Building a DIY Music Server

[Iving]

really appreciate you guys blogging your experiences

[Iving]

9 minutes ago, di-fi said:

This makes me wonder what exactly is Romaz commercial interest in this?

 

Needn't be a commercial interest. There are all sorts of motivations in this Hi-Fi game. Many hidden even unto ourselves.

[Iving]

56 minutes ago, Mops911 said:

Hdplex 800w DC-ATX:

 

How do you guys power it?

Do you run a separate 12v LPS for EPS?

How did you mount it in a Streatcom FC10 or HDPlex H5?

Bonus ;-) If you run a separate NAA, how "concerned" are you about the power for the HQP server?

 

Cheers

Tom

 

Mine from SR7T 19V

Yes - 12V direct CPU

In Streacom F12C (threaded M3 standoffs can be obtained different lengths - they provide a secure mount fixed horizontally - black bolts outside matching case - silver inside matching DC-ATX):

 

 

 

I don't run NAA - offline music PC - HQPlayer Desktop

[Iving]

Interim quickie on AM4 build
Current AM4 build is upgrade
From:
- ASUS Z270-WS (Workstation)
- i7-6700 3.4 GHz
- 16Gb Corsair Dominator Platinum DDR4 2400MHz
To:
- ASUS ProArt B550 CREATOR
- Ryzen 5600G
- 64Gb Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3600 (PC4-28800) C18
plus
- WD_BLACK SN850X 2TB M.2 2280 PCIe Gen4 NVMe SSD up to 7300 MB/s read speed

 

In both old and new configs.:
- o/s offline W10 Pro stripped plus >400Gb select flac on Intel Optane SSD 900P 480Gb PCIe AIC
- playback Dante/RedNet via fiber StarTech PEX1000SFP2/ SFP1000LXST

 

NB: All non-Chipset

 

This subjective report made possible because now A/B comparsion of “same” flac file on:
- Optane 900P PCIe AIC
vs.
- WD_BLACK SN850X M.2 PCIe Gen 4.0
more or less “all other things equal”

 

WD-BLACK sounds slightly cleaner / more transparent without losing mojo.
tbh I am surprised. This is not Expectation. I anticipated Optane would win.

 

Could be partly attrib. to o/s being on Optane Drive.

 

Reserving final judgement as system in test bench mode bedding in from cold.

 

Ancillary: In case interest NOFAN CR-80EH Copper IcePipe would not fit AM4 (although you can get AM4 feet) and after extensive research I am sailing with Noctua NH-P1 on 5600G – hardly gets warm. The NH-P1 is too tall for even my Streacom F12C. fwiw Larry says he is still developing a new case which will have its own heat dissipation system (not a solution for my skyscraper NH-P1).

 

[Iving]

4 hours ago, audiophilac said:

@Iving

What made you pick the Asus ProArt motherboard?

Do you have any opinion on Asrock Rack motherboards?

I noticed X670 motherboard manufacturers state "server grade PCB" etc, but I'm not sure if its better (or something?)

 

My PC is a dedicated offline Music Player networked only as an ethernet based Dante feed to Pro Audio DAC (Dangerous Convert-2) via eR, RedNet D16 AES and Mutec MC3+ USB as re-clocker and WC. I use HQPlayer Desktop but upsample CD rips to only x4 or 176.4 kHz [sinc-S/Gauss1]. The demands on the CPU are very low and I can focus on other attributes of mobo/CPU etc permutation. I don't need to be at hardware cutting edge at all. In fact, technological advance can be regressive for simple infrastructure, low power, low noise playback. Components released a year or two back are now heavily discounted. Started with Ryzen 5600G which has advantage of integrated graphics. I avoid teenager/gaming boards if I can. A very high priority for me is (theoretically at least) chipset-avoidant playback. I require PCIe slots for: 1) Optane 900P and 2) Startech SFP card. Two CPU-direct slots was satisfied on Z270-WS but both M.2 were chipset. Not so with ProArt M.2_1 which is PCIe Gen 4.0 and enabled direct comparison with Optane 900P as already reported. All Wi-Fi in the house is off and this ProArt has no Wi-Fi. It is exceptional in having Thunderbolt 4 which is contingency future-proofing. The ProArt B550-CREATOR looks the mutt's nuts and was an excuse to invest in better CPU and hike up RAM to 64Gb. tbh I always harboured a notion that the Z270-WS lacked something I heard in a Gigabyte mobo I tried at about the same time I bought it. I don't have experience with Asrock. The two downsides to this upgrade were: A) Had to get an oversize passive cooler which gives me a case headache (although as it turns out I could have procured AM4 feet for Icepipe but I don't want to go back now) and B) Installation software forced me to adopt W10 Pro 1903_19H1_18362.356 instead of 1507_Threshold 1_2015-07_10240.16384 but I can live with that particular offset.

[Iving]

51 minutes ago, MarcelNL said:

No dice....apparently the 12 V on the ATX connector of the MB has the same ground plane as the EPS connectors

....does anyone know if the ATX needs 12V for the MB to work? (I guess it does)

 

A pin extractor tool is inexpensive. I think there are 2 x 12V on ATX. Could lift those pins as an experiment. Suspect the odds are against you.

 

[Iving]

24 minutes ago, MarcelNL said:

I have a set of those..and I have the 24pin ATX pinout....still hope to avoid lifting the 12V pins since that 14AWG UPOCC is not very bendy.. 

 

Sure

 

I'm fairly confident 12V is stepped down for this and that ...

