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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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57 minutes ago, ASRMichael said:

High end company Tidal Audio (don’t mistake for Tidal music service) will be launching their new streamer this summer! 

 

Streamer or server?

Which OS does it use?

How much?

 

Thanks

 

Matt

"I want to know why the musicians are on stage, not where". (John Farlowe)

 

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39 minutes ago, BigAlMc said:

 

The Finisar SFP modules. Two for 20 quid on EBay. Yet to hear them myself but several people saying they are great.

 

These are the latest and greatest Finisar transceivers: https://optical.communications.ii-vi.com/optical-transceivers/ftlf1318p3btl

 

I am burning in a pair now, so I am not prepared to make any detailed comments.  I was not fond of the previous Finisar SFP to which you are referring and chose to stay with the Planet Technology SFP.  If I am able to work through the issue of some unwanted glare and harshness, which may dissipate with more time, a longer cable, or attenuators, then the newest Finisar SFP will be my transceiver of choice.

 

 

 

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25 minutes ago, mourip said:

Did you have reason to believe that I had not tried it? I am a network engineer by profession and usually watch for network related tweaks with interest.

 

I simply asked you a polite question and offered a few suggestions that could potentially be appealing.  I have no reason to know your profession or what you read or anything about your audio system.  I was merely trying to be helpful.  I'll refrain from doing so in the future.

 

 

 

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9 hours ago, auricgoldfinger said:

 

These are the latest and greatest Finisar transceivers: https://optical.communications.ii-vi.com/optical-transceivers/ftlf1318p3btl

 

I am burning in a pair now, so I am not prepared to make any detailed comments.  I was not fond of the previous Finisar SFP to which you are referring and chose to stay with the Planet Technology SFP.  If I am able to work through the issue of some unwanted glare and harshness, which may dissipate with more time, a longer cable, or attenuators, then the newest Finisar SFP will be my transceiver of choice.


What was it about the newer model that lead you to want to try it?  Or maybe the better question is what about it makes you suspect that you will favor it over the old version many of us purchased?

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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On 4/21/2020 at 10:14 AM, Nenon said:

 

That's part of the challenge. There is no good quality power supply on the market that I know of that can adequately power up this beast. There is no passive cooling chassis that is compatible with the FCLGA3647 socket, and you have two of them. There is no passive cooling chassis where this motherboard would fit in without drilling. It is very difficult to find good quality industrial RDIMM RAM, so that's a custom order. I am doing custom CPU heatsinks and custom cooling pipes, custom LPS, etc. etc. The list goes on and on. 

I have trouble finding industrial RAM

I could buy from SOS electronic at a good price 2 pcs of 4GB RAM Apacer industrial DDR3 SODIMM 1,35V (75.B93E2.G040B) for the server part of my double PC. But impossible to find 2 pcs of équivalent 2Gb RAM (75.A83E2.G030B) for the player part. No stock seems available anywhere which looks strange to me unless it is discontinued parts but they were marketed since 2017 only!

Is there any alternative?

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5 hours ago, kennyb123 said:


What was it about the newer model that lead you to want to try it?  Or maybe the better question is what about it makes you suspect that you will favor it over the old version many of us purchased?

The other version, praised on WBF, was FTLF1324P2BTL-MC LW?

There are currently refurbished ones going for less than 8 euros on ebay (EU), if anyone wants to try.  

 

I just bought a pair of new FTLX1471D3BCV 10GB/1GB for even less than that, just to compare. 

 

It's hard to keep up 🙃 

 

 

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3 hours ago, Ricardo007 said:

I have trouble finding industrial RAM

I could buy from SOS electronic at a good price 2 pcs of 4GB RAM Apacer industrial DDR3 SODIMM 1,35V (75.B93E2.G040B) for the server part of my double PC. But impossible to find 2 pcs of équivalent 2Gb RAM (75.A83E2.G030B) for the player part. No stock seems available anywhere which looks strange to me unless it is discontinued parts but they were marketed since 2017 only!

Is there any alternative?

I was able to find Apacer memory on eBay that worked for one of my endpoints and also my music server, both of which use the same system board. These were pulls but have run perfectly for months and were MUCH cheaper than any of the sources for new stock.


"Don't Believe Everything You Think"

System

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7 hours ago, kennyb123 said:


What was it about the newer model that lead you to want to try it?  Or maybe the better question is what about it makes you suspect that you will favor it over the old version many of us purchased?

 

You may recall that I found the older Finisar to sound thin due to a recessed midrange when used on my SOtM and modified Melco switches.  The fullness of the Planet Tech was more important to me than any increased clarity from the Finisar.

 

The newer Finisar has the fullness of the Planet Tech with clarity that exceeds the older Finisar.  The nature of the change is similar to what I experienced when moving to Apacer RAM, although to a lesser degree.  My only reservation has been the occasional passage of music that sounds a bit edgier than I would prefer.  (Think searing Jimmy Page guitar on Nobody's Fault but Mine.)  I am hoping to calm things down a bit by using a coiled 5m fiber cable.

 

After listening more last night, I have decided to keep the new Finisar in my system.  I was very fond of the Planet Tech, but they sound congested when I listen to them now.  The difference is quite obvious.

 

In my system, the Startech and Planet Tech sounded good out of the box.  The new Finisars were harsh and unlistenable, so I have been playing music 24/7 for the past 5 or 6 days to burn them in.  They started calming down after 48 hours and have continued improving gradually ever since.  I spent about 2 1/2 hours listening on Saturday night and another hour on Sunday night without experiencing any fatigue.

