Popular Post mrkoven Posted July 14, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted July 14, 2021 my first ever custom build is finally up and running. waiting for neotech ghent 24p/8p to arrive and swap in, but this will do for now. planning to run euphony hqpe into a Holo May. hesistated on a jcat xe usb due to 1.536mhz pcm compatibility concerns (?). so will just use motherboard USB output. hdplex h5 kyronaut thermal paste i9 9900k gigabyte designare z390 apacer 2x8gb optane 32gb hdplex dc-atx 400w keces p8 19/20v 8a may add an internal 4tb since mobo has a 2nd m.2 slot but will use my NAS for now. thanks to this forum for the wealth of information. cheers bit01, RickyV and Exocer 1 2 Link to comment
elan120 Posted July 14, 2021 Share Posted July 14, 2021 1 hour ago, mrkoven said: hesistated on a jcat xe usb due to 1.536mhz pcm compatibility concerns JCAT XE USB card is capable of running PCM at 1.536MHz. I ran it using HQPe with no issue. 87mpi 1 Link to comment
mrkoven Posted July 15, 2021 Share Posted July 15, 2021 1 hour ago, elan120 said: JCAT XE USB card is capable of running PCM at 1.536MHz. I ran it using HQPe with no issue. into a Holo May? ive read some folks had issues getting jcat xe to run 1.536mhz specifically with May. maybe its resolved now, not sure Link to comment
elan120 Posted July 15, 2021 Share Posted July 15, 2021 9 minutes ago, mrkoven said: into a Holo May? ive read some folks had issues getting jcat xe to run 1.536mhz specifically with May. maybe its resolved now, not sure No, I have no experience with May, the DAC used is a Terminator, and that has no issue accepting 1.536MHz of PCM input signal. Link to comment
Popular Post bit01 Posted July 15, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted July 15, 2021 @mrkoven try the different USB ports and locations to see if there is any SQ difference. On a GB Z490 Aorus Master I found that they affect SQ differently but one had much better transparency than the rest. It was the 3.2 closest to the MB. I also found that Wi-Fi affected SQ adversely. You can try disabling it if possible to test on your board. I only play local files and rarely use LAN (only used for updates). I got the Ghent Neotech ATX & EPS too and like them. Enjoy. ATB b. 87mpi and mrkoven 2 Link to comment
Foggie Posted July 15, 2021 Share Posted July 15, 2021 11 hours ago, mrkoven said: into a Holo May? ive read some folks had issues getting jcat xe to run 1.536mhz specifically with May. maybe its resolved now, not sure I "think" it was dependent on the may FW version, not sure though My rig Link to comment
Gavin1977 Posted July 16, 2021 Share Posted July 16, 2021 On 7/15/2021 at 12:05 AM, elan120 said: JCAT XE USB card is capable of running PCM at 1.536MHz. I ran it using HQPe with no issue. Same here - no issues with 1.536mHz and JCAT USB Xe Link to comment
mrkoven Posted July 16, 2021 Share Posted July 16, 2021 35 minutes ago, Gavin1977 said: Same here - no issues with 1.536mHz and JCAT USB Xe Which DAC? i saw a post in the holo may thread that turned me away. maybe it works with May, maybe not. dont really want to spend $1K to try it w/o some concrete first hand confirmation Link to comment
VaG Posted July 16, 2021 Share Posted July 16, 2021 Hello, I'm following this topic for a while. I build my Audio PC. I would like to ask you guys what are next steps to improve sound of my PCAudio. I'm using Windows 10 WD hard disk RE 8TB SATA 3, 8Gbs, 7200rpm, 256MB GOLD MotherBoard LGA 1151 Gigabyte Z390 Aorus Elite RGB Gaming ATX Intel CPU Core i9-9900K 3,6/5 GHz Ram DDR4 16GB 3200Mhz G Skill RIPJAWS V (2x8GB kit) SSD Kingston A2000 1TB M.2 PCI-e 3.0 x4NVMe USB card Femto -Foobar2000...Sound is not to bad, but I have problems with playing DSD formats. Sometims are working sometimes not. -Tidal....I'm disapointed with sound quality. In tracks I'm hearing sss in higher tons -Spotify....Most tracks are in lower sound quality, but ok. -As DAC I'm using Loxije D30 with Burson Opamp Everithing is in HDPlex H5 with HD plex 400 W HiFi DC ATX nano Combo. Is there some steps to pimp setup, bios,..., V Link to comment
