Euphony OS w/Stylus player setup and issues thread

[kaka]

My 230531 Summus library machine upgrade didn't go to plan, but it has been tidied up now.

 

Arthur Power told us this a few days ago:

"The latest version of Euphony now contains the 'Summus mode' with all of its optimizations. However, if you are doing a clean install on a Summus (first or second gen) the 'Summus mode' has to be enabled. You will need to contact Euphony support to help you with this."

 

I updated the final v3 to V4 230228 using the upgrade within Euphony, expecting the optimisations to be applied. When Euphony was looking at my situation they established that I had not picked up the Summus optimisations during that upgrade. Something had gone wrong.

 

I asked how you could tell and Zeljko said "Summus customization are live if you have SUMMUS logo in the top bar".

Worth knowing.

 

 

[drjimwillie]

Should I assume that we cannot use the Summus optimizations, unless we have a Summus machine?

I am running you for me on a DIY  V4 computer. Are these optimizations off-limits to me?

[di-fi]

4 hours ago, kaka said:

My 230531 Summus library machine upgrade didn't go to plan, but it has been tidied up now.

 

Arthur Power told us this a few days ago:

"The latest version of Euphony now contains the 'Summus mode' with all of its optimizations. However, if you are doing a clean install on a Summus (first or second gen) the 'Summus mode' has to be enabled. You will need to contact Euphony support to help you with this."

 

I updated the final v3 to V4 230228 using the upgrade within Euphony, expecting the optimisations to be applied. When Euphony was looking at my situation they established that I had not picked up the Summus optimisations during that upgrade. Something had gone wrong.

 

I asked how you could tell and Zeljko said "Summus customization are live if you have SUMMUS logo in the top bar".

Worth knowing.

 

 

Thanks for letting us know.

Good for you, it’s all sorted out now. Enjoy the music this weekend!

[di-fi]

On 6/1/2023 at 6:50 AM, Smaragdhk said:

New production version is out:

 

20230531

- PROD release

- adjusted Qobuz request timeout

- improved stability

- fixed playback for DSD_U32_LE DACs

- removed extra logging and disk writes

- fixed UPnP bug for Ered

- fixed hostname change

 

''- fixed UPnP bug for eRED-DOCK''

 

Euphony Endpoint alternative

 

Lately on these pages I again have been trying to understand the benefit of an Euphony endpoint. Not so much convincing experiences were shared as far as I know. 

 

Now if you still wish to elevate the SQ of your Euphony streamer through an endpoint I can not strongly enough recommend the Swiss made eRED-DOCK interface (board). Get even more out of it if you feed it with a very good 5V LPS, add some isolation and anti vibration. A better Ethernet cable will also help improve more. Some incorporate it in the Euphony server box but I prefer a separate box. I power with a JCAT Optimo Nano 5V.

 

You simply connect it through a RJ45 socket to your Euphony server, either direct (bridged ports) or through your (audiophile) switch.  eRED-DOCK presents it self on your network as an UPnP device. Euphony will see the DAC connected to it. The only thing you need to solder is a female S/PDIF or AES connector (pm me if you have questions). For the 5V connection and the S/PDIF or AES I use Neotech /Mundorf wire. 

 

''Among other features, it provides an RJ45 socket, two local master clock oscillators, a clock management circuit, flat cable connectors for I2S/DSD output and SPI access as well as a buffered and isolated S/PDIF and AES/EBU output. All electronic parts have been carefully selected for the best performances, such as high grade passive parts, very low noise voltage regulators, best in class digital audio transformers. Special care has been taken for oscillators and clock distribution circuit.'' https://www.engineered.ch/products/ered-dock/

 

I can confirm from my experience (purchased March '22) and those of many other users I know that this is a high end network interface and has beaten any other endpoint I tried. It is used in Audiomat DAC, Wattson Audio Madison and Emerson and more. It is again available since a week (after a year of absence). 

[BCRich]

9 hours ago, drjimwillie said:

Should I assume that we cannot use the Summus optimizations, unless we have a Summus machine?

I am running you for me on a DIY  V4 computer. Are these optimizations off-limits to me?

You are correct; no optimizations without a Summus Server. The Summus’s do not have an expert option in the settings menu.

