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

[ASRMichael]

10 hours ago, fds said:

Really a mystery to me why Euphony/Stylus and OpticalRendu do require to stay connected to the internet. Had I realized this before I probably would not have gotten the oR. Also it lowers my interest to demo Euphony/Stylus significantly. A clear advantage for AudioLinux in my view since this seems to be able to run offline.

I’ve had Euphony block in my firewall for last 6 months. No issue, but might be because I’m letting connection out but not back in. WAN_IN. 

[ASRMichael]

If you do this make sure blocked devices are priority 1 in firewall, why? if accept, establish relate is higher in priority. It will not block it. 

[ASRMichael]

Question regarding my spare version 1 JCAT eth card.

I use a NUC as a NAS (2 box system). I use M.2. Card for my files. The 7i7 NUC MB only has 1 pci express slot. I was thinking of using my existing JCAT eth card on my NUC. I see there’s a spare sata slot, so was thinking if there was an adapters for this. 

Move M.2 sata via M.2 to sata adaptor

Then with my free M.2 port get a M.2 adapter for PCI-e JCAT eth card

Would this work? If so do you know what adapters would work with your card? 
 

 

[John769]

On 11/15/2020 at 6:55 AM, cool_chris said:

This is my nunber 1 after trying many finisars , planet tech and Startech SFPs

 

Out of interest, did that group of finisars include the FTLF1318P3BTL that @auricgoldfinger likes?

[fds]

7 hours ago, barrows said:

My system plays music happily with no difficulties when the Internet is down

Indeed I have just checked that my oR plays music happily as well with the internet being down after having it booted up. I had used HQPlayer/NAA. No dropouts or interuptions. Very good news IMO. Thanks a lot @barrows for clarifying this and sorry for making potentially misleading claims above.

[soares]

17 hours ago, Tatomek7 said:

Yes, I confirm, unfortunately. I wanted to keep it off (eR) my chain and wanted to save some $$, but ... is still there. I had one Buffalo on one side of the fiber and the PF Buffalo on the other ( closer to server ). Stacking them together at the PF side gave nice improvement. I have 15m fiber, so I've never experimented with attenuaters. 

 

19 hours ago, cool_chris said:

Am I so stupid carring the 4 Buffalows if 1 PF Buffalo will do the job ? And keep ER as a isolator just for accesd point ?

No. I keep them all because it is much better. 

 

We don't know why but stacking multiple switches brings additional benefits. 

By far the biggest improvement is when you get your first PF Buffalo 2016.

Please keep it as the LAST in chain .

Make sure to power it well.

 

Adding switches in a chain brings additional benefits.  Those are not as big as the first switch but it is still improving the SQ.

 

 

So no hope to save money as a PF clock by its own will improve significantly the SQ but will not make redundant the whole range of devices before it. Gosh... Well thank you so much for all your views. I think I will first the uR and sell my uR and hopefully the iR and later consider the PF. In any case I’ll report back on the comparisons between the eR and uR and the eR and the oR. All my best, Jorge

[cool_chris]

8 hours ago, John769 said:

Out of interest, did that group of finisars include the FTLF1318P3BTL that @auricgoldfinger likes?

No . I haven't try this one.

It's funny because I was searching for many months and testing extensive a lot of SFPs and changes between them were very big .

Each had a strong character in some aspects but was lacking in the others.

Once I plugged 1321 I said to myself

This is the one !

I lost totally need to test any of the SFPs, it's that good in my system.

 

I am sure there are few as good or better SFPs somwere in billions of options, but I don't need to investigate any further 🙂

[cool_chris]

5 hours ago, soares said:

 

So no hope to save money as a PF clock by its own will improve significantly the SQ but will not make redundant the whole range of devices before it. Gosh... Well thank you so much for all your views. I think I will first the uR and sell my uR and hopefully the iR and later consider the PF. In any case I’ll report back on the comparisons between the eR and uR and the eR and the oR. All my best, Jorge

 

You will love it .

Pink Faun Ultra is expensive but worth every penny invested.

