder that outcomes vary. My experience has not been the same as the Fidelizer vendor but I can understand it. My theory after experimenting a lot is that it is a very revealing configuration and may not always play well with others.

There is a thread on Audiophile AO3.0beta running in WinServer 2019 Core .. I am one of the beta testers .. having been using WinServer 2016Core/Audiophile Optimizer AO2.2(I switched from Win10Pro)

It has nice tonality , superior handling of transients and decay of the music! Results in more precise imaging and better layering of tge Sound Stage

U hv to mess about with Microsoft Command Line, Powershell.. AO3.0 makes it eadier

Great upgrade from Win10Pro

 

I tried AL Ranroot/Extreme headless vs win10 NAA for HQPlayer .. Not my cup of tea

[Metnoc]

1 hour ago, kelvinwsy said:

There is a thread on Audiophile AO3.0beta running in WinServer 2019 Core .. I am one of the beta testers .. having been using WinServer 2016Core/Audiophile Optimizer AO2.2(I switched from Win10Pro)

It has nice tonality , superior handling of transients and decay of the music! Results in more precise imaging and better layering of tge Sound Stage

U hv to mess about with Microsoft Command Line, Powershell.. AO3.0 makes it eadier

Great upgrade from Win10Pro

 

I tried AL Ranroot/Extreme headless vs win10 NAA for HQPlayer .. Not my cup of tea

Interesting to hear that like me not everyone prefers AL over windows.

[auricgoldfinger]

2 hours ago, EnjoyTheMusicNow said:

Has anyone who runs and SOtM sms200 ultra and a seperate roon core noticed a huge difference in sound when changing the settings from Fixed volume to Software controls volume? I would have thought Fixed volume would have been best - allowing the preamp to control the volume. However, using the software to control the volume is making a massive improvement in my sound. It is like I just took a sheet off my speakers. The sound is so much more crisp from low to high. I now have my DAC running direct to my amp, bypassing the pass labs preamp.

 

Any others with similar experience?

 

I have always had Device enabled.  If I switch to Fixed, the SQ drops.  I can hear a difference, but I wouldn't consider it massive. 

 

When I compare Device to DSP, I hear a subtle change.  The gain seems to be slightly higher with DSP, which I believe accounts for part of the perceived improvement.  However, there does seem to be a small refinement in SQ independent of the higher gain.

 

I am use DAVE to directly drive headphones without an external preamp.  This could be the reason that I hear only small differences.

 

I'm going to stay with DSP.  Thanks for bringing it to my attention.