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

[seeteeyou]

Further impressions of ODX (with PP2) below

 

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/hugo-m-scaler-by-chord-electronics-the-official-thread.885042/page-555#post-15207033

Quote

WOW, this just sounded great, with the OPTO DX just out of the box. The noise floor has gone even lower, mids sound fuller, especially female voices, the bass even a bit tighter, sounstage is slightly larger with better instrument separation. Simply better on all fronts. I never expected M-Scaler and Dave to sound SO good! I could hardly stop listening and spent 6 (!) hours in a row listening.

 

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/hugo-m-scaler-by-chord-electronics-the-official-thread.885042/page-555#post-15209377

Quote

That conclusion is that Dan’s Opto–DX is revelatory in a way I really had (notwithstanding Ray Dude’s meticulous review) not expected. The result is utterly addictive – and, once heard there is no going back.

 

BTW, Dan also tried this Goal Zero Yeti 1000 himself

 

https://www.amazon.com/Goal-Zero-Portable-Generator-Alternative/dp/B074T392CQ

https://www.goalzero.com/shop/power-stations/goal-zero-yeti-1000-lithium-portable-power-station/

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/hugo-m-scaler-by-chord-electronics-the-official-thread.885042/page-569#post-15229773

 

LiB-AID E500 for Music should be quite similar with audiophile-quality components, though its 100V output and price tag would be kinda moot

 

https://www.honda.co.jp/battery/music/

https://global.honda/products/motorshow/Tokyo2019/LiB-AID.html

 

I'm just assuming ODX could also work for single coax @ 192kHz and we'll also have twice the filtering with 3 coax cables.

[seeteeyou]

Simply use Google Translate etc.

 

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=580593531772

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=599790236545

http://www.headphoneclub.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=732326&page=1#pid5039414

Quote

不适用贴片机焊接的话，LT3045手焊上去的每一台声音都不太一样。这也是为什么很多使用过PS100的烧友觉得它声音比UPTONE的LPS-1.2好的原因吧。

 

Only one 5V / 1A output and that's it, not even all that useful but it's kinda interesting to be "energized" by four pieces of 18650 batteries. Not sure about the reliability while shipping batteries could be somewhat tricky.

[seeteeyou]

On 8/9/2019 at 1:49 AM, Nenon said:

As for the best servers, look up Taiko Extreme. That to me looks like the top server on the market. But I've never seen or heard one. Check out PinkFaun 2.16x, Innuos Statement, etc. There are plenty of options at any price level. 

 

Here's the verdict

 

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/innuos-statement-review/post?postid=1822219#1822219

Quote

Then I heard the SGM Extreme...Ouch, this server is on a completely another level , probably not as smooth sounding as the Statement but in terms of dynamics,resolution,image there is no comparison. ( the price is different as well...) To go back to my ranking, to me the gap between the number 1 and number 2 is much much wider than between the number 2 vs number 3.

 

IMHO it's such a mind-boggling read

 

https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/taiko-audio-sgm-extreme-the-crème-de-la-crème.27433/page-68#post-605309

[seeteeyou]

€13,500.00 Pink Faun Streamer 2.16 x

http://ultimate-audio.eu/wp-content/uploads/Pink-Faun-pricelist.pdf

 

£9,665.00 Antipodes Audio CX+EX

https://d11fdyfhxcs9cr.cloudfront.net/templates/32726/myimages/antipodes_pricing_2018_v2.pdf

 

A little bit of comparisons between the two

 

https://www.hifi-advice.com/blog/review/digital-reviews/music-server-reviews/pink-faun-2-16x-2-3/

 

Scion Roon Endpoint turned out to cost €2,090 while there will be another Scion DAC.

 

LAN bridge with Ultra OCXO option would be an intriguing alternative to NET Card FEMTO, though this flagship clock option is expected to cost £650

 

https://www.fidelityaudio.co.uk/c5-signature-ultra-low-jitter-clock-4461-p.asp

[seeteeyou]

NUC10i7FN is near, ETA is December 12th

 

http://www.fanlesstech.com/2019/11/frost-canyon-nuc-leaks.html

 

TDP is 25W and let's see if Akasa were updating their Turing next year.

