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

[Cooler]

1 minute ago, mikicasellas said:

I don't have the M5 anymore, i just can't take it out from my profile, i have tried it 

Oh  Top right corner, click on your name -> account settings -> signature -> save

I suppose you are changing Audio System in Profile, which is different thing, but for me, its also confusing :))

[mikicasellas]

30 minutes ago, Cooler said:

Oh  Top right corner, click on your name -> account settings -> signature -> save

I suppose you are changing Audio System in Profile, which is different thing, but for me, its also confusing :))

Thanks!! 

[limniscate]

2 hours ago, mikicasellas said:

Hi, i just pull the trigger on a Yggy DAC and i am wondering if any on this forum know what DCC would be best for convering from USB to AES.

 

I have read that Yggy is best with AES input

 

Any suggestions?

 

Thanks!!

I use the SOtM gear and Yggdrasil with AES. I've compared the dX-USB Ultra and SU-1 with LPS-1 mod and couldn't really tell a difference. However, I haven't compared the dX-USB Ultra with master reference clock to the SU-1 yet but will soon since I'm getting a Mutec Ref 10. 

[lmitche]

24 minutes ago, limniscate said:

I use the SOtM gear and Yggdrasil with AES. I've compared the dX-USB Ultra and SU-1 with LPS-1 mod and couldn't really tell a difference. However, I haven't compared the dX-USB Ultra with master reference clock to the SU-1 yet but will soon since I'm getting a Mutec Ref 10. 

Matrix Spdif-2 is said to the the current best of the Chinese DDCs. Better than the SU-1 as well.

[mikicasellas]

34 minutes ago, limniscate said:

I use the SOtM gear and Yggdrasil with AES. I've compared the dX-USB Ultra and SU-1 with LPS-1 mod and couldn't really tell a difference. However, I haven't compared the dX-USB Ultra with master reference clock to the SU-1 yet but will soon since I'm getting a Mutec Ref 10. 

 

 

Did you mean dX-USB "Ultra" or you meant tX-USB Ultra? i am trying to look at the dX-USB Ultra in SOtM page and i don't find it

 

 

[limniscate]

7 hours ago, mikicasellas said:

 

 

Did you mean dX-USB "Ultra" or you meant tX-USB Ultra? i am trying to look at the dX-USB Ultra in SOtM page and i don't find it

 

 

 

dX-USB Ultra.  It's not on the webpage but they can put the s-Clk in the dX.  Romaz also had one.

 

I'm getting my tX-USB Ultra tomorrow.

[tapatrick]

On 13/02/2018 at 10:53 PM, sandyk said:

 John

 Recently I purchased a 2M - Canare L-4E6S, Premium Balanced Quad XLR Microphone Cable .

 I cut a 2 feet length from it , with the shield left open at both ends, and compared it against a similar length of 2 core mains cable at the output of my JLH PSU add-on before taking it further with the extra wire to both ends of the shield.

 I lost most of the 3D effect on better than average Quad Reel to DVD-A stereo downmixed material, so I didn't bother taking  the final step.

I was using a 12V 15,000mAH Li Ion battery into a JLH PSU add-on to power a USB memory stick via an Uptone USB Regen.

 I believe that the gauge of wire used in the microphone lead was way too thin to compensate for the much lower resistance of the same length of power cord.

What I am suggesting here is that for best results you may need to use heavier gauge wire Quad leads.

 

Regards

Alex

I made some ac power cords with canare starquad cable but used 2 lengths per cable as it’s not heavy enough for ac. I used one length for + and one for -, twisted round each other. Then I covered this with a JSSG, and added a separate earth cable twisted around this. Finished with a sleeve. Works well and it’s a bit like the construction of the VHaudio flavour 4 cable. You need plugs and IEC connectors with bigger screw holes as the cables get thick due to the 4 wires in the starquad coming together to make one wire for each of + and - at the ends. 

[str-1]

My apologies if this question has been addressed in earlier posts.  I’ve followed one or two promising links from the index but couldn’t find what I was looking for.  When using a USB regenerator like the tx-USBultra or ISO Regen, are the USB cables before and after of equal importance in terms of their impact on sound quality, or would the payback on investing in better quality be greater with the cable after the regenerator than with the one before it (or vice versa)?

