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

[auricgoldfinger]

12 hours ago, elan120 said:

Based on the experience from the EPS supply I just completed, and now with about 250hrs of burn-in time, I highly recommend taking Sean Jacobs power supply as another viable option.

 

Thanks for the recommendation.  You know how much I value your opinion.  👍

[auricgoldfinger]

7 hours ago, matthias said:

 

Thanks for sharing.

Did you compare standard S100 vs modified S100?

Thanks again

 

Matt

 

Hi Matt,

 

I considered listening to the standard S100 before sending it to The Netherlands for modification, but I know from past experience that my audio memory is best measured in seconds for critical listening.  Since I knew multiple weeks would pass before the switch was returned, I didn't see much value in trying to make a comparison.  The best that I would be able to say is better or worse in the most general sense, but even then, I don't think it would be fair to readers to render an opinion.

 

The only way I could attempt an honest and fair comparison would be if someone could loan me their Melco or Buffalo switch.

 

Brian

[Exocer]

35 minutes ago, ASRMichael said:

Buffalo BS-GU2016 in stock here

 

I just bought one. 

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/402250375981

Does the "GU" use the same Broadcom chipset as the GS? Has it been proven to be equivalent to the GS for audio applications? If so, this would certainly be a more readily available cost-effective alternative.

[ASRMichael]

8 minutes ago, Exocer said:

Does the "GU" use the same Broadcom chipset as the GS? Has it been proven to be equivalent to the GS for audio applications? If so, this would certainly be a more readily available cost-effective alternative.

Well spotted! Didn’t see the GU

[Exocer]

1 minute ago, ASRMichael said:

Well spotted! Didn’t see the GU

 

I almost made the same mistake myself! Always willing to help a fellow audiophile.

[auricgoldfinger]

12 hours ago, austinpop said:

Remind me again if this build was with AMD 3700X or Intel i9-9900K? And I'm assuming JCAT USB XE and Net Card Femto?

 

It has the i9-9900K, JCAT Net Card FEMTO, and Pink Faun Ultra OCXO USB bridge.  The JCAT USB XE had not been released when I bought all the parts.

[Exocer]

54 minutes ago, Nsxturbo said:

I have some interesting news for anyone looking for a Buffalo BS-GS2016A. I just discovered that the BS-GS2016P POE model uses the same main board, it just adds a piggyback board, POE relays and a higher voltage and current SMPS, all of which can be removed or bypassed. 
 

This might open up some additional sourcing opportunities😉

 

 

@Nsxturbo, thanks to your post, I have picked up the BS-GS2016P from Adorama:

 

https://www.adorama.com/bubsgs2016p.html?utm_source=adl-gbase-hometech

 

Although my plan was to wait for confirmation on the BS-GS2008 from @Peter Avgeris and @Nenon.

 

Officially heading down the rabbit-hole... I do not currently have an LPSU for this switch but will likely source something from MPAudio.

 

[matthias]

11 minutes ago, auricgoldfinger said:

The only way I could attempt an honest and fair comparison would be if someone could loan me their Melco or Buffalo switch.

 

Hi Brian,

 

it would be nice to have a comparison. I recall a recent post from @romaz where he wrote:

 

With clocking for example, he (Emile from Taiko Audio) found that high-level clocking did some good things but also bad things with respect to sound quality and I am in agreement with this.  Having once replaced all the clocks on a motherboard, I found the signature to sound too soft and unnatural.  He was able to figure out what these bad things were based on measurements and consequently figured out a way to achieve the good aspects of clocking without the bad without using expensive clocks at all.

 

I think it is helpful to have a baseline before modification.

 

Enjoy 🙂

 

Matt

[ASRMichael]

3 minutes ago, matthias said:

 

Hi Brian,

 

it would be nice to have a comparison. I recall a recent post from @romaz where he wrote:

 

With clocking for example, he (Emile from Taiko Audio) found that high-level clocking did some good things but also bad things with respect to sound quality and I am in agreement with this.  Having once replaced all the clocks on a motherboard, I found the signature to sound too soft and unnatural.  He was able to figure out what these bad things were based on measurements and consequently figured out a way to achieve the good aspects of clocking without the bad without using expensive clocks at all.