[seeteeyou]

FWIW even Hades Canyon with 65W TDP (Turbo Boost = disabled) could be passively cooled with a gigantic heatsink

 

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/130411/intel-core-i7-8705g-processor-with-radeon-rx-vega-m-gl-graphics-8m-cache-up-to-4-10-ghz.html

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/126141/intel-nuc-kit-nuc8i7hnk.html

https://www.reddit.com/r/intelnuc/comments/ayyfee/fanless_mod_hades_canyon_nuc8i7hnk/

 

That Turing thing is friggin' huge for the size of an "ordinary" NUC, just wait and see if Akasa were coming up with something even bigger.

[seeteeyou]

Indeed, industrial offerings would give us different ranges as follows

 

https://fit-iot.com/web/product/fitlet2-build-to-order/

Quote

 

Commercial temperature range 0°C to 45°C

Extended temperature range -20°C to 70°C [TE] $21.40

Industrial temperature range -40°C to 85°C [TI] $107.00

 

 

BTW, Apacer also announced the "latest the greatest" recently that would require specific motherboards

 

http://www.perfectron.com/products/embedded/ATX/AB20.html

http://www.perfectron.com/products/embedded/EBX/index.html

https://industrial.apacer.com/en-ww/NEWS/The-First-XR-DIMM-DRAM-Module-with-RTCA-DO-160G-Certification-From-the-Leading-Supplier-of-Industrial-grade-Memory

https://industrial.apacer.com/en-ww/DRAM/DDR4-XR-DIMM

 

[seeteeyou]

Not sure if that were meant to be humorous or sarcastic, though I simply wanna keep extracting information everywhere so that whatever manufacturers on this thread could take some notes. Pretty much like how I pointed out Marcin's RAM adventures back in August and now everyone is able to reap the benefits thanks to @Nenon (as well as his buddy)

 

https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/topic/30376-a-novel-way-to-massively-improve-the-sq-of-computer-audio-streaming/page/589/?tab=comments#comment-980943

 

As always it's just a matter of stringent quality that would enable Apacer to meet the requirements of various industrial standards. If they were able to survive an insane level of vibration, then it's gonna be piece of cake to handle electromagnetically-induced acoustic noise and vibration (we should know better when it comes to EMI / RFI these days) or micro vibration mentioned here

 

https://www.audioshark.org/vibration-isolation-devices-26/installed-new-isolation-platform-my-music-server-7804.html

 

Just like what @nvitorino mentioned in this podcast below, lots of small improvements really can add up to major improvements

 

https://www.audiostream.com/content/bits-are-bits-or-are-they-nuno-vitorino-innuos-audiostream-podcast-no-2-0

http://feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/526930206-user-766769873-audiostream-podcast-no2-with-nuno-vittorio-of-innuos.mp3

 

Maybe even having a different connector (i.e. XR-DIMM instead of DIMM or SO-DIMM) alone might get us one step closer to the RAM inside SGM Extreme? There's still a fairly wide gap between the SQ of flagship models from Antipodes / Aurender / Innuos and Taiko Audio so far, hopefully having double-regulated PSUs from Dr. Sean Jacobs as well as (much) better RAM etc. could narrow that gap in the future.

 

Even SSDs from Apacer seemed to be quite different but not sure if that were relevant for music servers

 

https://industrial.apacer.com/en-ww/Technology/CoreVolt

https://industrial.apacer.com/en-ww/Technology/CorePower

[seeteeyou]

https://www.diyaudio.com/forums/vendor-s-bazaar/337859-shanti-dual-lps-5v-3a-5v-1-5a-102.html#post5987404

Quote

When designing the unit we looked at every possible noise incoming , outgoing and generated on board. We filtered , decoupled , and filtered again while having the 10 layers PCB for best EMI.

 

USbridge Sig was meant to be the best streamer on the market. As a bonus , we did not overcharge the price .

 

https://community.roonlabs.com/t/ropiee-on-allo-usbridge-signature/79652/27

Quote

You‘ll enjoy the USBridge Sig! I‘ve got mine, along with the Shanti LPS. The combo beats my Aurender N100H hands down (this unit costs 3,000 €!)! In my system, Roon sounds very sweet with this unit!