[d_elm]

4 minutes ago, str-1 said:

My apologies if this question has been addressed in earlier posts.  I’ve followed one or two promising links from the index but couldn’t find what I was looking for.  When using a USB regenerator like the tx-USBultra or ISO Regen, are the USB cables before and after of equal importance in terms of their impact on sound quality, or would the payback on investing in better quality be greater with the cable after the regenerator than with the one before it (or vice versa)?

Both cables are important.  If possible use an Uptone USPCB into the regenerator and a popular cable is the Phasure Lush.

[auricgoldfinger]

1 hour ago, str-1 said:

My apologies if this question has been addressed in earlier posts.  I’ve followed one or two promising links from the index but couldn’t find what I was looking for.  When using a USB regenerator like the tx-USBultra or ISO Regen, are the USB cables before and after of equal importance in terms of their impact on sound quality, or would the payback on investing in better quality be greater with the cable after the regenerator than with the one before it (or vice versa)?

 

I recommend putting your highest quality cable between the regenerator and the DAC for the best effect.

[austinpop]

1 minute ago, auricgoldfinger said:

 

I recommend putting your highest quality cable between the regenerator and the DAC for the best effect.

 

+1

 

I haven't done a focused test on this, but I do seem to remember that the quality of the cable from the regenerator to the DAC matters more than the source to the regenerator. 

[Solstice380]

@str-1  Some people prefer cable-regenerator-USPCB-DAC and some prefer USPCB-regen-cable-DAC.   If using all cables the better one should be the final one.  

[str-1]

4 hours ago, str-1 said:

My apologies if this question has been addressed in earlier posts.  I’ve followed one or two promising links from the index but couldn’t find what I was looking for.  When using a USB regenerator like the tx-USBultra or ISO Regen, are the USB cables before and after of equal importance in terms of their impact on sound quality, or would the payback on investing in better quality be greater with the cable after the regenerator than with the one before it (or vice versa)?

Thanks for those responses, guys.

 

I’m just over two weeks into the 6-8 week wait for my Chord Blu 2 and I might need to buy a USB cable or two to prepare for its arrival.  

 

The options I currently have are the 1.5m stock cable that came with my DAVE, a 200mm Curious USB and two USPCBs.  I have the stock cable connecting my Zenith SE to my ISO Regen, and a USPCB connecting that to the DAVE.  When the Blu 2 turns up I will have the Zenith, Blu 2 and DAVE on different shelves of a vertical equipment rack, which will also have to accommodate either an ISO Regen or a tx-USBultra (possibly both, and their power supplies).  In that setup, the USPCB might not be usable, although I’m hopeful of making some use of the Curious cable, most probably connecting the IR with the Blu 2 on the same shelf.  If I can do that, I’m wondering if the stock USB will be good enough connecting the Zenith to the IR to do my system justice, or whether I will need to invest in something a little better.  

 

Of course, if I can’t use either the USPCB or the Curious I will have to buy something better anyway.

[mikicasellas]

Does anybody have experienced the Roon Rock solution? i am confused NOW regarding having a Roon Rock which i have been reading that it is a huge step over a Regular PC/MAC, so how much of a difference would someone experience having a Zenith MKII instead of a Roon Rock Nuc? price is way cheaper with A Ronn Rock NUC.

 

i know the PS on the Zenith is very good and so, but as a person who is going to extract the best possible SQ from Roon, a NUC Roon Rock seems to be a great alternative too and a lot cheaper is not it? also you can put more RAM, processor and bigger SSD for less and keep it flexible for future updates...

 

What am i missing here?

[Johnseye]

4 minutes ago, mikicasellas said:

Does anybody have experienced the Roon Rock solution? i am confused NOW regarding having a Roon Rock which i have been reading that it is a huge step over a Regular PC/MAC, so how much of a difference would someone experience having a Zenith MKII instead of a Roon Rock Nuc? price is way cheaper with A Ronn Rock NUC.

 

i know the PS on the Zenith is very good and so, but as a person who is going to extract the best possible SQ from Roon, a NUC Roon Rock seems to be a great alternative too and a lot cheaper is not it? also you can put more RAM, processor and bigger SSD for less and keep it flexible for future updates...

 

What am i missing here?

 

ROCK is the OS unless you're referring to a NUC sold by Roon, which I'm not aware if they are selling those or not.

