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

[bit01]

@Exocer -thank you. re:FOMO Who knows unless one checks the both setups out (unlikely for most I would think)?  The Taiko outfit seems to listen to a lot of stuff out there- those are probably the ones to follow re: SQ rewards!

 

Enjoy your super setup now, and the Dual Xeon project when you get to it- will be watching, as I am currently interested in that DC-DC-ATX converter and may be more later!

 

ATB,

b.

[bit01]

I should clarify that the original parts list quoted above showed two Sean Jacobs voltage regulaotrs - 19/17 plus 17/12 as possible upgrades to the CPU EPS. In the end 19/12 V was sufficient as the heat load in this application is minor.

In a month or so I should have the final configuration and will update the PL for those interested.

 

ATB

b.

[guiltyboxswapper]

Just done a little more testing with Onload and the SFN8522.  Onload allows you to bypass the typical Linux Kernel network stack, and fine tune it to your applications needs.

 

Of the profiles I've cycled through, redis-performance profile (aka redis cache) brings a significant improvement to SQ.  Cleaner transients, lower noise floor, tighter bass, more open soundstage.  Pretty obvious in other words.

 

Ironically, latency-best was the best profile to degrade SQ; it trades CPU interrupts/time for lowest latency.  

 

https://github.com/Xilinx-CNS/onload/tree/master/scripts/onload_profiles

[guiltyboxswapper]

For those interested in the SFN8522 and Onload, make sure you purchase a card that includes such a licence such as  https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/R76FD-DELL-SOLARFLARE-SFN8522-ONLOAD-FLAREON-ULTRA-DUAL-PORT-10GBE-LP/154193863116  

 

 

[Exocer]

12 hours ago, guiltyboxswapper said:

For those interested in the SFN8522 and Onload, make sure you purchase a card that includes such a licence such as  https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/R76FD-DELL-SOLARFLARE-SFN8522-ONLOAD-FLAREON-ULTRA-DUAL-PORT-10GBE-LP/154193863116  

 

 

I own the card without the license. I did not know it would be required. Will have to swap it out. Thanks!

[John769]

Do folks using a ER-X SFP connect its single SFP port towards the modem or in the other direction towards the switch etc? Hopefully that's not a silly question..

[ray-dude]

I have two ERX’s. I go ISP to fiber to “modem” (ONT) to Ethernet ERX1 to SFP fiber to ERX2

My home network and wifi is all in ERX2. My audio network is isolated on ERX1 (it’s own subnet) and I use a Sonore optivalModule to connect ERX1 to my server via fiber. 
 

Getting my audio network on its own subnet was a big deal. So was optically isolating wifi on a different ERX

[Gavin1977]

The 'Plus' version comes with Onload as default I believe - my card:

 

 

 

[ASRMichael]

JCAT XE Ethernet card. 
 

When I was considering buying the new JCAT XE Ethernet card I was thinking to myself? is this now at the stage of diminishing returns?! Well after the card breaks in you say to yourself No it’s not diminishing return & how is this even possible when I use buffer, cache network turned of when playback? But yet there is such a profound improvement in everything! 
 

What we think we know about digital audio is just the tip of the iceberg. 
 

Well done @Marcin_gps to you & everyone involved! 
 

Big thumbs up from me! 
 

I’m not very good at reviews, so maybe someone can give a more in-depth review. 

[MarcelNL]

On 1/27/2021 at 10:37 AM, guiltyboxswapper said:

For those interested in the SFN8522 and Onload, make sure you purchase a card that includes such a licence such as  https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/R76FD-DELL-SOLARFLARE-SFN8522-ONLOAD-FLAREON-ULTRA-DUAL-PORT-10GBE-LP/154193863116  

 

 

I'm not yet sure which version I have, the ebay listing says it should be the Ultra is that the right one? Solarflare Flareon Ultra Sfn8522 Server Adapter 

[guiltyboxswapper]

25 minutes ago, MarcelNL said:

I'm not yet sure which version I have, the ebay listing says it should be the Ultra is that the right one? Solarflare Flareon Ultra Sfn8522 Server Adapter 

Needs to be either the -onload or -plus versions to utilise onload, but you can compile and run the onload driver (without full blown onload) and still reap some benefits.  Certainly sounded better than out of the box driver (one included in kernel).