[drjimwillie]

That is really interesting, thank you.
So, the Summus server does not have the full Euphony software, so they cannot assign a task to a specific CPU or any of the other expert settings?   Well, I guess that makes things simpler.
 

Has anyone listened to the new release?
it does not look like it has any optimizations to improve, sound quality, but you never know. 
 

 I look forward to hearing others listening impressions  

[bos3812]

1 hour ago, drjimwillie said:

Has anyone listened to the new release?
it does not look like it has any optimizations to improve, sound quality, but you never know. 
 

 I look forward to hearing others listening impressions  

I went two times to the new release but went back two times also. I don't know really if it is an improvement. It seemes more harsh then the previous version and also a little bit more upfront. I have new speakers which I am tuning in so it is hard to say at this moment. I will try at a later moment again. My first impression although isn't possitive.

[Smaragdhk]

Remember when updating it will change the default kernel to  5.14.2 and I changed it back to  5.18.0 which is less harsh… 

play around with the kernel settings to further fine-tune.  I’m still undecided if the newer update sounds better or not.

[kaka]

Thanks for the mention of the eRED-DOCK.

 

It is doing what my second Summus server does (ethernet input, reclocked spdif and I2S outputs) but probably electrically far quieter than a computer

[BCRich]

5 hours ago, Smaragdhk said:

Remember when updating it will change the default kernel to  5.14.2 and I changed it back to  5.18.0 which is less harsh… 

play around with the kernel settings to further fine-tune.  I’m still undecided if the newer update sounds better or not.

This is also true of HQPe if you use it. It rolls back as well.

[Smaragdhk]

After some critical listening testing I have to concur with @bos3812 that the previous version 0228 sounds a bit more relaxed than the latest 0531… this is with kernel 5.18.0

So I’m gonna stick with that for now.

[di-fi]

On 6/4/2023 at 3:35 AM, kaka said:

Thanks for the mention of the eRED-DOCK.

 

It is doing what my second Summus server does (ethernet input, reclocked spdif and I2S outputs) but probably electrically far quieter than a computer

As far as I am concerned it is not comparable to a computer, there are no unnecessary features.  eRED-DOCK is exclusively dedicated to music reproduction. The board never gets warmer than 35-39 °C, it is passive without cooling features. One should try to see if it can beat a Summus Endpoint.

 

500 Euro/550 US$ before tax+ shipping, but I recommend to spend at least that amount, ideally 2x + on a linear power supply unit, you will hear every benefit of it. But even without LPS you will already start hearing everything you could not hear with your setup before.

 

• Network streaming resolution: PCM up to 32-bit 384kHz, DSD up to 256x (11,2896MHz)
• Lossless LEEDH Processing volume control for direct connection (to power amplifiers).
• Very low-noise power supply circuits
• Supported compression formats: WAV, FLAC, AIFF, ALAC, MP3, AAC, Ogg Vorbis, WMA
• Control protocols: UPnP/DLNA, AirPlay compatibility ( Roon READY as far as I know, please check)
• RCA output level (0dB FS): 2,1V RMS
• XLR output level (0dB FS): 4,2V RMS
• Signal-to-noise, weighted (SNR-A): typ. 124dB
• Harmonic distortion (THD+N, 0dB FS): typ. 0,001%

[al2813]

On 6/2/2023 at 4:26 PM, di-fi said:

 

''- fixed UPnP bug for eRED-DOCK''

 

Euphony Endpoint alternative

 

Lately on these pages I again have been trying to understand the benefit of an Euphony endpoint. Not so much convincing experiences were shared as far as I know. 

 

Now if you still wish to elevate the SQ of your Euphony streamer through an endpoint I can not strongly enough recommend the Swiss made eRED-DOCK interface (board). Get even more out of it if you feed it with a very good 5V LPS, add some isolation and anti vibration. A better Ethernet cable will also help improve more. Some incorporate it in the Euphony server box but I prefer a separate box. I power with a JCAT Optimo Nano 5V.

 

You simply connect it through a RJ45 socket to your Euphony server, either direct (bridged ports) or through your (audiophile) switch.  eRED-DOCK presents it self on your network as an UPnP device. Euphony will see the DAC connected to it. The only thing you need to solder is a female S/PDIF or AES connector (pm me if you have questions). For the 5V connection and the S/PDIF or AES I use Neotech /Mundorf wire. 

