Euphony OS w/Stylus player setup and issues thread

[Smaragdhk]

Are we talking about M.2 NVME SSD drives or PCiE SSD drives to boot from?

I've got an Optane M.2 16GB that I’m comparing with a M.2 256GB Samsung 970 EVO plus… 

I have yet to hear a difference as well… but I’m not using Ram Root …

[Smaragdhk]

I believe that would fit PC motherboards only... Any suggestions like that for Intel NUC users?

NUC10i7FNH uses 2 x DDR4-2666 SO-DIMM RAM – Max Memory 64 GB

 

Currently using a single 16GB Timetec Hynix IC 16GB DDR4 2666MHz PC4-21300 Unbuffered Non-ECC 1.2V CL19... where would one find the latency for this one?

 

[Smaragdhk]

21 hours ago, Smaragdhk said:

I believe that would fit PC motherboards only... Any suggestions like that for Intel NUC users?

NUC10i7FNH uses 2 x DDR4-2666 SO-DIMM RAM – Max Memory 64 GB

 

Currently using a single 16GB Timetec Hynix IC 16GB DDR4 2666MHz PC4-21300 Unbuffered Non-ECC 1.2V CL19... where would one find the latency for this one?

 

Answering my own question… in case someone may find it useful…

Found this useful calculator to check RAM latency:

https://notkyon.moe/ram-latency.htm

 

And another interesting article about CL in RAM…

https://www.fidelizer-audio.com/all-the-things-you-need-to-know-about-ram-aside-cl/
 

[Smaragdhk]

Low latency DDR4 RAM does not necessarily sound better, build quality of the components also matters …

more food for thought:

https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/testing-ram-with-different-brands-and-models-seems-to-have-more-difference-than-i-thought.28015/

 

[Smaragdhk]

Euphony does support tidal masters but you need to choose Roon as audio option instead of Stylus.

It would also need a Roon License.

[Smaragdhk]

I wonder why some hear differences in sound with this update… it’s only a feature update, not a system update…

[Smaragdhk]

That echoes my views as well... sounding wonderful on a single 10i7NUC based system...

I haven't played yet with isolating cores or using the ethtool commands... and I do not run ramroot either.

I found running without ramroot sounder more open and with more air in the mix.

 

So I have the same question here, can anyone advise on a core isolation / ethtool setting for standalone NUC to start from and explain how further tweaks can bring the listening experience to the next level?

I found the user manual to be lacking this guidance.

[Smaragdhk]

24 minutes ago, davide256 said:

I did not find core isolation useful. But setting CPU frequency to minimum was a cleaner sound. The trade off is if you use a program like HQPlayer for extreme up-sampling,

that will require higher CPU speeds.

Not using Ramroot and also not using HQplayer, I let my Marantz DAC do all the upsampling to DSD256…

Pardon my ignorance, where does one change the CPU frequency on a NUC? Would that be in the BIOS?

My 10i7 is powered by a Keces 19V LPS 

[Smaragdhk]

You need to set these the Stylus app settings… library -> Credentials

 

 

[Smaragdhk]

Is there a consensus what sounds better? Two pcs of 8GB DDR4 3200 Apacer RAM or a single pc of 16GB DDR4 3200 SO-DIMM in a NUC10i7?

[Smaragdhk]

I'm not using Ramroot in my system with the latest version... (one box solution, NUC10i7 in HDPlex fanless case powered with Keces LPS, Optane M.2 8GB SSD and Timetec Hynix DDR4 2666 16GB RAM).

Ramroot in my case makes the overall sound somewhat congested... Seems to have more air without Ramroot.

I tried core isolation too in various ways... could not hear much difference and in the end the system became sluggish. Resetting to auto with standard settings brought back the best performance and sound. 

Can anyone advise how to get the 0102 image? Would mind comparing and trying...

The biggest sound improvement was adding the 19V Keces LPS.

