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

[cool_chris]

Thanks Nenon for sharing that . 

I had no time to report it.

I recommend all of you to try to change voltage on your Buffalo switches 5 v -12v will work . It is amazing how much the sound is changing between 5v to 12v. In my case 10v - 11 v for Buffalo works best. 12v is to harsh. 5v is great but lacks dynamics and bass section is to loose to me, but some of you would love it . Find you own reference. 

 

But the biggest changes are in EdgerouterX. It acts as the only Router  in my network that is dedicated to audio only.

 This transformation is very big in my case.

Yes I tested many voltages and 10v as Nenon kindly reported is a great mixture of all. 

Just experiment yourself with that. It's FREE as long as you have regulated voltage power supply exit. 

I have a fixed 12v Vinnie Rossi supercapacitor supply , but something like MPaudio SLS that follows VR supply  with double voltage regulation (double LT 3045 regulation and filtering)   works excellent in my case .

 

[Nsxturbo]

7 hours ago, cool_chris said:

I recommend all of you to try to change voltage on your Buffalo switches 5 v -12v will work . It is amazing how much the sound is changing between 5v to 12v. In my case 10v - 11 v for Buffalo works best. 12v is to harsh. 5v is great but lacks dynamics and bass section is to loose to me, but some of you would love it . Find you own reference. 

Thank you for this observation. I just adjusted the voltage in the Buffalo switches to 10v and concur with your findings, a smoother more natural presentation with no lacking in the dynamics. Also, I observed an improvement in imaging with slightly better depth and separation.

[cool_chris]

11 hours ago, Nsxturbo said:

Thank you for this observation. I just adjusted the voltage in the Buffalo switches to 10v and concur with your findings, a smoother more natural presentation with no lacking in the dynamics. Also, I observed an improvement in imaging with slightly better depth and separation.

Glad you like it  👍 

I benefited so much from this fantastic forum and from Nenon experience.

I wanted to make sure I test and experiment as much as I can so others can also benefit form my experience. 

 

There are many tests I already planned to do. Will share all that. 

[internethandle]

Just changed my Buffalo BS-GS2048 to 10V from 12V on my LPS and also am enjoying it so far -- more relaxed/smoother, as Nsxturbo mentioned, with yes, better imaging and what possibly is a slightly lower apparent noise floor from 12V. Worth a try if changing voltage is not too much of a pain/possible for the LPS used (mine has an accessible trim pot simply by opening the chassis).

[cool_chris]

41 minutes ago, internethandle said:

Just changed my Buffalo BS-GS2048 to 10V from 12V on my LPS and also am enjoying it so far -- more relaxed/smoother, as Nsxturbo mentioned, with yes, better imaging and what possibly is a slightly lower apparent noise floor from 12V. Worth a try if changing voltage is not too much of a pain/possible for the LPS used (mine has an accessible trim pot simply by opening the chassis).

 

Great !

I hope others will also confirm my findings.

If some of you have fixed 12 voltage you can always add an MPaudio DC module with LT3045 that will lower the DC voltage to any number from 12 v down to 3v if needed.

 

[elan120]

6 hours ago, cool_chris said:

I hope others will also confirm my findings.

Thanks for the tip, I also like the 10V input better.  More enjoyable playback with no lost of dynamic, but gaining more separation, imaging, and micro details.

[cool_chris]

3 hours ago, elan120 said:

Thanks for the tip, I also like the 10V input better.  More enjoyable playback with no lost of dynamic, but gaining more separation, imaging, and micro details.

It looks it is a very good catch 👌 

Glad you like it !

Hope I can experiment little more and find few more of things that will work for me and than for ALL of You .

 

[genvirt]

Hi!
What do You think about this model (from part of SQ):

Buffalo BS-GS2008 (I no need more than 8 outputs)

Actually tried to looking for order, but everywhere is “no longer available”...