Popular Post ASRMichael Posted July 16, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted July 16, 2021 5 minutes ago, VaG said: Hello, I'm following this topic for a while. I build my Audio PC. I would like to ask you guys what are next steps to improve sound of my PCAudio. I'm using Windows 10 WD hard disk RE 8TB SATA 3, 8Gbs, 7200rpm, 256MB GOLD MotherBoard LGA 1151 Gigabyte Z390 Aorus Elite RGB Gaming ATX Intel CPU Core i9-9900K 3,6/5 GHz Ram DDR4 16GB 3200Mhz G Skill RIPJAWS V (2x8GB kit) SSD Kingston A2000 1TB M.2 PCI-e 3.0 x4NVMe USB card Femto -Foobar2000...Sound is not to bad, but I have problems with playing DSD formats. Sometims are working sometimes not. -Tidal....I'm disapointed with sound quality. In tracks I'm hearing sss in higher tons -Spotify....Most tracks are in lower sound quality, but ok. -As DAC I'm using Loxije D30 with Burson Opamp Is there some steps to pimp setup, bios,..., Vasja What I would do with single cpu server. 1 - Euphony - You’ll be able to run Ramroot & buffer tracks. This means your hard disks should not have much activity whilst playing music. 2 - Taiko ATX card 3 - Linear Power supply 4 - Jcat Ethernet card & so on. You asked!! It all depends on your budget. 87mpi, Exocer and Darryl R 2 1 Link to comment
Darryl R Posted July 16, 2021 Share Posted July 16, 2021 2 hours ago, VaG said: Hello, I'm following this topic for a while. I build my Audio PC. I would like to ask you guys what are next steps to improve sound of my PCAudio. I'm using Windows 10 WD hard disk RE 8TB SATA 3, 8Gbs, 7200rpm, 256MB GOLD MotherBoard LGA 1151 Gigabyte Z390 Aorus Elite RGB Gaming ATX Intel CPU Core i9-9900K 3,6/5 GHz Ram DDR4 16GB 3200Mhz G Skill RIPJAWS V (2x8GB kit) SSD Kingston A2000 1TB M.2 PCI-e 3.0 x4NVMe USB card Femto -Foobar2000...Sound is not to bad, but I have problems with playing DSD formats. Sometims are working sometimes not. -Tidal....I'm disapointed with sound quality. In tracks I'm hearing sss in higher tons -Spotify....Most tracks are in lower sound quality, but ok. -As DAC I'm using Loxije D30 with Burson Opamp Everithing is in HDPlex H5 with HD plex 400 W HiFi DC ATX nano Combo. Is there some steps to pimp setup, bios,..., V I didn't study things enough to know exactly why you have the hard drive, but you could get rid of that, esp. with the 1TB NVMe SSD. Link to comment
Gavin1977 Posted July 16, 2021 Share Posted July 16, 2021 15 hours ago, mrkoven said: Which DAC? i saw a post in the holo may thread that turned me away. maybe it works with May, maybe not. dont really want to spend $1K to try it w/o some concrete first hand confirmation Definitely works - I tried it with Holo Audio May. Link to comment
mrkoven Posted July 16, 2021 Share Posted July 16, 2021 19 minutes ago, Gavin1977 said: Definitely works - I tried it with Holo Audio May. good to know thanks. are you using windows hqp or hqpe? Link to comment
VaG Posted July 16, 2021 Share Posted July 16, 2021 4 hours ago, ASRMichael said: What I would do with single cpu server. 1 - Euphony - You’ll be able to run Ramroot & buffer tracks. This means your hard disks should not have much activity whilst playing music. 2 - Taiko ATX card 3 - Linear Power supply 4 - Jcat Ethernet card & so on. You asked!! It all depends on your budget. I understand. I thought that it is possible to setup sistem a little. Not just to buy best things right now. Thx. Link to comment
VaG Posted July 16, 2021 Share Posted July 16, 2021 2 hours ago, Darryl R said: I didn't study things enough to know exactly why you have the hard drive, but you could get rid of that, esp. with the 1TB NVMe SSD. For music files. Link to comment
