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

[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.

[Forehaven]

Given the recent discussion of turn key NUCs vs. building your own.  I put myself in the latter category, so I decided to be an early supporter of Larry's NUCkleheadaudio.com.  There was no way I could ever do this on my own.  I wasn't sure about this NUC business at first, Larry wisely convinced me to try one.  I trusted him b/c he helped me build my big server machine, cable and power upgrades.

 

When the NUC arrived, I was blown away by adding this streamer to the system.  Prior I was using the big machine for both server and renderer.  For me, it was worth every dollar.  So I'm glad companies like Nuckleheadaudio and now TLS are offering plug n play NUCs.  Yes, it's more spendy, but for people like myself who are 'computer coding disabled', I'm happy to pay the premium.  

 

Just my perspective guys

Chris   

[Forehaven]

7 hours ago, Em2016 said:

 

Assuming everything stays in DSD, it's likely the quieter couple of pops between tracks has always been there with Audiolinux but maybe you never noticed it... as mentioned a few times, it's nowhere near as loud as the classic PCM to DSD transition pops. Easier for me to hear with headphones but they are there with speakers too with Audiolinux.

 

When you do your testing you may find these quieter pops with Audiolinux (and everything else) disappear with Jussi's bootable image - that's what I found.

 

I'm also at DSD512 for everything - it's possible it's less of an issue at lower sample rates with Audiolinux (and others) but I haven't bothered testing because with Jussi's bootable image it's 100% pop free at DSD512 between tracks (for me).

 

 

I still have a pop when going from DSD to PCM in AL.  I play everything native.

[Forehaven]

1 hour ago, oilpaint said:

I wanted to do a quick follow up on my post #12,729 from January. I have continued to enjoy the music through the Nucklehead Server and Endpoint. The one change I made was to eliminate the ethernet connection to the Endpoint and go with WIFI. This combined with server updates/tweaks that Larry has done has me hearing the best sound quality ever from my system.

 

But, here's the kicker. I have been powering the Endpoint with a Paul Hynes SR4. Since the Endpoint has a 2.5mm connection and my PH silver cable has a 2.1mm plug I have had an adapter in place. I knew there was the possibility this could degrade sound quality but I thought I would live with it till I got my soon to arrive (or so I thought) new PH SR7. The problem is, anytime I would go near the back of my music cabinet to do something the power would disconnect to the Endpoint. So, accepting its hard to predict when the SR7 will arrive, I bought a Ghent cable to go from the SR4 to the Endpoint with a 2.5mm connector - no more adapter.

 

Oh my, the sound just went to another level. In hindsight, it makes sense that if the power cable was so loose it would disconnect it would impact the quality of the sound. I now believe the full potential of these NUCs has been unleashed! 

 

I also can't say enough about Larry's (lmitche) support - I had no such expectations when I bought the NUCs. In addition to the multiple updates/tweaks (every now and then he calls up and is giddy about a new tweak he has found) he has performed he has also helped me with other non-NUC problems, in particular,  issues related to my network. So, a big thanks to Larry!

Ditto oilpaint!

[Forehaven]

On 4/1/2020 at 9:37 AM, Johnseye said:

For those using the PowerAdd Pro battery, are you needing to unplug the battery from the outlet and use until drained, or can you leave it plugged in without ill effect?

Wondering the same thing John.  Also, to be clear, you all are using these Poweradd batteries to power LPS-2's?  Which model?

[Forehaven]

15 hours ago, Johnseye said:

 

Chris, I hope all is well and you're enjoying beautiful Oregon.  Right now I'm using a Poweradd Pro battery to power my router directly.  The nice thing about this battery is it has a controlled variable voltage output and based on what I've read at 4.5 amps.  Excellent output.

 

 

Hi John!  Oregon's been a dream, though I must admit I'm getting a bit tired of clouds and rain lol  Though we have our first 71F and sun this coming week! 

 

That's a pretty cheap/affordable activating ps!  Thanks!

I see below that the battery alone isn't as good as the LPS2, but surpasses with Alexey's regulators.  

Does anyone know, are these dual regulated devices better than two LT3045's in series?

[Forehaven]

19 hours ago, lmitche said:

That's interesting, thanks for sharing. The AMD B450 motherboard used here includes a USB 3.2 Gen 2 port from the PCH. The B450 (and upcoming B550) chipsets are produced for AMD by Asmedia, so I suspect these ports are close to the ASMedia 3142 in quality and function.

 

The new B550 boards will have 4 USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports direct to CPU, as opposed to the 4 USB 3.1 Gen1 direct to CPU ports on the current B450 boards. That's great, but it will be a bummer if the Monoprice fiber cable is no longer compatible with them.

 

When I get the time, I'll try the Monoprice Fiber cable with the onboard USB 3.2 Gen2 port. It is currently disabled in the BIOS.

 

Larry

What motherboard are you using currently Larry?  These new B550 boards look very interesting.

[Forehaven]

Yowsa!  400 E for just the smallest one.  Too rich for my blood