Building a DIY Music Server

[BCRich]

Hi all,

Starting to acquire parts for a custom build. I have been using a Euphony Summus Server and have been happy overall however it is not up to snuff with regards to HQPlayer. I have been following both Nenon and StreamFidelity’s threads and am excited to see how this turns out.
One thing I almost forgot is my NAA is a Sonore Signature Rendu SE.....

Here is my parts list so far:

HD Plex H5 Case-Custom PC Parts List:

• HD Plex H5 Case
• HD Plex 800 watt DC to ATX Convertor
• Gigabyte Designare Z390 Motherboard
• Intel 9900k CPU
• Intel Optane Drive 64g M.2
• Apacer 32g Memory
• Firewire 800 PCIE Card for External Hard Drives

Everything above I have purchased and have on hand. The last three in the list I do not have and am undecided which path’s I will travel down. 

• Power Supply ( Keces 19V x 2 ..not fully decided)
• JCAT Net Card XE or Fiber NIC w/ EtherRegen 
• Ghent ATX Cables or Custom Made Cables

Notes:

1. I would love to do a higher end Power Supply but I don’t have an endless budget and figure the Keces would be a good middle ground choice, I already have one on the Summus Server, I have a YFS 12V Linear Power Supply that I was using on my MacMini, that can move to the Summus (Roon Duties) and I will only need to purchase one Keces.

2. Appreciate some input on the JCAT Net XE vs Fiber Nic to Uptone EtherRegen.

 

3. As far as Ghent vs Custom, not sure I have the patience to go the custom route and again my budget comes into play.

 

I have not started to assemble things as of yet, right now the Net Card is a huge road block as it is almost $1K. With the Sonore in play I am not sure if there is a benefit. Do I do the Femto one instead?

 

I have built Windows PC’s in the past and am leaning towards Euphony on this one with HQPe as well. Especially if I keep the Summus.

 

Thanks for reading.....

Mike

 

 

 

 

 

[BCRich]

Just now, StreamFidelity said:

 

Do you mean Keces 19V x 2 single output?

 

1 x single 19V and 1 x single 12V would be correct. The separate 12V supply of the CPU increases the SQ gigantically. 😉

 

Alternatively 1 x dual 9V / 12V + 18V / 19V. The temperature development could become a problem.

Hi @StreamFidelity

It would be two Separate 19v Keces LPS’s powering both inputs of the 800w HDPlex.

I guess I should be Powering the CPU directly, would a Farad work in that scenario or would I need more current? Maybe a Dual Output Keces makes sense.

Thanks for chiming in.

Mike

[BCRich]

On 11/28/2020 at 8:15 AM, BCRich said:

HD Plex H5 Case-Custom PC Parts List:

• HD Plex H5 Case
• HD Plex 800 watt DC to ATX Convertor
• Gigabyte Designare Z390 Motherboard
• Intel 9900k CPU
• Intel Optane Drive 64g M.2
• Apacer 32g Memory
• Firewire 800 PCIE Card for External Hard Drives
• Power Supply: Keces P8 19v Ultra LPS & 300 Watt HDPlex
• Ghent ATX Cables - all Neotech and JSSG360

So here is what I ended up with. It went downhill from there.

Block diagram attached....

Upon power up of Motherboard the Keces smoked and in troubleshooting I managed to smoke the HDPlex.

Conversations with Arthur Power (Keces Rep) and Larry (HDPlex) ensued. Arthur felt the Voltage Regulator on the Keces went bad as I got a 41v reading with a Volt Meter. The HDPlex 300w Power Supply showed normal voltage readings even though I heard a pop and there was smoke. I should be receiving another Keces shortly and surprisingly Larry found nothing wrong with either the 800watt dcatx or the 300 watt LPS. My plan is to just use one input on the dcatx and only the HDPlex. As much as I want to take advantage of both I/O’s of the dcatx I am afraid I will kill another Keces. Hopefully I can take thing up a notch down the road ie: Hynes or SJ. I know Gabriel had success with the Keces but he had two of them.

I can go with 2 but I am hesitant at this point. Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance.

Mike

[BCRich]

24 minutes ago, guiltyboxswapper said:

 

I'm using a HDPlex 500w for months now, it claims no DC-DC internally (direct rails) on product page and sound wonderful. 

 

Got a nice bump by plugging both the PCIE 12v and the CPU 12v rail into both ATX12v (CPU) sockets, and its running a Ryzen 3900x at stock with turbo disabled with HQPlayer embedded.  

 

It's simple too (you won't need a HDPlex 800w DC-DC).

Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind. I know they are on Back Order right now.

[BCRich]

44 minutes ago, elan120 said:

At this point, I don't feel the need to feed both EPS inputs.

Thanks, from what I gather it’s recommended if you are Overclocking. I’m sure at some point I will make a move to either a Paul Hynes or SJ. I’m always looking to improve.

[BCRich]

10 minutes ago, Downtheline said:

I just went from a single p8 powering an hdplex 800w dc to atx to now a dual rail paul hynes sr7t powering the atx converter and the eps.  It is a significant step up in sound quality. Though I did enjoy the p8. 

 

I would really consider getting on the list for the taiko dc to atx converter. Power that with a p8, then wait to see if you'll need an upgrade in lps at that time. You may not, or may try a single rail upgrade. 

Thanks.....lots of options. I’m waiting to get everything back and go from there.

[BCRich]

Deleted

[BCRich]

My V3 of the ULPS!

I had fun building this but it was a lot of work.

However the payoff is awesome in my opinion. For the record I did listen to V2 for about a month. 

This was my first attempt at a DIY Power Supply. 
Edit: Many thanks to @Exocer and @Nenon for which non of this would have been possible without their guidance and moral support.

