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

austinpop

By austinpop
in Music Servers

The Computer Audiophile
Message added by The Computer Audiophile

Important and useful information about this thread

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History and index of useful posts

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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RickyV

RickyV

Posted
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Posted
10 minutes ago, FredM said:

 

The Grimm MU1 in action, on top of a rather exclusive platform 😉

 

 

21.jpg


Fred don’t leave us hanging here. Where’s the pic coming from are you auditioning new toys or is it from a Alpha audio review, please tell us more. Is it about the Extreme vs MU1 tell tell tell. 😃

Meitner ma1 v2 dac,  Sovereign preamp and power amp,

DIY speakers, scan speak illuminator.

Raal Requisite VM-1a -> SR-1a with Accurate Sound convolution.

Under development:

NUC7i7dnbe, Euphony Stylus, Qobuz.

Modded Buffalo-fiber-EtherRegen, DC3- Isoregen, Lush^2

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mikicasellas

mikicasellas

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, Nenon said:

First impressions of the JCAT USB XE card in my system:

1. Sounded pretty bad the first 30 minutes. 

2. Big improvement after 30 minutes. 

3. Another big improvement after an hour. 

4. Sounded really good after 4 hours and kept improving.

Could it be because I had to power off my server to install it? Maybe, but I think the card is going through a burn in process, because I kept comparing the motherboard USB output vs. the JCAT USB XE USB output. The difference was minimal in the beginning, but over time it kept becoming bigger and bigger. That's all normal and expected. I typically completely ignore the first 24 hours, but a few people asked me for early feedback.

 

I have compared a lot of USB cards over the past two years - SOTM, Matrix Audio, JCAT, PinkFaun, and some others less famous ones. The JCAT USB Femto card and the PinkFaun USB Bridge with ultraOCXO were my favorite. They sounded much better in my system than any other cards I tried. 

 

It's hard to compare from memory, but for what is worth, I will tell you what I think:

- I am pretty sure it's a step up from the JCAT NET Femto card, which I quite liked. That's easy to tell even from memory.

- I have a PinkFaun USB Bridge here (no OCXO clocks). And I like the JCAT XE better. 

- I am pretty sure I like it better than SOTM, Matrix, etc. 

- What I am not sure is how it compares to the PinkFaun USB Bridge with ultraOCXO. That would be hard to tell from memory. So until I have both in my system to do proper A/B comparison, I would not be able to tell. Luckily there is a member here who is interested to do that comparison.

 

The JCAT XE does scale really well with good linear power supplies. It's easy to hear what difference a power supply makes and even DC cables sound different. It sounds good regardless of the LPS, but the better LPS you use, the better it sounds. My Mundorf silver/gold DC cable proved how good it is yet again. 

 

I see a lot of comments about the high prices of the Sean Jacobs DC4 LPS here. Yes, that is an expensive LPS. I am using a custom DC3 partially upgraded to a DC4, and I can tell you that it makes a big difference with this JCAT XE card. I have not heard a pure DC4, but I think Sean is into something. I know from @romaz that he liked his custom SR7 on the JCAT XE card. So the point is - if you get this USB card, power it with the best LPS you can. I guess there is a reason why @Marcin_gps released his new Optimo 3 Duo LPS at the same time. It looks like the Optimo was designed to power up a JCAT USB and JCAT Net cards. And it also looks like a neat solution. Can't comment on the sound quality of the Optimo, because I don't have one, but from the pictures I can tell that it uses my favorite toroidal transformer. The good news is that the audiophile power supply market keeps growing and there is something suitable at every price point. 

 

Was a 2 day delivery, the regular free shipping that comes with the price ?

ER + PH DR7T - TAIKO Server + PH DR7T ( HQPOs + ROON ) JCAT XE USB - Lampizator Baltic 4 - D-Athena preamp - K- EX-M7 amp - PMC Twenty5 26

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FredM

FredM

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Posted
46 minutes ago, RickyV said:


Fred don’t leave us hanging here. Where’s the pic coming from are you auditioning new toys or is it from a Alpha audio review, please tell us more. Is it about the Extreme vs MU1 tell tell tell. 😃

 

 

@RickyV, @Nenon, @beautiful music and others, here's a link:

https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/topic/58754-grimm-audio-mu1-server/?tab=comments#comment-1041832

 

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Le dom

Le dom

Posted
Posted
15 hours ago, Johnseye said:

 

 

I currently have a tX-USBexp clocked by the sCLK-EX in my server.  Within the next couple days I'll be able to compare it with the JCAT XE.

Hi,

I Have the same combo here. I'm very interested by your comparison... 😀

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Summit

Summit

Posted
Posted
19 hours ago, matthias said:

 

Even the SR7 DR is about half the price of the DC4 and has about the double amp output of the DC4. 

 

Matt

 

I don’t think SR7 DR is even an option anymore. If it is there is more than the final price to consider IMO. A Bird in the Hand is Worth Two in the Bush.

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seeteeyou

seeteeyou

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Posted

Is @romaz getting this by any chance?