[Marcin_gps]

42 minutes ago, ASRMichael said:

JCAT XE Ethernet card. 
 

When I was considering buying the new JCAT XE Ethernet card I was thinking to myself? is this now at the stage of diminishing returns?! Well after the card breaks in you say to yourself No it’s not diminishing return & how is this even possible when I use buffer, cache network turned of when playback? But yet there is such a profound improvement in everything! 
 

What we think we know about digital audio is just the tip of the iceberg. 
 

Well done @Marcin_gps to you & everyone involved! 
 

Big thumbs up from me! 
 

I’m not very good at reviews, so maybe someone can give a more in-depth review. 

 

Thank you for the review Michael - enjoy :) 

 

Yes, burn-in takes quite some time, but it's worth getting through it. 

 

And I think at this point the quality of PSU & LAN cable connected to the card is even more important.

 

Best regards,
Marcin

[ASRMichael]

Just now, Marcin_gps said:

And I think at this point the quality of PSU & LAN cable connected to the card is even more important.

 

Best regards,
Marcin

Yes I agree, although already there! Cheers 

[lwr]

1 hour ago, ASRMichael said:

JCAT XE Ethernet card. 
 

When I was considering buying the new JCAT XE Ethernet card I was thinking to myself? is this now at the stage of diminishing returns?! Well after the card breaks in you say to yourself No it’s not diminishing return & how is this even possible when I use buffer, cache network turned of when playback? But yet there is such a profound improvement in everything! 
 

What we think we know about digital audio is just the tip of the iceberg. 
 

Well done @Marcin_gps to you & everyone involved! 
 

Big thumbs up from me! 
 

I’m not very good at reviews, so maybe someone can give a more in-depth review. 

I couldn’t agree more.  
 

I have 2 PF Buffalo 2016 switches and 2 externally  clocked ERs in my chain, all with separate high quality LPSs, and so, I wasn’t expecting the net card femto upgrade to XE to make much difference.  Boy was I wrong!  The further improvement in SQ was quite striking and definitely worth the additional investment.

 

Indeed, “What we think we know about digital audio is just the tip of the iceberg.”

[Savolax]

8 hours ago, ASRMichael said:

JCAT XE Ethernet card. 
 

When I was considering buying the new JCAT XE Ethernet card I was thinking to myself? is this now at the stage of diminishing returns?! Well after the card breaks in you say to yourself No it’s not diminishing return & how is this even possible when I use buffer, cache network turned of when playback? But yet there is such a profound improvement in everything! 
 

What we think we know about digital audio is just the tip of the iceberg. 
 

Well done @Marcin_gps to you & everyone involved! 
 

Big thumbs up from me! 
 

I’m not very good at reviews, so maybe someone can give a more in-depth review. 

So you would recommend to get one (I actually was thinking already, just saving funds ;) ) even after you have SJ DC3 powered EtherREGEN?

[ASRMichael]

On 1/29/2021 at 1:58 AM, Savolax said:

So you would recommend to get one (I actually was thinking already, just saving funds ;) ) even after you have SJ DC3 powered EtherREGEN?

I’ve been asked this via private msg now. Yes I would recommend, but is it the best upgrade for spending $1000, well it depends on your system. I see you don’t list your system so hard to tell. 

[BOBO]

Dunno if these have been posted before, but these are some useful tools for tweaking windows:

 

Interrupt Affinity Policy Tool

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/kernel/interrupt-affinity-and-priority?redirectedfrom=MSDN

 

 

Power Settings Explorer  this allow you to see hidden power settings 

https://forums.guru3d.com/threads/windows-power-plan-settings-explorer-utility.416058/

 

MSI Mode Utility 

https://forums.guru3d.com/threads/windows-line-based-vs-message-signaled-based-interrupts-msi-tool.378044/

 

also a registry tweak that i like to use is DisablePagingExecutive

http://systemmanager.ru/win2k_regestry.en/29931.htm

[lmitche]

@bobfa has generously started a new thread based on his listening experience with a music server that I recently built for him.  Many thanks to Bob and all of my customers for their support.

 

Pareto Audio Listening Experience - Music Servers - Audiophile Style

 

Larry

[drjimwillie]

I put in my Feature request in Roon. 
Here is your chance to back me up. 
please see below. 
I put in a request for Roon to just serve up the file or URL. 😎🎶

[jbm_2021]

50 ohm to 75 ohm mod.