 

 

 

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3 hours ago, auricgoldfinger said:

After listening more last night, I have decided to keep the new Finisar in my system.  I was very fond of the Planet Tech, but they sound congested when I listen to them now.  The difference is quite obvious.

 

I guess I shouldn't have been surprised, but that it was easy to hear differences between SFPs surely came as a surprise.  The device doing the media conversion factors into this too.  An SFP that sounds good in one device, may not sound as good in another.

 

I'm presently happy with the older Finisar SFPs and will sit tight for the time being.  Nice to know there is another good option in the new version.  Thanks for sharing.

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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On 6/7/2020 at 7:07 PM, auricgoldfinger said:

Photos of the modified S100

 

20200607_102357.MEDIUM.thumb.jpeg.a770308c014d9d4650259d6da7995606.jpeg

 

Hi auric,

thanks for this great idea of clock replacement.

If it does not bother you, could you please post the same photo without the heat sink ? to see how Pink Faun connected its clock to the board. If the heat sink is glued etc, don't bother with this request of course.

 

The clock that was replaced is a CMOS clock (4 pins), or there was a crystal-oscillator circuit ?

Rgds

2.1 basic stuff => 2 mains are Dynaudio Core59 + sub Dynaudio 18s

Actives / digital AES in / active correction on PC side

Passive daddy setup is dead

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@kennyb123I'm assuming the SFP modules being used in your chain are transferring the signal from a network device towards your endpoint/DAC. Could you please clarify whether this is the case? I'm my situation I use the fiber SFP from my router to the rest of my network to isolate my music from the network and I'm wondering if different SFP modules will make a noticeable difference when the fiber connection isn't used for the audio signal chain.

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38 minutes ago, adamaley said:

@kennyb123I'm assuming the SFP modules being used in your chain are transferring the signal from a network device towards your endpoint/DAC. Could you please clarify whether this is the case? I'm my situation I use the fiber SFP from my router to the rest of my network to isolate my music from the network and I'm wondering if different SFP modules will make a noticeable difference when the fiber connection isn't used for the audio signal chain.

 

I thought a picture might help.  The Finisar SFPs are used in the ER and OM with fiber shown in yellow.  

 

Slide1.thumb.jpeg.b31ac42d6e30533d2a89bce3f004e9d2.jpeg

 

 

The UniFi US-8-150W switch has two SFP ports so I thought I would see if I could further isolate my audio leg from the rest of my network.  ST in the case below is a Startech FMC.  I tried the Finisar SFPs there too but thought it added some brightness - but think it's more of a case of the Startech FMC causing it since the result was the same with Planet Tech SFPs .  

 

Simply because I ran out of regular ports, the NAS is now connected to the Startech FMC.  I didn't hear an increase in brightness, but I also don't know if isolating my NAS like this provided any uptick in sound quality.  

 

There are other experiments I can try, including using the fiber to isolate UniFi switches from each other.  This illustration is out of date as I've been moving stuff around.  The eventual goal is to get all the wireless access points onto the US-8-150W and then move all the audio stuff off to an isolated switch that has a better power supply.

 

 

Slide2.thumb.jpeg.d70a1d14a57f7dd2be0ebc99519bc9b4.jpeg

 

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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10 minutes ago, Peter Avgeris said:

This has been my latest experiment.

I can hardly remember any better/more crazy upgrade in my digital chain...

It has been a shock. 4-storey building has nothing in common to 2-storey building!

 

DSC_0915.JPG

 

Hi Peter,

 

How does it sound? And did the sound change when you added more units?

 

Cheers,

Alan

Synergistic Research Powercell UEF SE > Sonore OpticalModule (LPS-1.2 & DXP-1A5DSC) > EtherRegen (SR4T & DXP-1A5DSC) > (Sablon 2020 LAN) Innuos PhoenixNet > Muon Streaming System > Grimm Audio MU1 server > (Sablon AES) Mola Mola Tambaqui DAC > PS Audio M1200 monoblocks > Salk Sound Supercharged Songtowers

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1 hour ago, tgb said:

If it does not bother you, could you please post the same photo without the heat sink ? to see how Pink Faun connected its clock to the board. If the heat sink is glued etc, don't bother with this request of course.

 

I have already posted all of the photos that I have. The heat sink was never removed during the modification.  There are photos elsewhere in this thread of what is under it.  You could probably do a search for Melco S100 and find them fairly easily.

 

1 hour ago, tgb said:

The clock that was replaced is a CMOS clock (4 pins), or there was a crystal-oscillator circuit ?

 

Sorry, but I don't know the answer to this question.  Pink Faun did the modification, and those kinds of technical details are not a concern of mine.  There was some discussion in the pages immediately after my posts by more technically-oriented people.  You may be able to find the answer there.

 

 

 

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7 minutes ago, Peter Avgeris said:

 

I got the 2008 model

 

Hi Peter,

 

Yeah that was why I was asking. Given the shortage of 2016 models it would be great to understand how the 2008 compares.

 

Cheers,

Alan

Synergistic Research Powercell UEF SE > Sonore OpticalModule (LPS-1.2 & DXP-1A5DSC) > EtherRegen (SR4T & DXP-1A5DSC) > (Sablon 2020 LAN) Innuos PhoenixNet > Muon Streaming System > Grimm Audio MU1 server > (Sablon AES) Mola Mola Tambaqui DAC > PS Audio M1200 monoblocks > Salk Sound Supercharged Songtowers

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9 hours ago, mourip said:

I was able to find Apacer memory on eBay that worked for one of my endpoints and also my music server, both of which use the same system board. These were pulls but have run perfectly for months and were MUCH cheaper than any of the sources for new stock.

Thanks MOURIP which référence did you look for? Is it industrial ones?

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