 

''Among other features, it provides an RJ45 socket, two local master clock oscillators, a clock management circuit, flat cable connectors for I2S/DSD output and SPI access as well as a buffered and isolated S/PDIF and AES/EBU output. All electronic parts have been carefully selected for the best performances, such as high grade passive parts, very low noise voltage regulators, best in class digital audio transformers. Special care has been taken for oscillators and clock distribution circuit.'' https://www.engineered.ch/products/ered-dock/

 

I can confirm from my experience (purchased March '22) and those of many other users I know that this is a high end network interface and has beaten any other endpoint I tried. It is used in Audiomat DAC, Wattson Audio Madison and Emerson and more. It is again available since a week (after a year of absence). 

 

 

FWIW I have been using a Zen Stream as end point over the past year (powered by a custom LPS made specifically and optimized for it (For those based in France/Belgium I cannot recommend enough the power supplies made by this individual). This was using UPNP. 

 

Last week I took my old Euphony PC (an old Pentium N2900 Jetway mobo installed in a massive case) and installed a trial licence of Euphony end point. As this can also be fed by 12V, I connected it to the same power supply I used with the Zen Stream. The results were no less than staggering. The sound became a lot smoother, meaty - dare I to say analogue? I have been playing more and more vinyl over the past months exactly because I could not get this sound from my streamer. For me, it is very clear that there's something in that proprietary Euphony protocol used with the end point that you cannot get with UPNP. Result, I am going to order a second NUC to be used as a Euphony end point. 

 

Just my 2 cents

[Oskar]

Hi,

I don't expect any help as I couldn't find any satisfactory information on how to make a V4 install usb key. I just want to share my disappointments if it can still be of interest to someone. Obviously I have already called the after-sales service which kindly sent me twice to the installation page of the site. I received a message today to launch the latest update. I started the update. Then it came back to the same update message, so I thought I had to do a reboot. Big mistake. Since then the system has crashed and it is impossible to restart Euphony. I must have screwed up and broken something. 

I understood that I had to restore my Euphony startup disk. it doesn't work, booting to the key only gives me these three options:
- Euphony-audio kernel
- Reboot
- Power off
and then I got the message below .

I'm not a newbie and everything is set up fine in the BIOS. R Devcic doesn't understand anything about it and tells me to redo a USB key (of course that's all I have to do).

I give up ! I used three different keys, formatted in Fat 32 as indicated, with or without partition, with Rufus the same as on the site, with Etcher too: always the same crap. Whereas with V3 I had no problem. In short, too bad I made a bad manipulation and no backtracking possible. Finally I returned to Jplay Femto and my Windows disk (which I did well to keep), there it works and it sounds better!

[di-fi]

55 minutes ago, Oskar said:

Hi,

I don't expect any help as I couldn't find any satisfactory information on how to make a V4 install usb key. I just want to share my disappointments if it can still be of interest to someone. Obviously I have already called the after-sales service which kindly sent me twice to the installation page of the site. I received a message today to launch the latest update. I started the update. Then it came back to the same update message, so I thought I had to do a reboot. Big mistake. Since then the system has crashed and it is impossible to restart Euphony. I must have screwed up and broken something. 

I understood that I had to restore my Euphony startup disk. it doesn't work, booting to the key only gives me these three options:
- Euphony-audio kernel
- Reboot
- Power off
and then I got the message below .

I'm not a newbie and everything is set up fine in the BIOS. R Devcic doesn't understand anything about it and tells me to redo a USB key (of course that's all I have to do).

I give up ! I used three different keys, formatted in Fat 32 as indicated, with or without partition, with Rufus the same as on the site, with Etcher too: always the same crap. Whereas with V3 I had no problem. In short, too bad I made a bad manipulation and no backtracking possible. Finally I returned to Jplay Femto and my Windows disk (which I did well to keep), there it works and it sounds better!

Sorry to hear. You like Euphony 3. You should like Euphony 4.

Take a deep breath. Remember all here are running v4, you are very close to a solution.