This is the only upgrate that was able to elevate the SQ in every single aspect.

Absolutely everything is better.

You cannot point few things that are better with that clock as all the aspects of SQ are on different level.

 

Nenon was reporting that this is like listening to the garage band in comparison to the professional band on the stage.

I must agree with that.

 

[Tatomek7]

44 minutes ago, cool_chris said:

No . I haven't try this one.

If you would like to test it ( FTLF1318P3BTL ), I have one and not in use at the moment. ( Warsaw ).

[austinpop]

On 9/3/2020 at 6:29 PM, austinpop said:

Network Fun with Buffaloes!

 

My goal remains to eliminate the spaghetti on the networking path. Frankly, I don't think this is achievable yet, given my — and most people here's — experience. So my more realistic goal is to simplify this chain as much as possible. Part of this goal is to wean myself off the REF10 SE120 clock.

 

I thought it was time to provide an update since my last post above. A big change recently occurred in my setup that allowed me to take an important step toward simplifying my admittedly baroque network chain. To recap, my current switch chain for the last few months, since my purchase of an Extreme, has been:

•  router > Uptone eR (ref clocked) > SOtM dCBL-Cat7 cable > modded Buffalo 2016 > Planet Tech SFP > SOtM sNH-10G (ref clocked)> Sablon 2020 cable > Extreme
• All 3 switches powered by individual 12V rails from SR-7 DRXL PSU
• eR and sNH-10G reference clocked by MUTEC REF10 SE120 clock, using SOtM dCBL-BNC75 cables.

As I described, I've broken my dependence on this chain for local playback, due to my use of HQPlayer for playback. This, along with tunings Emile made to the OS, have made the effect of the network quite minimal. Yes, for absolute best SQ, I need to "disconnect" the network - hence the location of the SOtM switch as the last in the chain, as it has an on/off switch I can toggle "off" after I hit play. But honestly, with Emile's tunings, even with the switches connected, the degradation is very slight.

 

Where I was dependent on the baroque switch chain was for Qobuz playback, for which I was reliant on Roon. In this use case, every switch in the chain makes an important improvement, as does the PSU, as does the reference clock. This was the state of my world.

 

So what changed? It was the arrival of the TAS (Taiko Audio Server) software, for which I am an alpha - and soon to be beta - tester. You can read more about it over on the WBF Extreme thread, where I posted my impressions a few days ago. Specifically for Qobuz streams, which depend on the network chain, there are a couple of key things TAS does:

• pre-loading or buffering the stream prior to playback,
• a Taiko-proprietary process called "refresh," and
• elimination of network chatter by the server during playback.

This effectively allows playback to occur in a state where there is minimal to no network traffic. And the SQ gain, as I described, is quite profound! Qobuz via TAS once again approaches (not quite meets, but close!) the SQ of local playback. What is more important is the big leap it is over Qobuz playback over Roon. To be fair, this is not the first such epiphany I've had, as a similar improvement occurred with Stylus's "Buffer queue to RAM" optimization. This is similar in the sense of magnitude improvement over Roon.

 

Going back to my objective of simplifying my chain, my first thought was to test that. And the first component I wanted to test, given its high cost, was the REF10 SE120. Given the reduced effect of the network, how much of a benefit was the SE120 still providing with TAS? It shouldn't come as much surprise that the answer was "not very much." Let me be clear, though. I'm not saying for a second that the SE120 is not an outstanding clock. If I was clocking a DAC like the iFi Pro iDSD or an Esoteric DAC, or say a VIvaldi clock, or a tX-USBultra, I would still hear the dramatic gains the SE120 is capable of driving.

 

In my use case, where the SE120 was only reference clocking my switches, the effect of diminishing the dependence of the SQ on the switch chain negated the need of the SE-120. As a result, I've finally taken a step towards reducing my network chain complexity, and sold the REF10 SE120. This is one more mitigation to offset the cost of buying the Extreme, so I am stoked!