Thanks

[stefano_mbp]

@genvirt you could check this :Cisco SG110D-08

I recently bought it and it is way better than the TP-Link I owned before

 

[genvirt]

7 minutes ago, stefano_mbp said:

@genvirt you could check this :Cisco SG110D-08

I recently bought it and it is way better than the TP-Link I owned before

 

Thank You!

For now I’m using a LinkSys and it’s OK and I think it has same quality as Cisco. So because of much speaking here of switches (especially about Buffalo) from part of being good for audiophile grade - I’m asking about.

 

[genvirt]

Some opinion about this brand?

https://store.ui.com/collections/unifi-network-routing-switching/products/usw-flex-mini

[Downtheline]

6 hours ago, genvirt said:

Hi!
What do You think about this model (from part of SQ):

Buffalo BS-GS2008 (I no need more than 8 outputs)

Actually tried to looking for order, but everywhere is “no longer available”...

Thanks

I had a nice uptick in sound using two of these in series powered by keces p3. Seems that downside is less space in the  chassis for clock mod. Also no sfp. 

[ASRMichael]

9 hours ago, genvirt said:

Some opinion about this brand?

https://store.ui.com/collections/unifi-network-routing-switching/products/usw-flex-mini

All my network is Ubiquiti. Great value & performance. 

[genvirt]

Just now, ASRMichael said:

All my network is Ubiquiti. Great value & performance. 

Do You have same Ubiquiti as I pointed to? 

[ASRMichael]

1 minute ago, genvirt said:

Do You have same Ubiquiti as I pointed to? 

No, what are you trying to achieve?

 

I have Edge router & switch, Unifi wireless AP’s, cameras

[genvirt]

3 minutes ago, ASRMichael said:

No, what are you trying to achieve?

 

I have Edge router & switch, Unifi wireless AP’s, cameras

I’m thinking about “simple” switch (5-8) with best possible SQ and powered by 5v...

[cool_chris]

9 hours ago, genvirt said:

I’m thinking about “simple” switch (5-8) with best possible SQ and powered by 5v...

You can get EdgerouterX

Than during the router setup you can TURN OFF THE DHCP routing function.

With that it will act as a switch.

A very very good switch. 

The additional benefit is that it will work with less than 1% switch CPU use so very beneficial for the SQ.

I tried it and it is an excellent option.

The sticker voltage is 12v but it will work with lower voltages even better. 

 

[kennyb123]

19 hours ago, genvirt said:

Some opinion about this brand?

https://store.ui.com/collections/unifi-network-routing-switching/products/usw-flex-mini

I have a few of these.  They work well with in my UniFi network but none are in my audio path.  I’m not sure I see a reason why these would bring goodness to audio but they are a nice affordable option if you have a UniFi network.

 

A partial view of my network map follows where you can see two of my Flex Mini switches.  They are powered over Ethernet by a Switch 8 POE-150.

 

[Johnseye]

For those with a JCAT USB XE, I had issues powering it with an LPS-1.2 after about a month it just stopped working.  I'm powering it with a PHD SR4T and it's working again. Looks like it needs a little more current.  Hopefully 2A is enough.  I'd rather not be using the SR4T to power this card if anyone has any cost effective recommendations.

 

 

[NanoSword]

22 hours ago, Johnseye said:

For those with a JCAT USB XE, I had issues powering it with an LPS-1.2 after about a month it just stopped working.  I'm powering it with a PHD SR4T and it's working again. Looks like it needs a little more current.  Hopefully 2A is enough.  I'd rather not be using the SR4T to power this card if anyone has any cost effective recommendations.

 

 

I thought using PHD you wouldn't want to use anything else. Do you think the sound did not improve much when changing from LPS to PHD?

[Johnseye]

2 hours ago, NanoSword said:

I thought using PHD you wouldn't want to use anything else. Do you think the sound did not improve much when changing from LPS to PHD?

 

I think it probably did improve somewhat but I can't A/B test. It is likely the PHD is the best supply for the application but I was wondering if there were other options at higher than 2A.

