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

seeteeyou · October 19, 2019

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

On 3/30/2017 at 11:10 AM, romaz said:

Graphene isn't listed but it is claimed to have a conductivity 100x of copper. Note that silver is 5% more conductive than copper and that purity matters. UP-OCC grade purity is the purest form of silver or copper that is commercially available (guaranteed to be 99.99997% pure).

https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/topic/30376-a-novel-way-to-massively-improve-the-sq-of-computer-audio-streaming/page/553/?tab=comments#comment-944985

On 4/3/2019 at 8:17 AM, dgarretson said:

The connectors are a mix of IeGo and Furutech. All soldered connections and compression fittings are coated with Perfect Path Total Contact graphene contact enhancer.

BTW, I've had good results with this graphene paste on the pins inside molex connectors of SOtM devices and other digital components-- though one must take care not to over-apply it at the risk of shorting the pins.

https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/topic/37575-how-do-teddy-pardo-psus-compare-to-the-uptone-audio-js-2-and-to-paul-hynes-sr5-and-sr7-psus/page/2/?tab=comments#comment-915681

On 1/9/2019 at 7:05 AM, Kingpin said:

It's powered by the graphene lipo which has a very very low impedance and coupled to 4 LT3045's ....😀

As the snake oil saga (SOS?) continues, we'll never run outta options

https://www.madscientist-audio.com/graphene_ce.html

https://perfectpathtechnologies.com/product/total-contact/

http://v2.stereotimes.com/post/perfectpath-technlogies-total-contact

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/new-tweak-its-fantastic

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/graphene-contact-enhancer-which-one-is-best-for-the-price-and-improveme

Quote

I've only tried Mad Scientist's, I thought it made a huge difference, better than Furutech Nano Liquid, Stabilant 22 gel concentrate or De-Oxit Gold 100% or just newly cleaned plugs and connectors.

If graphene were actually THAT good, here's a little something from AZ

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/cerious-technologies-matrix-usb-cable

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/new-cerious-technologies-upgrade-graphene-matrix-cables/post?postid=1787818#1787818

Quote

As a thank you for all the interest we are offering our GM USB for the introductory price of $849 for a 1M. We would have to sell a separate GM DC cable for at least $399 (yes we are working on this!) so you can see the value this cable brings, not to mention attaching 4 effectively 9 gauge conductors into a USB connector (I go through a lot of eye drops...).

Graphene Matrix DC cable? Let's wait and see if that were able to beat Mundorf / Neotech then.

auricgoldfinger · October 19, 2019

9 hours ago, seeteeyou said:

Graphene Matrix DC cable? Let's wait and see if that were able to beat Mundorf / Neotech then.

A graphene DC cable would be most interesting. I have graphene in various components and cables in my audio system, and I believe there is something to it.

bobfa · October 20, 2019

My Musical Summer of Fun

Three system changes that improved my sound quality!

Over the the summer I have been working to try to improve and simplify my main system. While the Kii Three System is simple, the digital chain running it was NOT.

I have been operating a two box solution with a server in the basement and an endpoint in the cabinet converting to USB for the Kii Control. I have almost always had an ISORegen in the USB chain with a GHENT JSSG360 USB cable to the endpoint and a USBPC to the Kii Control.

I run Euphony OS on my Xeon Server. Over the summer the team at Audiokernel released a new version of their software that runs the core OS components in RAM. I participated in the beta and I am now on the production version. This new version made a very large improvement in sound quality in my server.

Euphony can run a couple of different software packages. The two I am concentrating on are Roon plus Stylus-EP and Stylus. My son and I had a long listening session a few days ago swapping back and forth between the two systems they are pretty close. I think that Stylus does have sound quality edge sometimes but Roon just kills it on the UI/UX. It is great to have them both a few clicks away!

With the new software I decided to try running the server as a single box with USB out. I ran A/B/C testing with the two endpoints I had been using and the single box. The single box won out buy quite a bit. So now the server is in the cabinet with its HDPXEX 400 supply.

The other area I wanted to improve is the USB Chain so I purchased a modified txUSBultra from Audio Sensibility in Canada and it has been in the system for just about two weeks. It is powered by an LPS1.2 from a rail on the HDPLEX 400. I am using a Ghent JSSG360 USB cable between the server and the txUSBultra and a Lush^2 (TANF settings) on the output to the Kii Control. This change improved the detail added some bass extension and took away some more of that digital harshness. Listening again today things continue to improve. Time will tell how much better it will get.