I need to convert on of my components tx-usb ultra or sms-ultra neo or the sotm switch all the upgraded special edition to a 75 ohm. Reason, I am getting a Mutec Ref10 SE120 that has only 2 50 ohm outputs. 

I was chatting with Rajiv and he pointed me to the following https://docs.sotm-audio.com/lib/exe/fetch.php?media=manuals:sclk-ex_operating_instructions-en.pdf

 

Rajiv recommended I post my questions here to get collective inputs. 

Has anyone done this mod before on the sclk-ex  with a cable that has "MCX connector on one end, and a female 75 ohm BNC" on the other unplugging Pin 11 and using Pin 10?

 

If so, I think the cable and connector quality will matter as it sits in the critical path of expensive BNC cables that connect to it.

If it is discussed elsewhere in this thread or other threads, please point me to it. Also please recommend the best MCX to 75ohm bnc cable I can buy and best place to get it?

 

Appreciate your help.

Thanks,

Jaideep

 

[SwissBear]

14 hours ago, jbm_2021 said:

50 ohm to 75 ohm mod.

I need to convert on of my components tx-usb ultra or sms-ultra neo or the sotm switch all the upgraded special edition to a 75 ohm. Reason, I am getting a Mutec Ref10 SE120 that has only 2 50 ohm outputs. 

I was chatting with Rajiv and he pointed me to the following https://docs.sotm-audio.com/lib/exe/fetch.php?media=manuals:sclk-ex_operating_instructions-en.pdf

 

Rajiv recommended I post my questions here to get collective inputs. 

Has anyone done this mod before on the sclk-ex  with a cable that has "MCX connector on one end, and a female 75 ohm BNC" on the other unplugging Pin 11 and using Pin 10?

 

If so, I think the cable and connector quality will matter as it sits in the critical path of expensive BNC cables that connect to it.

If it is discussed elsewhere in this thread or other threads, please point me to it. Also please recommend the best MCX to 75ohm bnc cable I can buy and best place to get it?

 

Appreciate your help.

Thanks,

Jaideep

 

 

Hi,

 

Have you talked with Pasternack (https://www.pasternack.com) ?

They have good RF specialists who might be able to help you find a technically sound solution.

I asked them about 50 Ohm and 75 Ohm cables and they were very helpful.

[jbm_2021]

6 hours ago, SwissBear said:

 

Hi,

 

Have you talked with Pasternack (https://www.pasternack.com) ?

They have good RF specialists who might be able to help you find a technically sound solution.

I asked them about 50 Ohm and 75 Ohm cables and they were very helpful.

No I haven't. I will check with them. Thanks for the pointer. 

[jbm_2021]

I came across this very interesting thread that addresses some part of my questions and thoughts.

 

 

 

My takeaways, shorter the cable inside the unit, the better.

Higher quality inside the unit, the better, obviously

Cable inside the box is less prone to being plagued by noise than one outside. Hypothesis.

 

Since it has been a while since, does anyone have an updates on your findings in this context?

 

[lake_eleven]

On 11/23/2020 at 5:13 PM, charlesphoto said:

 

• Posted November 15

From Cool Chris a couple of pages back: 

FTLF1321p1BTL

 

So 1321 on the pucture is much closer to planetech, but not as mechanical sounding.

Also this one has very good focuse and authority. Not as good as Startech but I think it is a great balance of all 3 in 1 SFP.

 

So what you get in 1321 is about  80% of detail focuse and authotity that Startech has.

90% of what Planetech offers being very well balanced in SQ.

80% of space and delicacy that is in 1324 without being harsh.

 

And it is do cheap that it is no brainer to get. I paid 20 Euro for 1321 SfP so 40 in total for a pair. 

 

I have collected few dozens of SFPs to find the one for me .

 

Choice of SFP is one of the biggest SQ changer you can have. 

It has much bigger effect than most of things we do.

 

Hi, I am currently trying out Finisar 1321. Can you share the specfic models in Planet Tech and Startech you have tried and yeilded good results. Will help narrow down to proven models.

[MarkusBarkus]

I like the Planet MGB-TLX. 
Sonore OM to PFBuffalo. 35' SM cable run. Short Sablon ethernet into Aurender. Very smooth, IMO...