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

[magnuska]

Coming back to the IKEA Aptitlig chopping board. I bought one the other day and cut it in half. To use them for Entreq earth boxes. There was also some material left of the board to make 6 feet. See picture.

Would it be a better choice in using like Herbie´s tenderfeet (or other ) under each? Have not experimented with other feet yet!

 

They are placed on the floor. Entreq earth boxes should be placed away from metal. 

 

Thanks //Magnus

[Johnseye]

28 minutes ago, magnuska said:

Coming back to the IKEA Aptitlig chopping board. I bought one the other day and cut it in half. To use them for Entreq earth boxes. There was also some material left of the board to make 6 feet. See picture.

Would it be a better choice in using like Herbie´s tenderfeet (or other ) under each? Have not experimented with other feet yet!

 

They are placed on the floor. Entreq earth boxes should be placed away from metal. 

 

Thanks //Magnus

 

I put Herbie's isolation material under nearly everything sitting on a hard surface.  I bought a large mat of the stuff and cut it to fit.

 

[sandyk]

5 hours ago, magnuska said:

Entreq earth boxes should be placed away from metal. 

 

 Why ?

[magnuska]

16 hours ago, sandyk said:

 

 Why ?

Sorry I can´t say why from a tech point of view. This comes from the manual. 

[magnuska]

22 hours ago, magnuska said:

Coming back to the IKEA Aptitlig chopping board. I bought one the other day and cut it in half. To use them for Entreq earth boxes. There was also some material left of the board to make 6 feet. See picture.

Would it be a better choice in using like Herbie´s tenderfeet (or other ) under each? Have not experimented with other feet yet!

 

They are placed on the floor. Entreq earth boxes should be placed away from metal. 

 

Thanks //Magnus

I have good experiences with the Iso acoustic Gaia feet for my speakers so I ordered a set of Iso puck mini also from Iso acoustic.

[Johnseye]

1 hour ago, magnuska said:

I have good experiences with the Iso acoustic Gaia feet for my speakers so I ordered a set of Iso puck mini also from Iso acoustic.

 

I just put some Gaia I's on my speakers. It made a change but I'm still not sure how and if I like it. At first impression it sounded like the soundstage shrunk. My speakers are Persona 9H's with powered woofers in each. They had been on carpet spikes. I do also have the Isoacoustics Gaia carpet spike adapter so will try those with them next. 

[bobfa]

1 hour ago, Johnseye said:

 

I just put some Gaia I's on my speakers. It made a change but I'm still not sure how and if I like it. At first impression it sounded like the soundstage shrunk. My speakers are Persona 9H's with powered woofers in each. They had been on carpet spikes. I do also have the Isoacoustics Gaia carpet spike adapter so will try those with them next. 

You need to get the coupling right. Sitting on carpet without a base or their bases does not allow the isolation to work. 
 

I will be move to the carpet spike bases soon

[Johnseye]

4 minutes ago, bobfa said:

You need to get the coupling right. Sitting on carpet without a base or their bases does not allow the isolation to work. 
 

I will be move to the carpet spike bases soon

 

Thanks Bob.  Hoping for some magic when I add the spikes now.

 

[austinpop]

35 minutes ago, Johnseye said:

 

Thanks Bob.  Hoping for some magic when I add the spikes now.

 

 

Let us know how that goes. I admit I don't quite understand the mechanisms at play here.

[afrancois]

43 minutes ago, bobfa said:

You need to get the coupling right. Sitting on carpet without a base or their bases does not allow the isolation to work. 
 

I will be move to the carpet spike bases soon

I would love to hear the Kii Three some day. I’m sure those are some serious speakers. I’m sure the room correction is is impressive. This is the future of high end audio in my opinion.

[ray-dude]

9 minutes ago, austinpop said:

 

Let us know how that goes. I admit I don't quite understand the mechanisms at play here.

 

I'm in the same boat.  I hear huge benefit under DACs and power supplies (and I'm comfortable that I at least have a hypothesis why), but I don't have a working theory why there would be an impact with transducers (not saying that there isn't!)

 

The physical displacement distances would have a vanishingly small impact on phase alignment. The only other thing I can think of is draining unwanted resonances from the case work, but that would be hugely speaker/room dependent.  This is an intriguing area to explore and understand.

[bobfa]

https://isoacoustics.com/isoacoustics-speaker-isolation-technology/

 

The above link goes into some detail about how the isolators work.  Each side of the isolation system has to be coupled properly.  I am currently using platforms made out of 3/4in MDF so that I can adjust the speaker locations.  My plan is to put the carpet spikes under mine.  The physics of placing the spike plates under the Kii Threes is a bit odd.  I have a plan when the time comes.  

[afrancois]

17 minutes ago, ray-dude said:

 

I'm in the same boat.  I hear huge benefit under DACs and power supplies (and I'm comfortable that I at least have a hypothesis why), but I don't have a working theory why there would be an impact with transducers (not saying that there isn't!)

 

The physical displacement distances would have a vanishingly small impact on phase alignment. The only other thing I can think of is draining unwanted resonances from the case work, but that would be hugely speaker/room dependent.  This is an intriguing area to explore and understand.