The third change has been VERY interesting. I have tested with different kinds of networking between the various boxes in the system. My main network switch has SFP interfaces on it and I have done a lot of listening using fibre-optic networking vs copper. I have found that fibre worked for me. I had been running a fibre from the switch to the server bridged and then another fibre from the server to the endpoint. That took three FMC devices that I had to power. The bridged ethernet on the server made a difference but I was not happy with all of the extras needed.

When I moved the server to direct connect USB I decided to research FMC devices and the like. I missed out on the first order for the UpTone EtherRegen. I thought about SoTM switches, and others. What I landed on was the Sonore opticalModule that I put it in the system this week! It is powered by a 5V rail from the HDPLEX400 and is connected to the server with a GHENT JSSG360 Ethernet cable. The fibre goes from there to the network switch. Note that my music is stored on a QNAP NAS in the basement network “area”.

The difference that the opticalModule makes is almost stunning. I can only guess that the generic FMC was throwing a lot of junk into the server. There is more of everything. Sound stage, bass extension and control. Musical detail is improved.

NOTE: I CHANGED TWO THINGS AT ONCE! I am not a patient person so the USB and network stuff changed at almost the same time!

So in summary: My Summer of Fun With Stereo yielded some great results!

Euphony SW upgrade that eliminated the need for a D to D
SoTM txUSBultra
Sonore opticalModule

There is more to do. I am upgrading the AC power cabling to the system next. After that:

I have to see if my Element H USB card makes any difference.
I am in on the order for some Apacer ECC DRAM.
I am looking at different Xeon processor that has six or eight cores.
I have not tried doing anything with process allocation on the server.
I need to upgrade the ATX wiring from the power supply to the server.

There is a new version of AudioLinux coming out soon. Who knows???

In summary this is still ugly, there are too many wires, the H5 case is too big. I have not addressed the turntable side of things well enough yet. More to simplify!

It was a good summer and I am happy, the system sounds quite a bit better and I had fun getting here. Not bad for one summer project.

Nenon · October 20, 2019

Thanks for the update, @bobfa.

I have a question about the opticalModule for you. I can totally see how it would make a difference when using Roon. However, I am wondering if it makes a difference when playing files stored on your NAS with Stylus and "buffer before play = 100%"

I was going to get a couple opticalModules and run such tests, but I decided to wait for the EtherREGEN, which I managed to order.

BTW, I think the weakest link in your digital source chain is the HDPLEX400 at this point. And if you get a chance try the PinkFaun USB with ultraOCXO or a JCAT USB card. The Element H USB is okay, but not at the same level in my opinion.

Nenon · October 20, 2019

Last call for the Apacer RAM group buy!

You have about 24 hours left after I post this to contact me if you want to participate.

While it was fun to chat with some of you privately, this turned out to take a lot more of my time than I thought. And for some reason, none of that RAM is available for purchase anywhere online. I have no plans to do this again, so if you want to try any of that memory, make sure you reach out to me via PM today.

Last call and last post from me on that subject.

On 10/11/2019 at 3:56 PM, Nenon said:

Group buy for Apacer RAM

I was not planning to do this, but a few members asked me to do it since this memory is not available anywhere, and we got Rajiv’s (austinpop) permission to post this.
I am going to organize a group buy for the Apacer Industrial memory for a NUC7i7DN.

Some people bought the 75.B93GJ.G010B memory from here and reported excellent results. Probably as a result of this, the memory is out of stock on this web site now.

Marcin reported the following:

Marcin is talking about ECC DRAM, which is NOT COMPATIBLE with a NUC. However, what Marcin is saying here is that the 'new' version of the Apacer sounds better than the 'previous' version.

If the same analogy is true for the non-ECC SDRAM for the NUC7i7DN, then the model that people are suggesting, buying, and testing (75.B93GJ.G010B) is the 'previous' model. The new model, compatible with NUC7i7DN is:

D21.23180S.001 DDR4 4GB SODIMM 2666 CL19 WT

I was not able to find that memory available anywhere online.

I reached out to my friend who works with Apacer, and he said he could place a one-time order of D21.23180S.001 memory for us. Hence this post. The price would be $75 shipped within the US. People outside of the US would have to pay actual shipping. Orders would be collected until Sunday, October 20th. He would require a full payment via PayPal until the end of the day on 10/20/2019. The order would be placed on Monday, 10/21/2019. Once the order is placed I will provide an update with the expected shipping date. Typically it takes about 10 days. If you want to participate in the group buy please send me a PM.