 

There are many ways to skin this cat.  If you want simple and great sound, get a Zenith.  If you want to build your own for great sound you can use ROCK.  If you just want simple, buy a standard NUC with ROCK on it.

[lmitche]

OK, well the new 3 amp board is in and integrated. Like the other LT3045 additions, SQ has taken another step up, with better clarity, lower noise floor, more extension with much deeper bass, and even more presence in a very natural way. The board is described here:

 

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/vendor-s ... d-pcb.html

 

Every device in my system that can be powered with an LT3045, is now powered with a LT3045. Thanks to Michael (aka Stammheim), and Alexey for their terrific support. Lastly thanks to Tubelover for the idea!

 

Here are some pictures

 

[Johnseye]

13 minutes ago, lmitche said:

OK, well the new 3 amp board is in and integrated. Like the other LT3045 additions, SQ has taken another step up, with better clarity, lower noise floor, more extension with much deeper bass, and even more presence in a very natural way. The board is described here:

 

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/vendor-s ... d-pcb.html

 

Every device in my system that can be powered with an LT3045, is now powered with a LT3045. Thanks to Michael (aka Stammheim), and Alexey for their terrific support. Lastly thanks to Tubelover for the idea!

 

Here are some pictures

 

 

Thanks for the pictures Larry.  Always good to see how you did things. 

Your link to diy needs an update.

[Cornan]

21 minutes ago, lmitche said:

OK, well the new 3 amp board is in and integrated. Like the other LT3045 additions, SQ has taken another step up, with better clarity, lower noise floor, more extension with much deeper bass, and even more presence in a very natural way. The board is described here:

 

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/vendor-s ... d-pcb.html

 

Every device in my system that can be powered with an LT3045, is now powered with a LT3045. Thanks to Michael (aka Stammheim), and Alexey for their terrific support. Lastly thanks to Tubelover for the idea!

 

Here are some pictures

 

 

Way to go Larry! Now the only thing you'll need to do is to buy another single ps from Michael and put them in series. A guaranteed home run if you ask me! ?

 

[lmitche]

25 minutes ago, Cornan said:

 

Way to go Larry! Now the only thing you'll need to do is to buy another single ps from Michael and put them in series. A guaranteed home run if you ask me! ?

 

Micael, did you notice that my board is different then yours?

[lmitche]

34 minutes ago, Johnseye said:

 

Thanks for the pictures Larry.  Always good to see how you did things. 

Your link to diy needs an update.

Here you go!  Too late to edit.

 

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

[Cornan]

13 minutes ago, lmitche said:

Micael, did you notice that my board is different then yours?

 

No, not at first. But looking at your pictures it seem to be missing the rectifiers right? DC-DC only?

[lmitche]

8 minutes ago, Cornan said:

 

No, not at first. But looking at your pictures it seem to be missing the rectifiers right? DC-DC only?

Congrats! You win today's CA "Where's Waldo " prize!

[Cornan]

Just now, lmitche said:

Congrats! You win today's CA "Where's Waldo " prize!

 

Yay! ? 

I would'nt want to remove my rectifiers though. I have big AC-DC plans for my Stammheim single ps in the near future. I am going to figure out a way to build a balanced & floating power supply with a isolation transformer and the single ps in series. I might call for a little help in the DiyAudio forum to understand how to pull that perticular project off! ? 

[rickca]

On 2/4/2018 at 6:20 PM, jean-michel6 said:

As for the txUSB exp pcie card , it has its own dedicated psu. Sotm recommend as a safety to also power it with the internal flat 4 pin connector found in pc's. 

This is a safety measure to protect the card who could get damaged if the computer is running and the card has no power. 

I don't understand this.  Even if the tx-USBexp card is not powered by a 4-pin Molex, doesn't it get power from the PCIe slot?

 

Is this safety measure unique to the tx-USBexp, or does it apply to any externally powered PCIe card that also has a 4-pin or SATA power connector? 

 

Can someone please try to answer this?  I'm about to start powering a PCIe USB card (not SOtM) and my internal SSD with external linear power supplies, and I want to make sure I don't fry them!

[Johnseye]

7 minutes ago, rickca said:

I don't understand this.  Even if the tx-USBexp card is not powered by a 4-pin Molex, doesn't it get power from the PCIe slot?

 

No, I don't think it does.  Molex or 2.1 DC only.  Not sure why, but SOtM could explain.