 

You might ask: do you still need a chain of 3 switches? Probably not. I did some quick tests, and while each switch still makes a positive impact, the magnitude of each improvement is small, since the contribution of the switch chain to overall SQ is small. At this point, I plan to keep this chain in place as they're already here, and I have SR7 DR rails available.

 

Longer term, I am awaiting Emile's progress on his switch, as it may allow him to have the control to make the SQ impact of the switch negligible. This will be my holy grail, to have a single switch instead of a switch chain. We'll see how this progresses!

[basillus]

On 11/25/2020 at 3:03 AM, soares said:

 

So no hope to save money as a PF clock by its own will improve significantly the SQ but will not make redundant the whole range of devices before it. Gosh... Well thank you so much for all your views. I think I will first the uR and sell my uR and hopefully the iR and later consider the PF. In any case I’ll report back on the comparisons between the eR and uR and the eR and the oR. All my best, Jorge

Here is cheaper, but maybe better diy XO solution, especially if you have more than one 25MHz switch:
https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/topic/60699-anyone-need-a-25mhz-crystalclock-to-theirs-buffalo-switch-nucs-or-at-andrea-moris-groupbuy-at-diyaudio/?do=findComment&comment=1092374
 

[Exocer]

The SR7T arrived today. Its the two rail 19v, 12v option. So, the CPU will receive a dedicated 12v rail and the 19v output will go to the HDPLEX 800w DC-ATX module.

 

Everything powered up without issue.

Thanks @austinpopfor the timely sale of your PHD cables.

 

Super excited to give this a listen!

I will be comparing the SR7T to the HDPLEX 400w AC-DC SMPS power supply, which actually sounds very good in combination with the HDPLEX 800w DC-ATX device. Until now, this SMPS allowed me to hear subtle differences in kernel types, resources allocation tweaks, memory tweaks and various SFPs. It is a solid starting point for those on a tight budget.

 

[austinpop]

4 minutes ago, Exocer said:

The SR7T arrived today. Its the two rail 19v, 12v option. So, the CPU will receive a dedicated 12v rail and the 19v output will go to the HDPLEX 800w DC-ATX module.

Looking forward to your listening impressions!

[R1200CL]

1 hour ago, Exocer said:

The SR7T arrived today.

How long time from order to ready for shipment ?

[Exocer]

1 minute ago, R1200CL said:

How long time from order to ready for shipment ?

I ordered this unit in late May 20'. Covid slowed things down quite a bit.

[Downtheline]

2 hours ago, Exocer said:

The SR7T arrived today

Ahhhh where's mine!  😝 good for you! That was a long wait! What dc cables are you using?

[Exocer]

2 minutes ago, Downtheline said:

Ahhhh where's mine!  😝 good for you! That was a long wait! What dc cables are you using?

If mine arrived surely yours isn't too far behind . It is worth the wait! 

 

I am using the below cables + a DIY Mundorf Silver/Gold 15.5 awg 24-pin cable.

 

 

[Dev]

2 hours ago, Exocer said:

The SR7T arrived today. Its the two rail 19v, 12v option. So, the CPU will receive a dedicated 12v rail and the 19v output will go to the HDPLEX 800w DC-ATX module.

 

Everything powered up without issue.

Thanks @austinpopfor the timely sale of your PHD cables.

 

Super excited to give this a listen!

 

I will be comparing the SR7T to the HDPLEX 400w AC-DC SMPS power supply, which actually sounds very good in combination with the HDPLEX 800w DC-ATX device. Until now, this SMPS allowed me to hear subtle differences in kernel types, resources allocation tweaks, memory tweaks and various SFPs. It is a solid starting point for those on a tight budget.

 

 

Wow. Looks great. Are these DR rails ? What will you power with them ?

 

[auricgoldfinger]

33 minutes ago, Exocer said:

I am using the below cables + a DIY Mundorf Silver/Gold 15.5 awg 24-pin cable.

 

Did you make the 24-pin cable yourself?  That's an impressive achievement using such thick wire.

[Exocer]

14 minutes ago, auricgoldfinger said:

 

Did you make the 24-pin cable yourself?  That's an impressive achievement using such thick wire.

