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Building a DIY Music Server


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3 hours ago, OAudio said:

I think it would be good to see measured performance specifications provided as well.  

Hi Nick

I agree, however Sean is very experienced and approachable. 

One weakness that I saw with one of his top PSUs was that the fuse was in series at the output., increasing it's output impedance .

However, although Sean agreed with me that it would have been better after the bridge rectifier , he said that it would have been hard to put it elsewhere due to ease of access by consumers.

A DIY person could easily relocate it though for access by himself. Another improvement would have been connecting the smaller value capacitor from the output socket back to star earth ( a relatively long wire connection) , to the 0 volts (Earth)  side of the output socket .

 

Kind Regards

Alex

 

How a Digital Audio file sounds, or a Digital Video file looks, is governed to a large extent by the Power Supply area. All that Identical Checksums gives is the possibility of REGENERATING the file to close to that of the original file.

PROFILE UPDATED 13-11-2020

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1 hour ago, Nenon said:

 

Just to clarify further on this.

 

This is only done on high current power supplies. They can deliver up to 40-50A of current by design. An output fuse is installed on them, but not as much for convenience, as it is for safety reasons. You would really want that fast acting fuse if you accidently short the DC cable connected to the output of this power supply! The fuse does have a small impact on the sound. I've tried it with and without. But I would prefer safety over the very little slight SQ gain in this case. I installed a SR Orange fuse there, and the gap is almost gone. 

 

This fuse Alex is talking about does not exist on the regular DC3/DC4s. It's only a safety measure on high current rails. 

 I didn't recommend removing the fuse, only moving it to a different location , and Sean agreed with that being more desirable, but too awkward to implement for normal consumer access. It would also need to be a Slow Blow type if fitted after the Bridge Rectifier. A Slow Blow type at that location  should be fast enough if there was an accidental S/C on the output .

Did you also move the earth side of the output capacitor as I suggested ? If so, did you notice any difference ?

 

How a Digital Audio file sounds, or a Digital Video file looks, is governed to a large extent by the Power Supply area. All that Identical Checksums gives is the possibility of REGENERATING the file to close to that of the original file.

PROFILE UPDATED 13-11-2020

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21 hours ago, lmitche said:

There is no excuse for not providing these details for any audio supply.

Larry

Some smaller companies will not be able to afford the sophisticated gear needed to do this. 

As an illustration, Uptone took a while to be able to afford the expense of designing and using equipment like that, as it all comes from the profits which permits a company to invest in that type of gear after they become financially stable after recouping their initial investment. 

 

Regards

Alex

 

How a Digital Audio file sounds, or a Digital Video file looks, is governed to a large extent by the Power Supply area. All that Identical Checksums gives is the possibility of REGENERATING the file to close to that of the original file.

PROFILE UPDATED 13-11-2020

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11 hours ago, OAudio said:

I suspect in most cases it's a choice (or oversight) not to publish specs rather than a problem accessing equipment.

 Then perhaps you should ask Sean (OR Nenon) why he doesn't do this ?

Quote

Server LPSs are not ultra low noise units

 Perhaps they should be going by numerous reports in this area of the forum ?

 

How a Digital Audio file sounds, or a Digital Video file looks, is governed to a large extent by the Power Supply area. All that Identical Checksums gives is the possibility of REGENERATING the file to close to that of the original file.

PROFILE UPDATED 13-11-2020

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48 minutes ago, Soul Analogue said:

BTW....which is the best sounding music player for Windows? 

There are a few I can name....HQplayer, jriver, roon.... but none of them is my preference...

still exploring .....

 

Did you set up JRiver to play from System Memory  ?

 

How a Digital Audio file sounds, or a Digital Video file looks, is governed to a large extent by the Power Supply area. All that Identical Checksums gives is the possibility of REGENERATING the file to close to that of the original file.

PROFILE UPDATED 13-11-2020

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1 hour ago, Nenon said:

A good quality transformer is certainly playing a big role in the power supply and that shiny transformer used by Marcin and Sean is the best I have heard so far.

 Did you ever try bypassing the fuse in series at the output of Sean's PSU to see if it made any difference ?  

( I may have forgotten your reply)

Obviously, for normal use it still needs a fuse somewhere, but the fuse at this location MUST increase the PSU's output impedance, although a low value cap straight across the output terminals will help the HF area a bit.

 

How a Digital Audio file sounds, or a Digital Video file looks, is governed to a large extent by the Power Supply area. All that Identical Checksums gives is the possibility of REGENERATING the file to close to that of the original file.

PROFILE UPDATED 13-11-2020

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27 minutes ago, Nenon said:

BTW, I did respond a few pages earlier. Maybe you have missed it. All good. Ping me on PM again if you have other questions.

Cheers.

Nenon

You did not respond to my inexpensive suggestion about a method to bypass that output fuse in the high current supply rail.

PM sent.

Alex

 

How a Digital Audio file sounds, or a Digital Video file looks, is governed to a large extent by the Power Supply area. All that Identical Checksums gives is the possibility of REGENERATING the file to close to that of the original file.

PROFILE UPDATED 13-11-2020

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  • 5 weeks later...
2 hours ago, GUTB said:

I've learned that SSD generate a ton of noise which gets dumped into the 5v power line, and isolating this power line or filtering it has a big effect of lifting the veil. In my first (and only) attempt at building an audio PC I addressed this by getting a simple SATA-USB splitter cable which split the power line to a standard USB plug so that I can then plug it into a common 5v battery pack to completely isolate it. Now, that only works with SSDs.

Most definitely.