 

https://community.roonlabs.com/t/ropiee-on-allo-usbridge-signature/79652/48

Quote

I can confirm Paul_Jeno’s comment. I also have the USBridge Sig + LPS with a Gustard U16 DDC. It now replaces a $4k streamer… so much so I have put these with more parts and built a streamer around it inside a slick ali case with screen as a single unit. Looking at a OXCO clock and this will play with the big brands.

 

Pretty funny to see how they're beaten by another $250 streamer while both Bob and Greg were writing about that as well

 

https://audiophilestyle.com/ca/reviews/allo-usbridge-sig-review-r858/

http://www.tirnahifi.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=4541&p=89933#p89933

https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/topic/57754-finding-that-goldilocks-moment/

 

And then you just need a single 5V/3A rail so that adding something like Farad Super3 still wouldn't break the bank.

 

Getting a second unit and it's gonna work as an audiophile NAS without any switching regulators whatsoever, put BubbleUPnP Server on that and it's giving us OpenHome instead of UPnP

 

https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/topic/56228-open-home-vs-upnp/

 

Keep an eye on GentooPlayer since even ramroot could be supported

 

https://github.com/antonellocaroli

https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/topic/57751-article-allo-usbridge-sig-review/page/2/?tab=comments#comment-1007706

https://www.nexthardware.com/forum/pc-top-software/90075-gentooplayer-immagini-x86_64-raspberry-pi-3b-3b-allo-sparkyusbbridge-beaglebone-black-botic-driver.html

[seeteeyou]

Thanks @hols and @CKKeung for testing Cybershaft flagship OP21A with ER × ER as well as fully-loaded sNH-10G × sNH-10G

 

https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/sotm-snh-10g-network-switches-x2-the-new-king-of-usb-network-gadget-setup.27758/page-12

 

Apparently the cable between NAS and the first switch still mattered, even if both switches were disciplined by OP21A.

[seeteeyou]

Sound Quality is a Corollary for Measured RF Energy - Part 1

https://audiowise-canada.myshopify.com/blogs/news/measuring-rf-energy

https://audiowise-canada.myshopify.com/collections/cables/products/opto-dx-optical-patch-cable

Quote

Increasing distance reduces measured radiated RF noise since it attenuates according to the square of the distance. Doubling the distance reduces the RF noise by a factor of 4x.

 

@dmance

 

Does it actually mean that we could really use very, VERY LONG optical patch cables until we're hitting some kinda law of diminishing returns? In other words, does it make sense to go beyond 10 meters?

[seeteeyou]

https://dougbradyhifi.com/products/innuos-zen-mk-ii

Quote

8GB DDR3 Low-Voltage RAM (4GB Dedicated for RAM Playback)

 

Take a look at these links below, Innuos seemed to have something very similar to Supermicro X11SSA with a few things removed

 

https://www.hifitest.de/test/bildergalerie/musikserver/innuos-zen_mk_iii_17558/5

https://www.hifitest.de/test/bildergalerie/musikserver/innuos-zen_mk_iii_17558/7

https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/topic/55834-innuos-zenith-mk3-teardown/?tab=comments#comment-941020

 

That means something like this with Wide Temp. might work

 

http://eflash.apacerus.com/spec/DRAM/I-Grade/75.C93E2.G000C.pdf

https://industrial.apacer.com/en-ww/DRAM/DDR3-Wide-Temp.-SODIMM

 

8GB for €58

 

https://www.rutronik24.com/product/apacer/75.c93e2.g040b/8434061.html

https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Apacer/75C93E2G000C?qs=P%2FC4Eoq9CDxJOsd716Bv0g%3D%3D

[seeteeyou]

FYI - current owners of Mutec REF10 might wanna keep an eye on upgrades

 

https://www.hiendy.com/hififorum/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=124319&page=49#pid2976776

Quote

Mutec Ref10 SE-120 absolutely takes the already exceptional dCS Vivaldi Clock to a whole new level !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/reality-is-cruel-cybershaft-new-ultimate-ocxo-10m-clocks-shootout-op20-vs-op17.26610/page-8#post-612931

Quote

Knowing that the upgrade process may not be available readily, since it is logistically difficult and time consuming and costly to perform such upgrades

 

BTW, brand new units are available for 42,500 RMB

 

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=569160752500

 

 

[seeteeyou]

On 9/23/2019 at 1:02 PM, austinpop said:

There is nothing magical about the Pilot Pro 2. It's still just a battery, and as such, has the usual battery issues of - presumably, as I have not measured it - poor regulation, high output impedance, etc.