 

[elan120]

21 minutes ago, Johnseye said:

I was wondering if there were other options at higher than 2A

SJ DC3 or DC4 or Farad Super3 are higher than 2A output.

[Hauser]

Hi Johnseye,

 

If simple DIY is your thing, Ian Canada has developed a 5V 2.5A PCB, fully populated.  It requires a suitable box, 6V AC transformer, an AC input and DC output and you'll be good to go.  The PCB is available on his thread at DIY Audio or through Audiophonics.  Upgradable to an ultracap supply.

 

Martin

[genjamon]

For those who have been playing with the Buffalo switches, has anyone compared a set of two Buffalos vs just one Buffalo daisy chained via fiber with an EtherRegen?  I have a BS-GS2008 that sounds really good replacing a low cost (John Swenson recommended) Cisco switch (properly grounded to shunt high impedance noise) in between modem/router and endpoint, and I'm thinking of taking the plunge to a double-switch solution.  I'm just trying to decide between the two sets of options above. 

 

I would have one of the switches powered by an LPS 1.2, and the other powered by a Vinnie Rossi ultracap supply.  Modem/router would be powered by an HDPlex LPS with a MP Audio MD-HPULN PS to lower its noise.  And this may become a Ubiquiti router and wifi access point setup once I have the switches and power supplies all dialed in.

 

Also, I have seen the comments about the benefits of powering the Buffalos at 10V rather than 12V.  Has anyone compared 9V to 10V?  The LPS 1.2's are capable of 9V or 12V, but not 10V.  Just curious if the 9V would be as good as 10V or if 10V is the best of all.  I have not yet tried 9V from the LPS 1.2 powering my Buffalo 2008, so I should probably do that.

 

Right now, the UltraRendu and single Buffalo are both powered by LPS 1.2 and my stock modem/router is powered by the Vinnie Rossi, so my network is 100% powered by isolated ultracap supplies already.

 

Any comments/suggestions are welcome.

[cool_chris]

45 minutes ago, genjamon said:

For those who have been playing with the Buffalo switches, has anyone compared a set of two Buffalos vs just one Buffalo daisy chained via fiber with an EtherRegen?  I have a BS-GS2008 that sounds really good replacing a low cost (John Swenson recommended) Cisco switch (properly grounded to shunt high impedance noise) in between modem/router and endpoint, and I'm thinking of taking the plunge to a double-switch solution.  I'm just trying to decide between the two sets of options above. 

 

I would have one of the switches powered by an LPS 1.2, and the other powered by a Vinnie Rossi ultracap supply.  Modem/router would be powered by an HDPlex LPS with a MP Audio MD-HPULN PS to lower its noise.  And this may become a Ubiquiti router and wifi access point setup once I have the switches and power supplies all dialed in.

 

Also, I have seen the comments about the benefits of powering the Buffalos at 10V rather than 12V.  Has anyone compared 9V to 10V?  The LPS 1.2's are capable of 9V or 12V, but not 10V.  Just curious if the 9V would be as good as 10V or if 10V is the best of all.  I have not yet tried 9V from the LPS 1.2 powering my Buffalo 2008, so I should probably do that.

 

Right now, the UltraRendu and single Buffalo are both powered by LPS 1.2 and my stock modem/router is powered by the Vinnie Rossi, so my network is 100% powered by isolated ultracap supplies already.

 

Any comments/suggestions are welcome.

Yes test it in your system. 

9v is very close to the 10v in SQ

You can also try 7v and 5v .

If you need to try 10v I recommend

To add MP Audio PS After 12v to lower the voltage .

Additionally you will get much more stabile and  better current with the LT3045 used in MPAUDIO. 

 

2008 was not as good as the 2016 Buffalo in some tests, but still is a great value switch. 

 

If you want to stack it (2 or more switches) I used many different options and optical between the swiches always wins.

Just make sure to use Finisar SFPs Single mode 1310 nm  with LC connection recommended here.

 

But direct to server from last switch you might use both alternatively (copper and optical ).

That depends on the quality of the nic cards in your server.