It is important to keep this thread on topic. Please contact me directly if you have any questions.

Summary:

- This is a group order for the 4GB Apacer D21.23180S.001 memory.

- Deadline: 10/20/2019

- Price: $75 shipped within the US.

- Send me a PM if you would like to participate.

On 10/16/2019 at 4:12 PM, Nenon said:

Quick update:

1. Apacer Non-ECC DRAM. Some members asked about the 4 GB Non-ECC DDR4 DIMM (not SODIMM) equivalent memory, so we are now including this in the group buy. It's the same price.

2. Apacer ECC DRAM. We are also getting the ECC RAM Marcin recommended for a couple members. That works with AMD Ryzen and Intel Xeon CPUs.

Please contact me via PM if you have any questions. I would really like not to disturb this thread with off topic discussions.

Lastly, I am spending quite a bit of time on this group buy and planning to do it one time only. Orders would be accepted until the end of the day on Sunday.

seeteeyou · October 20, 2019

On 10/1/2019 at 7:12 AM, Energy said:

The Epyc 3000 on the other hand looks much bigger than something like a Intel NUC so I wonder if it would still sound as good given more parts/components being used which may result to more noise. The Ryzen 3900 sounds like the perfect CPU to be used in a music server. The TDP puts it just low enough to be used in a fanless chassis.

They do have something else that's as small as it gets

https://www.module-store.de/en/conga-b7e3-amd-epyc-3000/?cat=187

http://linuxgizmos.com/amds-epyc-3000-shows-up-on-com-express-type-7-module/

https://www.congatec.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Documents/Datasheets/conga-B7E3.pdf

https://www.congatec.com/technologies/com-express/com-express-type-7/amd-epyc-embedded-3000-eco-system.html

https://www.congatec.com/technologies/com-express/com-express-type-7/com-express-type-7-with-amd-epyc-3000-processors.html

https://www.picmg.org/resources/news/member-press-releases/congatec-com-express-type-7-module-with-amd-epyc-embedded-3000-processor/

Though we'll have to add that conga-STX7 carrier board and it's gonna get so expensive just because we're paying for the flexibility of COM Express

https://www.congatec.com/en/congatec/press-releases/article/congatec-launches-100-watt-ecosystem-for-embedded-edge-and-micro-servers.html

This is what they're asking for another larger carrier board

https://www.module-store.de/en/conga-x7eval-com-express-type-7-evaluation-board/

https://www.module-store.de/en/conga-x7eval/ind/

https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/congatec/conga-X7-EVAL?qs=F5EMLAvA7IBVWkrTPB%2FoBA%3D%3D

What if we're looking for something that's even more compact than NUC? Recently one of our sponsors just hit another home run

https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/topic/57258-allo-usbridge-signature/

http://moodeaudio.org/forum/showthread.php?tid=1704&pid=13278

https://community.roonlabs.com/t/allo-usbridge-signature/77667

https://community.roonlabs.com/t/new-allo-usbridge-sig-is-it-roon-ready/78958

https://www.diyaudio.com/forums/pc-based/329911-getting-allo-coms-katana-dac-40.html

I could see myself connecting HDDs to that USB CLEAN port and use it as my quality NAS, not the most powerful hardware for sure but even its Gigabit Ethernet @ 330 Mbps should be no biggie for audio purposes IMHO

https://www.allo.com/sparky/usbridge-signature-pcb.html

https://www.allo.com/sparky/usbridge-signature-player.html

Quote

To lower the noise of the USB, we had to lower noise on EACH rail. In total, USBridge Sig uses more than 30 LDOs. Even the SD card power rail has a dedicated LDO. There are zero switching elements on board.

bobfa · October 20, 2019

7 hours ago, Nenon said:

Thanks for the update, @bobfa.

I have a question about the opticalModule for you. I can totally see how it would make a difference when using Roon. However, I am wondering if it makes a difference when playing files stored on your NAS with Stylus and "buffer before play = 100%"

I was going to get a couple opticalModules and run such tests, but I decided to wait for the EtherREGEN, which I managed to order.

BTW, I think the weakest link in your digital source chain is the HDPLEX400 at this point. And if you get a chance try the PinkFaun USB with ultraOCXO or a JCAT USB card. The Element H USB is okay, but not at the same level in my opinion.

