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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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12 hours ago, austinpop said:

 

Final Conclusions

 

The Farad Super 3, in addition to being an excellent PSU as I found in my previous report, has the added advantage of a continuous current capacity of 3A. This puts it in a unique position compared to lower powered supplies like the LPS-1.2 and the SR-4. The field of high-quality PSUs with current capacity over 2A is quite limited, and the Farad is a welcome addition. I can see it being a great fit for DACs, and other current-hungry devices like NUCs.

 

For my use case of powering a Chord Hugo TT2, the Farad Super 3 was not only up to the task, its SQ while doing so was excellent. 

 

I next look forward to Mattijs' higher current Farad supply, now in active development.

 

 

 

Great write up Rajiv!  I'm impressed and surprised that you were able to hear such a significant difference with the TT2 (I would have guessed the internal supercaps would dominate).  Intriguing, and a reminder that guesses and assumptions are just guesses and assumptions.

 

By chance, did you compare SR4 vs SR7 vs Farad Super 3 @15V on the Hugo mScaler? No supercaps in that power chain to make assumptions about ;)

 

 

ATT Fiber -> EdgeRouter X SFP -> Taiko Audio Extreme -> Vinnie Rossi L2i-SE w/ Level 2 DAC -> Voxativ 9.87 speakers w/ 4D drivers

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20 minutes ago, ray-dude said:

Great write up Rajiv!  I'm impressed and surprised that you were able to hear such a significant difference with the TT2 (I would have guessed the internal supercaps would dominate).  Intriguing, and a reminder that guesses and assumptions are just guesses and assumptions.

 

Thanks, and yes indeed!

 

20 minutes ago, ray-dude said:

By chance, did you compare SR4 vs SR7 vs Farad Super 3 @15V on the Hugo mScaler? No supercaps in that power chain to make assumptions about ;)

 

No I didn't.  There are some logistical challenges with doing this, so no promises. I'll see what I can do.

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13 hours ago, austinpop said:

 

As promised, here is my followup. This time, I'll describe the 15V unit

 

Thanks so much for posting the follow up as promised, Rajiv.  As a TT2 owner, this was of course tremendously helpful.

Digital:  Sonore opticalModule > Uptone EtherRegen > Shunyata Sigma Ethernet > Antipodes K30 > Shunyata Omega USB > Gustard X26pro DAC < Mutec REF10 SE120

Amp & Speakers:  Spectral DMA-150mk2 > Aerial 10T

Foundation: Stillpoints Ultra, Shunyata Denali v1 and Typhon x1 power conditioners, Shunyata Delta v2 and QSA Lanedri Gamma Revelation and Infinity power cords, QSA Lanedri Gamma Revelation XLR interconnect, Shunyata Sigma Ethernet, MIT Matrix HD 60 speaker cables, GIK bass traps, ASC Isothermal tube traps, Stillpoints Aperture panels, Quadraspire SVT rack, PGGB 256

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@austinpop question about the Super3.  Does it require a charging supply like the LPS-1?  Or does it have an IEC on the back for connection to AC?

Digital:  Sonore opticalModule > Uptone EtherRegen > Shunyata Sigma Ethernet > Antipodes K30 > Shunyata Omega USB > Gustard X26pro DAC < Mutec REF10 SE120

Amp & Speakers:  Spectral DMA-150mk2 > Aerial 10T

Foundation: Stillpoints Ultra, Shunyata Denali v1 and Typhon x1 power conditioners, Shunyata Delta v2 and QSA Lanedri Gamma Revelation and Infinity power cords, QSA Lanedri Gamma Revelation XLR interconnect, Shunyata Sigma Ethernet, MIT Matrix HD 60 speaker cables, GIK bass traps, ASC Isothermal tube traps, Stillpoints Aperture panels, Quadraspire SVT rack, PGGB 256

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Thanks for that write-up, Rajiv.  I know the TT2 can benefit from a better than stock power supply because I’m currently using it with the Poweradd Pilot Pro 2 and hearing a slightly cleaner sound, albeit at 12V.  But I would like better than that if I can get it, and at reasonable cost.