I did. The cable is very short, at most ~4 inches, and only doubled up on 5V and grounds. The other wires were not connected. Since the wire is so thick I did not feel the need to connect the others and have had zero issues thus far. @Nenon helped guide me:

 

Pin 1 for +3.3v 

Pin 3 for Ground

Pin 4 for +5v

Pin 5 for Ground

Pin 6 for +5v

Pin 8 for PWR-OK

Pin 9 for +5Vsb

Pin 10 for +12v

Pin 16 for PWR-On (Cheap wire here since this is just for the power button function)

 

No JSSG360 since the cable is so short. Here is a pic (its not pretty):

 

 

22 minutes ago, Dev said:

 

Wow. Looks great. Are these DR rails ? What will you power with them ?

 

 

This is not a DR model. The custom build process is closed and those are only available directly from the Custom build process. This is a SR rail SR7T, with T modules on both rails. The Turbo module is supposed to bring the SR performance closer to that of the DR SR7s.

 

It will be used to power my music server.

[austinpop]

1 hour ago, Exocer said:

I did. The cable is very short, at most ~4 inches, and only doubled up on 5V and grounds. The other wires were not connected. Since the wire is so thick I did not feel the need to connect the others and have had zero issues thus far. @Nenon helped guide me:

 

Pin 1 for +3.3v 

Pin 3 for Ground

Pin 4 for +5v

Pin 5 for Ground

Pin 6 for +5v

Pin 8 for PWR-OK

Pin 9 for +5Vsb

Pin 10 for +12v

Pin 16 for PWR-On (Cheap wire here since this is just for the power button function)

 

No JSSG360 since the cable is so short. Here is a pic (its not pretty):

 

 

 

This is not a DR model. The custom build process is closed and those are only available directly from the Custom build process. This is a SR rail SR7T, with T modules on both rails. The Turbo module is supposed to bring the SR performance closer to that of the DR SR7s.

 

It will be used to power my music server.

 

I guess the confusion must be from the use of the Jaeger connector. Since @Exocerbought these cables from me with Jaeger terminators well before the build was complete, it look like Stephen was able to accommodate the use of Jaeger output connectors on the back panel rather than the standard XLR that the non-DR standard units normally use. Am I right, Rob?

[Exocer]

24 minutes ago, austinpop said:

 

I guess the confusion must be from the use of the Jaeger connector. Since @Exocerbought these cables from me with Jaeger terminators well before the build was complete, it look like Stephen was able to accommodate the use of Jaeger output connectors on the back panel rather than the standard XLR that the non-DR standard units normally use. Am I right, Rob?

That is correct, Rajiv. I'm glad this came up in my talks with Stephen and that he was able to accommodate. When I purchased these from you I had assumed they were compatible by default ( I didn't read Rajiv's description well enough 😁). This modification did come at a small cost.

[nonesup]

Mine arrived on Thursday.  It is also a double rail, with one fixed at 12 volt.  and the other variable 5,7,9 and 12 volt.  Initially I had two SuperFarad3 for the EtherREGEN and the Modem-Router.  Then I added a Sonore Optical Module and decided to buy the SR7 for the EtherRegen and OM.  As good as the Farad is, the SR7 is even better.  Now I regret not missing a triple rail

[HumanMedia]

On 11/24/2020 at 7:54 PM, Tatomek7 said:

You will not know the answer as long, as you will not check it in you chain. I have 3 different Finisars, Planet, Startech and 1321 sounds not bad, but I'm not sure if I like it without any but... . 1321 with some tubes in my DAC sounds little bit too mellow, when Startech one sounds with other ones too bright. As 1321 is really cheap ( I paid for 4 of them 35$ (shipping incl. ), the risk is acceptable 😃  If you will not like them, always you can use them to separate your WiFi router.

What is your favourite SFP from your list?

 

[nonesup]

By the way I had to open it to adjust the voltage to 7 volt.  and I was surprised;  this thing has a transformer the size of the state of Texas!