ASRMichael Posted July 16, 2021 Share Posted July 16, 2021 16 minutes ago, VaG said: I understand. I thought that it is possible to setup sistem a little. Not just to buy best things right now. Thx. Ok sorry misunderstood what you were looking for. Turning off as many USB ports in bios. Leaving one for mouse or keyboard. You can try turning turbo on or off. Leave with you to decide. I’ve played a lot with bios settings over the last two years. Now mostly keep things on auto. You can have a look here also. https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/topic/58514-diy-project-high-performance-audio-pc-with-high-quality-wiring/?do=findComment&comment=1033801 Link to comment
Popular Post AngeloVRA Posted July 17, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted July 17, 2021 Various posts of AS people building music servers have inspired me to build my own. I figured its my turn to share my humble build as well I started by ordering a 4 rail SR7T from PHD back in October last year. Although there were (extended) delays, I was one of the lucky ones to get mine just a few weeks before PHD closed down its business. I was able to get 4 rails on it: - 19V/10A adjustable to 15V/6A, 12V/5A, 9V/4A - 12V/10A adjustable to 9V/7A, 7V/5A, 5V/4A - 12V/6A adjustable to 9V/4A, 7V/3A, 5V/2.4A - 12V/6A adjustable to 9V/4A, 7V/3A, 5V/2.4A If I could do it all over again, I would opt for 5V/6A instead of 5V/2.4A from the 12V/6A rail. I wanted to use an HDPlex H5 chassis (so I could install USB/Network card direct to motherboard without use of riser cables) but was informed they were out of stock, probably till August so I decided to go with a Streacom FC10a instead. Having decided to mount the Taiko ATX DC-DC converter behind the front panel, I disassembled the front panel to drill and tap some blind holes so I can securely fix the Taiko ATX onto it. 2 Jaeger 3-pin terminals were also installed on the rear panel. 1 to receive the19V to supply the Taiko ATX and another to receive 12V to supply the CPU EPS if I didn’t like the SQ of 12V EPS from Taiko. I confirmed most appropriate orientation of the Taiko ATX (connectors up or down). Connectors on the bottom yielded a position that would be much easier to wire. This position also gave the shortest possible 24 pin ATX cable from Taiko ATX to motherboard For the CPU, I opted for a single Xeon W-1290 which has 10 cores, base speed of 3.2Ghz, Turbo speed of 5.2Ghz. This went onto a Gigabyte W480 Vision D full size ATX motherboard. This setup required the Streacom Thermal Riser HT4 so that the heatpipes could vertically clear the VRMs, and the extended length heatpipe set LH4 as the standard ones were about 2 cm too short. Initially, I only used 2 pins (+12V and Gnd) for the CPU EPS cable. For the ATX cable, also the minimum, 1 pair each for 12v/5v/3.3v and their respective grounds. I listened to it for over a week and then gradually added 1 pair of wire at a time. Each time, the additional wires gave me an uptick in fullness and dynamics. The wire itself could probably carry the current but the limiting factor was the current capacity of the pins. Utilizing more pins allowed more transient peak current to be delivered. I ended up fully populating all power connectors. The molex pins have two tabs on the top that slide into channels inside the Molex connector (e.g. both should be at 12 o’clock for the molex pins to slide in and lock properly. The Mundorf SG 1.5mm (AWG 15.5) is very stiff so I had to make the pin for one end, insert it into the connector at motherboard side, shape the wire towards the connector at Taiko ATX side, and only then crimp the molex pin at that end. This way the pin would be orientated correctly to slide in and lock properly. I opted to use the gold plated Molex pins because they have a bigger current capacity. There are also 2 sizes: 1 for 