[Smaragdhk]

Quote

2 hours ago, ASRMichael said:

How long are you guys running Euphony OS before you do a listening test?

I purchased my license on June 4th and only went through 2 updates and I’m enjoying the latest version… after an update I reboot as well and let it run for a few days, before deciding to try ram root and core isolation. This allows for better comparisons as suggested here as well… from my experience any OS even on mobile devices etc  need time to settle and return to stable performance. 

[Smaragdhk]

Same here, using 10i7 NUC in a fanless case powered by a Keces linear power supply without ram root and default core isolation sounds better to me, less congested, more air and a bit more relaxed in the high frequency range.

[Smaragdhk]

11 minutes ago, ASRMichael said:

Anyone else experience on the odd occasion? tracks that are buffered tend to skip the odd track? plays for short duration then moves onto the next tracks? 

 

I wonder if it's anything to do with playing large files from PGGB?

Had this a couple odd times but with DSD files… I recall it has something to do with not reading the durations correctly… 

[Smaragdhk]

20 hours ago, DomiJi said:

Hello Euphony Users,

 

I use Euphony for a few weeks now and yesterday i switched from Roon to Stylus Player. I love the sound :-)

 

But i want to further tweak my NUC.

 

So i disabled all unnecessary devices in BIOS and turned Hyperthreading and TurboBoost off. I further Set the Clockspeed to the fix baseline Clock of my i5 CPU (2.3GHz).

 

I also read that limitint the ethernet connection to 100mb/s would be help full.

 

What experience did you guys made?

I am not sure if disableing Hyperthreading is the way to Go?!

 

Thank you very much :-)

 

Best

Dominik

I did some experimenting again with the latest version…

Using a 10i7 NUC in a fanless case powered by a LPS

Timetec Hynex DDR4 2666 16GB RAM, Optane M.2 drive

 

demo track DSD version of Fourplay “Cape Town” 

 

1. hyper-threading ON and Turbo Boost ON

 Good dynamics and punchy but muddy soundstage and muddy in the HF

2. hyper-threading ON and Turbo Boost OFF

same good dynamics and punchy as in 1, but massive improvement in HF micro details and added air and definition… 

3. hyper-threading OFF and Turbo Boost OFF

flat dynamics and not resolving sound… boring

4. hyper-threading OFF and Turbo Boost ON

same flat dynamics and boring presentation with again added muddy detail.

 

My preference for now is 2. HT ON and TB OFF.

 

Haven’t tried Apacer RAM yet…

 

[Smaragdhk]

I have 2 Keces P8 LPS, the 12V powers the NAS and the TCXO switch, the 19V powers the NUC in the fanless HDplex case. 

 

[Smaragdhk]

20 hours ago, davide256 said:

Do try CPU throttling, that made biggest difference for me with an 8i7 NUC. Agree that turbo boost is bad, seems NUC gets dirtier in sound the harder the CPU is pushed.

 

Not entirely clear on the CPU throttling…

my experts settings show min as 400000 and max as 11000000.

what would you suggest as a starting point?

BTW, not using RamRoot, left it disabled … enabling only adds congestion and loss of details.
 

[Smaragdhk]

23 hours ago, davide256 said:

 

 

You would put 400000 in the max CPU frequency field. On  8i7BEH NUC the min value equated to 600Mhz, I bumped up to twice that

before I could begin to detect lost clarity for background instruments. Reducing CPU frequency does affect library scan speed and can max out CPU

usage if you are using HQPlayer DSD up-sampling.

 

I think RAMRoot helps if your boot disk is SSD/HD but it just annoyed me after switching to Optane boot drive. A little better transients but the

acoustic reverberation of piano and guitar was not as rich.

So that equates to min 1200 and max 400000… 

Did you reboot each time after setting the new frequency?