I have a tile floor. The Gia’s make much more sense to me than the spikes that came with my speakers. Not the same situation, I know. The speaker with the Gia’s sounded better to my ears. More controlled bass.

[cat6man]

1 hour ago, ray-dude said:

 

I'm in the same boat.  I hear huge benefit under DACs and power supplies (and I'm comfortable that I at least have a hypothesis why), but I don't have a working theory why there would be an impact with transducers (not saying that there isn't!)

 

The physical displacement distances would have a vanishingly small impact on phase alignment. The only other thing I can think of is draining unwanted resonances from the case work, but that would be hugely speaker/room dependent.  This is an intriguing area to explore and understand.

 

i wonder if the benefits heard under DAC and power supply are also observed with headphones, as well as with your speakers?

 

this would give us an indication of whether the mechanism is immunity from the outside (i.e. the speakers setting the room ablaze with impulses) or removing inherent resonances/etc that originate in the electronics

[auricgoldfinger]

38 minutes ago, cat6man said:

 

i wonder if the benefits heard under DAC and power supply are also observed with headphones, as well as with your speakers?

 

this would give us an indication of whether the mechanism is immunity from the outside (i.e. the speakers setting the room ablaze with impulses) or removing inherent resonances/etc that originate in the electronics

 

I use Synergistic Research MiG 2.0 footers under my Chord DAVE.  They make an obvious difference listening through my Hifiman HE1000se headphones.  I'm sure there a better footers available, but I like these a lot for the price.  I buy them used. 

[Ricardo007]

On 5/6/2020 at 3:32 PM, Johnseye said:

turning off SNMP

What is SNMP? How can this have an influence on SQ? less CPU usage? less current...

[BigAlMc]

Hi Buffalo Soldiers 😉

 

Quick question for the more techy savvy peeps.

 

Is it possible to tell from this photo of the Buffalo BS-GS2016 board what type of connector this is?

 

 

 

Reason I ask is that @Exocer posted a Classified selling a few Ghent cables along the lines of:

 

Gotham OFC JSSG360 Molex-6P to DC 2.5/5.5 DC Cable

 

That got me thinking for for the less technical like myself perhaps a custom Ghent cable that allows me to connect a DC power supply (LPS-1.2, Farad etc) on 12V directly to the Buffalo board is probably a nice safe option to experiment with.

 

I know there is a thread about bypassing the 12V stage but that's too extreme for me. 😬

 

Is it possible to tell what the 12V input board connector is from the photo? Or do I need to open the Buffalo to find out?

 

Cheers,

Alan

 

 

 

 

 

[elan120]

1 hour ago, BigAlMc said:

Is it possible to tell what the 12V input board connector is from the photo?

Yes, Alan, this is a Molex 09-50-1041 SPOX Crimp Housing  that plugs into Molex 09-65-2048 Header on the switch board.

[Vangelis]

On 7/18/2020 at 3:46 AM, Chris_Shorter said:

I do use Tidal and my observations of how Roon works with it are as follows:

 

Play of the first item begins and Roon rushes ahead and buffers the first track and the whole of the second one. As soon as the second item becomes current, Roon buffers the whole of the third item. And so on until the last item is reached when Roon just plays it and there is nothing to buffer. I presume the buffering is to RAM in the server? So, except for the first item, all tracks are played entirely from RAM. 
 

if you have a playlist where Tidal tracks follow local content, you can see the first Tidal track buffering when the last track of local content becomes current.

 

 I believe Roon’s buffering approach goes beyond doing this just with Tidal and Qobuz streams and it is actually also doing it with local content as well, if it is in the playlist. Of course, this buffering happens much, much quicker than with internet streams and so is more difficult to see happening. Maybe, other forum members have access to network tools that would confirm or deny my belief?

 

Operating like this, I would expect local FLAC and Tidal FLAC to sound pretty much identical and this is my experience.

I’m assuming when you say local FLAC, you mean your own music files off your hard drives and that they sound the same as streaming from Tidal?

[BigAlMc]

2 hours ago, elan120 said:

Yes, Alan, this is a Molex 09-50-1041 SPOX Crimp Housing  that plugs into Molex 09-65-2048 Header on the switch board.

 

Thanks @elan120,

 

Much appreciated.

 

Cheers,

Alan

[Vangelis]

On 7/21/2020 at 5:32 PM, cat6man said:

 

i wonder if the benefits heard under DAC and power supply are also observed with headphones, as well as with your speakers?