 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/236162336799519/permalink/952557981826614/

https://www.hifiwigwam.com/forum/topic/141102-sean-jacobs-dc4-lps-powering-my-dave-and-mscaler/

Quote

I have been listening for the last couple of weeks to a Sean Jacobs DC4 LPS power supply replacing the factory SMPS in the Dave.

Oh my goodness it is simply stunning and takes the Dave to a completely new level of sound quality. The top end is even more smooth and refined and the bass is thunderous and fully defined.

Then I added a DC4 supply to my Mscaler and things got really serious.


I am completely blown away by what these power supplies have done to my system.

 

nhgI5kP.jpg

 

Rr4MgnH.jpg

 

vtIaAiq.jpg

 

w0EBFXZ.jpg

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HeeBroG

HeeBroG

Posted
Posted

Anybody know why there are x2 power DC power cables into DAVE?

PH SR7 > MacMini+Uptone MMK Mod > Audirvana 3.2 > re-clocked D-LInk switch/LPS1.1 > sMS-200Ultra/LPS1.2 > tX-USBUltra/PH SR7 > Chord BluDave > Focal Utopia(Norne Silver) or Voxativ 9.87/ Stereo REL G1 Mk II

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seeteeyou

seeteeyou

Posted
Posted

https://www.facebook.com/groups/236162336799519/permalink/952557981826614/?comment_id=954486501633762&reply_comment_id=954762118272867

Quote

Sean is taking orders now for them. He supplies everything needed for a diy conversion, ie the power supply itself, the umbilical cord with a plug to connect to the Dave and the blanking plate to cover where the AC socket is removed from the Dave. I’m not sure what you mean by the three output version. It just has the supplies for the Dave (which is +-15v & 5v).

 

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lmitche

lmitche

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Posted
On 3/24/2020 at 3:48 AM, RickyV said:

 

 

IMG_1751.thumb.JPG.3662bf2a3037008ee720ee7eff5d6f45.JPG

 

The set through hole is left/above the +out. 

 

 

Hey RickyV, many thanks for the pictures. With these it's been easy to create three parallel double stage sets of 5 volt 2 amp regulators from the spare LDOVR cards found lying around. Some cards were early versions without the set vias. Nevertheless I was able to emulate Alexeys pictures shown above with success. Wherever possible soldered wire connections are done between cards and source or load devices. Where impossible Oyaide 5.5mm x 2.1mm plugs connected to the LT3045 card with 12 guage solid core copper are used.

 

Lastly as an experiment the 12 volt power supplying my Linksys RE9000, used to get internet to my loft, was replaced with a 5 volt LT3045 at 2 amps. It works perfectly and sounds better than with 12 volt power. Who knew?

 

All these changes have really been icing on the cake. I'm really pleased with the sound of these simple changes.

 

 

Pareto Audio aka nuckleheadaudio

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romaz

romaz

Posted
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Posted
11 hours ago, matthias said:

 

This guy from the Wigwam is in the hifi trade and might have some other interests.

 

Looking forward to a comparison SR7 vs. DC4 by @romaz with his Taiko Extreme.

 

Matt

 

I have no experience with Sean's latest DC4 but have known of it for some time.  As an owner of one of Sean's custom builds, I have only good things to say about his work.

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seeteeyou

seeteeyou

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

1)  Conductor:  This can range from tin to iron, brass, gold, copper, silver and graphene (the fastest electrical conductor known to man).

 

Graphene isn't listed but it is claimed to have a conductivity 100x of copper.

 

A Graphene Innovation That Is Music to Your Ears

https://newscenter.lbl.gov/2020/03/11/graphene-innovation-music-to-your-ears/

 

New graphene battery recharges blazingly fast, and it’s already on the market

https://www.digitaltrends.com/features/real-graphene-battery-interview-samuel-gong-ces-2020/

 

Did anyone try combining DXP-1A5DSC with an affordable graphene-based power bank like this one?

 

https://www.lifograph.com/samuel-gong

https://www.realgrapheneusa.com/graphene

https://www.facebook.com/RealGrapheneUSA

https://www.linkedin.com/in/samuel-gong-38281b157

https://techtheday.com/dyk-graphene-batteries-are-already-commercially-available/

https://www.amazon.com/Charge-Faster-Real-Graphene-Charger/dp/B07W6JW72V

 

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taipan254

taipan254

Posted
Posted
7 minutes ago, seeteeyou said:

 

A Graphene Innovation That Is Music to Your Ears

https://newscenter.lbl.gov/2020/03/11/graphene-innovation-music-to-your-ears/

 

New graphene battery recharges blazingly fast, and it’s already on the market

https://www.digitaltrends.com/features/real-graphene-battery-interview-samuel-gong-ces-2020/

 

Did anyone try combining DXP-1A5DSC with an affordable graphene-based power bank like this one?

 

https://www.lifograph.com/samuel-gong

https://www.realgrapheneusa.com/graphene

https://www.facebook.com/RealGrapheneUSA

https://www.linkedin.com/in/samuel-gong-38281b157

https://techtheday.com/dyk-graphene-batteries-are-already-commercially-available/

https://www.amazon.com/Charge-Faster-Real-Graphene-Charger/dp/B07W6JW72V

 

 

Sorry, maybe I'm amazon illterate - how much does this battery cost??? It is not available. 

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