I think that the FMC is running all the time and it can generate noise on the Ethernet even when there is not traffic. Yes I have 100% buffer set.

I will see where. I go from here. Thanks for Roon the ideas. Note I am not even using the element H card right now.

bobfa · October 20, 2019

3 hours ago, seeteeyou said:

They do have something else that's as small as it gets

https://www.module-store.de/en/conga-b7e3-amd-epyc-3000/?cat=187

http://linuxgizmos.com/amds-epyc-3000-shows-up-on-com-express-type-7-module/

https://www.congatec.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Documents/Datasheets/conga-B7E3.pdf

https://www.congatec.com/technologies/com-express/com-express-type-7/amd-epyc-embedded-3000-eco-system.html

https://www.congatec.com/technologies/com-express/com-express-type-7/com-express-type-7-with-amd-epyc-3000-processors.html

https://www.picmg.org/resources/news/member-press-releases/congatec-com-express-type-7-module-with-amd-epyc-embedded-3000-processor/

Though we'll have to add that conga-STX7 carrier board and it's gonna get so expensive just because we're paying for the flexibility of COM Express

https://www.congatec.com/en/congatec/press-releases/article/congatec-launches-100-watt-ecosystem-for-embedded-edge-and-micro-servers.html

This is what they're asking for another larger carrier board

https://www.module-store.de/en/conga-x7eval-com-express-type-7-evaluation-board/

https://www.module-store.de/en/conga-x7eval/ind/

https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/congatec/conga-X7-EVAL?qs=F5EMLAvA7IBVWkrTPB%2FoBA%3D%3D

What if we're looking for something that's even more compact than NUC? Recently one of our sponsors just hit another home run

https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/topic/57258-allo-usbridge-signature/

http://moodeaudio.org/forum/showthread.php?tid=1704&pid=13278

https://community.roonlabs.com/t/allo-usbridge-signature/77667

https://community.roonlabs.com/t/new-allo-usbridge-sig-is-it-roon-ready/78958

https://www.diyaudio.com/forums/pc-based/329911-getting-allo-coms-katana-dac-40.html

I could see myself connecting HDDs to that USB CLEAN port and use it as my quality NAS, not the most powerful hardware for sure but even its Gigabit Ethernet @ 330 Mbps should be no biggie for audio purposes IMHO

https://www.allo.com/sparky/usbridge-signature-pcb.html

https://www.allo.com/sparky/usbridge-signature-player.html

Let us know what you build and how it sounds as that is what this thread is all about!,... How things sound!

— I am sure that the Allo will be getting a review here soon!😉😉

luisma · October 21, 2019

10 hours ago, bobfa said:

I think that the FMC is running all the time and it can generate noise on the Ethernet even when there is not traffic. Yes I have 100% buffer set.

I will see where. I go from here. Thanks for Roon the ideas. Note I am not even using the element H card right now.

Thank you Bob for the the updates, just remember the FMC when connected to fiber will generate a 810 mhz 40db noise radio signal which may interfere with other things, this signal is highly directional if the FMC have good shielding so orienting the device to "splash" the wave where it doesn't "hurt" might make a difference.

Good summer project indeed

Take care

bobfa · October 21, 2019

1 hour ago, luisma said:

Thank you Bob for the the updates, just remember the FMC when connected to fiber will generate a 810 mhz 40db noise radio signal which may interfere with other things, this signal is highly directional if the FMC have good shielding so orienting the device to "splash" the wave where it doesn't "hurt" might make a difference.

Good summer project indeed

Take care

Luis,

Can you point me to some reference material on this please?

Bob

darkfrank · October 21, 2019

On 10/17/2019 at 11:34 PM, seeteeyou said:

That's why we'd like to call it 臥虎藏龍 or Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in English.

So many interesting products over there while they're virtually unknown to international customers. Here's an example with four SC cut OCXO

http://www.nctodolbs.com/dp-505-pro/

And then there's also something else called Jie Audio OS (kinda similar to XXHighEnd or something?) for 2,000 RMB

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=549594639001

They've got plenty of options to optimize the SQ department of RoonServer

http://www.headphoneclub.com/thread-732005-1-1.html

One of their customers tried AudioLinux (but not Euphony / Stylus yet) before and that's no match for JAOS, though AudioLinux might not be as optimized as what Larry did.