18AWG wire, and another for 16AWG wire. I opted to use bare Mundorf wire and use oversized Teflon tubes (2-2.5mm for 1.5mm wire, 1.5-2mm for 1.0mm wire) so that the resulting insulation would be mostly air. As a bonus, this was also much cheaper. Crimped solid core wires have a tendency to shake loose after some handling so I decided to also thinly solder the already crimped connection. Next was the power supply cable from the Jaeger chassis connector at the back of the server to the 6p input connector at the Taiko ATX. While a single pair of 1.5mm Mundorf SG should be able to carry the required current, the limiting factor would be the current carrying capacity of the molex pin contacts. As mentioned earlier, I had decided to use all 6 pins. For each polarity (positive and Gnd), I opted to use 1 length of 1.5mm AWG15.5 wire plus 2 lengths of 1.0mm AWG18. On the Jaeger connector side, simply twisting the 3 wires together seemed messy as the resulting wire won’t fit neatly into the solder cup of the Jaeger connector. I decided to use a WBT copper cable sleeve to crimp the 3 wires together, with only the 1.5mm wire coming out the other end which can then be neatly soldered into the Jaeger connector terminals. RAM is Apacer ECC industrial, wide temp (-40C to 95C), 4 x 4GB for a total 16GB. Music data storage is 2 x 2TB Intel 660p M.2 NVME which also has very low power consumption (40 mW at idle, 100 mW when active) OS drive is an 118 GB Intel Optane 800p which is relatively cheap, has very low read latency at 7 microseconds, and low power consumption (8mW at idle, 3.75w when active). This was mounted on an M.2 to PCIE adapter card which allowed me to install it on the 1st PCIE slot, direct to CPU. The 2nd PCIE slot, also direct to CPU has a JCAT USB XE, externally powered by a PH SR7T. The 3rd PCIE slot, also direct to CPU (PCIE bifurcation of x16 into x8/x4/x4), has a JCAT NET XE, also powered externally by a PH SR7T. Subsequently, I found out that the M2 Optane 800P needed a substantial heatsink as it really gets hot. All DC cables are Mundorf SG 1.5mm (AWG15.5) wires in oversized 2.5mm Teflon tubes with Jaeger connectors at the source and either another Jaeger or an Oyaide 5.5/2.1 mm DC plug on the other end. Surprisingly, cotton/silk tubing and JSSG360 shielding didn’t really work out for me in this scenario. In operation, I measured the following current consumption: - 19V to Taiko: 2.0 amps - 12V to EtherRegen: 800 ma - 12V to JCAT NET XE: 1.25 amps - 12V to JCAT USB XE: 680 ma BIOS Settings: After several weeks of trying various combinations, Ive settled on the following settings: - Turbo off - Hyperthreading off - C-States off - Onboard Lan Disabled - Onboard Audio Disabled - SATA disabled Euphony is currently on Version 421 and will try 716 soon - Ramroot disabled - CPU isolation is 0-1 stylus 2-5 gstp 6-9. Surprisingly 0-1 gstp 2-5 stylus 6-9 sounded different and worse. Probably because some cores run better than others. - Allocating IRQs to specific cores didn’t sound better for me. Many thanks to all AS DiYers who have posted their builds and have unselfishly shared their knowledge and experience! Exocer, BTO, Töki and 21 others 4 18 2 Link to comment
Popular Post ASRMichael Posted July 17, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted July 17, 2021 52 minutes ago, AngeloVRA said: Various posts of AS people building music servers have inspired me to build my own. I figured its my turn to share my humble build as well I started by ordering a 4 rail SR7T from PHD back in October last year. Although there were (extended) delays, I was one of the lucky ones to get mine just a few weeks before PHD closed down its business. I was able to get 4 rails on it: - 19V/10A adjustable to 15V/6A, 12V/5A, 9V/4A - 12V/10A adjustable to 9V/7A, 7V/5A, 5V/4A - 12V/6A adjustable to 9V/4A, 7V/3A, 5V/2.4A - 12V/6A adjustable