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

[Johnseye]

6 hours ago, Neal.Audio said:

 

Hi Johnseye, 

 

Not much experience at all with this, but Austinpop insists on staying at or below 15W TDP, and Romaz tells me that the NUC7i7DNBE was tested and sounds the best.

 

What are you connecting the HDMI output to? If it's a display, could you try a different one? 

 

 

It turns out all my HDMI issues were related to a cable.  I rarely have cables go bad and it makes them less suspect when they should be considered.

[Neal.Audio]

^ @Johnseye

 

Hah! Not surprised at all. That can be mind-numbing, but fortunate that you were able to get it sorted on the cheap.

 

On another note, regarding the lack of Roon volume on the QX-8, I reached out to Ayre and they drilled down... and discovered a bug in the firmware. They're saying a firmware update is coming tomorrow and it will resolve it. Great news. 

 

I'll have my NUC soon and will be sure to report my findings in a few different systems. 

[Chopin75]

On 3/11/2019 at 11:57 PM, bobfa said:

Such true words.

 

 I have another thing for folks to test out.  I setup my NUC with Euphony Stylus today.  I really. REALLY need someone else to try this.  My son and I were really impressed today.  There were some comments about AL endpoints being "thin" and folks trying Windows again.  I think I found a path to not thin today..  

 

I am using HDPLEX PC with Euphony OS using Stylus. Would my impression of this be helpful to you ?  Euphony is great and easy to use. Not keen about the library management on Stylus though. 

[RickyV]

2 hours ago, Chopin75 said:

I am using HDPLEX PC with Euphony OS using Stylus. Would my impression of this be helpful to you ?  Euphony is great and easy to use. Not keen about the library management on Stylus though. 

Yep, I would like too know.

A comparison between Euphony and AudioLinux would be even better.

[LTG2010]

4 hours ago, RickyV said:

Yep, I would like too know.

A comparison between Euphony and AudioLinux would be even better.

That would be useful, they both run on archlinux, so shouldn't in theory be very different sonically.

[bobfa]

I am almost done with setup.  I purchased two licenses of Euphony.  One for server one for endpoint and set them up in the middle of the night.  I will be testing later today using Roon.  On Euphony.  I will then boot the endpoint on Audio Linux and listen some more.  The server will need and AL rebuild on a new Optane stick or something.  This will take a couple of days to see how things go...

[beautiful music]

38 minutes ago, bobfa said:

I am almost done with setup.  I purchased two licenses of Euphony.  One for server one for endpoint and set them up in the middle of the night.  I will be testing later today using Roon.  On Euphony.  I will then boot the endpoint on Audio Linux and listen some more.  The server will need and AL rebuild on a new Optane stick or something.  This will take a couple of days to see how things go...

 

Looking expectantly for your findings.

[RickyV]

2 hours ago, LTG2010 said:

That would be useful, they both run on archlinux, so shouldn't in theory be very different sonically.

Mmmm I don't know @bobfa sounded very enthusiastic about Euphony at first listen. We'll give him a few days.

 

 

 

[austinpop]

1 hour ago, bobfa said:

I am almost done with setup.  I purchased two licenses of Euphony.  One for server one for endpoint and set them up in the middle of the night.  I will be testing later today using Roon.  On Euphony.  I will then boot the endpoint on Audio Linux and listen some more.  The server will need and AL rebuild on a new Optane stick or something.  This will take a couple of days to see how things go...

 

I'm looking forward to your findings. I am so enjoying AL, ramroot, and Piero's peerless support, I've had zero motivation to explore!

 

What  made you look at Euphony?

[LTG2010]

52 minutes ago, RickyV said:

Mmmm I don't know @bobfa sounded very enthusiastic about Euphony at first listen. We'll give him a few days.

I see I missed that, looking forward to @bobfa results.

[bobfa]

8 minutes ago, austinpop said:

 

I'm looking forward to your findings. I am so enjoying AL, ramroot, and Piero's peerless support, I've had zero motivation to explore!

 

What  made you look at Euphony?

I have discovered a new medical disorder and I am claiming naming rights:  BAADD (Bob's Audio Attention Distraction Disorder).  Now all I need is sponsorship to tell the world!  There will be white papers! 

 

All kidding aside!

 

I am fascinated by the differences we are hearing with AudioLinux.  I "HAD" to see how other things sounded.  I just flashed a USB stick with Eyphony and put it in my NUC endpoint to make it a server running their Stylus player software.  Both my son and I were so impressed with the QS at what we were hearing.  SOOOO.  I am now "stuck" finishing something I had not planned.  We have been using the Stylus music player software that can load the tracks into RAM.  I hooked my external HD to the endpoint and poof full server.

 

In addition, I am very interested in a little bit more plug and play.  So I am going through a couple of days of "messing" around and testing.  Today I will have Roon up and running on my split system using Euphony.  I have to purchase another M.2. Optane stick for the server so I can A/B between the two OS's by re-booting the server.  The endpoint is a reboot to a USB stick for the AL test.

 

I really need the luxury of another HDPLEX200 to do this testing.

 

 

Today headless AL is really close in setup simplicity.  It is out of the box  more flexible to "tinker" with.  Piero is great and you cannot discount that.  The support from the folks at Euphony has been good.  They have a ticketing system for problem requests.  I have sent them a LOT of feedback in three days.  The response has been stellar.  