 

[BCRich]

2 minutes ago, Tatomek7 said:

Did you reverse 2 Odams intentionally?  V letter is not connected to plus. 

@Tatomek7 I wasn’t aware that there was polarity on the VCaps. I’ll have to correct that.

Thanks….Mike

 

PS…I loved how V3 sounded right off the bat, I’m sure it’s just gonna get better and better. I pretty much had V2 playing 24/7 to help break things in. It definitely had improved quite a bit. I’m expecting the same for V3.

[BCRich]

11 minutes ago, drjimwillie said:

Hi

I just put a new Optane PCIe card 280GB in my server. 
I am running Euphony. Do I need to format it?

I would imagine so, that would be in settings menu.

[BCRich]

These have come in handy…..

[BCRich]

On 8/8/2022 at 10:21 AM, JayM said:

Some people who had additional orders with us received their Caps/rectifiers earlier (shipped last week) to combine the shipping. All other orders will be picked up by the shipping carrier tomorrow morning👌

Anyone receive shipping notification/confirmation emails? Hopefully things are en-route.

[BCRich]

Just now, bit01 said:

I got a ship notice on 9th Aug for the monster cap.

Thanks, when did you place your order?

[BCRich]

All good, thanks for the responses. Shipping today….

[BCRich]

17 minutes ago, MarcelNL said:

thanks for that detail!

 

I'll probably put in the old Saligny replacing the power version, I just revived the MB so everything beyond the ULPS is fine...which is a relief, now just to see if the Taiko ATX is also OK...if so I can drop in the Taiko active rectifyer and finally listen to some music after three weeks (vacation etc)

Did you try disconnecting the Main Power Cable from the Wall or Power Conditioner leading to the ULPS? That will reset everything, give it a try.

I know if I hot swap the DC Cable between the ULPS and the Server after working on the ULPS the Taiko DC/ATX sometimes gets wonky.

Good Luck…Mike

[BCRich]

2 hours ago, SK8 said:

Some of you here were quick enough to purchase the Taiko active rectifier and the super cap. I could only get the super cap and plan to use the high power Saligny as a substitute. All other components are the same as Nenon V3, except the super cap to replace the last 3 Mundorf HC cap and the first 22000uF HC cap replaced by a Mundorf AG cap. Would it be a risk to use the high power Saligny?

 

@JayMWould there be another small batch production run of the Taiko DIY active rectifiers?

I did exactly that, sounds awesome.

Mike

[BCRich]

So looking at my picture in the previous post…..

I ordered a smaller Chassis for my ULPS and was intending on using the Taiko Rectefier in place of the SP. So I had to cut off the spades and strip the wire again on the Noratel. Apparently there is a coating on the wire, I am unable to get any solder to adhere and If I put a Volt Meter on the wires I get no reading. If I touch the tip where I cut them I get a reading. Anyone have any suggestions on how to resolve this? I tried scraping a bit with a wire stripper; didn’t seem to do the trick. I need something to dissolve the coating, thinking of trying Goof Off.

Help is much appreciated.

Thanks…..Mike

 

PS….Galaxy Chassis from Modushop I ordered is too small for V3, gonna have to do V2 again and hope for the Taiko DIY Chassis down the road.

[BCRich]

11 minutes ago, elan120 said:

If you have access to a solder pot, dipping the tip of the wires into the pot not only will remove the coating, it will also tinned the wire as well.

How powerful of a pot would I need. They are reasonably priced on Amazon.

[BCRich]

On 8/31/2022 at 10:51 PM, oneguy said:

Or something like this:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/265499725643?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=80xkSlixS2y&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=QllYj8wxQKG&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

 

I used it on my 8awg and IIRC I used it on the Noratel as well. 

@oneguy I ended up ordering this from Amazon, cost me more but I got it right away. It seemed to do the trick; couldn’t figure out if there is a way to adjust for smaller gauge wire though. Waiting on Solder now to move forward with the re-build.

[BCRich]

Back to V2 until the Taiko Chassis comes out again.

[BCRich]

Back to V3….Sound like I remembered. Probably not the best layout. This is a stop gap until the Taiko Chassis becomes available again.

[BCRich]

2 hours ago, Exocer said:

Probably not the answer you want hear but even with buffering, power supply quality and clocking of your network switch will still have an impact on the end result.

@JackJohnson316 @Exocer I just replaced the Hi Fi Tuning Gold Fuse in my AfterDark Hi Current LPS with a Yellow QSA; I can swear the Noise Floor got lower and the dynamics improved. Said Power Supply is powering the FireWire 800 Drive that hosts all my Music Files. Yes, I am buffering to ram.

[BCRich]

1 minute ago, Nick90 said:

I’m using a Farad Super3 to power two switches and replacing the fuse for a SR Purple was a pleasant upgrade. Also changing the AC powercord is quite noticeable.

Nice, I’m lacking in the Power Cord area on this particular supply due to placement logistics. Will get that resolved at some point.

[BCRich]

Hey Gang,

Those who have done the Taiko DIY Chassis build; what IEC Inlet have you used. The Furutech FI-09/09NCF does not fit. Lot’s of QC issues by the way. Disappointing to say the least. 

Thanks for the feed back in advance.

Mike

[BCRich]

Hi Nenon, I think the FI-06 might fit, I ran into the same issue when I built that Carbon Fiber outlet box last year. Rob thinks the Oyaide might fit as well.

7 minutes ago, Nenon said:

Can you share more? 

So far I’ve had to retap screw holes, the holes for the feet in the bottom plate were not countersunk, had to re-drill to be able to attach the feet. Then the hole to mount to Noratel to the large inner plate is on the wrong end. The wires will not pass through the notch in the small inner plate. I can reverse it but than I loose the holes to attach the rear panel where the PCIe Slots are.

Check your PM…..