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

[lmitche]

2 hours ago, elan120 said:

Cisco Catalyst 2960 - WS-C2960-8TC-L Clock and DC mod

 

I have been enjoying the result from the ZyXEL mod for few days, and decided to take a little time today to do some testing and see how replacing the stock 25MHz clock with Crystek CCHD-575 will do with the SQ, and the result is very pleasing.

 

The stock power supply was pulled and connected to JS-2 notching up a step in SQ couple weeks ago, and now with Crystek CCHD-575 25MHz oscillator powered by LPS-1 replacing the stock clock, kicking the SQ up another good step.  Highly recommended.

 

Below is a picture while running the test.

Oh boy, I'd love to see a picture of the entire board with mods.

[seeteeyou]

9 hours ago, charlesphoto said:

So got my practically brand new and sadly dented in one corner during shipping, Nov 2017 mfg date, $155 Cisco 2960-L-16PS-LL up and running as my main, and now only, switch.

 

Non-PoE 8-port version in Japan seemed to be quite affordable, brand new ones cost about 10,800 yen a piece so that's less than 100 bucks

 

https://www.cisco.com/c/m/ja_jp/solutions/cisco-start/product_cat2960l.html

https://www.amazon.co.jp/シスコシステムズ-Catalyst-2960-L-Switch-WS-C2960L-8TS-JP/dp/B06XDBNJFG

https://www.fromjapan.co.jp/en/special/order/confirm/https%3A%2F%2Fitem.rakuten.co.jp%2Fe-fellows5%2Fs-17041859%2F/N_1/

[seeteeyou]

Here's Hugo M Scaler for £3495 and it's a much better upgrade than many tweaks according to @romaz

 

https://chordelectronics.co.uk/product/hugo-mscaler/

https://www.facebook.com/chordelectronics/posts/1430277567072260

 

 

 

https://www.computeraudiophile.com/forums/topic/30376-a-novel-way-to-massively-improve-the-sq-of-computer-audio-streaming/?page=148&tab=comments#comment-723032

On 9/25/2017 at 5:16 PM, romaz said:

Practically speaking, this results in a massive improvement in DAVE's resolution, so massive that the collective impact of my server mods which includes 8 clocks being replaced pales in comparison to what Blu Mk2 provides.  For those of you who own a Chord DAVE, I would suggest you prioritize getting a Blu Mk2 beyond anything else discussed on this thread.  Combined with Chord's upcoming "digital" amplifiers, there will be no more resolute or transparent way of listening to a digital file.  Despite all of this, I am finding, however, that the quality of the music server still matters.

 

https://www.computeraudiophile.com/forums/topic/30376-a-novel-way-to-massively-improve-the-sq-of-computer-audio-streaming/?page=164&tab=comments#comment-728221

On 10/11/2017 at 6:37 PM, romaz said:

HQPlayer was drier and less smooth.  With Blu2 combined with either DAVE or Hugo2, the improvement was massive.  HQPlayer does not come close to what the M-scaler in Blu2 can do with either Hugo2 or DAVE.

 

https://www.computeraudiophile.com/forums/topic/30376-a-novel-way-to-massively-improve-the-sq-of-computer-audio-streaming/?page=159&tab=comments#comment-727232

On 10/9/2017 at 9:41 AM, austinpop said:

One such exception was the Bluebird room, which demo'd the Chord Dave and Blu-2 M-scaler, playing on Vienna Acoustics speakers. Hearing the Dave by itself and then with the M-Scaler was epic. This was a fall out of your chair improvement. I know I've said I find DAC differences to be modest, but this was anything but. I heard the same effect downstairs in the CanJam Chord booth.

 

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/my-long-list-of-amplifiers-and-my-personal-review-of-each/post?postid=1499074#1499074

Quote

The Chord DAVE on its own wasn't that impressive to me. However, when you add the Blu2, it becomes a beast.

 

[seeteeyou]

Too late to edit my post above, here's a little something

 

https://youtu.be/0BMk_dBIQjY

 

DC input is exactly 15V so that's perfect for the output voltage of LT3045

 

[rickca]

Thanks @seeteeyou I didn't realize  the Hugo M Scaler had been announced.