When checking CPU temperature the bottom line CPU freq stays at 1.2 GHz no matter how I change the min and max values…

not noticing any differences in sound…

maybe I’m doing something wrong.

i do have buffer before play = 100% and buffer album to queue set though…

[Smaragdhk]

11 minutes ago, zeblo69 said:

Good day guys.

I have Euphony installed on a Nuc7i7dnhe (Akasa plato case). I'm not able to lower the cpu speed. My goal is to set it to 1.1 Mhz, but even if the max value results changed and saved in the expert settings I see no effect under cpu/temp (cpu speed is always stated at 1.9 Mhz). Any suggestion? I see no partular options in the bios...

Thanks in advance.

I think you meant GHz?
 

I’m in the same boat… but with a NUC10i7 … fixed at 1.10GHz… I can’t seem to find where in the bios I need to change this.

 

[Smaragdhk]

28 minutes ago, Lukasluis said:

I use dual PC setup with 2 Intel NUC boards on fanless cases powered by a LPS. Unlike Euphony, Jplay doesn't need much computing power to sound great. I use Intel i3 and Intel i5 boards. 

For what it is worth, I'm running Euphony on a single NUC10i7 in a fanless case with processor speed limited at 800Mhz (standard default in Euphony is 4.7 GHz) and it sounds amazing. Using a 19V LPS for the NUC, a 5V LPS for the M.2 Femto drive and 12V LPS for the NAS and Audiophile grade Switch.  

No upsampling in HQ Player, just using Stylus to control playback while streaming files from a NAS.

Unless you 're doing heavy upsampling (which I'm not), my CPU usage is around 4% ...

[Smaragdhk]

It's perfectly possible to get nice smooth high end sound with a single NUC based device and Stylus via USB to DAC.

See my previous post here:

  

[Smaragdhk]

53 minutes ago, flkin said:

I’ll reply privately @auricgoldfinger
 

I wonder when the next update of Euphony is coming? It’s been a while…

Would like to know as well… 

[Smaragdhk]

17 minutes ago, al2813 said:

So - for those who compared, what gives you the better quality - Euphony or Windows + add ons? And if then what is a recommended setup?  I need a relatively easy to maintain setup, and it needs to be headless. 

 

 

 

I’ve given up on Roon about 3 months ago… loved the user interface but I’ve found audio nirvana with a headless simple single unit (10i7NUC) running Euphony… agreed that Stylus Player on iOS isn’t as intuitive as Roon but I’ve grown used to it now, all in favour of superior tweak-able sound. Mostly in part of the Revelation Audio Femto SSD that runs the Euphony OS. See my previous posts above. 
 

https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/topic/55916-euphony-os-wstylus-player-setup-and-issues-thread/?do=findComment&comment=1162191

[Smaragdhk]

1 hour ago, RickyV said:

Sorry I have a bit of a dumb question but anyway. I stream via Qobuz studio Premier why is Euphony showing that only 16 bit, 192hz is coming in and not 24bit ?

 

 

Hi-res but not 24 bit.

I use Qobuz Studio Premier too…

Check your settings in Stylus -> settings-> music service -> audio settings

 

looks like you’re upsampling … try switching upsampling off… check again that it shows PCM24/192 and then try switching upsampling up again…

 

I don’t use upsampling in Stylus as my Marantz SA KI Ruby upsamples everything to DSD256. 

[Smaragdhk]

Same here, using Euphony Stylus in a single 10i7NUC in a fanless HDPlex, powered by Keces P8 19V LPS, with the OS loaded on the new Revelation Audio M.2 NVME SSD drive that is also powered by a Keces P3 5V LPS. I can swap in a matter of seconds to Roon Core, Airplay Server etc.

Perfect one box solution for serious critical listening. My preference is Euphony Stylus running everything native, cached to drive, so upsampling. Streaming from Synology NAS also powered via Keces P8 12V and an TCXO switch running off the 5V USB from one of the Keces P8 LPS... or streaming from Qobuz and Tidal via the same setup... Very intoxicating :)