 

I think it is helpful to have a baseline before modification.

 

Enjoy 🙂

 

Matt

I remember Nenon told me that also (too soft etc) before he installed the PF Ultra Clock, after his handy DIY work he didn’t hear any negatives, just improvements. 
 

I would imagine it’s clock dependent, or quality of the clock. 

[auricgoldfinger]

14 minutes ago, matthias said:

 

Hi Brian,

 

it would be nice to have a comparison. I recall a recent post from @romaz where he wrote:

 

With clocking for example, he (Emile from Taiko Audio) found that high-level clocking did some good things but also bad things with respect to sound quality and I am in agreement with this.  Having once replaced all the clocks on a motherboard, I found the signature to sound too soft and unnatural.  He was able to figure out what these bad things were based on measurements and consequently figured out a way to achieve the good aspects of clocking without the bad without using expensive clocks at all.

 

I think it is helpful to have a baseline before modification.

 

Enjoy 🙂

 

Matt

 

I understand your point.  However, romaz' comments pertain specifically to replacing multiple clocks on a PC motherboard, not a single clock on a switch.  I have never seen anyone using a 10Mhz reference master clock like the REF 10 or sCLK-OCX10 complain that it made their sNG-10G or EtherREGEN sound soft and choose not to use it.  To the best of my knowledge, romaz always used his REF 10 to re-clock his SOtM switches.  There seems to be a general agreement that better clocking benefits switches. 

 

EDIT:  There is also general agreement the better power benefits pretty much everything.  If you have an OCXO clock being separately powered by a high quality LPS rather than the switch board, which do you logically think is going to sound better?

[lmitche]

On 6/5/2020 at 6:28 PM, John769 said:

I think it is used, which is why Romaz disabled it via the jumper on his USB card.  And why I used the vbus 2 isolator into my NUC. Failing that, a USB A male to USB A female adapter, with the 5V pin broken might do the trick? You are happy with the sound anyway, so probably not worth sweating over.-)

Roy said that when external power is supplied the regular vbus is disabled automatically. That makes sense. I read his comment to mean he disabled the vbus on the USB just to be sure. He didn't describe theSQ difference before and after.

 

Nevertheless over here, without forcing the regular vbus circuit open, there is a big change in SQ with good clean external power versus the USB vbus power.

 

It would be great if someone with the IFI defender can tell us if SQ improves when powering a USB 3.0 device. Mine is broken, and they are ridiculously expensive.

[John769]

9 minutes ago, lmitche said:

Roy said that when external power is supplied the regular vbus is disabled automatically.

Ok, thanks...must have missed that bit.

[Peter Avgeris]

3 hours ago, austinpop said:

 

LOL ... you are "preaching to the choir!" If you look back on this thread over the last 3+ years, you'll see this has been explored extensively.

I do not intend to claim any royalties out of your discovery.

Don't worry!

Just wanted to emphasize something I have been told about...

[auricgoldfinger]

3 hours ago, seeteeyou said:

Converting Intel NUC Mini-PC into state-of-the-art router running pfSense in VirtualBox

https://www.joe0.com/2019/11/07/converting-intel-nuc-mini-pc-into-state-of-the-art-router-running-pfsense-in-oracle-virtualbox/

 

4 Router OS Turns Old PC Into High Performance Router And Enterprise Network Switch

https://www.geckoandfly.com/24015/router-os-enterprise-network-switch/

 

Interesting idea, and definitely something to consider down the road.

 

3 hours ago, seeteeyou said:

And then there's yet another mighty interesting question, could x86-based NUC still manage to beat ARM-based S100 if both of them were modified with the same 25MHz Ultra OCXO?

 

I'm not crazy enough to go there. 

[auricgoldfinger]

3 hours ago, auricgoldfinger said:

If you are not already powering all of the devices in your digital chain PSUs from the vendors who have a proven track record here...Paul Hynes Design, Farad, Uptone, JCAT, and DXPWR...I recommend spending your money to fully address those areas before moving forward with the S100 modification. 

