The true experimental tweak thread

[mozes]

1 minute ago, Cornan said:

 

I might move to Canada. The lazy swedish costums  are way too lazy! ?

You are in luck! the switch is released and on its way for delivery

Did they read my post?

My Canadapost app keeps me updated

[mozes]

1 minute ago, Cornan said:

 

No need! Aqvox gladly tells us that they use Swarovski crystals! ? I actually went to their factory back in the 80:th! ?

Then maybe mywife will lose her Swarovski earrings in the coming days

[mozes]

I am surprised that no one other AQVOX has produced an audiophile switch in this time when network based audio is rising! I know that Paul Pang has one but it looks a bit old

[mozes]

34 minutes ago, Cornan said:

 

The funny thing is that all the audiophile switches have 8 ports D-Link switches. I wonder what is wrong with TP-Link switches? I wonder what is wrong with 5 port switches? I like 5 port switches (less ports & distrubances) and TP-Link better than D-Link.

I hope SOtM gets their acts together and make a 5 port switch with TP-Link! ?

Maybe because the 8 port is bigger so they have more space to play with.

I wonder how hard it is to do some research on better clocks and caps and upgrade them myself. I know how to desolder and solder to start with

[mozes]

First I need to know a clock looks like

[mozes]

15 minutes ago, Cornan said:

A new shorter DC cable made of Furutech Alpha-18 for my Gophert floating PSU done.

 

 

It took me roughly two minutes from start to finish and sounds much better than the original longer one! ?

Next up will try to make a star quad version to see if that will improve further as JS have suggested in the DC cable thread! ?

Thats very efficient, first soldering a dc cable used to take me an hour now about 15 min and most of it to setup the equipment, stand+soldering iron+heat gun

[mozes]

6 hours ago, Cornan said:

A quick listen while drinking my morning coffee was enough to confirm that the star quad sounds better than the Alpha-18 on my low budget setup. The control device connected to the main router instead of to the wireless adapter cleared a fog and the star quad clear it even more plus added a wider and more detailed presentation. Nice! Thanks to @JohnSwenson for suggesting the star quad! ?

 

 

The silver box on the picture is my DIY 9v battery grounder with tourmaline stones.

Great stuff I will get a star quad cable for my DIY projects then

[mozes]

8 minutes ago, Cornan said:

 

You should!  Here is John Swensons own impressions with the Canare 4S6 as he have recommended for the DC cable.

 

Thanks for sharing @Cornan I will check it out 

[mozes]

19 minutes ago, Cornan said:

The star quad have given me problems as well. I'll need to start thinking about how to change all my battery DC cables to star quads? They are all short ones coming straight from the battery or USB A to USB B micro.  Both will need either good soldering skills or adapters to work, and I do not fancy any of those options.

Soldering USB cables, this is still a far fetch for me. Imagine soldering micro usb

[mozes]

3 hours ago, Cornan said:

Here it is if you want to order the Canare 4S6: http://www.ebay.com/itm/HIFI-Japan-Made-Canare-4S6-Copper-Speaker-Cable-Wire-DIY-4-0-51-Conductor-/291934904144?var=590923122120&hash=item43f8ad1f50:m:m85F6G03FalLqdfhoSU8MsQ

Thanks, I just ordered 25 feet, enough to last a few years

[mozes]

42 minutes ago, austinpop said:

 

Classic @Cornan tweak! Should be fun to see what this does.

 

2 hours ago, Cornan said:

After reading a little bit about the Audioquest RJ45 noise stoppers I found out that they are actually not shorting plugs but grounding plugs.

 

This gave me the idea to maybe order these ones instead http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ubiquiti-TC-GND-ToughCable-Connectors-w-ground-cable-RJ45-CAT6-CAT5E-STP-20pcs-/172523674098?hash=item282b3659f2:g:qxsAAOxyIYhSZBLH and attach the o-rings to the grounding screw in the back of the AQVOX switch which will be connected to my Entreq Minimus grounding box.

 

 

This is much more like my kind of tweak!

 

Simply Brilliant!

I am in

[mozes]

I am thinking if I can do this myself by using some old ethernet cables I have.

[mozes]

13 minutes ago, Cornan said:

 

Yes, it should work if you just solder the wires to the RJ45 metal barrels! ? 

Do you mean the outer metal barrels on cat7/8?

[mozes]

Thats great I have a long cat7 cable that I don't need. It seems this cable will go to the operating room

[mozes]

3 minutes ago, Cornan said:

Let the fun begin! ?

I received the AQVOX network switch nicely packed from Moussa after work. Thanks a lot! ?

 

 

I immediately replaced my D-Link DGS-105 switch.

 

 

I did'nt care to use the supplied SMPS since Moussa thought that TP-Link Vivid sounded better...and I trust the guy! ? Grounded the switch to my Entreq Minimus and connected my short Cat6a U/UTP cables on port 1 & 8.

 

 

Full of excitement I sat down in my little hifi corner and had a listen to Death Cab For Cuties MQA album "Kintsugi" via Tidal/ LigthingDS 5.0 Beta 2 with "Precise" setting.

 

 

One word. Wow! Simply wow! The music is so effortless yet with a completely fearless authority. The music is pounding my ear drums with full monty and my neck hair is giving me skills of joy down my spine. Great separation, natural performance and greatly improved 3D sence. Just the things I am constantly looking for. Pure joy! ?

Unfortunately I have a kid to mind right now. Otherwise I would'nt leave this spot until after midnight. I love this hobby! ?

 

Be sure. More experiments will come with the AQVOX, but right now I want to enjoy it to the full! ?

 

That's amazing @Cornan I like the pictures especially the headphone stand

[mozes]

Fyi, TP link new nano router has 5G

 

http://www.tp-link.com/ca/products/details/cat-9_TL-WR902AC.html

 

wish they had it before I got the 802

[mozes]

3 minutes ago, Cornan said:

 

Ordered! ?

