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

[mozes]

36 minutes ago, vortecjr said:

After reports about a network switch needed a linear power supply. I tested one here with a $1000 linear power supply...sorry to say it was not a gold mine.  

No need for $$$. A $20 power bank really transformed my switch. The switch is 2 feet away from my server, but the LPS-1 bettered the battery. Does the PSU matter for a switch from a SQ perspective? Yes for sure. My ears don’t lie.

[Johnseye]

6 minutes ago, mozes said:

No need for $$$. A $20 power bank really transformed my switch. The switch is 2 feet away from my server, but the LPS-1 bettered the battery. Does the PSU matter for a switch from a SQ perspective? Yes for sure. My ears don’t lie.

 

What power bank are you, or were you using for your switch?

[mozes]

4 minutes ago, Johnseye said:

 

What power bank are you, or were you using for your switch?

This one

 TP-Link 6700mAh Portable USB Battery Charger, Power Bank for Smartphones and Tablets (TL-PBG6700) https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01GJ782FC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_f7MEAb89CC8PD

 

this is special as it doesn’t disconnect power when you charge it, so I leave it plugged in to the charger 24/7

[Johnseye]

3 minutes ago, mozes said:

This one

 TP-Link 6700mAh Portable USB Battery Charger, Power Bank for Smartphones and Tablets (TL-PBG6700) https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01GJ782FC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_f7MEAb89CC8PD

 

this is special as it doesn’t disconnect power when you charge it, so I leave it plugged in to the charger 24/7

 

What cable did you use to connect that to your switch?

[lateboomer]

I would like to ask a quick question on Zenith Mk2 SE music pc. I read that that music storage is stored on 1 TB Samsung EVO ssd, but could anyone tell me where the OS is stored?

[Dev]

1 hour ago, seeteeyou said:

 

Sometimes the SQ (or lack thereof) could very well depend on how we're powering tX-USBultra since sCLK-EX is super sensitive to its power source. Maybe you guys could also contact SOtM and see if they're able to give you any suggestions?

 

1 hour ago, austinpop said:

 

+1.

 

@Dev, what were you powering the tX-USBultra with?

 

We both (myself and my friend's setup) tried 4 different power supply with similar results.

 

1. Sonore Signature PSU (originally sold for microRendu)

2. Mojo Audio Illuminati v2 (best of the lot)

3. SoTm sps500

3. LPS-1

 

We also tried different power cords on these PSU fed from two different power conditioner - Audience aR6-TSSD and SR 10UEF powercell connected to 20A dedicated circuit with Furutech gtx-d(R) wall outlet.

 

[mozes]

15 minutes ago, Johnseye said:

 

What cable did you use to connect that to your switch?

I built one myself. USB to DC2.5mm, about 1 foot. Very easy to do. Take any usb cable you don’t need like USB male A to micro B that go for $3 and then cut the B side and install a DC plug.

[Dev]

2 hours ago, vortecjr said:

Sounds like you are using Mikes DAC? If you look at the post about performance you will get some insight on why this might be the case. I don't think it's noise when you are streaming over the network. There is no specific mention about sound quality since it his more to do with performance. Using an SSD in your case make sense because they are much faster compared to spinning drives. This is why Andrew at Small Green Computer uses them.   

 

Yes, I use Mike's DAC which is optimized for DSD256 playback. I also have Directstream which I rotate time to time. Good point on the performance part - I don't know if the improvements are coming from performance vs noise. If its due to performance, then the control PC could be powered with the worst psu and still the outcome will have the same result.

[austinpop]

21 minutes ago, Dev said:

 

 

We both (myself and my friend's setup) tried 4 different power supply with similar results.

 

1. Sonore Signature PSU (originally sold for microRendu)

2. Mojo Audio Illuminati v2 (best of the lot)

3. SoTm sps500

3. LPS-1

 

We also tried different power cords on these PSU fed from two different power conditioner - Audience aR6-TSSD and SR 10UEF powercell connected to 20A dedicated circuit with Furutech gtx-d(R) wall outlet.

 

 

Those are outstanding. I’m stumped why you are hearing a degradation. 

[Dev]

2 minutes ago, austinpop said:

 

Those are outstanding. I’m stumped why you are hearing a degradation. 

 

I am stumped as well. Actually I feel guilty in persuading my friend to buy the tx after reading all the raves but you don't know its going to degrade until you try which I thought the chances were slim to none. There is a remote chance (or rather theory) that the system is already optimized to its limits and adding anything only degrades thereon.