 

FYI

 

https://www.ldovr.com/product-p/dxp-1a5s.htm

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/hugo-m-scaler-by-chord-electronics-the-official-thread.885042/page-647#post-15347289

Quote

In my setup, DXP-1A5S powered by the PP2 blows any other power supply that I tried out of the water. To my ears, it sounds clearly better than SR4 and Keces P8 with 15V, Gissaral power bank with 15V and PP2 with 12V.

 

[seeteeyou]

ICYMI - @romaz visited Hengelo and met the owner of Taiko Audio recently

 

https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/taiko-audio-sgm-extreme-the-crème-de-la-crème.27433/page-88#post-613373

 

Emile actually designed his own motherboards for SGM Extreme but in the end Asus WS C621 SAGE still came out on top.

[seeteeyou]

On 9/17/2019 at 2:08 AM, Nenon said:

To me, getting I2s from the PCIe slot on the computer is the best way to extract digital audio from the source to my DAC. Given that most DACs don't reclock the I2s signal, it is important to have a good clock at the source. This is where the PinkFaun Ultra OCXO makes a good audible difference. Once you extract the digital bits from your computer, the main thing we need to worry about it is preserving that clock signal over cables to your DAC.

 

Not trying to "spam" this thread with so many replies in a row but this particular one below looked quite intriguing to me

 

https://www.monoandstereo.com/2019/12/pink-faun-streamer-216x-review.html

Quote

The PSU is low-noise, the clocks also, this results in fewer mistakes made by the processor because there's less noise. So the PSU and ULTRA clocks make sure the latency is even lower than with the standard clocks on the motherboard. It's even measurable when the streamer is equipped with ULTRA OCXOs or not. The load on the processor is around 0.2% with the ULTRA clock, with the standard motherboard clock the load on the processor is around 2%

 

Let's wait and see how this guy would perform in the future

 

https://www.fidelityaudio.co.uk/c5-signature-ultra-low-jitter-clock-4461-p.asp

[seeteeyou]

My pleasure, most likely the same Apacer RAM should also work for ZENith Mk.II (SE) with Celeron J3455 as well as Statement with Celeron N4200. Pretty much all of us should have tried DDR4 ones before and that's why it would be great to find out if older DDR3 ones were just as good or otherwise.

 

Please don't forget to let us know how it's working out because other owners of Innuos music servers will most likely join the party, they won't be left out even though DDR4 SODIMM ain't supported by their motherboards.

[seeteeyou]

2 hours ago, romaz said:

https://www.ldovr.com/product-p/dxp-1a5s.htm

 

Credit to @seeteeyou for bringing this to my attention and I now have one on order.  Combine one of these DXP-1A5S ($99) single stage regulation power supplies with a 19V SR4 and you now have a Hynes DR rail capable of up to 1.5A output between 3.3-15V.

 

I'd like to give a shout-out to @[email protected] for making his products so affordable as well as @xxx1313 who shared his experience with everyone

 

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/hugo-m-scaler-by-chord-electronics-the-official-thread.885042/page-647#post-15347289

 

For LT3045 with 5A rails, we could get something from Michael for DIY projects but recently he might have dropped the ball according to just one of his customers

 

https://www.mpaudio.net/hpuln-power-supplies

https://www.diyaudio.com/forums/vendor-s-bazaar/310402-fs-ultra-low-noise-power-supply-lt3045-based-pcb-36.html#post6000200

 

Here's another option from Japan that could provide up to 6A per rail (i.e. 12 pieces of LT3045 for each "DOZEN" board)

 

http://community.phileweb.com/mypage/entry/5402/20191126/63967/

http://toukiyakoneko.web.fc2.com/pcb_distribution.html

http://toukiyakoneko.web.fc2.com/High_Current_Ultimate_Low_Noise_Power_Supply-DOZEN-N-V1.0.0.pdf