 

What you did not mention. Are you trying from a trial v4.  version?

Did you try to install a trial v4 to a SSD?

Or did you purchase a v4 license? Downloaded v4. Copied to USB with Etcher. Run Euphony 1st time from usb. Then tried to install to SSD . When you tried update that crashed?

 

If you already gave up, don’t bother. But someone here might be able to help you.

 

The included image seems not complete. Is it possible the PC tries to boot from somewhere else instead of the USB (specific slot)?

 

You did the right thing by changing usb drives

it seems now either Etcher did not make an exact copy

or the pc does not know how to boot from it 

 

[al2813]

1 hour ago, Oskar said:

Hi,

I don't expect any help as I couldn't find any satisfactory information on how to make a V4 install usb key. I just want to share my disappointments if it can still be of interest to someone. Obviously I have already called the after-sales service which kindly sent me twice to the installation page of the site. I received a message today to launch the latest update. I started the update. Then it came back to the same update message, so I thought I had to do a reboot. Big mistake. Since then the system has crashed and it is impossible to restart Euphony. I must have screwed up and broken something. 

I understood that I had to restore my Euphony startup disk. it doesn't work, booting to the key only gives me these three options:
- Euphony-audio kernel
- Reboot
- Power off
and then I got the message below .

I'm not a newbie and everything is set up fine in the BIOS. R Devcic doesn't understand anything about it and tells me to redo a USB key (of course that's all I have to do).

I give up ! I used three different keys, formatted in Fat 32 as indicated, with or without partition, with Rufus the same as on the site, with Etcher too: always the same crap. Whereas with V3 I had no problem. In short, too bad I made a bad manipulation and no backtracking possible. Finally I returned to Jplay Femto and my Windows disk (which I did well to keep), there it works and it sounds better!

 

I did not get a similar error but in my case booting from a USB key does not work, but booting from a USB drive yes. Why no idea but try it. The process is the same. You install the image using Etcher (MAC OS) or Rufus and then boot from the USB drive. 

[davide256]

1 hour ago, Oskar said:

Hi,

I don't expect any help as I couldn't find any satisfactory information on how to make a V4 install usb key. I just want to share my disappointments if it can still be of interest to someone. Obviously I have already called the after-sales service which kindly sent me twice to the installation page of the site. I received a message today to launch the latest update. I started the update. Then it came back to the same update message, so I thought I had to do a reboot. Big mistake. Since then the system has crashed and it is impossible to restart Euphony. I must have screwed up and broken something. 

I understood that I had to restore my Euphony startup disk. it doesn't work, booting to the key only gives me these three options:
- Euphony-audio kernel
- Reboot
- Power off
and then I got the message below .

I'm not a newbie and everything is set up fine in the BIOS. R Devcic doesn't understand anything about it and tells me to redo a USB key (of course that's all I have to do).

I give up ! I used three different keys, formatted in Fat 32 as indicated, with or without partition, with Rufus the same as on the site, with Etcher too: always the same crap. Whereas with V3 I had no problem. In short, too bad I made a bad manipulation and no backtracking possible. Finally I returned to Jplay Femto and my Windows disk (which I did well to keep), there it works and it sounds better!

The error message tells it all, the boot disk is corrupted. Best practice is to use a downloaded euphony disk image, create

a new USB boot drive and use your registration key to exit trial mode. If your original boot disk is HD/SSD you can then use the

USB boot disk install/restore option to try to repair the original boot drive.

[Oskar]

About a year ago I bought the V3 license which then allowed me to upgrade to V4 for free, all of this was done automatically and without problems. V4 has always worked perfectly so far and the sound is better than V3 (less "digital"). I received this update message, the reboot was successful but the screen remained frozen on this update message. I stupidly thought I had to reboot Euphony, but that's when I broke my Euphony ssd. I think I'm going to have to use a Windows boot key with a disk partition utility and delete the Euphony partition to start on a blank disk. Thank you all for your help and encouragement. I'll give it another try and let you know. Good evening or good afternoon.

[flkin]

Can you try using a new USB drive without partitions? Euphony makes it's own and might be confused with your existing partitions.

 

Also I have had good results doing a security format on the USB drive before loading v4 using Etcher. Wipes every sector to ensure what remains are all readable.

