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


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Most important: please realize this thread is about bleeding edge experimentation and discovery. No one has The Answer™. If you are not into tweaking, just know that you can have a musically satisfying system without doing any of the nutty things we do here.

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14 hours ago, Middy said:

Thanks mate,  I sold 2 old phones and jumped the gun.

     I made the mistake of Using Ebuyer, not the best in UK but god they use Yodel as thier delivery firm. Thier working model is deliver when you are out, not weekends and have the nearest depot 30 miles away.  Next try Wednesday the wifes in...

At least its via Amazon....

 

I ordered 4G ram do i need the full 8G for the celeron NUC? No rush for answers just having fun going under the radar ish.... learning new tricks 

Hoping my 13v Sbooster can drive it as mentioned..

 

Keep smiling all

Dave

 

I only ordered 4gb RAM too which should be enough. I got my NUC and ram from https://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk with next day delivery. Hoping to set it up with headless today. Should be fun!

Topaz 2.5Kva Isolation Transformer > EtherRegen switch powered by Paul Hynes SR4 LPS >MacBook Pro 2013 > EC Designs PowerDac SX > TNT UBYTE-2 Speaker cables > Omega Super Alnico Monitors > 2x Rel T Zero Subwoofers. 

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A question...here where i live, is hard to find a NUC Celeron (or insaneliy expensive -420 bucks, obscene-), so, this mobo Will work as endpoint with Audiolinux running from the RAM ? (With a little SSD for SO storage). Is a Celeron J1900 quadcore with a TPU of 10w. Maybe don't have the Intel Quality but...is a lot more cheaper. (There are some mini-itx even more cheaper, same processor). To make some idea, here a MicroRendu sells for 1000 dollars...

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7 hours ago, simonklp said:

 

I see. For your information, I use the 3.0 version on Windows 10 Pro without problem. Cheers.

Rufus V3 works fine but it does not have the option to create a DD image, on some machines ( a minority)it may cause an issue so a safer bet is V 2.18 if you run into problems.

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6 hours ago, One and a half said:

Can Roon core run on a USB stick of AudioLinux? 

Both versions of Audiolinux have Roonserver and Roonbridge installed, just need starting or enabling via a command (or a prepared script in GUI version).

I found it simply more transparent coming from windows with all the optimizations. It works pretty good with my Celeron J1900 based system.

Experimenting with various machines, high powered ones increase noise, and tend to give a more dynamic but much harder sound, therefore Pink Fauns approach of high (ish) power with extremely good power supply and improved clocking yields better results.

However when you use the higher power machine as a server and the lower powered machine as the endpoint, the isolation provided over ethernet, mitigates some of that noise pollution and things really get interesting. Still a lot of experimentation is needed.

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22 minutes ago, tapatrick said:

 

I've got my NUC running now headless from USB stick with no hard drive needed. Not much trouble to set up.

many thanks to @romaz @lmitche for sharing your ongoing experiments/discoveries and @austinpop for keeping this massive thread on track and for all other who have contributed here..

Topaz 2.5Kva Isolation Transformer > EtherRegen switch powered by Paul Hynes SR4 LPS >MacBook Pro 2013 > EC Designs PowerDac SX > TNT UBYTE-2 Speaker cables > Omega Super Alnico Monitors > 2x Rel T Zero Subwoofers. 

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Guys,

Can someone please recommend a good USB memory stick for the headless Audiolinux boot? And how many GB?

 

@tapatrick Which version of the headless Audiolinux are you using for the diskless NUC? 

It would be very nice if you could make a guide for us.?

 

I find the audiolinux webside very frustrating.

But I am really trying hard to read and understand while waiting for the hardware to arrive.

Cheers

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Ryzen 7 2700 PC Server, NUC7CJYH w. 4G Apacer RAM as Renderer/LPS 1.2 - IsoRegen/LPS-1/.2 - Singxer SU-1/LPS1.2 - Holo Spring Level 3 DAC - LTA MicroZOTL MZ2 - Modwright KWA 150 Signature Amp - Tidal Audio Piano's.  

.

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1 hour ago, tapatrick said:

 

I've got my NUC running now headless from USB stick with no heard drive needed. Not much trouble to set up.

I set up my NUC from a mac if any one needs advice and I can list the steps later.

 

Pat, I'll hit you up on that later next week when my NUC arrives.

