Euphony OS w/Stylus player setup and issues thread

[Lukasluis]

18 hours ago, al2813 said:

As I woulfpd really like to keep Stylus, I did some more testing and I think I have a winning combo in my system. Stylus player on my server and IFI zen stream as upnp renderer. The key improvement is that I replaced my library location from my NAS (located downstairs in my “dirty” part of my LAN) to an SSD which I power using an adapter from hdplex lps on 12v and connected over usb to my stylus box. This improves a lot SQ and so far giving me the best results. I tried Roon as I am so desperate to have the gui but again Roon (zen stream acting as bridge) is flat and totally lack emotion. I’ve pretty much given up on Roon…..

 

Try also Tidal Exclusive mode (no need Euphony). Control it using the Native Tidal app on smartphone/ipad. Let's know your results. 

[al2813]

2 hours ago, Lukasluis said:

Try also Tidal Exclusive mode (no need Euphony). Control it using the Native Tidal app on smartphone/ipad. Let's know your results. 

 

I don't use Tidal - I prefer Qobuz. And I also have a big own library. 

[Mustu]

Hi All,

 

I have NUC7i7BNH and have powered it with the FARAD, it has 2 Cores, Would moving to NUC10i7 with 6 Cores better the SQ by dedicating different core for each thing. 

 

Thanks

[davide256]

1 hour ago, mustafakaiser said:

Hi All,

 

I have NUC7i7BNH and have powered it with the FARAD, it has 2 Cores, Would moving to NUC10i7 with 6 Cores better the SQ by dedicating different core for each thing. 

 

Thanks

If you have a 12V supply, it won't work with a 10 series NUC, they require 19V supply. The 11 series will allow you to use a 12V supply provided it has the requisite amperage

[Mustu]

42 minutes ago, davide256 said:

If you have a 12V supply, it won't work with a 10 series NUC, they require 19V supply. The 11 series will allow you to use a 12V supply provided it has the requisite amperage

I have the 19v

[davide256]

So

1 hour ago, mustafakaiser said:

I have the 19v

So then, main advantage of newer Nuc is faster memory speed if playing native rate music. I’ve never found # of cores to matter but if using HQPlayer for DSD upsampling it could

[an333]

Announced output version 4.0!

 

Quote

 

STYLUS 4.0 COMING SOON:

• Single album playback mode instead of adding tracks/albums to playlist. User can switch back to playlist mode.
• CD RAM playback – rip and play your CD from RAM
• Server multi playback – simultaneous playback to multiple endpoints, DA converters or UPnP devices
• Stream filtering (DSP processing)
• Real time DSD upsampling for local library, streaming services and web radio
• Spotify Connect streaming service added
• Euphony 4.0 OS with new interchangeable kernels and new Expert Settings

BUY 3.0 LICENSE NOW AND GET FREE UPGRADE TO 4.0 AS SOON AS AVAILABLE 

 

 

 

[al2813]

I am continuing the testing and have finally reached the setup that works for me the best: 

 

- Stylus player on main PC (which I am going to redo with the feedback I will ask below) 

- Zen stream as UPNP renderer 

 

I am getting the best result currently with a music library on a SSD which is powered separately with a 12v LPS and connected to the server as an external USB adapter: 

 

https://www.amazon.fr/UGREEN-Disque-Adaptateur-Pouces-Supporte/dp/B07S8MQVRZ/ref=sr_1_7?__mk_fr_FR=ÅMÅŽÕÑ&crid=19NTYB640W1BY&keywords=ugreen+sata+adapter&qid=1644049435&sprefix=ugreen+sata+adapter%2Caps%2C57&sr=8-7

 

I will test today the difference when I connect the ssd to the motherboard and powering it from my HDPlex LPS. 

 

[di-fi]

Hi, do not power ssd with 12V!  5V is ok . Must be a typo, the device you use is 5V over usb.

[al2813]

1 hour ago, di-fi said:

Hi, do not power ssd with 12V!  5V is ok . Must be a typo, the device you use is 5V over usb.

 

Not a typo but a mistake and thanks for spotting. I was testing two configurations: 

 

Option 1: the SSD using the adapter linked above, which does require 12V DC in and plugged into the USB port of the Euphony box Option 2: The same SSD connected to the motherboard using my JCAT SATA cable and powered by LPS using the adapter delivered with my HDPlex.