 

this would give us an indication of whether the mechanism is immunity from the outside (i.e. the speakers setting the room ablaze with impulses) or removing inherent resonances/etc that originate in the electronics

I’ve tried tons of exotic second mortgage level footers and it was always a hit or miss because these footer companies can’t possibly take into account all the different audio chassises plus how the interior components react to resonance and stored mechcanical energy within their chassises.  There are simply too many variables for a footer to be a “one size fits all” solution. I have been tuning my Audio chassis and cables with wood for 20 years and I’ve had great success.  Mike Vans Evers, a Stereo Times writer and audio industry guy as well as the late Charles Hanson both started telling me I really should be tuning with wood, which really got me started. See the attached article from Stereotimes.

http://www.stereotimes.com/comm080100.shtml

[John769]

4 hours ago, BigAlMc said:

I know there is a thread about bypassing the 12V stage but that's too extreme for me. 😬

 

Too extreme for me too.😊

 

I would be interested in buying such a molex to dc female cable from Guent, if he was able to make one up. Indeed @Nenon suggested asking Guent a while ago, IIRC. 

 

Out of interest, how does the Buffalo GS2016, with stock PSU, compare to a Cisco switch, Alan? (if you've ever compared)

[BigAlMc]

7 minutes ago, John769 said:

Too extreme for me too.😊

 

I would be interested in buying such a molex to dc female cable from Guent, if he was able to make one up. Indeed @Nenon suggested asking Guent a while ago, IIRC. 

 

Out of interest, do you like your (unmodified) Buffalo GS2016, Alan? Sorry if I missed any feedback of it previously.

 

I recall Nenon recommending the same but I guess seeing the cables Exocer is selling helped me picture it.

 

My buffalo is still in the box and unused. Been busy tinkering and upgrading recently so the Buffalo is still on the To Do list. A few daunting things to get my head around first. Power, disabling ports, potentially updating firmware.

 

On the bright side power just got less daunting so I have less of an excuse for putting it off in favour of easier stuff on the list 😄

 

Be interested to hear how you get on.

 

Cheers,

Alan

 

[Exocer]

1 hour ago, BigAlMc said:

 

I recall Nenon recommending the same but I guess seeing the cables Exocer is selling helped me picture it.

 

My buffalo is still in the box and unused. Been busy tinkering and upgrading recently so the Buffalo is still on the To Do list. A few daunting things to get my head around first. Power, disabling ports, potentially updating firmware.

 

On the bright side power just got less daunting so I have less of an excuse for putting it off in favour of easier stuff on the list 😄

 

Be interested to hear how you get on.

 

Cheers,

Alan

 

Glad the photos helped you!

 

I am currently using two BS-GS2016(p) switches upstream from my Etherregen and I feel they do improve sound quality even in stock form (in my setup). I've removed one or both to do some listening and immediately wanted them back in the loop.

 

My plan is to use MPAudio LPSUs to feed them. It will be quite a while before the project is completed but will share the results  and listening impression here, a long with some photos when the time comes. Cheers.

 

EDIT: In other news, I have added the NVME to PCI-x4 adapter https://www.ebay.com/itm/25cm-M-2-Key-M-to-PCIe-x1-Riser-Card-Cable-for-Bitcoin-mining-R41SR-WK/253454407364?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649) @Nenon used in one of his builds to move away from my USB attached NIC. I am using the simply TP Link TG-3468 NIC and IMHO even though I am using this card via the "dreaded" PCH, it sounds much smoother than the USB NIC attached to my direct to CPU USB card based on the ASM3142. 

 

So:

 

1. USB attached NIC > Startech ASM3142 PCI-E card direct to CPU.

2. TG-3468 attached to via M2 to PCI-E 4x adapter > PCH.

 

Option 2 sounds smoother and more musical.

 

It is worth noting that I have no other devices sharing PCH with this ethernet card as everything else is disabled and I have removed my Optane drive since I boot via USB drive and ram root the OS.

 

Point being, I don't think the Z390 PCH is all that bad for sound quality if the bandwidth isn't heavily taxed.

 

 

[kennyb123]

3 hours ago, Vangelis said:

I’ve tried tons of exotic second mortgage level footers and it was always a hit or miss because these footer companies can’t possibly take into account all the different audio chassises plus how the interior components react to resonance and stored mechcanical energy within their chassises.  There are simply too many variables for a footer to be a “one size fits all” solution. I have been tuning my Audio chassis and cables with wood for 20 years and I’ve had great success.  Mike Vans Evers, a Stereo Times writer and audio industry guy as well as the late Charles Hanson both started telling me I really should be tuning with wood, which really got me started. See the attached article from Stereotimes.

 

 

I really can't agree with the first few sentences given the tremendous success I've had with Stillpoints Ultra products.  Just a week ago three used sets of Ultra SS arrived.  These were swapped for Nordost Sort Kones BC under my Zenith Mk3 and for Stillpoints Ultra Mini under my HMS and TT2.  Remarkable the improvement to tone purity, image focus, and transient speed as a result of this swap. Yes Stillpoints are pricy, but the purity of tone that comes forth from them is insanely addictive.  That's why you'll find that most folks who have introduced Stillpoints into their systems have gone nuts with them.  And once you have them under everything, the whole is far greater than the sum of the parts.  

 

Having said all that I've not experimented much with wood. The little that I have tells me that this becomes more an exercise in tuning or flavoring the sound to more to one's liking.  I have avoided that approach when selecting components and cables - opting instead to take steps that cause my system to get the heck out of the way of the music.  This approach keeps proving itself to have been the correct one (for me, at least).