[tapatrick]

1 hour ago, seeteeyou said:

Too late to edit my post above, here's a little something

 

https://youtu.be/0BMk_dBIQjY

 

DC input is exactly 15V so that's perfect for the output voltage of LT3045

 

cool, thanks @seeteeyou, I s**t my pants!

[Johnseye]

2 hours ago, seeteeyou said:

Here's Hugo M Scaler for £3495 and it's a much better upgrade than many tweaks according to @romaz

 

https://chordelectronics.co.uk/product/hugo-mscaler/

https://www.facebook.com/chordelectronics/posts/1430277567072260

 

 

 

https://www.computeraudiophile.com/forums/topic/30376-a-novel-way-to-massively-improve-the-sq-of-computer-audio-streaming/?page=148&tab=comments#comment-723032

 

https://www.computeraudiophile.com/forums/topic/30376-a-novel-way-to-massively-improve-the-sq-of-computer-audio-streaming/?page=164&tab=comments#comment-728221

 

https://www.computeraudiophile.com/forums/topic/30376-a-novel-way-to-massively-improve-the-sq-of-computer-audio-streaming/?page=159&tab=comments#comment-727232

 

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/my-long-list-of-amplifiers-and-my-personal-review-of-each/post?postid=1499074#1499074

 

 

Thanks for the info.  Not sure why they went with dual BNC out.  A little inconvenient.  Cost is $4500 US.  Looking forward to the reviews.

 

[seeteeyou]

1 hour ago, rickca said:

Thanks @seeteeyou I didn't realize  the Hugo M Scaler had been announced.

 

8 minutes ago, tapatrick said:

cool, thanks @seeteeyou, I s**t my pants!

 

Just now, Johnseye said:

Thanks for the info.  Not sure why they went with dual BNC out.  A little inconvenient.  Cost is $4500 US.  Looking forward to the reviews.

 

You're all very welcomed. I wish that we could actually find something that's capable of recording both BNC outputs but this particular $200 product only supports a single S/PDIF @ 384kHz to be recorded

 

http://www.comtrue-inc.com/index.php/products

http://www.comtrue-inc.com/index.php/downloads2/category/2-audio-usb-bridge

 

In other words, we won't see anything with USB outputs until their Davina is ready. Virtually all non-Chord DACs should only accept 192kHz via S/PDIF inputs, that's the whole point of recording the outputs of Hugo M Scaler so that we'll be able to play those recorded lossless audio files somewhere else with USB instead. Not to mention that we could even bring those upscaled files with us when we're on the road.

[charlesphoto]

14 hours ago, seeteeyou said:

 

Non-PoE 8-port version in Japan seemed to be quite affordable, brand new ones cost about 10,800 yen a piece so that's less than 100 bucks

 

https://www.cisco.com/c/m/ja_jp/solutions/cisco-start/product_cat2960l.html

https://www.amazon.co.jp/シスコシステムズ-Catalyst-2960-L-Switch-WS-C2960L-8TS-JP/dp/B06XDBNJFG

https://www.fromjapan.co.jp/en/special/order/confirm/https%3A%2F%2Fitem.rakuten.co.jp%2Fe-fellows5%2Fs-17041859%2F/N_1/

 

These are great prices though I see the second one is sold out. I really wanted 12 ports or more, and fanless, so I could consolidate the whole house and office into one switch. 16 port models from japan going for about $250 on ebay I think. I just checked every day, and finally one of the 16 port models came up and I offered a price I could live with. 

 

Seriously I wouldn’t hesitate about getting a newer Cisco switch. This was a huge upgrade from the older 2960-8tc-l and the power and cable setup was better with that one (fiber to dedicated hifi room switch plugged into dedicated circuit). No need for a linear power supply or FMC’s etc. I have a plastic crate of those downstairs waiting to be pawned off. The bass is particularly fuller, piano more natural, less glare. I’ve played everything from Prodigy to Keith Jarret and it all sounds great, which is not usually the case. Plus the ethernet throughout the house is snappier. 

 

Get a Cisco switch! Or wait for the Uptone! But the switch I believe is an important component of any streaming network to be ignored at your own loss. 