 

Just looking back at your wonderful “My quest for a new DAC...” report I see that you said of the DR SR7 On the TT2, the effect of the SR-7 was modest at best”, so I’m just wondering how big the jumps were from stock to 12V Super3 to 15V Super3 to SR7.  I expect now with greater familiarity of the TT2, and perhaps with further refinements to your system, are you finding it easier to hear these differences?

 

I’ve surrendered my SR7 build (felt like I wasn’t going to see it for between 2-4 years), so the Farad Super3 and Sean Jacobs DC3 seem like my best bets for an upgrade supply to drive the TT2. The Farad with silver dc cable would be about half the price of a single rail DC3 with Mundorf caps, upgraded silver wiring and silver dc cable.  What to do, what to do...

Zenith SE > USPCB (5v off) > tX-USBultra 9V (SR4) > Sablon Reserva Elite USB > M Scaler > WAVE Stream bnc > DAVE > Prion4/Lazuli Reference > Utopia/LCD-4/HE1000se

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1 hour ago, austinpop said:

 

Correct. It has an IEC inlet for an AC power cable.

 

Awesome - wish Uptone would have done the same with their LPS-1 series.  Thanks for the prompt reply.

Digital:  Sonore opticalModule > Uptone EtherRegen > Shunyata Sigma Ethernet > Antipodes K30 > Shunyata Omega USB > Gustard X26pro DAC < Mutec REF10 SE120

Amp & Speakers:  Spectral DMA-150mk2 > Aerial 10T

Foundation: Stillpoints Ultra, Shunyata Denali v1 and Typhon x1 power conditioners, Shunyata Delta v2 and QSA Lanedri Gamma Revelation and Infinity power cords, QSA Lanedri Gamma Revelation XLR interconnect, Shunyata Sigma Ethernet, MIT Matrix HD 60 speaker cables, GIK bass traps, ASC Isothermal tube traps, Stillpoints Aperture panels, Quadraspire SVT rack, PGGB 256

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1 hour ago, FredM said:

 

At long last! Looks very interesting. Folks who are going to RMAF - I'm not, sadly - please report back.

 

The obvious comparo of "massive" interest would be - an identical upstream chain followed by:

  • Phoenix -> DAC, vs.
  • tX-USBultra SE (SR-7 DR, Ref-10 10MHz reference clock) -> DAC.

Also interesting would be if the Phoenix further improves the output of a Statement.

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7 minutes ago, austinpop said:

The obvious comparo of "massive" interest would be - an identical upstream chain followed by:

  • Phoenix -> DAC, vs.
  • tX-USBultra SE (SR-7 DR, Ref-10 10MHz reference clock) -> DAC.

Finally!  At 3x the price of tX-USBultra and 10x the price of an ISO REGEN, this better be mind blowing.  

Pareto Audio AMD 7700 Server --> Berkeley Alpha USB --> Jeff Rowland Aeris --> Jeff Rowland 625 S2 --> Focal Utopia 3 Diablos with 2 x Focal Electra SW 1000 BE subs

 

i7-6700K/Windows 10  --> EVGA Nu Audio Card --> Focal CMS50's 

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51 minutes ago, austinpop said:

 

The obvious comparo of "massive" interest would be - an identical upstream chain followed by:

  • Phoenix -> DAC, vs.
  • tX-USBultra SE (SR-7 DR, Ref-10 10MHz reference clock) -> DAC.

No.  A far more interesting comparison would be with  tX-USBultra, SR-4, REF10 ->DAC.

(More interesting for me at least, because that’s what I happen to have lurking in my rack)😁

 

Anyway, whatever comparisons actually transpire, I will be as interested as anyone, here’s hoping someone manages to try it.