Even running the Server Core flavor of Windows Server 2019 in RAM (with Audiophile Optimizer + Process Lasso + Fidelizer) still wasn't as good as what JAOS could offer, though there might be language barrier unless we're adding this stuff ourselves

Microsoft-Windows-Server-Language-Pack_x64_en-us.cab
https://software-download.microsoft.com/download/pr/17763.1.180914-1434.rs5_release_SERVERLANGPACKDVD_OEM_MULTI.iso

Windows 8.1 Language Packs

https://github.com/Titokhan/display-language-switcher/blob/master/LangPack/9600-LPs.txt

Windows 8 Language Packs

https://github.com/Titokhan/display-language-switcher/blob/master/LangPack/9200-LPs.txt

Language Packs for Windows Embedded 8 Standard (64-bit)
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=38763

Sometimes it's also fun to read direct listening impressions on other threads, especially when we're all about a collection of impressions on this particular thread here. I saw that JAOS actually consumed less than 1GB of RAM with 28 processes / 265 threads / 5359 handles, therefore having only 4GB of Apacer RAM should be good to go.

IIRC some of us actually opted for the superior SQ of Euphony / Stylus while forgoing the strength of Roon, maybe there's still a chance for Roon to shine again?

I kinda agree with Windows X's comparison between Windows and Linux that Linux always lack harmonics and consistency, make you feel that the sound stage is huge but empty.

Energy · October 21, 2019

17 hours ago, seeteeyou said:

They do have something else that's as small as it gets

https://www.module-store.de/en/conga-b7e3-amd-epyc-3000/?cat=187

I could see myself connecting HDDs to that USB CLEAN port and use it as my quality NAS, not the most powerful hardware for sure but even its Gigabit Ethernet @ 330 Mbps should be no biggie for audio purposes IMHO

https://www.allo.com/sparky/usbridge-signature-pcb.html

https://www.allo.com/sparky/usbridge-signature-player.html

Great to see more Ryzen / EPYC 3000 options. The 4 core / 4 thread though might not be as good as the current V1605B that comes in the Asrock iBOX-V1000 which does 4 core / 8 thread and with higher clocks too.

USBridge-Signature would make a good endpoint for those who doesn't plan to use a USB regeneration like a tX-USBultra or have the their operating system put on ram boot. I wonder which is better. A less powerful endput with overall lower noise especially on the USB output or a stronger dedicated endpoint running ramboot with ECC/Industrial ram. It's hard to tell. Maybe one day there will be more decent processors with ECC supported RAM and a bunch of ultra low noise voltage regulators being used.

kennyb123 · October 21, 2019

On 9/22/2019 at 10:02 PM, austinpop said:

I've tried this battery in 3 distinct use cases, powering devices that need high, medium, or low current, and the only difference is how much of a gap there is between the PP2 and the better supplies.

High current - Hugo TT2: SR7-15 > Farad 3-15 > SR4-15 > PP2-12 (since the TT2 will not accept 16V), but each step is a relatively small difference

Medium current - Hugo M Scaler: SR7-15 > SR4-15 ≈ Farad 3-15 > PP2-16

Low current - SOtM sNH-10G: SR7-12 > SR4-12 ≈ Farad 3-12 > LPS-1.2 > PP2-12

That said, the PP2 does beat out the stock SMPSes for all these devices.

Yeah the PP2 most certainly does beat out the stock SMPSs for both my Chord HMS and my TT2. It took me awhile but I finally got around to trying a pair of these batteries. I was kind of surprised by how much of a difference they made. I was so delighted I actually mumbled “I think I’m done now”.

Of course I didn’t really believe those words, but I was surprised by how soon after that I uttered the words “I gotta get me two of those”.

@Always.Learning dropped by on Saturday and brought with him his recently-acquired Farad Super3-15v. We tried it first on my TT2. After I was able to pick my jaw up off the floor, I looked over and said “wow, my DAC can really sound like that?” My journey thus far with the HMS+TT2 has taken my system to a level I never imagined it would reach. Quite astonishing to learn that this journey still has a lot left to show me.

It probably won’t be until early next year that I acquire a Super3. It was truly awesome though that I got a chance to hear one in my system so I’d have a better idea of what to expect.

@austinpop a huge thanks to you for letting us know about the Super3.

FredM · October 21, 2019

On 10/20/2019 at 6:48 AM, bobfa said:

With the new software I decided to try running the server as a single box with USB out. I ran A/B/C testing with the two endpoints I had been using and the single box. The single box won out buy quite a bit.