[austinpop]

9 hours ago, seeteeyou said:

Here's Hugo M Scaler for £3495 and it's a much better upgrade than many tweaks according to @romaz

 

 

I am at the show and was sitting in the audience for the announce. Earlier, I had breakfast with Roy and Rob.

 

Sadly, I have not yet been able to get a turn to listen to the Mscaler/TT2 combo, because the table has been mobbed. I am hoping I can wheedle a little alone time with the combo from Rob or the Chord guys. Hmm, that came out weirdly inappropriate.

 

Even without having heard it, the technology appears really impressive. Watch the Head-Fi TT2 thread - Rob said he'll post his PowerPoint there soon.

 

7 hours ago, Johnseye said:

Cost is $4500 US.

 

John, did you get that info from a dealer? Over here, everyone is just referring to £3495 figure, and no one can tell me a definitive US price. I guess that is set by the US distributor.

 

Did you happen to get the TT2 price too?

[seeteeyou]

At $10K or so, this HMS + TT2 combo is surely hard to beat. Just modify an Oppo with OCXO, then add a pair of Omega or Voxativ etc. and you're all set without too much spaghetti

 

https://youtu.be/WZn1kCwS70I

 

https://youtu.be/VfscfTkHgM4

 

[jabbr]

14 hours ago, seeteeyou said:

Here's Hugo M Scaler for £3495 and it's a much better upgrade than many tweaks according to @romaz

 

Artix-7 ... yawn ... low powered FPGA, a step up from the Spartan-6 no doubt but doesn’t have the horsepower to make great filters for DSD upsampling ... HQPlayer has access to vastly higher processing ... you’re better off for $$& looking at the SQ of the new CPU/GPU combos. 

 

That said the real deal Kinetix-7 series or Virtex-7 cost the same as the whole box (the Artix-7 is about $200). Just wait for the new RF-SoC/Ultrascale devices though ... now we would be talking.

[seeteeyou]

3 minutes ago, jabbr said:

Artix-7 ... yawn ... low powered FPGA, a step up from the Spartan-6 no doubt but doesn’t have the horsepower to make great filters for DSD upsampling ... HQPlayer has access to vastly higher processing ... you’re better off for $$& looking at the SQ of the new CPU/GPU combos. 

 

Lots of theories ... yawn ... @romaz actually compared HQPlayer to M Scaler and the latter one turned out to be superior as I quoted above.

 

[ElviaCaprice]

 

5 minutes ago, seeteeyou said:

 

Lots of theories ... yawn ... @romaz actually compared HQPlayer to M Scaler and the latter one turned out to be superior as I quoted above.

 

Yup, wasn't even close.  

Which verifies my own findings (few years ago) with Chord DAC's bit perfect vs. HQP feed upsampled filtered.  Let alone adding an m-scaler/DAVE.

[Johnseye]

4 hours ago, austinpop said:

 

John, did you get that info from a dealer? Over here, everyone is just referring to £3495 figure, and no one can tell me a definitive US price. I guess that is set by the US distributor.

 

Did you happen to get the TT2 price too?

 

I just converted BPD to USD.

 

I did not get the TT2 price.  I've talked to the local Chord dealer about it.  I'll likely demo it when it's out this fall.  That will likely be an amazing combo.

[jabbr]

47 minutes ago, seeteeyou said:

 

Lots of theories ... yawn ... @romaz actually compared HQPlayer to M Scaler and the latter one turned out to be superior as I quoted above.

 

Interesting comparison of software to hardware by someone. You will prefer what you wish which is fine as long as it makes you happy.

[Ralf11]

2 hours ago, jabbr said:

Just wait for the new RF-SoC/Ultrascale devices though ... now we would be talking.

 

 

Finally!  I can run my phased array radar system without stuff breaking down all the time ‼️

[seeteeyou]

Uh oh, wait for their DX amp with Power Pulse Array and then we won't even need a DAC anymore when everything is digital

 

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/chord-electronics-blu-mk-2-the-official-thread.831343/page-266#post-14374158

Quote

The DX output audio data is identical to the dual BNC output which is a mono transmission standard - all that happens is that volume control information is transmitted in the SPDIF user data, so the DX power amps will read that data and change the volume at a more appropriate point inside the DX power amp. This means that the full audio data is transmitted without any loss in SQ, but with the convenience of the H M scaler controlling the volume.