Windows 11 PC, Roon, HQPlayer, Focus Fidelity convolutions, iFi Zen Stream, Paul Hynes SR4, Mutec REF10, Mutec MC3+USB, Devialet 1000Pro, KEF Blade.  Plus Pro-Ject Signature 12 TT for playing my 'legacy' vinyl collection. Desktop system; RME ADI-2 DAC fs, Meze Empyrean headphones.

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13 minutes ago, austinpop said:

Let's put that price in context. If you add up the approx price of:

  • a tX-USBultra SE with master clock input:    $1500
  • one rail of an SR-7 DR:                                      $1300
  • one 10MHz clock tap from Ref-10:                $1300 (assuming you use the Ref-10 with 3 devices)

You're still at over $4000. If the Phoenix can match the SQ performance of the above combination at $3149, they may have a winner on their hands. We won't know until it's been tested.

 

Match the quality of the SR7, arguably the most important component? Doubtful. Then match the quality of a REF10? 

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11 hours ago, austinpop said:

Also interesting would be if the Phoenix further improves the output of a Statement.

 

I put that question to Nuno

 

 

Zenith SE > USPCB (5v off) > tX-USBultra 9V (SR4) > Sablon Reserva Elite USB > M Scaler > WAVE Stream bnc > DAVE > Prion4/Lazuli Reference > Utopia/LCD-4/HE1000se

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3 hours ago, Dev said:

 

You are probably missing a very important point - a quality standalone power supply (or even the standalone external clock) is always reusable and in computer audio there will always be a need for it. If the Phoenix didn’t float the bloat, you take a big hit selling it. Additionally, most of the folks don’t have the luxury of PH SR7, nor do they even use an external clock such as Ref10 - so it’s probably unfair to generalize the cost at the gross level. As I see it, the Phoenix is quiet a bit expensive for just being a re-clocker but time will tell, off coarse.

I think the reason austinpop included those components is because that's precisely what's in the Innuos offering.  So it isn't really "just a re-clocker"

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There might be yet another important point that we're missing, Innuos made that decision to put everything inside the same box in order to minimize the degradation of clock cables. In Roy's experiences, even average clocks inside the same chassis that were powered by average PSU could work pretty much as good as something else that's much more expensive

 

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/review-comparison-of-5-high-end-digital-music-servers-aurender-n10-cad-cat-server-totaldac-d1-server-auralic-aries-audiophile-vortex-box.787020/page-78#post-14117821

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/review-comparison-of-5-high-end-digital-music-servers-aurender-n10-cad-cat-server-totaldac-d1-server-auralic-aries-audiophile-vortex-box.787020/page-78#post-14117902

 

For the PSU side, he also talked about how internal hardwiring could trump external DC connectors

 

https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/topic/29458-ultracap™-lps-1-listening-impressions-thread/page/4/#comment-589391

https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/topic/29458-ultracap™-lps-1-listening-impressions-thread/page/7/#comment-595070

 

More on the conductivity

 

https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/topic/37373-the-paul-hynes-sr7/page/22/#comment-943926

https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/topic/29458-ultracap™-lps-1-listening-impressions-thread/page/13/#comment-611953

 

Material IACS (International Annealed Copper Standard)

 

https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/topic/30376-a-novel-way-to-massively-improve-the-sq-of-computer-audio-streaming/page/49/#comment-645953

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/chord-electronics-dave.766517/page-396#post-13065507

 

Currently we do have plenty of both RCA jacks and plugs with pure copper contacts but they might not be exactly the "right" choices in terms of DC power. OTOH, Furutech made some jacks while Silversonic made some plugs as follows

 

http://www.furutech.com/2013/01/27/1153/

http://www.furutech.com/2013/01/27/1157/

https://silversonic.com/products/connectors/ultimate-xlr/

 

Speaking of connectors with pure copper contacts, could @austinpop please kindly ask the member who made that DC cable (with Oyaide FTVS-910) about this company in Japan?

 

http://www.to-pura.com/new item.html

 

They seemed to be able to manufacture some (pure copper) male connectors for headphones but the female ones are only good for adapters, therefore not meant for the jacks that are mounted on a chassis. However, they also listed something about custom orders on their site and it would be great to find out what the minimum order is. Thanks.