 

I will put up a Euphony setup thread shortly.  I have to get some real work done today.

[austinpop]

2 minutes ago, bobfa said:

I have discovered a new medical disorder and I am claiming naming rights:  BAADD (Bob's Audio Attention Distraction Disorder).  Now all I need is sponsorship to tell the world!  There will be white papers! 

 

All kidding aside!

 

I am fascinated by the differences we are hearing with AudioLinux.  I "HAD" to see how other things sounded.  I just flashed a USB stick with Eyphony and put it in my NUC endpoint to make it a server running their Stylus player software.  Both my son and I were so impressed with the QS at what we were hearing.  SOOOO.  I am now "stuck" finishing something I had not planned.  We have been using the Stylus music player software that can load the tracks into RAM.  I hooked my external HD to the endpoint and poof full server.

 

In addition, I am very interested in a little bit more plug and play.  So I am going through a couple of days of "messing" around and testing.  Today I will have Roon up and running on my split system using Euphony.  I have to purchase another M.2. Optane stick for the server so I can A/B between the two OS's by re-booting the server.  The endpoint is a reboot to a USB stick for the AL test.

 

I really need the luxury of another HDPLEX200 to do this testing.

 

 

Today headless AL is really close in setup simplicity.  It is out of the box  more flexible to "tinker" with.  Piero is great and you cannot discount that.  The support from the folks at Euphony has been good.  They have a ticketing system for problem requests.  I have sent them a LOT of feedback in three days.  The response has been stellar.  

 

I will put up a Euphony setup thread shortly.  I have to get some real work done today.

 

To your BAADD I would add "Amazing Sound Seeker," making you a .... drum roll ...

 

BAADDASS!

 

 

[bobfa]

19 minutes ago, RickyV said:

Mmmm I don't know @bobfa sounded very enthusiastic about Euphony at first listen. We'll give him a few days.

 

 

 

I am actually more and more enthusiastic about Euphony. I have a bunch of reporting and writing to do. There will be more on the shootout thread

 

1 minute ago, austinpop said:

 

To your BAADD I would add "Amazing Sound Seeker," making you a ....drum roll ...

 

BAADDASS!

 

 

 

We have to trademark this before the drug companies find out.  It might pay for our obsessions.

[bobfa]

37 minutes ago, bobfa said:

I will put up a Euphony setup thread shortly.  I have to get some real work done to

 

[bobfa]

Oh, and this may help others to play.

 

 

[RickyV]

Hey @bobfa you are on a roll, man. Thanks for all your efforts. 

[Chopin75]

20 hours ago, RickyV said:

Yep, I would like too know.

A comparison between Euphony and AudioLinux would be even better.

I don't have AL and I only have a single PC (all in one box) setup.  Should I answer this in the new euphony thread instead ? 

[bobfa]

4 minutes ago, Chopin75 said:

I don't have AL and I only have a single PC (all in one box) setup.  Should I answer this in the new euphony thread instead ? 

I would put it here and if so inclined put a link to it in the other thread.  I have no magic answer!  This thread has SOO much good info, adding more, here is great.

 

I want to make sure I am not imagining things.  I am moving a bit fast and I do not want to trip...

[dctom]

Considering building a new machine based on a supermicro X10SBA-L  running linux, using an external PS. Does anyone know if the built in cpu would have enough power to run HQplayer or jriver?

[LTG2010]

1 hour ago, dctom said:

Considering building a new machine based on a supermicro X10SBA-L  running linux, using an external PS. Does anyone know if the built in cpu would have enough power to run HQplayer or jriver?

It can run both fine but no heavy DSD upsampling, so best to go for a bigger processor/ board, if you need that feature.

[Lebouwsky]

1 hour ago, dctom said:

Considering building a new machine based on a supermicro X10SBA-L  running linux, using an external PS. Does anyone know if the built in cpu would have enough power to run HQplayer or jriver?

Yes I do. It now runs Jriver without issues, before that I used HQplayer without any problem. Upsampling to PCM 24/192 works like charm. The processor never reached 25% load. It runs with 4GB ram and an old sata2 ssd in Windows server 2016

 

I have no experience with higher upsampling in PCM or with DSD or AL

[dctom]

Thanks for the feedback, glad to know it will run both players.

I do some upsampling at the moment, appreciate that it won't cope with very high upsampling - maybe 2x dsd? Happy to trade off the low power spec of the  with  low or no upsampling.

 

[valveboy]

Dipped my toe in with the NUC7CJYH after months of fence sitting. Curiosity has got the better of me! So, get ready for another NUC review. I will be totally neutral and unbiased in my conclusions.

I will be comparing this to both a home built DIY PC and a Sonore Microrendu.

[valveboy]

....here's a nice quote about the quality of the NUC from Andrew Gillis:

click here

 

"You could get the sonicTransporter to work as a player but the sound quality would be low compared to a microRendu or Sonicorbiter SE.

You can try to use it as a player if you want but don’t expect great sound. The quality should be about the same as a NUC "....

 

so I'm holding my breath at the moment!

[Dutch]

3 hours ago, valveboy said:

the NUC from Andrew Gillis

 

It’s a small computer in a fanless case. A NUC is also a small computer that can be built into a fanless case. The sonicTransporter is not a NUC though.

 

Shunyata Research makes power cords, your toaster comes with a power cord. Your toasters power cord is not a Shunyata.

 

I think you catch my drift! 🙂