[austinpop]

2 minutes ago, Dev said:

 

I am stumped as well. Actually I feel guilty in persuading my friend to buy the tx after reading all the raves but you don't know its going to degrade until you try which I thought the chances were slim to none. There is a remote chance (or rather theory) that the system is already optimized to its limits and adding anything only degrades thereon.

 

What are the DACs you tried again?

[Dev]

25 minutes ago, austinpop said:

 

What are the DACs you tried again?

 

1. PS Audio DS (with Redcloud)

2. Mivera Audio Purestream

3. Wyred4Sound DAC-2v2SE 10th Anniversary edition

 

USB Cables:

1. Curious

2. Lush

3. Audience Au24 Se

4. Wywrires Platinum

5. Wireworld Silver starlight

6. Audioquest Diamond

[kennyb123]

5 hours ago, austinpop said:

In the same vein, any experience with Synergistic Blue or Beeswax fuses? 

 

I swapped a Blue fuse for a Black fuse in my preamp about a month ago.  Not subtle - among the biggest bang for the buck upgrades I’ve done.

 

Here are some comments I shared with friends a few days after making the swap:

 

Listening to Jane Monheit sing “Isn’t it a Lovely Day” took my breath away.  So much more of the piano was presented in front of me.  Everything about it was more real.  From the way it filed the room, from the way the hammers contacted the strings, to the fullness and richness of the tones.  There was just more there there - like I’m more in the room with it.  And with her. 

 

The improvement in clarity has been something to behold.  More of everything is coming forth with greater naturalness. More low level details can be heard along with improved image palpability.  Staging is better fleshed our as well.

 

I can imagine that probably sounds over the top, but the Blue is something those with open minds just need to hear for themselves.  I’ve previously used HiFi Tuning Supreme and Synergistic Black fuses in my preamp.  The Blue beats both - considerably.  I should point out that my preamp has demonstrated the greatest sensitively to fuses.  The improvement has been far greater than with any of the other components I’ve owned.  I highly recommend trying one in the preamp first. 

 

I then followed up the Blue up a few weeks ago with the Ultimate version of these (terminated with an RCA, and connected to my preamp):

https://audiobacon.net/2017/12/09/gutwire-perfect-ultimate-ground-cables-review/

 

I’m still in disbelief over the improvements from this ground cable plus that Blue fuse.  Considering the $500 I spent to add both, I’m not sure I could come up with another way to spend that kind of money and get this significant of a bump in sound quality.  Jay does a great job in his review of describing the benefits of theses ground cables. The increase in density he describes is quite profound and is most apparent here with lead vocals centered between the speakers.  I’m still floored by the improvements.

[austinpop]

7 minutes ago, kennyb123 said:

 

I swapped a Blue fuse for a Black fuse in my preamp about a month ago.  Not subtle - among the biggest bang for the buck upgrades I’ve done.

 

Here are some comments I shared with friends a few days after making the swap:

 

Listening to Jane Monheit sing “Isn’t it a Lovely Day” took my breath away.  So much more of the piano was presented in front of me.  Everything about it was more real.  From the way it filed the room, from the way the hammers contacted the strings, to the fullness and richness of the tones.  There was just more there there - like I’m more in the room with it.  And with her. 

 

The improvement in clarity has been something to behold.  More of everything is coming forth with greater naturalness. More low level details can be heard along with improved image palpability.  Staging is better fleshed our as well.

 

I can imagine that probably sounds over the top, but the Blue is something those with open minds just need to hear for themselves.  I’ve previously used HiFi Tuning Supreme and Synergistic Black fuses in my preamp.  The Blue beats both - considerably.  I should point out that my preamp has demonstrated the greatest sensitively to fuses.  The improvement has been far greater than with any of the other components I’ve owned.  I highly recommend trying one in the preamp first. 

 

I then followed up the Blue up a few weeks ago with the Ultimate version of these (terminated with an RCA, and connected to my preamp):

https://audiobacon.net/2017/12/09/gutwire-perfect-ultimate-ground-cables-review/

 

I’m still in disbelief over the improvements from this ground cable plus that Blue fuse.  Considering the $500 I spent to add both, I’m not sure I could come up with another way to spend that kind of money and get this significant of a bump in sound quality.  Jay does a great job in his review of describing the benefits of theses ground cables. The increase in density he describes is quite profound and is most apparent here with lead vocals centered between the speakers.  I’m still floored by the improvements.