to 9V/4A, 7V/3A, 5V/2.4A If I could do it all over again, I would opt for 5V/6A instead of 5V/2.4A from the 12V/6A rail. I wanted to use an HDPlex H5 chassis (so I could install USB/Network card direct to motherboard without use of riser cables) but was informed they were out of stock, probably till August so I decided to go with a Streacom FC10a instead. Having decided to mount the Taiko ATX DC-DC converter behind the front panel, I disassembled the front panel to drill and tap some blind holes so I can securely fix the Taiko ATX onto it. 2 Jaeger 3-pin terminals were also installed on the rear panel. 1 to receive the19V to supply the Taiko ATX and another to receive 12V to supply the CPU EPS if I didn’t like the SQ of 12V EPS from Taiko. I confirmed most appropriate orientation of the Taiko ATX (connectors up or down). Connectors on the bottom yielded a position that would be much easier to wire. This position also gave the shortest possible 24 pin ATX cable from Taiko ATX to motherboard For the CPU, I opted for a single Xeon W-1290 which has 10 cores, base speed of 3.2Ghz, Turbo speed of 5.2Ghz. This went onto a Gigabyte W480 Vision D full size ATX motherboard. This setup required the Streacom Thermal Riser HT4 so that the heatpipes could vertically clear the VRMs, and the extended length heatpipe set LH4 as the standard ones were about 2 cm too short. Initially, I only used 2 pins (+12V and Gnd) for the CPU EPS cable. For the ATX cable, also the minimum, 1 pair each for 12v/5v/3.3v and their respective grounds. I listened to it for over a week and then gradually added 1 pair of wire at a time. Each time, the additional wires gave me an uptick in fullness and dynamics. The wire itself could probably carry the current but the limiting factor was the current capacity of the pins. Utilizing more pins allowed more transient peak current to be delivered. I ended up fully populating all power connectors. The molex pins have two tabs on the top that slide into channels inside the Molex connector (e.g. both should be at 12 o’clock for the molex pins to slide in and lock properly. The Mundorf SG 1.5mm (AWG 15.5) is very stiff so I had to make the pin for one end, insert it into the connector at motherboard side, shape the wire towards the connector at Taiko ATX side, and only then crimp the molex pin at that end. This way the pin would be orientated correctly to slide in and lock properly. I opted to use the gold plated Molex pins because they have a bigger current capacity. There are also 2 sizes: 1 for 18AWG wire, and another for 16AWG wire. I opted to use bare Mundorf wire and use oversized Teflon tubes (2-2.5mm for 1.5mm wire, 1.5-2mm for 1.0mm wire) so that the resulting insulation would be mostly air. As a bonus, this was also much cheaper. Crimped solid core wires have a tendency to shake loose after some handling so I decided to also thinly solder the already crimped connection. Next was the power supply cable from the Jaeger chassis connector at the back of the server to the 6p input connector at the Taiko ATX. While a single pair of 1.5mm Mundorf SG should be able to carry the required current, the limiting factor would be the current carrying capacity of the molex pin contacts. As mentioned earlier, I had decided to use all 6 pins. For each polarity (positive and Gnd), I opted to use 1 length of 1.5mm AWG15.5 wire plus 2 lengths of 1.0mm AWG18. On the Jaeger connector side, simply twisting the 3 wires together seemed messy as the resulting wire won’t fit neatly into the solder cup of the Jaeger connector. I decided to use a WBT copper cable sleeve to crimp the 3 wires together, with only the 1.5mm wire coming out the other end which can then be neatly soldered into the Jaeger connector terminals. RAM is Apacer ECC industrial, wide temp (-40C to 95C), 4 x 4GB for a total 16GB. Music data storage is 2 x 2TB Intel 