Hi Bob, many thanks for sharing, this is a great update for those who want to keep things simple 😀. I’m wondering, did you perhaps also had the chance to compare the (a) Euphony Roon Core using the StylesEP, with (b) Euphony Roon Core using an additional/external Roon Endpoint device?

bobfa · October 21, 2019

Fred,

I have been running dual systems with different endpoints for a long time. This is the first time in three plus years where the single device sounded better. If you look for my “from 0 to” posts you will find both the server and the NUC endpoint that I have built. There are also some interesting discussions around different Linux variants to look at.

I have tested with multiple operating systems on the endpoint as well as multiple endpoint types. I have not scratched the surface of all of the possible variants. I will be documenting some of this down the road.

IN GENERAL and IN MY EXPERIENCE so far Euphony has improved my system sound quality.

luisma · October 22, 2019

22 hours ago, bobfa said:

you point me to some reference material on this please?

Hi Bob, there is no reference anywhere for this that I could find, this is something I accidentally discovered installing radio systems and I have documented myself with my own videos. Note there is not fact this affects SQ but we all know RFI affects sound somehow, I purchased recently a phone dac that when the tower is far away and the phone uses more power to reach the tower the DAC audio buzzes because of the phone RFI power.

the FMC on my empirical measurements transmit with 30 to 40 dbm which as you could imagine is a lot for it.

I mentioned this on this forum but I'll pm you my Dropbox link and you'll be the judge.

Note also on my experiments the shielding quality of the FMC is paramount, and you'll be surprised finding expensive Catalyst latest Gen and HPe equipment leaking RF.

Contrary to all reasoning inexpensive ubiquity equipment with their standard sfps provided excellent lateral shielding

Chopin75 · October 22, 2019

22 minutes ago, luisma said:

Hi Bob, there is no reference anywhere for this that I could find, this is something I accidentally discovered installing radio systems and I have documented myself with my own videos. Note there is not fact this affects SQ but we all know RFI affects sound somehow, I purchased recently a phone dac that when the tower is far away and the phone uses more power to reach the tower the DAC audio buzzes because of the phone RFI power.

the FMC on my empirical measurements transmit with 30 to 40 dbm which as you could imagine is a lot for it.

I mentioned this on this forum but I'll pm you my Dropbox link and you'll be the judge.

Note also on my experiments the shielding quality of the FMC is paramount, and you'll be surprised finding expensive Catalyst latest Gen and HPe equipment leaking RF.

Contrary to all reasoning inexpensive ubiquity equipment with their standard sfps provided excellent lateral shielding

According to the "upgrade company" EMF/RF etc are no. 1 killer of great audio sound. Thus includes wifi (and damn my router is in my Hi-Fi room)

https://upgradecompany.com

I probably should put a lead shield around my LPS haha, but it needs to be ventilated somehow.

luisma · October 22, 2019

1 minute ago, Chopin75 said:

I probably should put a lead shield around my LPS haha

that will probably work indeed, led is the best (sorry is it lead or led?) I'm not a native english person.

I can't find the video where I wrapped two layers of aluminum foil over the FMC, temporarily of course because it needs to dissipate, the effects !!! NONE, then I went to amazon looking for copper foil, I ended up purchasing $600 of equipment switches, etc. and started testing the one by one, some I did return to Amazon some others I still have em in storage (after 3 years).

My findings, the shielding the manufacturers uses makes all the difference, you can't contain RF but you can direct it (kind of) hence my posting above to @bobfa, I was able to use the devices on my application with careful positioning.

The worst is the power cable, when FMC's radiates everywhere the DC cable becomes a powerful antenna (the ethernet not so much), yes I know get some RFI/EMI ferrite beads blockers and put it on the cable, sure, tried it and waste my money doing it.

Chopin75 · October 22, 2019

12 minutes ago, luisma said:

that will probably work indeed, led is the best (sorry is it lead or led?) I'm not a native english person.

I can't find the video where I wrapped two layers of aluminum foil over the FMC, temporarily of course because it needs to dissipate, the effects !!! NONE, then I went to amazon looking for copper foil, I ended up purchasing $600 of equipment switches, etc. and started testing the one by one, some I did return to Amazon some others I still have em in storage (after 3 years).

My findings, the shielding the manufacturers uses makes all the difference, you can't contain RF but you can direct it (kind of) hence my posting above to @bobfa, I was able to use the devices on my application with careful positioning.

