Euphony OS w/Stylus player setup and issues thread

[jbm_2021]

I would like to give Euphony a try. Is there any device that can run Euphony server with an external clock capability?

In other words, has anyone tried a Fanless NUC with external clock or something similar?

 

[jbm_2021]

7 minutes ago, auricgoldfinger said:

 

Look at the audio system in the post immediately above yours.  :)

Cool "AL NUC NA (sCLK-EX modified)" 😁

[jbm_2021]

3 hours ago, Johnseye said:

 

 

My "server" is a mini iTX board that had all its clocks modified to tap off an sCLK-EX that also supports a tX-USB ultra and tX-USBexp.  It's running Euphony with HQP Embedded now, although I had been running Audiolinux on it.  I also have an Intel NUC that runs Audiolinux in NAA mode.   I pulled the board out of that NUC and put in its own fanless case.  The clocks on that NUC board were modified to tap off another sCLK-EX that also supports a sNH-10G.  The Mutec Ref10 provides the master clock for those two sCLK-EX's so in turn the server, endpoint NUC, tX-USBultra and switch.

 

I could run the HQP NAA as a stand alone image or Euphony running the NAA.  I like some of the tweaking I can do with the Audiolinux and in the end it's only running the NAA service.  I can load the entire thing to RAM and pull out the USB drive which I like as well.

 

The NUC could run Euphony or Audiolinux on its own but if you want to upsample DSD to 512 I don't think it's well suited.  I do upsample to 512 with the iTX server which is why I use the NUC as an endpoint.  I wanted to isolate any noise from the heavy upsampling.

 

The NUC model is NUC7I7DNK1E.  I have another unmodified one I use as an endpoint in a different room as well.  It doesn't get any use so if anyone wants to buy it let me know.

 

Thank you John. In your post in this thread, you shed some more light 

What exactly are the mods needed to a motherboard and which motherboard exactly are you using? If I buy a fanless NUC like this one https://www.onlogic.com/computers/nuc/?cpsrc=Search_Alpha_A&kw=fanless nuc&gclid=Cj0KCQiAvbiBBhD-ARIsAGM48bzjMIlvs2ESx8rtGnImdFiw3LH-eVskMcfjP6j6IS0GZQ4HeQEds5QaAjCjEALw_wcB

will I be able to still use the sCLK-EX to achieve the clocking? Please let me know what do I need to look for in the mobo for this mod?

Thanks a lot!

 

[jbm_2021]

Folks, After tweaking the rest of my system, I am now focusing on the music server. Some of these topics may have been discussed earlier, but it is very difficult to parse through and figure out what the best configuration is. 

Here is what I currently have.

 

* Roon running on a NUC

*SoTM NEO is the Roon end point

*NEO to SoTM Tx-USB Ultra

*SoTM Tx-USB Ultra to DAC

* SoTM ethernet switch

 

NEO, Tx-USB Ultra and SoTM switch are all clocked by an external Mutec Ref10 SE120. An Uptone Ethergen is on it's way to compliment the SoTM switch. All of the above are powered by Farad Super3 LPS. Sablon Ethernet and USB cables.

 

 

Here is what I want to optimize further.

*Replace NUC with a music server that has sCLK-EX for the external 10Mhz Mutec clock

* This server will be a Euphony server

*It will be powered by a Farad Super 3 LPS

 

 

Here are my questions.

1. Is it possible to run Euphony server and Euphony client (Stylus) in the same box?

2. If one above is possible, is a separate Euphony stylus client away from the Server better in terms of sound quality?

3. Can the SoTM NEO act as a Euphony client without having to run Roon in the Euphony server?

 

 

Is there some other configuration I should try?

 

I appreciate any pointers and suggestions. Opinions are completely fine.

Thanks,

Jai

 

[jbm_2021]

2 hours ago, Tokyokyoto said:

Either a NUC or this....

https://mitxpc.com/products/ph12si-q170-12v

https://mitxpc.com/products/ph12si-q170-19v

Thanks Tokyokyoto and auricgoldfinger. I am actually thinking of this one https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16813132833?quicklink=true

and this one https://www.newegg.com/core-i7-7th-gen-intel-core-i7-7700/p/N82E16819117727?quicklink=true

See any issues with the above?

I would like your insight into these questions please.

 

1. Is it possible to run Euphony server and Euphony client (Stylus) in the same box?

2. If one above is possible, is a separate Euphony stylus client away from the Server better in terms of sound quality?

3. Can the SoTM NEO act as a Euphony client without having to run Roon in the Euphony server?

 

[jbm_2021]

14 hours ago, Tokyokyoto said:

It looks like the Asus Motherboard you picked doesn’t have a Pcie expansion slot so If you want to use an upgraded nic or usb card (or both) you will need a pcie to m.2 adapter which isn’t ideal. Either way, the Farad should power the 65 i7.  I have one powering an 65 i5.