 

I forgot to include Dr. Sean Jacobs in the above list of vendors with a proven track record here.  Apologies for the omission.

[Blake]

Probably too early since it was just recently released, but has anyone tried or have thoughts about the new English Electric 8Switch?

 

https://darko.audio/2020/05/english-electric-readies-8switch/

 

 

 

[basillus]

10 hours ago, ASRMichael said:

Buffalo BS-GU2016 in stock here

 

I just bought one. 

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/402250375981

It should be BS-GU2016P with a P and not the one without you ordered ;0)

[flkin]

14 hours ago, auricgoldfinger said:

...Modifications which are not visible in the photos are the four vibration dampers attached to the bottom of the clock board (one for each corner) and custom Pink Faun wire in the DC cable powering the clock module.  (This is the same wire used in their streamer products)

 

The wires you are referring to is probably the PCX wire Pink Faun uses in their high end streamers. It’s a tin-coated extruded copper wire strand encased in Teflon. Sort of like the Duelund cables I suppose but those are wrapped in oiled cotton instead. 

I have some more info to contribute in the near future about this wire as I’m currently breaking in a Pink Faun Ultra Powercord made of the similar wires and plan to compare it with the Nordost Valhalla power cord. Will post my findings in AS. 
 

Great job on the switch mods, looks promising. 😄

[flkin]

14 hours ago, ASRMichael said:

I remember Nenon told me that also (too soft etc) before he installed the PF Ultra Clock, after his handy DIY work he didn’t hear any negatives, just improvements. 
 

I would imagine it’s clock dependent, or quality of the clock. 

Yes I have 3 Pink Faun Ultra clocks in my streamer handling the motherboard, the CPU and USB awaiting a 4th clock for the LAN. They are all independently powered.

 

I can assure that good clocks don’t make the music soft. In fact the dynamics and details is unbelievable on some media. 

[ASRMichael]

@flkin was just looking through your profile "Audio System" that's some amount of gear you have!! Gather Dust? substantial resale value there!!, Anyway, very nice system, good choice with Symposium stuff by the way, I'm addicted to it!! 

[flkin]

@ASRMichael, yeah sort of collected things over the years. I’m not really into selling stuff, mostly give them away or on extended loan to friends.
 

Yup, Symposium is really good, they actually do makes a difference! I think it was you that has their svelte platforms under speakers? Interesting technique. I’m using Townshend Podiums for vibration management there. Vibration management isn’t analyzed much on this site but I find it as big a difference as many of the electronic optimizations discussed here. 

[ASRMichael]

1 hour ago, flkin said:

@ASRMichael, yeah sort of collected things over the years. I’m not really into selling stuff, mostly give them away or on extended loan to friends.
 

Yup, Symposium is really good, they actually do makes a difference! I think it was you that has their svelte platforms under speakers? Interesting technique. I’m using Townshend Podiums for vibration management there. Vibration management isn’t analyzed much on this site but I find it as big a difference as many of the electronic optimizations discussed here. 

@flkin The utopia " Speakers sitting on Superplatforms, and Rollerblocks underneath the Platforms" Amazing results. actually cut the carpet back so the Rollerblocks are sitting on concrete floor. 

[John769]

Buffalo BS-GS2024

Does the larger model have the same magic sauce as the 16 port one?  Thanks

[Guest]

On 11/21/2018 at 1:05 AM, austinpop said:

Next, I tried several values for this parameter on the command line:

1. default, no setting

2. -b 1048576:1048576

3. -b 1572864:1572864

4. -b 2097152:2097152

 

I normally use large buffers when I can, as you pointed out its best not to over-commit and use too much. With the RaspberryPi it is easy to be to aggressive with settings. Your large buffer of 4g works great with the new RPi with 8G Ram. However with the 4G model a max of 2G or so should be used. 

[Nsxturbo]

3 hours ago, John769 said:

Buffalo BS-GS2024

Does the larger model have the same magic sauce as the 16 port one?  Thanks

I have one and other than the extra ports, it uses the same Broadcom processor and similar topology.

It sounds equally good here to the BS-GS2016, each running off the same model linear power supply.