You are on fire

[mozes]

4 hours ago, Cornan said:

I have a plan to power all my four 5v DC powered devices in my low budget setup with my floating Gophert safety style psu to see where that will end up. I wanted to make it into a starquad arrangement but with a total of 8pcs of 20awg wires into a 4mm banana plug was simply mission impossible, so I needed to find another solution.

I think I just found one!

 

With this DC banana socket terminal I can just change the input cable to a starquad and power up to six different 5v devices simultaniously with the same floating psu. I just need to make myself four starquad DC ouput cables with 4mm banana plugs as well to get that project going.

 

https://www.electrokit.com/grenuttag-dc-6-par-banankontakter.47072

 

PS. It is possible to ground as well!  DS.

Congrats!

Very neat and handy. If your system is all in one place then this is a great solution especially for a low budget system. 

I still prefer direct wire to each component but let's wait for the results

[mozes]

18 minutes ago, Cornan said:

 

Thanks Moussa! 

If it is better or worse than the direct wire approach depends how it will look at the back of the unit. Hopefully it is a solid metal bar connection I am hoping to see and not a wired solution (if it is I will change the wires to starquads as well). It could then possibly be just as good as a direct wire approach. Those banana plugs are hopefully screwable and accepts a direct wire connection. Let´s see when it arrives!

 

Another advantage is actually that all the DC cable will be shorter since the terminal will be in the center of all the devices. Could even end up better that the direct wire approach!

I think it would better if it has wires so you can upgrade the wire. I received my Canare 4S yesterday

[mozes]

15 minutes ago, Cornan said:

I just realized that I did´nt consider the coming TP-Link router power connection. USB micro socket!  I rushed to eBay and bought this little bugger http://www.ebay.com/itm/361848774644?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

 

Not optimal, but it will work without the risk of heart failure trying to solder 4x20awg wires to a USB micro! 

Why don't you just power it from your tp link power bank with a straight usb cable? You can make an exception for the router

[mozes]

19 minutes ago, Cornan said:

 

There can be no exeptions! I am on a mission to find out if it will prove to be beneficial to power ALL (not some) of the DC powered device with a floating power supply. That is the main idea with the new arrangement, so I will not budge by making exeptions!  

I am really against powering several devices with one power supply due to possible ground loops/leakage loops. However, when all DC powered devices are powered with a floating PSU it is suddenly a completely different story. I beleive it could prove to be a good thing, but I´ll let the real life experiment tell me if that is true.

 

If this turns out good it is something I intend to transfer it to my main setup as well. In fact, the experiments with the low budget setup is not only to improve that perticular setup or to see how good a ChromeCast Audio can get. It is also to find new approaches for my main setup which is really my primary target.

I see your point, makes sense. I am using this LPS for my router so how do I know if it is floating or not?

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/100VA-Ultra-low-Noise-LPS-HI-END-R-core-Linear-power-supply-for-audio-DC5V-24V/32691902812.html?spm=2114.13010608.0.0.Q5PHor

[mozes]

29 minutes ago, Cornan said:

 

That is usually the tricky part to find out. Far from everyone specify if they are floating or not. I would say that the LPS in your link is not floating, but to be absolutely sure you can ask this question: "Does this LPS have a floating DC output realive to the AC mains safety ground?"

 

A truly floating PSU means that the AC mains safety ground is totally isolated from the DC output.  The AC mains safety ground (input) is connected to the chassi instead of to the DC output. With a truly floating PSU you can safely connect several psu´s in series without putting your life at risk. With a truly floating output 100% of the leakage loops and ground loops is gone in that path. For example a LPS-1 is not truly floating. It do have a 100% isolated output but it is not 100% isolated towards the safety ground. Connecting the SMPS feeder supply to your BK 1604A will turn the LPS-1 into a truly floating PSU. Connecting the Gophert to the LPS-1 will turn the LPS-1 into a truly floating PSU.

 

Here is some more info regarding a floating output http://powersupply.blogs.keysight.com/2014/03/what-is-floating-power-supply-output.html

 

I hope that helps!

Great stuff will read more about it

[mozes]

5 hours ago, Cornan said:

 

To give you an example of this, I personally beleive that putting all the audio gears and power related devices on a ESD grounding mat could potensially be a very good idea. This is something that I have plans of doing later on to see if it proves to be true. I will then ground the ESD mat to the safety ground pin which is connected to a grounding box.

 

You go where no one has gone before  I will be eager to read what you will find if you ever implement this idea

[mozes]

1 hour ago, Cornan said:

I got my DC banana terminal block today! ?

 

 

Great Germain quality. It ticked all my boxes with screwable banana connectors...

 

 

...and solid wires in between.

 

 

Looking very good to these eyes! ?

 

The sad part is that I will most likely only get to experiment with it, and not use it for long. I have 100% descided to order a Auralic Altair (probably) or Brooklyn DAC+SOtM200 (plausible).

 

This means that ChromeCast Audio will leave the building and Auralic Aries will take its place within a couple of weeks. I just have to think this descition through carefully. ?

 

 

I can tell you that the Brooklyn is amazing! It is really up there with Dacs that cost 2 or 3 times if not more

[mozes]

1 hour ago, Cornan said:

 

I have been inspired by you! ? However, my choise is still leaning against the Auralic Altair due to several reasons, like no USB, group play, memory playback, OpenHome & LightningDS. Reasons against Brooklyn are that it needs USB power and SOtM that it does'nt support OpenHome AFAIK. I will read more before I decide though! ?

If you do end up getting brooklyn and SMS-200 then any cheap PC can serve as a music server and get everything you want