 

OK now I’m intrigued! 

 

But the question is where to try it. I know the Zenith SE has one fuse and my Cavalli amp has two. In both, they’re easy to access next to the IEC power input. I have no idea if the Codex has one and how easy it is to locate. Also no idea if the P5 regenerator has a fuse.

 

My inclination is to get fuses for both the Cavalli and Zenith SE and then evaluate.

[kennyb123]

9 minutes ago, austinpop said:

 

But the question is where to try it. I know the Zenith SE has one fuse and my Cavalli amp has two. In both, they’re easy to access next to the IEC power input. I have no idea if the Codex has one and how easy it is to locate. Also no idea if the P5 regenerator has a fuse.

 

My inclination is to get fuses for both the Cavalli and Zenith SE and then evaluate.

 

My guess is that your amp will respond better.  The Blue, unlike the Black, sounded great right out of the box.  You’ll know right away,  

 

My amp has responded quite well to better fuses - more so than my sources, but not as much as my preamp.  A couple months before the Blue came out I had just upgraded from Red to Black.  Not subtle, but not as profound as the Blue in my preamp.  I will swap Blues into my amp later this year.  

[Cornan]

5 hours ago, mozes said:

this is special as it doesn’t disconnect power when you charge it, so I leave it plugged in to the charger 24/7

 

I have used the same TP-Link Vivid powerbank for my Aqvox switch-8 with good results, but this part puzzles me. I could clearly hear a difference for the better when the charger is removed from the TP-Link. I now use it to power the GI Spdif output of my Luckit BluWave USB to Spdif board (USB input powered by a Gophert csp-3205II+LT3045 in series+ISO Regen+USPCB) where it still makes a difference for the better when the charger is removed. However, an interesting this is that I powered the GI Spdif recently with an Asus ZenPower 10500mA powerbank. In the very same spot it actually improved SQ when the charger was connected. This powerbank is also possible to charge while powering a device. Makes me wonder if a 5v LT3045 voltage reg on the DC charger cable actually could improve things in some cases by limiting noises between the power supply and the powerbank? 

[flkin]

26 minutes ago, flkin said:

Just received my Cybershaft UPOCXO-01 OP14 clock a few days ago  

 

What a device! Its effect can be heard immediate but over time it gets better. I have some info to share from my exchanges with Kenji Hagesawa, the owner of Cybershaft. He says to expect the following:

 

Minimum warm up - 30 minutes

30 min - perceived improvement (from the max available from the clock effect) is 50%

24 hours - 60%

72 hours - 75%

30 days - 100%

 

 

And this resets once the clock is powered off. So he recommends to leave it on all the time.

 

He further says that the brain needs a few days to get used to the new sound stage. This is of course the Brain Burn-in we are all so familiar with. 

 

Interestingly enough he has some comments about BNC cables to be used. He has a SWR (Standing Wave Ratio) test to check if the cable is good and provides this test for the shielded cables he sells (very reasonably priced). He says:

 

" Ideally it is 1.0000 but it is evaluated against the physical impedance integrity of the cable. If there are cable performance defects, bad connectors, or machining failure SWR will be a large value. It can be said that there is no problem if SWR value is normally 1.5 or less "

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standing_wave_ratio

 

The 0.5m, 50ohm BNC cable he supplied me measured 1.0006

 

 

 

I just received my Cybershaft OP-14 clock which I will be using with my Trifecta and it's a brilliant addition to the stable (you know the 3 horses..? whatever..) 

 

I wrote some quick facts about warmup time and BNC cable testing and posted it in the Cybershaft thread. Not sure if this is the way to do link that to this post, hope it works.

[sandyk]

3 hours ago, kennyb123 said:

 

My guess is that your amp will respond better.  The Blue, unlike the Black, sounded great right out of the box.  You’ll know right away,  

 

My amp has responded quite well to better fuses - more so than my sources, but not as much as my preamp.  A couple months before the Blue came out I had just upgraded from Red to Black.  Not subtle, but not as profound as the Blue in my preamp.  I will swap Blues into my amp later this year.  

 

 Has anybody tried taking a standard fuse of the same size, soldering a piece of copper wire between both ends and comparing the results ?