 

A pair of Panasonic EEE-FT1E102UP electrolytic caps could be replaced by Audio Note Kaisei and @tapatrick seemed to be quite happy about the quality for his I2S to HDMI module

 

http://www.tirnahifi.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=89928#p89928

https://www.hificollective.co.uk/catalog/1000uf-25v-audio-note-kaisei-electrolytic-capacitor.html

 

For those of us who could get away with 1A or 2A rails that are regulated by LT3045, some 5V / 9V / 12V options are available from China and they're powered by Panasonic 18650 batteries inside each chassis

 

http://www.headphoneclub.com/thread-734234-1-1.html

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=609348264123

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=609655153065

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=610135539172

[seeteeyou]

Since Asus WS C621E SAGE got Emile Bok's seal of approval while the motherboard he designed didn't sound better, let's see what kinda recipes could work for building some sorta "pseudo SGM Extreme" servers.

 

For the fanless chassis, there's something bloody expensive from California while we could also pay serious shipping for this Chinese option for $760 or so (i.e. 5,298 RMB plus international shipping)

 

http://www.turemetal.com/product_en.html

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=590791895684

http://www.fanlesstech.com/2019/05/upcoming-turemetal-cases.html

https://www.fanlesspro.com/shop/product/fanless-cases/turemetal-up10-fanless-case/

https://www.anandtech.com/show/14562/turemetal-fanless-chassis-for-diy-highend-pcs

https://www.todotech20.com/un-chasis-super-sin-ventilador-de-turemetal-para-bricolaje-y-0-estaciones-de-trabajo-db/

http://www.comptoir-hardware.com/actus/boitiers-barebones/39256-turemetal-le-reve-dun-boitier-diy-100-fanless-bientot-a-portee-de-main-.html

 

10-core Xeon Scalable @ 85W TDP here

 

https://www.provantage.com/hpe-826850-b21~7HPE92MA.htm

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/123550/intel-xeon-silver-4114-processor-13-75m-cache-2-20-ghz.html

 

2nd gen for a lower price and then a pair of them would cost just under $1,000

 

https://www.provantage.com/hpe-p02574-b21~7CMPTCAF.htm

https://www.amazon.com/Intel-Xeon-4210-Deca-core-Processor/dp/B07R2CD129

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/193384/intel-xeon-silver-4210-processor-13-75m-cache-2-20-ghz.html

 

Not sure about what kinda fanless cooling stuff they're using here for LGA 3647

 

https://silentpc.com/elite-pcs/extreme-pc

 

Akasa AK-CC9204 could even work for Xeon Scalable processors up to 205W TDP and I guess that Silver 4210 @ 85W TDP wouldn't have any complaints

 

http://www.akasa.com.tw/update.php?tpl=product/cpu.product.tpl&no=181&type=CPU coolers&type_sub=Low Profile&model=AK-CC9204

 

How about 48GB of RAM? Asus stated that only RDIMM and LR-DIMM are compatible

 

https://www.asus.com/Commercial-Servers-Workstations/WS-C621E-SAGE/specifications/

 

Unfortunately we could only get UDIMM ones from Apacer with wide temperature options, 12 of them would cost $900

 

https://industrial.apacer.com/en-ww/DRAM-Wide-Temperature/

 

No wide temperature, no deal?

 

https://industrial.apacer.com/en-ww/DRAM/DDR4-RDIMM

 

This one should be what they're using for storing music library

 

https://www.asus.com/Motherboard-Accessories/HYPER-M-2-X16-CARD-V2/

https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-M-2-X16-V2-Threadripper/dp/B07NQBQB6Z

 

OS drive

 

https://www.provantage.com/intel-ssdped1d280gax1~7ITEE0EN.htm

https://www.amazon.com/Intel-Optane-900P-280GB-XPoint/dp/B0772XB3MY

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/123628/intel-optane-ssd-900p-series-280gb-1-2-height-pcie-x4-20nm-3d-xpoint.html

 

There's no way to match them in other areas like software tweaks etc. and then we're already spending so much money on the multi-rail power supplies for sure. The most important question would be what kinda current draw are we expecting for each Xeon Silver 4210? Let's say we're going as high as 72W and therefore we're talking about 6A @ 12V, that's the best LT3045 could handle if we're getting that "DOZEN" board from Japan.