In my case I power both internal SSDs from the +12V rail using 2 separate LM317T voltage regulators set for +5V output, each followed by a very low noise (<4uV) variety of shunt regulator. You also need to ensure that the cases of the SSDs are securely connected to the metalwork and ensure that the metalwork has a very low measured resistance back to the main 0Volts (Earth) of the PSU. Note also that the use of pop rivets in the metalwork also adds to the resistance, so needs to be bypassed by additional cabling.

( The incoming 0 volts/Earth of SSD and HDD are internally connected to their metal cases)

https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/topic/60381-hdd-to-case-bonding-uptick-in-sq/?tab=comments#comment-1084599

 

 

How a Digital Audio file sounds, or a Digital Video file looks, is governed to a large extent by the Power Supply area. All that Identical Checksums gives is the possibility of REGENERATING the file to close to that of the original file.

PROFILE UPDATED 13-11-2020

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  • 2 weeks later...
6 hours ago, Nenon said:

Hmm, I always assume that people reading and participating in this thread have passed the "bits are just bits" saying long time ago... Your comment is a bit surprising. You have two completely different sources. Sources can have even bigger impact than the DAC (not always). It's not just the cable but also everything upstream of that. 

 

 +1

Nenon

 Thanks for reinforcing this .

It should be quite obvious even when playing music files saved to different SSD,HDD, or USB memory sticks directly from System Memory using a good S/W player such as JRiver with playing from System Memory enabled IF the rest of your system is revealing enough, which is the purpose behind threads like this from members like yourself, Larry,  Rajiv etc.. 

 

Unfortunately the vast majority of  IT guys , and most EEs still refuse to accept this, because they were taught this outdated "bits are bits" dogma  back at Uni many years earlier.

 

P.S. 

 A cheap way to start off, with just a few spade lugs and short lengths of heavy duty mains cable , using a D.M.M for measuring the improvements.  Unless your case also uses plastic and lots of pop rivets  , you won't need to go to the extent that Gary did.

https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/topic/60381-hdd-to-case-bonding-uptick-in-sq/?tab=comments#comment-1084599

 

 

How a Digital Audio file sounds, or a Digital Video file looks, is governed to a large extent by the Power Supply area. All that Identical Checksums gives is the possibility of REGENERATING the file to close to that of the original file.

PROFILE UPDATED 13-11-2020

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47 minutes ago, Nenon said:

 I can happily live with a good schottky-based rectifier.

 

Likewise.

Active rectifiers also increase the risk of  audible "buzzing" from Toroidal transformers., as well as increased radiation from the power cord. Occasionally, transformer buzzing can even be a problem with normal rectifier diodes.

Silicon Chip magazine had a report about transformer buzzing from some constructors of their 20W Class A amplifier design.

Their quick answer was to insert 470uH inductors in series with the positive and negative bridge rectifier outputs to the capacitor bank . The penalty of doing this, is however a drop in the DC output voltage, which may, or may not, be acceptable.

 

How a Digital Audio file sounds, or a Digital Video file looks, is governed to a large extent by the Power Supply area. All that Identical Checksums gives is the possibility of REGENERATING the file to close to that of the original file.

PROFILE UPDATED 13-11-2020

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1 hour ago, MarcelNL said:

Regulation may well be needed, it can be done in a few ways; ranging from good old LM317AT/78XX like devices to much fancier newer stuff,

 Let's not take this further off topic, but many may have forgotten about this series of high current Voltage Regulators which could make life easier in some DIY PSUs and is quite cheap as well.

The LT1083 is capable of 8A minimum and 9.5A typical, current limited.

https://www.ebay.com.au/sch/i.html?_nkw=Lt1083&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=705-155026-118992-7&mkcid=2&keyword=lt1083&crlp=433530097562_&MT_ID=584886&geo_id=32586&rlsatarget=kwd-1429439472&adpos=&device=c&mktype=&loc=9072206&poi=&abcId=1140676&cmpgn=1746483731&sitelnk=&adgroupid=67873361989&network=g&matchtype=p&gclid=CjwKCAiAxeX_BRASEiwAc1QdkZ9nGrpEI7qDmvmBKO_GEWdyFQxUP3gOF7BRqYQWblwTJ4G7FXMYdRoCDP0QAvD_BwE

LT1083,4,5fg.pdf

 

How a Digital Audio file sounds, or a Digital Video file looks, is governed to a large extent by the Power Supply area. All that Identical Checksums gives is the possibility of REGENERATING the file to close to that of the original file.

PROFILE UPDATED 13-11-2020

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The 5V rail is too high and for long term reliability should be closer to 5V

I would contact the manufacturer to see if it is possible to reduce this a little.

Incidentally, the specifications for most +5V voltage regulator I.C.s (LM7805 etc.) are also 4.75V to 5.25V 

 

ATX

PSU Tolerance Table
Voltage Rail Tolerance Minimum Voltage Maximum Voltage
+3.3VDC ± 5% +3.135 VDC +3.465 VDC
+5VDC ± 5% +4.750 VDC +5.250 VDC
+5VSB ± 5% +4.750 VDC +5.250 VDC
-5VDC (if used) ± 10% -4.500 VDC -5.500 VDC
+12VDC ± 5% +11.400 VDC +12.600 VDC
-12VDC ± 10% -10.800 VDC - 13.200 VDC

 

How a Digital Audio file sounds, or a Digital Video file looks, is governed to a large extent by the Power Supply area. All that Identical Checksums gives is the possibility of REGENERATING the file to close to that of the original file.

PROFILE UPDATED 13-11-2020

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