Hqplayer: best NAA with best sound quality

[Randomrunner]

Dear All,

 

I'd like to contribute some of my recent findings now that in California I've been confined at home by "shelter in place", over 6 months now.

 

1) The Up Gateway NAA PC Jussi suggested is very sensitive (at least in my system) to its power supply.  Jussi recommends a 6A 5V medical grade power supply, I believe he's using one of the Meanwell power supply.  The PC vendor's website specifies it to be a 4A device.  However, I've been able to run it and compare with various power supplies with lower current specs:   iFi iPower, iFi iPower X, Meanwell Medical Grade, a taobao 5V LPS around $100, and finally I settled with a KECES P8 LPS (one to power the Atom PC, the output to power my network switch.)  I'd say this atom PC is very sensitive to what power you feed it with.  Also, I know people don't believe it, but I have one of those audiophile Cat6 LAN cables, and it works best paired this machine, i.e., the last PC in the signal chain right before the DAC.

2) For HQPlayer, I have a DIY i9-9900K fanless PC with Streamcom DB4 case.  I've installed windows 10, windows server (with various commerical optimization software) with HQP desktop version.  I also tried installing aother optimized Linux OS with HQP embedded, but at the end I settled with HQP OS that Jussi provides. 

3) I use Roon as my interface.  The RoonServer is running on a 3rd PC, which is an Airtop 3, with Intel® Xeon E-2288G Processor and NVIDIA Quadro RTX 4000.  This machine sits in my study for email and other office work.  I also use it as as Plex Server, very powerful, and because it's fanless, it's quiet.

 

This is all of course very much system dependent, and I don't do much upsampling, only going up to 96KHz PCM because that's (what I was told) where native convolution is run at in my Lyngdorf MP-50.

 

I am just writing these down for you to take consider, since that combo is so far what I am most satisfied with.

 

Enjoy the music  :-)

[Randomrunner]

14 hours ago, AnotherSpin said:

 

Also, try your CAT6 in both directions. My Meicord CAT cables do not sound the same after changing direction.

 

9 hours ago, Miska said:

 

Just be careful that it doesn't have shields that would connect grounds of the NAA and any upstream network device. So it absolutely must be UTP type! Otherwise it spoils the galvanic isolation Ethernet otherwise provides. So check that the Ethernet connectors have plastic bodies, not metallic!

 

Thank you both for your comments!  My CAT cable does have a direction marking, and I just confirmed with the manufacturer that indeed it has a UTP connector.  Thanks again!

 

[Randomrunner]

Hi @Miska

 

Would you have any recommended BIOS tweaks for the images you create, to be run on thumb drives for

1) HQplayer Embedded (HQPlayer OS) and

2) NAA for the Up Gateway?

 

Thank you!

[Randomrunner]

23 minutes ago, toddrhodes said:

I've wanted to get one of those UpBoards for awhile, but this seems like it's even one better in some ways. 

 

 

I just put one UpBoard up for sale on Ebay.  If anyone is interested, please go there to do a search.  If anyone feel my post here is inappropriate, please let me know, and I will remove this post.  Thanks.

[Randomrunner]

I can't provide an A/B comparison summary here.  I've tried Up Gateway  around 2 years ago, it was very sensitive to power supply. I tried 2 audiophile Linear Power Supplies, 1 iFi iPowerX, and one medical-grade power supply.  They all sounded very different.  In the end, I sold my Up Gateway on eBay.

 

I have an iFi Zen Stream now, I don't like it with Linear Power Supplies (I don't know why), I currently power it with iFi iPowerX with iFi's DC isolator, sounds pretty ok. I somehow feel it sounded better the Up Gateway with various power supplies.  Maybe it's the iFi DC isolator?

 

I may try Holo Red next....

 

There has been NO AB comparison, as I owned them at different times.

[Randomrunner]

10 minutes ago, TJHUB said:

I agree the UP Board is sensitive to power supplies.  I tried the medical grade switching power supply Jussie mentioned, and didn't like the sound.  I have a linear that just seems to sound good with the UP Board. 

Great! Can you share which power supply you and your eventually settle on?  Thanks a bunch!

[Randomrunner]

I believe Jussi once said he chose the Up gateway because it uses 5V all the way through.  Can Jussi or anyone also comment on whether this is of the key reasons that it's so sensitive to power supplies?  Thanks!