[Oskar]

Hi,

That's it finally, I found my Euphony !. I booted to my windows disk and used a disk partitioning utility (DiskGenius). I deleted all partitions from the broken Euphony disk. I then restarted on my Euphony USB key (which proves that my key was good). And from my Mac I connected to local Euphony and there I redid a clean installation on my drive. Reboot on the drive and everything is spot on. Since my music is on a synology NAS, it's not a problem for me to restore everything from scratch. I hope this can help someone who has the same misfortune as me.

[al2813]

On 5/30/2023 at 2:06 PM, al2813 said:

Some tit bits I am sharing here to the benefit of the community in case someone bumps to the same circumstances. 

 

I have been using a NUC Euphony server and a IFI Zen Streamer as a UPNP end point. Both powered by a custom linear power supply made specifically for me. Yesterday I took the old PC I used ages ago as a Euphony box (and was sitting in the cupboard). I booted the box as a Euphony end point from a USB flash. The improvement in sound was not subtle. I can even define it as dramatic. As this is a very old (and too big) box, I will now get a NUC to replace it. 

 

 

 

 

Last night I got delivered a second NUC.  I am now running both server and end point using exactly the same NUC 7 i3 box. Both in their standard box - the fan hardly gets triggered and if yes I cannot really hear anything - dead quiet. The server has the larger box with 16gb of RAM and an extra 2TB SSD used as my music library. The end point 8gb of RAM and the small box. Both are fed 12v from the same power supply. Again points that were already raised but I am noting just in case someone setting up starts and gets to this post: 

 

1. Switch both machines from 5.14 to 5.18 kernel. The difference is just mind-boggling in my system. Insane how better 5.18 sounds. 

2. Both machine in RAM play - this is less obvious, but does improve resolution. 

 

I paid 220 euros for both boxes (and a much much more for the LPS.....). The sound now is amazing. No comparison with using the IFI Zen as UPNP end point. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[davide256]

In the FWIW column I've decided to move on from Euphony. For some time now its been a mixed blessing, great transient cues, nice mid range timbre.

But with the DAC's I have at hand the treble region with massed instruments becomes inchoate, the sort of defect that makes you avoid Tchaikowsky pieces,.

HQPe v4 with DSD up-sampling has proven much more enjoyable and Audirvana Studio as player feeding HQPe has proven more stable/reliable with

a much lower annual subscription cost.

 

[Smaragdhk]

@davide256, can you elaborate a bit more? Are you having HQPe on a single endpoint as e.g an Intel NUC and streaming from Audirvāna Studio from a Laptip? So that would be a 2 devices setup? What OS is HQPe running on?

[davide256]

3 minutes ago, Smaragdhk said:

@davide256, can you elaborate a bit more? Are you having HQPe on a single endpoint as e.g an Intel NUC and streaming from Audirvāna Studio from a Laptip? So that would be a 2 devices setup? What OS is HQPe running on?

Win10 i5 PC running Audirvana Studio streaming via UPNP

11i3 NUC running HQPe 4.35 AVX linux image with DSD 128/DSD256 up-sampling

 

Played around with using Euphony as server on both machines feeding separate HQPe but could find no advantage doing so versus using Audirvana.

The i5 PC allows more DSD up sampling power but isn't optimized for USB out, a typical gaming machine

 

Audirvana Studio has an "off hook" feature for changing device settings that  so far has flawlessly reset the HQP connection

whenever a UPNP hang after long pause has occurred. Whereas with Euphony one has to jump back and forth between HQP interface

and Stylus to get things playing again.

 

Possible that if  i had a much better DAC Euphony might win out in NOS mode but in no hurry at this point to shell out $2~3k

[al2813]

3 minutes ago, davide256 said:

Possible that if  i had a much better DAC Euphony might win out in NOS mode but in no hurry at this point to shell out $2~3k

 

IFI Pro iDSD is one of the best kept secrets in the audio world. The new model (Pro iDSD signature) is indeed 3k new, but the old model that as far as I can tell is not that different, can be had for 1k (this is what I paid). The advantage of this DAC is that you can connect your own 15v power supply. I did just that and this DAC is incredible.