[seeteeyou]

I just found this link below and it mentioned that WS C621E SAGE could boot up with UDIMM installed when there's only 1 CPU, though adding another CPU would require RDIMM to boot up

 

https://www.coolpc.com.tw/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=247063

 

For DDR4 ECC RDIMM with wide temperature options, we could get something from Innodisk for 55 bucks a piece

 

https://enoch.systems/en/p/components/memory/m4r0-4gssc5sj.html

https://enoch.systems/en/p/components/memory/m4rs-4gssc50j-e.html

https://www.innodisk.com/en/products/dram-module/wide-temperature/DDR4_Wide_Temperature_RDIMM_VLP_w_ECC

 

Then there's something similar from ATP and it's available on Mouser for $81.25

 

https://www.atpinc.com/products/industrial-dram-module-ddr4

https://www.atpinc.com/upload/download/2019/06-24/a04fcaad.pdf

https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/advantech-corp/96D4I-4G2400R-ATL/96D4I-4G2400R-ATL-ND/7697360

https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Advantech/96D4I-4G2400R-ATL?qs=1mbolxNpo8d103exMFURYA%3D%3D

https://www.connection.com/product/advantech-4gb-pc4-19200-288-pin-ddr4-sdram-rdimm/96d4i-4g2400r-atl/36442231

 

The chips should be coming from Samsung according to these sources

 

https://www.advantech-cl.com/resources/news/b0ef8a58-fe00-4f67-9aa5-e06f21b9aab1

https://www.advantech.com/products/partnotomodel/12298dd0-fdd5-4d8f-a5e4-3fa54bd88bae

 

Finally two more options are listed for $56.73 with Samsung chips, we could still add to cart but the availability seemed to be "No" at the moment

 

https://enoch.systems/en/p/components/memory/m4r0-4gssa5sj.html

https://enoch.systems/en/p/components/memory/m4rs-4gssa50j-e.html

 

So far none of us compared Apacer to Innodisk or ATP yet, while refurbished Apacer without Wide Temperature would cost $90

 

https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Apacer/78B1GN04000B?qs=QJVrD4wLTyOGHRglsWdU4Q%3D%3D

https://www.servers4less.com/memory/server/apacer-4gb-pc4-19200-ddr4-2400mhz-ecc-registered-cl17-288-pin-dimm-1-2v-single-rank-memory-module-78-b1gn0-4000b

[seeteeyou]

That UP10 fanless chassis from China should be meant for a scenario when the actual power consumption (not TDP) of both CPU and GPU combined must be kept around / below 250W. That shouldn't be too difficult to achieve as long as we don't do anything like HQP or maybe update an OS etc.

 

For instance, they're actually listing a config with Ryzen Threadripper 2950X @ 180W TDP with Radeon Pro WX 5100 @ 75W TDP but it doesn't necessarily mean anything if the throttling were kicking in here and there.

 

BTW, they stated that custom-made heat pipes for server boards as well as dual-CPU ones would cost extra. Ain't that cool (LOL) or what? Depending on how long it's gonna take and how much it really is, it's nice to have that kinda accommodation IMHO.

 

I also read something about that Noctua before, they really weren't all that confident about going above 95W

 

https://twitter.com/fanlesstech/status/1158892120381558787

[seeteeyou]

As Rob pointed out below, HMS could draw up to 12W while 15V / 1.5A (i.e. 22.5W) from DXP-1A5S should be able to provide a fairly over-provisioned rail

 

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/hugo-m-scaler-by-chord-electronics-the-official-thread.885042/page-489#post-15033151

 

Like what @xxx1313 said before, we're going for the 16V output of PP2 and then it's gonna be regulated to 15V by DXP-1A5S

 

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/hugo-m-scaler-by-chord-electronics-the-official-thread.885042/page-647#post-15347289

 

In theory we could also pay more for DXP-1A5DSC so that we're getting a double-regulated rail from 16V to 15.5V, and then 15.5V to 15V. That -0.5V increment is the bare minimum for LT3045 and that's why we better check with @[email protected] just in case he might be aware of any potential issues.