 

[hurka]

Hi everyone.I will use x10sba-tx usb ultra-singxerF1,but compared without tx ,sound much better.I Don’t know where is the problem.

[seeteeyou]

You could power Singxer F1 with battery-powered LT3045 (with 5V output) and it's only 200 RMB

 

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=565126246341

 

To feed Singxer F1 with an external power source, you could try some USB cables that are similar to the ones linked below

 

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=18645273306

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=18651345785

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=22596647235

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=36712132856

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=38636625250

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=41118241163

 

One leg for data and then another leg for power.

[seeteeyou]

Just an FYI - they've got 20% off everything on their site so their Neutron Star 2 would cost €300 shipped to anywhere outside EU

 

http://newclassd.com/index.php?euip=1&page=200

 

https://www.computeraudiophile.com/forums/topic/30376-a-novel-way-to-massively-improve-the-sq-of-computer-audio-streaming/?page=288&tab=comments#comment-794884

On 3/13/2018 at 7:52 PM, RickyV said:

With the neutron star 2 the sound is balanced nicely but with much better resolution and detail all over the place.

i think the crystek 575 shouldn't be used at the end of the chain, sound is unbalanced. 

 

[Cornan]

50 minutes ago, seeteeyou said:

You could power Singxer F1 with battery-powered LT3045 (with 5V output) and it's only 200 RMB

 

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=565126246341

 

To feed Singxer F1 with an external power source, you could try some USB cables that are similar to the ones linked below

 

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=18645273306

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=18651345785

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=22596647235

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=36712132856

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=38636625250

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=41118241163

 

One leg for data and then another leg for power.

 

Thanks for sharing that battery powered LT3045 board. I found it on eBay as well https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F273135946356

 

I will try it powering the GI Spdif output of my BluWave board possibly freeing up the LPS-1.2 (and MS-HPULN feeding it) for other duties.

[seeteeyou]

1 minute ago, Cornan said:

Thanks for sharing that battery powered LT3045 board. I found it on eBay as well https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F273135946356

 

I will try it powering the GI Spdif output of my BluWave board possibly freeing up the LPS-1.2 for other duties.

 

No problem, buddy. It's more like 30 bucks when it's converted from 200 RMB but obviously they've gotta jack that up in order to cover free economy international shipping that could very well take weeks if not months.

 

Quote

1 x LT3045 four parallel regulated power supply 5V 2A Upgrade LT3042

 

And then it's kinda funny that LT3042 was added to the end simply because that should help them with matching more searches. Actually they do sell another module with a single piece of LT3042 but it's somewhat expensive for only 0.2A output

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-LT3042-ultra-low-noise-voltage-regulator-module/273013276211

 

BTW, their Chinglish translations totally cracked me up when I was checking other products.

[hurka]

1 hour ago, seeteeyou said:

You could power Singxer F1 with battery-powered LT3045 (with 5V output) and it's only 200 RMB

 

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=565126246341

 

To feed Singxer F1 with an external power source, you could try some USB cables that are similar to the ones linked below

 

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=18645273306

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=18651345785

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=22596647235

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=36712132856

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=38636625250

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=41118241163

 

One leg for data and then another leg for power.

this battery sound crap.i have 6pcs with lt1963.pure nesscap with relay sound much better

[tims]

1 hour ago, seeteeyou said:

Just an FYI - they've got 20% off everything on their site so their Neutron Star 2 would cost €300 shipped to anywhere outside EU

 

http://newclassd.com/index.php?euip=1&page=200

 

https://www.computeraudiophile.com/forums/topic/30376-a-novel-way-to-massively-improve-the-sq-of-computer-audio-streaming/?page=288&tab=comments#comment-794884

 

The Neutron Star 2 wouldn't be a suitable replacement for SOtM's sCLK-OCX10 master clock which I think produces 10.0MHz?

Can't see one with a 10.0MHz frequency on their products list.