The worst is the power cable, when FMC's radiates everywhere the DC cable becomes a powerful antenna (the ethernet not so much), yes I know get some RFI/EMI ferrite beads blockers and put it on the cable, sure, tried it and waste my money doing it.

"lead" is correct. Or "Pb" for international symbol of the periodic table. Indeed Pb is used for shielding radiation in X-ray department! I have a few lead pieces, mainly too block a huge transformer causing hum as the interconnects get too close. Lead probably works best but as I said it is not that "clean" so they use aluminum instead. Probably not working that well, I am not sure about copper but it is commonly used in wire shielding.

The AC power, as I Read somewhere generates huge electromagetic wave due to its AC current, and so it should actually be shielded not to improve its sound but to prevent it from affecting other components. But "experts" say that shielding may worsen the sound (>?? really?). It has largest skin effect due to the nature of AC current driving all the electrons to the surface, hence copper should be good enough, and apparently multi strand is fine since skin effect is most important.So we don't see solid core AC cable, and usually no pure silver. Silver plated is adequate due to skin effect. I hope I got this correct ??

FelipeRolim · October 22, 2019

For a long time I tried to promote electromagnetic shielding and electrical isolation among countless of my DIY devices, with particular emphasis on what I've built most in recent years: dedicated computers. My practical experience from power cords, electrical wiring, and computer construction indicates that for all system items, there's an optimal point of filtration and isolation. If you add too many filters (like the Nordost Qv2, the iFi AC iPurifier, or even regenerators like the PS Audio P5 and P10), the sound system tends to work as perfectly as it would if the electrical installation was best built to the point of not relying on such equipment/gadgets.

I know several power conditioners, including the PS Audio P5, and from a certain qualitative level of power (with large grounding circuits, good quality wiring, special fuses etc.), it becomes a clear limitation, unless the listener likes something extremely dry, analytical and focused on detail, not music. The same thing with electromagnetic shielding: when exaggerated, it causes hardness, loss of harmonics, dryness, and the cable level drops. I've experimented with all kinds of material, and the less shielding the better, especially on digital cables (I risk this being one of the secrets that makes Curious Cable USB so hard to beat). You can try this from a simple cable to a high level cable. SATA cable is a good prototype for experimentation. I have here a Deronxin-T 6Gbps SATA cable which, after adding two layers of cotton plus one layer of aluminum, touches a much higher level than Pachanko Red, and this with an investment of less than $ 10.00. But if one or two more layers of aluminum are added, the sound gets very bad. So, it's not just shielding, isolating, because, as I always say and make a point of reinforcing, music isn't just benchmark, and measurements don't qualify audio. What's not lacking in the market is DAC that goes bad on bench and plays very well, and DAC with everything "perfect" playing badly.

There's a theoretical minimum that must be respected, but much of the result stems from patient experimentation. Objectively thinking, for example, any Linux with 2GB or less, which has very few processes and that takes up 300MB of RAM should play better than a Windows. At least on my system, that's not what happens. But, it didn't come overnight. It came from years of experimentation and fine-tuning until it reached the current stage. Every good system demands listening time, not measuring time. We don't have an oscilloscope placed in the ear.

RickyV · October 22, 2019

seeteeyou · October 22, 2019

On 10/20/2019 at 1:04 AM, auricgoldfinger said:

A graphene DC cable would be most interesting. I have graphene in various components and cables in my audio system, and I believe there is something to it.

A reputable seller just posted a decent deal that looked pretty dope

https://www.usaudiomart.com/details/649561380-synergistic-research-powercell-12-uef-se-blue-outlets-with-5-foot-galileo-sx-power-cord/

I've been looking for graphene (with silver etc.) headphone cables as well but unfortunately Cerious Technologies don't sell 'em. Have you ever tried these guys from the lending library?

https://www.thecableco.com/atmosphere-headphone-cable.html

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/synergistic-research-atmosphere-headphone-cables.801751/

No graphene but just wondering if this stuff were some kinda hype or actually a game changer?

https://www.thecableco.com/the-omega-live-headphone-cable.html

https://www.taralabs.com/products/item/17-headphone-cables/138-omega-live

I don't live in the states so that's no go for me.

auricgoldfinger · October 22, 2019

52 minutes ago, seeteeyou said:

A reputable seller just posted a decent deal that looked pretty dope

https://www.usaudiomart.com/details/649561380-synergistic-research-powercell-12-uef-se-blue-outlets-with-5-foot-galileo-sx-power-cord/

I have this exact model and cable. The improvements to my system were exactly as advertised. I am thrilled with the performance.