 

Not all batteries are created equal while some of them do perform better than others, it's gotta be way too challenging to go through everything like output impedance / PSRR / transient response / ripple figures etc. Therefore we could only take a quick look at these examples linked below and see the differences in ripple

 

https://goughlui.com/2014/06/09/exposed-power-bank-ripple-devices-at-risk/

https://goughlui.com/2015/07/12/review-teardown-xiaomi-mi-ndy-02-al-16000mah-power-bank/

https://goughlui.com/2017/06/03/mega-mi-review-mi-power-bank-pro-mi-max-mi-band-2-mi-scales/

 

As "stellar" as those Xiaomi might seem to be, their outputs are still relatively noisy and also poorly regulated according to @austinpop. That's why LT3045 could save the day by further regulating those "less than ideal" outputs. Having batteries inside PP2 should give us an advantage since we're going off the grid, no more 2AM effect throughout the day whenever we aren't charging PP2. Of course there's yet another bonus when we don't have to shell out for expensive stuff like power cables and audiophile fuses etc.

 

BTW, it would be great to find out what @romaz thinks about this $30,000 toy

 

https://stromtank.com/s5000hp/

 

Speaking of LT3045, this relatively new regulator (with 3A outputs) might seem to be even more promising in the PSRR department when compared to LT3045

 

https://www.belleson.com/ripplerej.php

https://www.belleson.com/comparenewripple.php

https://www.belleson.com/store/SPX-Max-Performance

 

They also have something else that could go all the way to 10A, having a pair of them should give us plenty of headroom for powering two 8-pin EPS connectors whenever stuff like Ryzen 3950X might draw so much current

 

https://www.belleson.com/sphpappnote.php

https://www.belleson.com/store/SPHP-High-Power

[seeteeyou]

I'm not an expert by any stretch and therefore I better refer to THE experts, let's take a look at the question How can I maximize PSRR (Power Supply Rejection Ratio)? linked below and we'll find the answer

 

https://www.mpaudio.net/faq

 

Let's say the "final destination" requires 5V / 1.5A (e.g. JCAT NET Card FEMTO) while we're choosing PP2 with 9V output, "Pre-Regulator Output" could be 7V while "Output Voltage" must be 5.0V accordingly. Each stage of regulation requires the same -2V increment, the 1st stage is going from 9V to 7V while the 2nd stage is going from 7V to 5V respectively.

 

That's pretty much how we're getting one of those DR (double-regulated) rails in order to maximize PSRR as explained above.

[seeteeyou]

Gotta point out my mistake here, the maximum output of LT3045 is only 15V and therefore we could only go from 16V output of PP2 to 15V with single regulation. For powering HMS with a double-regulated rail, the best we could do should be 16V to 15V and then 14V / 14.5V depending on what's more suitable for LT3045.

 

No such limitations for Belleson SPX but that's only meant for DIY stuff at the moment, though the 3A current output is certainly more attractive in terms of having over-provisioned rails.

 

Maybe it doesn't hurt to have both Belleson SPX and LT3045 in series, so far nobody seemed to have tried triple-regulated or quadruple-regulated rails yet.

[seeteeyou]

21 minutes ago, kennyb123 said:

Another question for you if you don't mind.  Is there any chance that 16V could get passed straight through the DXP-1A5S or is there no chance of that given the 15V maximum of the LT3045?  My concern is with the Chord warranty.

 

Many thanks for Patrick's and your kind words.

 

There are no guarantees in life, even specific regulator modules inside SR7 would fail due to excessive heat according to Paul.

 

My guess is having an aluminum top cover as heat sink should help with dissipating the heat, supposedly HMS should consume about 12W while DXP-1A5S itself could provide up to 22.5W continuously. That margin seemed to be fairly safe as long as we're feeding 16V to the input in order to minimize the heat generated. The drop is only 1V when we're going from 16V output of PP2 to 15V output of DXP-1A5S, provided that regulator inside PP2 is working fine. So far we didn't hear horror stories about PP2 and presumably it's reasonably reliable.

 

Simply put, the output of LT3045 will always max out at 15V unless the regulators are going south. The same regulators are even found inside the megabuck Innuos PhoenixUSB, is that good enough or what?