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49 minutes ago, Narcissus said:

 

Pat, I'll hit you up on that later next week when my NUC arrives.

Okay doke ?

Topaz 2.5Kva Isolation Transformer > EtherRegen switch powered by Paul Hynes SR4 LPS >MacBook Pro 2013 > EC Designs PowerDac SX > TNT UBYTE-2 Speaker cables > Omega Super Alnico Monitors > 2x Rel T Zero Subwoofers. 

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The trick with the audiolinux site I'm finding is that instead of looking for a "guide" per se, you should just search on the page for terms you care about. For most people, these are the things you want to know:

  • install on USB: search "install"
  • "Roon" to start/stop Roon Core, Bridge
  • "DHCP" to switch between dynamic and static IP
  • "ramroot" and "ramsave" about running in RAM

It still requires you to be computer literate, so this is really not for everyone.

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14 hours ago, seeteeyou said:

 

We still dunno how ClocksEye^2 would pan out yet, maybe it doesn't hurt to ask you something like this.

 

Since all 4 clock outputs of sCLK-EX don't seem to have much space around them, do you think it's worth the risks to change those U.FL connectors to something else?

 

For instance, we could add one of those Micro BNC to BNC adapters as follows and we might be able figure a way to use something that's as good as Habst afterwards

 

http://www.coax-connectors.com/products/connectors/bnc-micro-(hd-bnc)75-ohm.aspx

 

Differences as shown below

 

https://www.canford.co.uk/Products/48-5022_COAX-CONNS-67-005-B66-FA-MICRO-BNC-12G-UHD-Male-cable-crimp-group-X

SZ0UyYB.jpg

From the size standpoint, it is going to be challenging.  U.FL max width is 3mm, where Micro BNC is twice as much at 6mm, it could be done, but will be a very tight fit.  Other than the size, it is not clear if there is impedance matching issue involved.

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 Joining u all here. I am not even sure what topics are supposed to be discussed here. I read from months ago a discussion about sCLK vs OXCO. Does anyone know any difference in SQ or has compared betweem the pinkfaun and SOtM USB bridge? Pinkfaun uses TOCO but then can be upgraded to OXCO 10MHZ, where as SOtm can be upgrad3 with sCLK. SOtM with clock is about $300 cheaper than Pinkfaun with OXCO 

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The main difference is one uses an external reference clock and the other has the clock on board. It's from the idea of the advantage of having the clock at the needed frequency at the point it's needed rather than a reference signal far away that requires a regeneration to the required frequency from the reference one. On the other hand a reference clock may be able to reclock many points and is thus more flexible in use.

 

I have the tX-USBultra that contains the sCLK-EX card which by itself sounds good but turns great when adding an external 10Mhz reference clock. Reference clocks can be pretty expensive depending on which one you choose and the sound reflects the quality of the clock added. In addition you'll be needing a few power supplies and cables to connect the lot, the cost of which may even exceed the hardware for top grade ones.

 

I also have the Pink Faun USB card with OCXO on board in my Pink Faun 2.16x streamer. I'm not using an external power supply. It sounds best by itself and doesn't benefit further from passing through a reclocked tX-USBultra.

 

As for comparing the two directly it's difficult to do for me but prior to using the PF streamer, the tX-USBultra w/clock had always improved the sound of whatever I attached. But not anymore.

 

I havent tried the TCXO version but I know that Pink Faun will be offerng a higher grade OCXO module for their usb card in a month or so. Probably as an option and not a replacement.

 

 

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The other "novel way" thread was heating up after their tribal leader (who made $h!t up about Roon Bridge / Roon Ready without citing any sources whatsoever) posted some measurements while one of the followers @diecaster ranted about a much older NUC that's fed by an unknown PSU / running an OS off from an unknown drive with unknown latency

 

https://www.computeraudiophile.com/forums/topic/35129-a-novel-way-to-massively-improve-the-sq-of-the-microrendu-ultrarendu/?page=26&tab=comments#comment-892358

 

So easy to call us biased while assuming they aren't. Core group of 3-5 people? This whole ramboot thingy began a LONG @$$ time ago with plenty of audiophiles who already reaped the benefits

 

(November 2014)

https://www.aktives-hoeren.de/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=5848

 

(January 2015)

http://www.tirnahifi.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3171

 

(November 2015)

http://www.myav.com.tw/bbs/showthread.php?threadid=20473423

 

I do like healthy competitions and personally I don't see any problems at all.

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