 

I kept using the 12v rail also in option 2 which indeed sounded not nearly as well as option 1. After seeing your post, I switched option 2 to my 5V rail and indeed it sounded now amazing and better then option 1. I will now replace the SSD inside my Euphony box and keep option 2. Happy to get more feedback. 

 

 

[Lukasluis]

2 hours ago, al2813 said:

 

Not a typo but a mistake and thanks for spotting. I was testing two configurations: 

 

Option 1: the SSD using the adapter linked above, which does require 12V DC in and plugged into the USB port of the Euphony box Option 2: The same SSD connected to the motherboard using my JCAT SATA cable and powered by LPS using the adapter delivered with my HDPlex.

 

I kept using the 12v rail also in option 2 which indeed sounded not nearly as well as option 1. After seeing your post, I switched option 2 to my 5V rail and indeed it sounded now amazing and better then option 1. I will now replace the SSD inside my Euphony box and keep option 2. Happy to get more feedback. 

 

 

From my experience. Turn off SATA Co controllers altogether from your mothernoard ang turn off all unused devices including some some usb ports. Turn on 2 ports one boot port and and 1 USB-2 port to DAC, that was  My best config when I was still using Euphony,, but I already moved on

[Mustu]

Hi okay so I upgraded to a NUC10i7 and I have installation issues. 
 

it was first installed on my nuc7i7

 

i did a ramroot the next day I moved the ram to new NUC and I did manage to load and work but after I turned it off and on again the os was not loading via the usb. I tried another usb and still no luck. 
 

Please the screen below these are the different messages 

[davide256]

4 minutes ago, mustafakaiser said:

Hi okay so I upgraded to a NUC10i7 and I have installation issues. 
 

it was first installed on my nuc7i7

 

i did a ramroot the next day I moved the ram to new NUC and I did manage to load and work but after I turned it off and on again the os was not loading via the usb. I tried another usb and still no luck. 
 

Please the screen below these are the different messages 

 

 

 

 

 

It's very unclear what you are doing.

Since this is a new NUC you should

 

(a) start with imaging a clean USB boot stick. Be sure if there was a prior version of Euphony on the stick that your imaging program does rewrite the boot sector.

b) register as trial after boot for temporary use while awaiting license transfer

c) open a ticket on Euphony site to request license transfer to new hardware signature

 

 

 

RAM mode is finicky, I don't believe you can swap a boot stick configured for RAM mode to another NUC. You can do this with a boot stick in normal mode, it will just tell you that

the new NUC doesn't have a valid registration and force you to do a trial registration.

[di-fi]

11 hours ago, al2813 said:

 

Not a typo but a mistake and thanks for spotting. I was testing two configurations: 

 

Option 1: the SSD using the adapter linked above, which does require 12V DC in and plugged into the USB port of the Euphony box Option 2: The same SSD connected to the motherboard using my JCAT SATA cable and powered by LPS using the adapter delivered with my HDPlex.

 

I kept using the 12v rail also in option 2 which indeed sounded not nearly as well as option 1. After seeing your post, I switched option 2 to my 5V rail and indeed it sounded now amazing and better then option 1. I will now replace the SSD inside my Euphony box and keep option 2. Happy to get more feedback. 

 

 

Thanks, now I understand the Amazon device needs 12V. But it will convert to      5V for the SSD. I do not know what’s inside the device, but obviously not that  good for audio. 
Instead you could try to feed 5V over separate SATA to USB cable and connect a DATA cable to the MOBO.

The 5V could come from any external source. From a basic but better 5V USB phone charger, a battery or a  linear power supply. Once you have isolated the current your ears will tell you what’s best.  (I think in theory a SSD could run on 3.3V it doesn’t need much).

[Mustu]

So I found turning off the turbo boost on the NUC the music Sounds better as the background noise is further reduced. Mids are amazing. 
 

what do you all find?

[davide256]

13 minutes ago, mustafakaiser said:

So I found turning off the turbo boost on the NUC the music Sounds better as the background noise is further reduced. Mids are amazing. 
 

what do you all find?

Agree. Reducing max CPU speed can also help. Apacer server/professional grade RAM is far better than Crucial consumer grade RAM for reduced digital irritants.