660p M.2 NVME which also has very low power consumption (40 mW at idle, 100 mW when active) OS drive is an 118 GB Intel Optane 800p which is relatively cheap, has very low read latency at 7 microseconds, and low power consumption (8mW at idle, 3.75w when active). This was mounted on an M.2 to PCIE adapter card which allowed me to install it on the 1st PCIE slot, direct to CPU. The 2nd PCIE slot, also direct to CPU has a JCAT USB XE, externally powered by a PH SR7T. The 3rd PCIE slot, also direct to CPU (PCIE bifurcation of x16 into x8/x4/x4), has a JCAT NET XE, also powered externally by a PH SR7T. Subsequently, I found out that the M2 Optane 800P needed a substantial heatsink as it really gets hot. All DC cables are Mundorf SG 1.5mm (AWG15.5) wires in oversized 2.5mm Teflon tubes with Jaeger connectors at the source and either another Jaeger or an Oyaide 5.5/2.1 mm DC plug on the other end. Surprisingly, cotton/silk tubing and JSSG360 shielding didn’t really work out for me in this scenario. In operation, I measured the following current consumption: - 19V to Taiko: 2.0 amps - 12V to EtherRegen: 800 ma - 12V to JCAT NET XE: 1.25 amps - 12V to JCAT USB XE: 680 ma BIOS Settings: After several weeks of trying various combinations, Ive settled on the following settings: - Turbo off - Hyperthreading off - C-States off - Onboard Lan Disabled - Onboard Audio Disabled - SATA disabled Euphony is currently on Version 421 and will try 716 soon - Ramroot disabled - CPU isolation is 0-1 stylus 2-5 gstp 6-9. Surprisingly 0-1 gstp 2-5 stylus 6-9 sounded different and worse. Probably because some cores run better than others. - Allocating IRQs to specific cores didn’t sound better for me. Many thanks to all AS DiYers who have posted their builds and have unselfishly shared their knowledge and experience! Well done and great post. I wish I could have the skills to make cables. Or maybe it’s a blessing I don’t! 😂! Euphony Stylus only needs 1 core, 2 max. I would try allocating more to gstp audio services. Cheers again for the post. AngeloVRA and lwr 2 Link to comment
Exocer Posted July 17, 2021 Share Posted July 17, 2021 1 hour ago, AngeloVRA said: Various posts of AS people building music servers have inspired me to build my own. I figured its my turn to share my humble build as well I started by ordering a 4 rail SR7T from PHD back in October last year. Although there were (extended) delays, I was one of the lucky ones to get mine just a few weeks before PHD closed down its business. I was able to get 4 rails on it: - 19V/10A adjustable to 15V/6A, 12V/5A, 9V/4A - 12V/10A adjustable to 9V/7A, 7V/5A, 5V/4A - 12V/6A adjustable to 9V/4A, 7V/3A, 5V/2.4A - 12V/6A adjustable to 9V/4A, 7V/3A, 5V/2.4A If I could do it all over again, I would opt for 5V/6A instead of 5V/2.4A from the 12V/6A rail. I wanted to use an HDPlex H5 chassis (so I could install USB/Network card direct to motherboard without use of riser cables) but was informed they were out of stock, probably till August so I decided to go with a Streacom FC10a instead. Having decided to mount the Taiko ATX DC-DC converter behind the front panel, I disassembled the front panel to drill and tap some blind holes so I can securely fix the Taiko ATX onto it. 2 Jaeger 3-pin terminals were also installed on the rear panel. 