53 minutes ago, seeteeyou said:

Have you ever tried these guys from the lending library?

https://www.thecableco.com/atmosphere-headphone-cable.html

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/synergistic-research-atmosphere-headphone-cables.801751/

I haven't heard this cable, but SR has a new (and slightly less expensive) version with all their latest technology coming to market soon. It will have their silver wire (air strings) and graphene shielding which work so well in my HD grounding, USB, and power cables. There will be a 30-day money-back guarantee, so I plan to try one. If you can find an SR dealer in Asia, you ought to be able to do the same.

https://www.synergisticresearch.com/cables/foundation/foundation-headphone/

1 hour ago, seeteeyou said:

No graphene but just wondering if this stuff were some kinda hype or actually a game changer?

https://www.thecableco.com/the-omega-live-headphone-cable.html

https://www.taralabs.com/products/item/17-headphone-cables/138-omega-live

This is an intriguing product, but more than I would pay for a headphone cable. What most interests me here is the floating ground station. Given the experience with grounding other cables in my system, I would love to ground a headphone cable to my active ground block.

seeteeyou · October 23, 2019

22 hours ago, auricgoldfinger said:

This is an intriguing product, but more than I would pay for a headphone cable. What most interests me here is the floating ground station. Given the experience with grounding other cables in my system, I would love to ground a headphone cable to my active ground block.

They do sell quite a few headphone cables with female 3.5-mm plugs for connecting ground cables, 3.3-m Atlantis Infinity turned out to be cheaper than 2.2-m ones

http://entreq.eu/info/ENTREQ_pricelist_2019_01.pdf#page=10

Or just wrap this around your existing headphone cables instead

https://www.thecableco.com/silver-mini-wraps-pair.html

http://entreq.eu/info/ENTREQ_pricelist_2019_01.pdf#page=2

Someone also demonstrated how to do it with Wireworld's flagship Nano-Platinum Eclipse

https://medium.com/mad4u/telosgnrm-17dffecb6790

Maybe keep an eye on used ones for experimental purposes, usually the headphone cables should be under 500 bucks

https://www.hifizero.com/index.php?q=Wireworld platinum eclipse

We could actually get some bulk wires from our local authorized dealer, though it's just a bit risky to be on the street these days.

Quote

Similar in overall structure and construction these wraps are a natural extension to the performance enhancements found in the standard wraps. With particular attention given to the mineral mixture in the main pockets of the wraps themselves, as well as a dedicated ground point to further drain noise and field effects, these wraps offer an obvious and clear improvement in almost every application.

A pair of Infinity Silver Mini Wraps would cost $160 and grounding DC cables with JSSG 360 ^ Infinity would be such a catchy name

https://www.entreq.com/news-17217671

Grounding non-Habst clock cables are also fun since Habst ones seemed to work quite well whenever they're grounded, same deal with coaxial cables between Hugo M Scaler and DACs because of all that RF noise.

https://www.entreq.com

Quote

The DC Power cable are at least as important as the AC Power cable is for the sound and result.
We now introduce a wide range of DC Power cords.
From Primer to our top model Atlantis.

They posted that back in February 2019 but somehow that didn't seem to be available anywhere yet.

Obviously we don't really HAVE to pay for those wraps or expensive DC cables, just steal their ideas and see how it goes.

Metnoc · October 23, 2019

Later than promised but here it is, my take on Farad Super 3.

Tried two farad, a 19V for my roon core computer and a 12V for the sms200ultra endpoint.
Furutech rhodium fuse for the 19V and Synergistic research blue fuse for the 12V. Both upgraded with Furutech rhodium ac-inlet. Farad level 2 dc copper cables and Farad power cords.

In short, the results where kinda similar with farad to both the roon core and endpoint, however a larger impact on the endpoint. Farad sounded liquid, dense and a little dark. It bested the Uptone lps 1.2 for the endpoint, uptone sounded a little thin in comparison.

Also tried Audio Linux instead of windows 10 with Fidelizer which I usually use for the roon core computer. Thought maybe that I would prefer AL with Farad PSU, but still enjoy the sound of windows more. AL sounds somewhat thin to my ears.

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

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