 

I think most are using stylus with a single pc.  I have both full and endpoint Euphony license and have run both single and bridged setups.  I agree that if you are using lower power pc’s, ‘bridged’ is the way to go.  That being said, I have never had or felt the need for an optimized high power system running Euphony because I don’t do any up/down sampling.  Imo having more cores/threads is better than higher speed and power, and that running a low power two pc bridge mode setup will give you the most options and best results.......if no upsampling is going on.

 

Once you have everything setup and have gone through the learning curve it will be easy to switch to any combination of player/streaming service, etc. you want.  My preference is listening to locally stored files and Qobuz streaming.  I have a Roon subscription but hardly ever use it these days. 
 

My setup is Fios (copper) > Mikrotik/Mikrotik (fiber optic) powered by Keces 8 > SOtM 108 sw. > Jcat NIC/Mitac ph-12 mbrd > NUC 8i7/SOtM usb > DAC.  Everything is powered with dedicated Farad, Uptone JS-2 or Keces P8 psu’s.  Everything is clocked with Mutec 50 ohm.

 

Thanks a lot auricgoldfinger and tokyokyoto for the insight! Is there a motherboard you can recommend that has PCIe slots for the NIC and USB card? It also needs to have a way so a single sCLK-EX board can be used to power the system clock (board) as well. Basically the system, NIC and USB.

 

Looks like Euphony benefits from threading rather than frequency scaling from what you just described. Will keep that it mind. To save on cost, I am thinking of a single box solution as the sCLK-EX cost quickly adds up for 2 box solution. 

 

[jbm_2021]

14 minutes ago, Lukasluis said:

For less digititis in my system, I set my CPU frequency to the native clock frequency of my RAM. For my DDR4-2400 RAM, the native clock speed is 1.2Ghz so I set my CPU speed to 1.2Ghz.

What is the default speed of your CPU?

[jbm_2021]

2 hours ago, Lukasluis said:

My NUC 8i7 has a native CPU frequency of 2.7Ghz and Turbo up to 4.5Ghz. I also tried 2.4Ghz which is the double data rate of the RAM but I prefer the sound with with the 1.2Ghz single data transmission per clock cycle. 

CPU frequency and memory frequency matching does not add up to me. There are so many factors that kick in when it comes to bottlenecks. The bandwidth of the memory lanes have direct impact on latencies. Just by matching CPU frequency to memory frequency will not mean much unless it is purely by accident. Just my thoughts based on prior experience.

 

[jbm_2021]

11 hours ago, Lukasluis said:

It mean much to my ears. Same findings on both Euphony and Windows servers that I have. 3 machines, 2 different Players, same findings. 

What is likely happening is that throttling down the CPU decreases pressure on memory with lower memory latencies and hence likely higher instruction throughput though CPU is running at lower frequency. Very much depends on the workload. Their maybe other factors. Yes, trust your ears. Very interesting observation. 

[jbm_2021]

If there is a https://www.sotm-audio.com/sotmwp/english/portfolio-item/tx-usbexp/ tx-USBexp in your streamer, will there be any benefit in having another tX-USBultra in the chain where the USB output from the streamer is sent to the tX-USBultra and from there to the DAC?

Assume sCLK-EX 10Mhz external clock in both the streamer and tx-USBultra.

Thanks,

Jai

 

[jbm_2021]

2 hours ago, Chopin75 said:

I was wondering about this a while back when looking at their web. Not sure, if you use a great LPS to power the USB bridge output in the streamer, why would additional tX-USBultra be of benefit, considering you are using same clock. Unless they say the USButra give extra galvanic isolation? But not a very cost effective way, seems redundant. If you have. a DDC (digital-digital converter) right before the DAC that I think would be of more benefit unless your DAC has a superb USB input device

 

I have a Farad Super 3 for the sotm switch and tx-usb ultra. I am wondering about the benefit as well. I think from an SOTM NEO it benefits because the NEOs USB though audio grade may not be in par with tx-usb ultra. Just a speculation

[jbm_2021]

2 hours ago, Chopin75 said:

Also if the clock of the tx-uSB is better it would be an improvement but if u are using same external clock I guess it should be redundant unless there is a galvanic isolation in tx_USB that helps; how do u like the Farad BTW? I am thinking of getting one for my USB bridge too

The Farads are great. Been rock solid so far. I have farads for all the Sotm components and also for the Chords.