[lateboomer]

7 minutes ago, sandyk said:

 

 Has anybody tried taking a standard fuse of the same size, soldering a piece of copper wire between both ends and comparing the results ?

 

I like this. Thank you for the suggestion.

[Cornan]

54 minutes ago, sandyk said:

 

 Has anybody tried taking a standard fuse of the same size, soldering a piece of copper wire between both ends and comparing the results ?

 

Speaking about copper wire. Here is a tip in solid pure silver, BUT ONLY FOR THE BRAVE!  

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/131891932631?ssPageName=STRK:MESINDXX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1436.l2649

 

[vortecjr]

8 hours ago, mozes said:

No need for $$$. A $20 power bank really transformed my switch. The switch is 2 feet away from my server, but the LPS-1 bettered the battery. Does the PSU matter for a switch from a SQ perspective? Yes for sure. My ears don’t lie.

That was just a supply used for a test. I don't use that supply or have a switch in my system. In addition, disconnecting it from the unit under test had no affect on the measurement. Finally, all these tests are with a unbalanced DAC. Using a balanced DAC will likely make all this irrelevant.       

[sandyk]

1 hour ago, Cornan said:

 

Speaking about copper wire. Here is a tip in solid pure silver, BUT ONLY FOR THE BRAVE!  

 

 I wouldn't use the word BRAVE, I would use the word STUPID !

Fuses are there for a reason. To protect the equipment from further major damage when a fault happens, such as catching fire and perhaps even burning the house down ?

With my DIY gear I only use suitably current rated fuses on the Primary side of the transformer, and other measures such as using low wattage non flammable  resistors in the emitters of the output devices for added protection.

In my 15W Class A amplifier I also use a Speaker Protection PCB that disconnects the speakers via a relay if a little less than  1 volt DC is present at the amplifier output of either channel.

 

Alex

[sandyk]

4 minutes ago, sandyk said:

 

 I wouldn't use the word BRAVE, I would use the word STUPID !

Fuses are there for a reason. To protect the equipment from further major damage when a fault happens, such as catching fire and perhaps even burning the house down ?

With my DIY gear I only use suitably current rated fuses on the Primary side of the transformer, and other measures such as using low wattage non flammable  resistors in the emitters of the output devices for added protection.  These resistors are also spaced a little above the PCB to help prevent charring of the PCB.

In my 15W Class A amplifier I also use a Speaker Protection PCB that disconnects the speakers via a relay if a little less than  1 volt DC is present at the amplifier output of either channel.

 

Alex

 

[Cornan]

5 minutes ago, sandyk said:

 

 I wouldn't use the word BRAVE, I would use the word STUPID !

Fuses are there for a reason. To protect the equipment from further major damage when a fault happens, such as catching fire and perhaps even burning the house down ?

With my DIY gear I only use suitably current rated fuses on the Primary side of the transformer, and other measures such as using low wattage non flammable  resistors in the emitters of the output devices for added protection.

In my 15W Class A amplifier I also use a Speaker Protection PCB that disconnects the speakers via a relay if a little less than  1 volt DC is present at the amplifier output of either channel.

 

Alex

 

Your words not mine. Ofcourse fuses are there for a reason. There are other means than fuses to protect yourself. I would´nt say that your suggestion to use a copper wire soldered to each end of a fuse is a safe thing to do either. It will mess with the safety aspect of the fuse.

[sandyk]

8 hours ago, Cornan said:

 

Your words not mine. Ofcourse fuses are there for a reason. There are other means than fuses to protect yourself. I would´nt say that your suggestion to use a copper wire soldered to each end of a fuse is a safe thing to do either. It will mess with the safety aspect of the fuse.

 Cornan

 I wasn't suggesting that the bridged fuse be left there permanently, just used for comparison purposes.

Fuses don't have magical properties, but depending on the types  of metals used, and the rating of the fuse, they do have resistance which will vary according to the type of fuse and it's rating. Some amplifiers are unduly sensitive to any series resistance in their PSU supply leads, which does of course include the fuse holder itself, and the type of metal used there too.

If you are going to use premium fuses then perhaps you should also use gold plated fuse holders for lower contact resistance ?

Sometimes, just removing the fuse, and cleaning it's contact area with the fuse holder , as well as cleaning the fuse holder contact area with Isopropyl alcohol, and making sure the fuse holder has good tension may also make an improvement in SQ.

Alex