[Iving]

@MarcelNL maybe you have an el cheapo 24 thin wire loom you could use for experiment. We know Pin 11 is not necessary since 20 pin block works in 24 pin mobo. Thus just Pin 10 lifted will resolve.

[Iving]

On 4/4/2021 at 9:21 PM, Topk said:

This is another item that I didn’t see much discussion about.

 

On 4/5/2021 at 10:47 AM, MarcelNL said:

as far as I can tell the Elfidelity device is simply a bunch of capacitors stuck on a PCIe circuit board.

 

I predict the effect is small

 

A respectable member here, during the course of a conversation about something else, btw'd me to the effect, "Use a DC filter in the next rail to the pcie card".

 

Google being my friend, and having enquired politely of said Oracle, I could only think the dear fellow was referring to the polychromatic Elfidelity AXF-107.

 

I got one shipped to me from China. The results were noteworthy - and here they are …

 

My system is a PC that plays flac. No internet. No streaming. Just flac on a PC at the listening position > fiber > eR > RedNet D16 AES > Mutec MC3+ USB (WC & Re-clocker) > DAC.

 

Naturally this post is about what goes on in the computer.

 

Having re-established my PC after a bit of a nightmare with (as it turned out) a Network Adapter driver (see recent Optical Networks thread), I was feeling pretty pleased with SQ – thinking it was better than ever – and I was in a happy place. My spiking/dropouts problem was resolved – as proven in Dante Controller demonstrating stability well > 24 hrs.

 

 

Incidentally the Graph is even more "pure" with Flow Control On –

 

but SQ is definitely better with FC Disabled. Maybe the eR translating Gigabit to 100 Mbps benefits, as it were, from FC.

 

What about  the AXF-107 then?

 

mobo is Asus ProArt B550-CREATOR.

CPU is Ryzen 5600G.

RAM is CMK64GX4M2D3600C18.

 

mobo config:

CPU: 2 x (PCIe 4.0 x 16) [16 or dual 8] + M.2_1 PCIe 4.0

Chipset: 1 x (PCIe 3.0 x 16), (2 x PCIe 3.0) + M.2_2 PCIe 3.0

In first PCIe slot is Optane 900p with o/s.

flac Library is on WD Black SN850X 4Tb in M.2_1.

Network Adapter (single SFP) is Startech PEX1000SFP2 in PCIe_2.

 

The AXF-107 takes up no lanes – and does not appear in DevMan. No installation. It just sits in whichever PCIe slot you choose. It has LEDs which you can manipulate via DIP switches. Fortunately you can turn off the LEDs.

 

The AXF-107 has a "long" side and a "short" side.

 

First I tried the AXF-107 long side down in PCIe_3. Definitely meh. Sound was dry and robbed of body and power. Turned off the PC and went to bed.

 

This morning I flipped the AXF-107 (bracket moves to other end) so that it went short side down in one of the junior PCIe slots – more specifically – the one situated exactly between 900p and Network Adapter. Sits over the CMOS battery.

Different story. Jaw-dropping detail. Instruments and sound effects jumping out of the speakers. Voices laden with timbre. Even tighter and more powerful bass – which I experience somatically at my listening position thanks mostly to cherished Snell Type A III.

 

imo I could ABX this effect. SQ delta easily ranks alongside hardware upgrades.

 

Your mmv – of course. But, like Linus Gabriel Sebastian on this topic (albeit with different appreciations), I wasn't born yesterday – and this surprised me quite a lot. For the money – I would recommend AXF-107 as a potential SQ/$-£- € record breaker.

 

 

 

 

  

[Iving]

1 minute ago, MarcelNL said:

first question in my mind is; what do you feed your computer with?

 

In a 'standard PC' setup with SMPS type PSU  that filter undeniably has an impact,

 

Paul Hynes SR7T Serial # 1

19V to HDPLEX DC-ATX 800W / Mundorf Silver-Gold loom

12V direct to CPU / Mundorf Silver-Gold

 

3 minutes ago, MarcelNL said:

I tried it when I finishd the unregulated LPSU feeding the Taiko ATX with bypasses and it did nothing (well, it did something that i did not particularly like)

 

Yes - my first trial I didn't like at all.

 

A different orientation / location on the mobo ... something else. Did you experiment much?

 

atm I conclude there is more scope than generally realised for cleaning up "dirty" mobo power.

[Iving]

3 minutes ago, Exocer said:

Same for me. I tried it and did not like it with the Taiko dc-ATX / ULPS v3 combo.

 

Perhaps my success has to do with AXF-107 in situ amongst 3 x CPU-direct parts/functions performing a single local playback role.

[Iving]

8 minutes ago, MarcelNL said:

location on the MB

 

2 different slots were like -ve and then +ve otoh. without trying different possibilities I could easily have missed a SQ jump.

 

8 minutes ago, MarcelNL said:

turning them 180'

 

I had to flip AXF-107 to use in a PCIe x 4 slot (short side down) vs a PCIe x 16 one (long side down). Maybe not so much to do with turning caps 180 as reducing contact points in PCIe slot ... and 2nd slot being located as was first suggested to me - adjacent instead of remote from other Cards

 

8 minutes ago, MarcelNL said:

Have to add that I'm not a Mundorf S/G cap or S/G wire fan either.

 

:-) well I doubt that the wire has much to do with it - what have you moved on to?

[Iving]

14 minutes ago, MarcelNL said:

I'm using Neotech UPOCC

 

Since long time I have been using Neotech NEMOI-1220 Rectangular OCC Silver for DIY AES cable

 

14 minutes ago, MarcelNL said:

speed of power delivery is everything in digital

 

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