[edwardsean]

2 hours ago, mustafakaiser said:

So I found turning off the turbo boost on the NUC the music Sounds better as the background noise is further reduced. Mids are amazing. 
 

what do you all find?

 

Noise is lowered, the sound is clearer.

 

Watch out also for lowered dynamics and textural density.

 

I find that is the tradeoff you're working with. 

[di-fi]

On 2/5/2022 at 10:13 AM, al2813 said:

 

Not a typo but a mistake and thanks for spotting. I was testing two configurations: 

 

Option 1: the SSD using the adapter linked above, which does require 12V DC in and plugged into the USB port of the Euphony box Option 2: The same SSD connected to the motherboard using my JCAT SATA cable and powered by LPS using the adapter delivered with my HDPlex.

 

I kept using the 12v rail also in option 2 which indeed sounded not nearly as well as option 1. After seeing your post, I switched option 2 to my 5V rail and indeed it sounded now amazing and better then option 1. I will now replace the SSD inside my Euphony box and keep option 2. Happy to get more feedback 

 

 

I just read back a few pages and understand now you already are trying the ssd connected through JCAT sata cable and powered with hdplex 300W from 5V rail to improve sound quality.

I suppose the mobo (Euphony box you mentioned?) has a better type RAM (like Apacer)? And try run Euphony in ramroot.
Many other Euphony 'expert setting' optimizations were discussed here. 

[Mustu]

Okay so yes turning turbo off you loose some dynamics. 
 

I have a Intel10i7FNH. 
 

Ram 32GB

M.2 SATA 500 GB SSD ( only for booting Euphony) is about 2.5 years old. 
 

when I have turbo on Euphony will not boot from the internal SSD and the NUC shuts down in the middle. 
 

with turbo off it will load. 
 

Any idea changing the Ram and SSD would help? 

[Smaragdhk]

11 hours ago, edwardsean said:

 

Noise is lowered, the sound is clearer.

 

Watch out also for lowered dynamics and textural density.

 

I find that is the tradeoff you're working with. 

That mimics my findings… I also have. 10i7 NUC, running Euphony off the Revelation Audio Femto SSD. Both NUC and SSD are powered by Keces LPS. 
the type of power DC cable also makes a difference (stranded copper vs solid core copper etc).

I have enabled turbo boost but disabled hyper-threading. In the expert settings I have set the max CPU freq to 1 million (1000000) so I get the same airy details as with turbo boost disabled, but with the same dynamics as with turbo boost enabled. Nice balance without sacrificing dynamics or cleaner and detailed sound. I also have experimented with core isolation and currently set to 2-3 systemd 0 nfm 1 gstp 1-6 irq/131 7.

Any suggestions welcome. Happy to try them out and report back.

 

[davide256]

10 hours ago, mustafakaiser said:

Okay so yes turning turbo off you loose some dynamics. 
 

I have a Intel10i7FNH. 
 

Ram 32GB

M.2 SATA 500 GB SSD ( only for booting Euphony) is about 2.5 years old. 
 

when I have turbo on Euphony will not boot from the internal SSD and the NUC shuts down in the middle. 
 

with turbo off it will load. 
 

Any idea changing the Ram and SSD would help? 

 Does the problem occur when using the 19V PS that came with the NUC?

[Mustu]

5 hours ago, davide256 said:

 Does the problem occur when using the 19V PS that came with the NUC?

Hi I have not tried that but I spoke to farad and was informed that the NUC drawn a lot of power at boot up and the farad can’t handle the power supply 

[davide256]

4 hours ago, mustafakaiser said:

Hi I have not tried that but I spoke to farad and was informed that the NUC drawn a lot of power at boot up and the farad can’t handle the power supply 

Makes sense, it’s a 3A power supply. One of the reasons I no longer use an i7 for NUC is the increased wattage requirements make a matching LPS very costly

[Mustu]

On 12/11/2021 at 5:09 PM, Emorante said:

hello when I activate Roon + stylus, Roon shows yes my usbpro Isl but says that it is not active, while if in Euphony I only activate Roon my usb works.  how do you connect to the dac in usb?  Thank you

Hi you are using the MSB right? Me too did your USB pro ISL work ? If so what were the settings? are you connecting it directly to the Mac/NUC/PC?

 

 

[Mustu]

Any Fantastic Expert settings ? 

 

Please share. 

 

Thanks.