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On 9/4/2019 at 1:20 PM, seeteeyou said:

There might be yet another important point that we're missing, Innuos made that decision to put everything inside the same box in order to minimize the degradation of clock cables. In Roy's experiences, even average clocks inside the same chassis that were powered by average PSU could work pretty much as good as something else that's much more expensive

 

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/review-comparison-of-5-high-end-digital-music-servers-aurender-n10-cad-cat-server-totaldac-d1-server-auralic-aries-audiophile-vortex-box.787020/page-78#post-14117821

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/review-comparison-of-5-high-end-digital-music-servers-aurender-n10-cad-cat-server-totaldac-d1-server-auralic-aries-audiophile-vortex-box.787020/page-78#post-14117902

 

For the PSU side, he also talked about how internal hardwiring could trump external DC connectors

 

https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/topic/29458-ultracap™-lps-1-listening-impressions-thread/page/4/#comment-589391

https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/topic/29458-ultracap™-lps-1-listening-impressions-thread/page/7/#comment-595070

 

More on the conductivity

 

https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/topic/37373-the-paul-hynes-sr7/page/22/#comment-943926

https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/topic/29458-ultracap™-lps-1-listening-impressions-thread/page/13/#comment-611953

 

Material IACS (International Annealed Copper Standard)

 

https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/topic/30376-a-novel-way-to-massively-improve-the-sq-of-computer-audio-streaming/page/49/#comment-645953

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/chord-electronics-dave.766517/page-396#post-13065507

 

Currently we do have plenty of both RCA jacks and plugs with pure copper contacts but they might not be exactly the "right" choices in terms of DC power. OTOH, Furutech made some jacks while Silversonic made some plugs as follows

 

http://www.furutech.com/2013/01/27/1153/

http://www.furutech.com/2013/01/27/1157/

https://silversonic.com/products/connectors/ultimate-xlr/

 

Speaking of connectors with pure copper contacts, could @austinpop please kindly ask the member who made that DC cable (with Oyaide FTVS-910) about this company in Japan?

 

http://www.to-pura.com/new item.html

 

They seemed to be able to manufacture some (pure copper) male connectors for headphones but the female ones are only good for adapters, therefore not meant for the jacks that are mounted on a chassis. However, they also listed something about custom orders on their site and it would be great to find out what the minimum order is. Thanks.

 

Perhaps offtopic, but just a brief comment on this:

The Jaeger connectors Paul Hynes uses in his upgraded SR7 are really good! I use them too... with the Mundorf SGW115 wire and JSSG360 in my LPS. 

https://www.sealconusa.com/images/connectors/pdf/standard-rapid-series.pdf

 

Look at the 50A / < 0,0007 Ohms "533 760 006" for example.

Industry disclosure:
https://chicagohifi.com

Dealer for: Taiko Audio, Conrad Johnson, Audio Mirror, and Sean Jacobs

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15 minutes ago, Superdad said:

 

But don't forget that there is about 20x more resistance in 2 feet of 18AWG wire. B|

 

Of course! More like 8x more resistance for the 15 AWG Silver but still a valid point. 

But also, a regular 2.1 mm DC barrel jack plug has 29x more resistance (reference: Switchcraft DC connector specs).

 

Industry disclosure:
https://chicagohifi.com

Dealer for: Taiko Audio, Conrad Johnson, Audio Mirror, and Sean Jacobs

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13 hours ago, George Hincapie said:

My Farad Super 3 arrived today 😀

 Mine is already in transit to me.  Will get it either tomorrow or Monday.  Mattijs seems like a great guy to deal with.

Zenith SE > USPCB (5v off) > tX-USBultra 9V (SR4) > Sablon Reserva Elite USB > M Scaler > WAVE Stream bnc > DAVE > Prion4/Lazuli Reference > Utopia/LCD-4/HE1000se

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