1 to receive the19V to supply the Taiko ATX and another to receive 12V to supply the CPU EPS if I didn’t like the SQ of 12V EPS from Taiko. I confirmed most appropriate orientation of the Taiko ATX (connectors up or down). Connectors on the bottom yielded a position that would be much easier to wire. This position also gave the shortest possible 24 pin ATX cable from Taiko ATX to motherboard For the CPU, I opted for a single Xeon W-1290 which has 10 cores, base speed of 3.2Ghz, Turbo speed of 5.2Ghz. This went onto a Gigabyte W480 Vision D full size ATX motherboard. This setup required the Streacom Thermal Riser HT4 so that the heatpipes could vertically clear the VRMs, and the extended length heatpipe set LH4 as the standard ones were about 2 cm too short. Initially, I only used 2 pins (+12V and Gnd) for the CPU EPS cable. For the ATX cable, also the minimum, 1 pair each for 12v/5v/3.3v and their respective grounds. I listened to it for over a week and then gradually added 1 pair of wire at a time. Each time, the additional wires gave me an uptick in fullness and dynamics. The wire itself could probably carry the current but the limiting factor was the current capacity of the pins. Utilizing more pins allowed more transient peak current to be delivered. I ended up fully populating all power connectors. The molex pins have two tabs on the top that slide into channels inside the Molex connector (e.g. both should be at 12 o’clock for the molex pins to slide in and lock properly. The Mundorf SG 1.5mm (AWG 15.5) is very stiff so I had to make the pin for one end, insert it into the connector at motherboard side, shape the wire towards the connector at Taiko ATX side, and only then crimp the molex pin at that end. This way the pin would be orientated correctly to slide in and lock properly. I opted to use the gold plated Molex pins because they have a bigger current capacity. There are also 2 sizes: 1 for 18AWG wire, and another for 16AWG wire. I opted to use bare Mundorf wire and use oversized Teflon tubes (2-2.5mm for 1.5mm wire, 1.5-2mm for 1.0mm wire) so that the resulting insulation would be mostly air. As a bonus, this was also much cheaper. Crimped solid core wires have a tendency to shake loose after some handling so I decided to also thinly solder the already crimped connection. Next was the power supply cable from the Jaeger chassis connector at the back of the server to the 6p input connector at the Taiko ATX. While a single pair of 1.5mm Mundorf SG should be able to carry the required current, the limiting factor would be the current carrying capacity of the molex pin contacts. As mentioned earlier, I had decided to use all 6 pins. For each polarity (positive and Gnd), I opted to use 1 length of 1.5mm AWG15.5 wire plus 2 lengths of 1.0mm AWG18. On the Jaeger connector side, simply twisting the 3 wires together seemed messy as the resulting wire won’t fit neatly into the solder cup of the Jaeger connector. I decided to use a WBT copper cable sleeve to crimp the 3 wires together, with only the 1.5mm wire coming out the other end which can then be neatly soldered into the Jaeger connector terminals. RAM is Apacer ECC industrial, wide temp (-40C to 95C), 4 x 4GB for a total 16GB. Music data storage is 2 x 2TB Intel 660p M.2 NVME which also has very low power consumption (40 mW at idle, 100 mW when active) OS drive is an 118 GB Intel Optane 800p which is relatively cheap, has very low read latency at 7 microseconds, and low power consumption (8mW at idle, 3.75w when active). This was mounted on an M.2 to PCIE adapter card which allowed me to install it on the 1st PCIE slot, direct to CPU. The 2nd PCIE slot, also direct to CPU has a JCAT USB XE, externally powered by a PH SR7T. The 3rd PCIE slot, also direct to CPU (PCIE bifurcation of x16 into x8/x4/x4), has a JCAT NET XE, also powered externally by a PH SR7T. Subsequently, I found out that the M2 Optane 800P needed a substantial heatsink as it really gets hot. All DC cables are Mundorf SG 1.5mm (AWG15.5) wires in oversized 2.5mm Teflon tubes with Jaeger connectors at the source and either another Jaeger or an Oyaide 5.5/2.1 mm DC plug on the other end. Surprisingly, cotton/silk tubing and JSSG360 shielding didn’t really work out for me in this scenario. In operation, I measured the following current consumption: - 19V to Taiko: 2.0 amps - 12V to EtherRegen: 800 ma - 12V to JCAT NET XE: 1.25 amps - 12V to JCAT USB XE: 680 ma BIOS Settings: After several weeks of trying various combinations, Ive settled on the following settings: - Turbo off - Hyperthreading off - C-States off - Onboard Lan Disabled - Onboard Audio Disabled - SATA disabled Euphony is currently on Version 421 and will try 716 soon - Ramroot disabled - CPU isolation is 0-1 stylus 2-5 gstp 6-9. Surprisingly 0-1 gstp 2-5 stylus 6-9 sounded different and worse. Probably because some cores run better than others. - Allocating IRQs to specific cores didn’t sound better for me. Many thanks to all AS DiYers who have posted their builds and have unselfishly shared their knowledge and experience! I see you've finally got your system together. Great work! I suppose I should stop expecting the prodding PMs from you now since you'll be busy listening! 😁 (All in good fun). 35 minutes ago, ASRMichael said: Euphony Stylus only needs 1 core, 2 max. I would try allocating more to gstp audio services. This is spot on. gstp 4-15 worked best for me. Oh and allocating IRQs helped reduce the noise floor in my rig but only if done a specific way. So, tell us about the sound. How does it compare to what it replaced? What did it replace? Cheers, -Rob AngeloVRA 1 Link to comment
mrkoven Posted July 17, 2021 Share Posted July 17, 2021 great build @AngeloVRA nice job with the wiring AngeloVRA 1 Link to comment
flkin Posted July 18, 2021 Share Posted July 18, 2021 What an excellent effort @AngeloVRA! Look forward to hearing it! 😄👍🏻 AngeloVRA 1 PinkFaun - Vinnie Rossi - YBA - QSA Lanedri - Wilson Link to comment
AngeloVRA Posted July 18, 2021 Share Posted July 18, 2021 7 hours ago, ASRMichael said: Well done and great post. I wish I could have the skills to make cables. Or maybe it’s a blessing I don’t! 😂! Euphony Stylus only needs 1 core, 2 max. I would try allocating more to gstp audio services. Cheers again for the post. @ASRMichaelmany thanks for the appreciation 🙏🏻 ! Yes, I tried allocating 1/2/3 more )and less) cores to gstp . Sonic character changed but “0-1 stylus 2-5 gstp” still sounded the best. 7 hours ago, Exocer said: This is spot on. gstp 4-15 worked best for me. Oh and allocating IRQs helped reduce the noise floor in my rig but only if done a specific way. So, tell us about the sound. How does it compare to what it replaced? What did it replace? @Exocer Thanks for all the tips you generously shared! Most worked for me and some didn’t but all taught me something. Compared to the NUC NimitraS (also powered by PH SR7T) that it replaced, the new server is several steps up in all areas. Most notably it has more weight and gravitas, big room filling sound, macro and micro dynamics, more nuance, and much less digital edge/harshness. 6 hours ago, mrkoven said: great build @AngeloVRA nice job with the wiring @mrkovenThanks!! Yeah, the wiring is the main DIY issue as the rest is just plugging things in. It also had a notable impact in my system. 38 minutes ago, flkin said: What an excellent effort @AngeloVRA! Look forward to hearing it! 😄👍🏻 @flkin also Looking forward to your critique and improvement suggestions next week!! 😀😀 . Exocer 1 Link to comment
Gavin1977 Posted July 18, 2021 Share Posted July 18, 2021 On 7/16/2021 at 10:10 PM, Gavin1977 said: Definitely works - I tried it with Holo Audio May. JCAT USB Xe works with HQPlayer Windows (Aiso drivers) and embedded to 1.568MHz just fine so long as you have the right firmware on the May. Software based PCM volume control in HQPlayer didn’t work correctly though with the May for me though, whereas DSD volume control was fine. I never got to the bottom of that issue. Link to comment
rico25 Posted July 18, 2021 Share Posted July 18, 2021 12 hours ago, AngeloVRA said: All DC cables are Mundorf SG 1.5mm (AWG15.5) wires in oversized 2.5mm Teflon tubes with Jaeger connectors at the source and either another Jaeger or an Oyaide 5.5/2.1 mm DC plug on the other end. Surprisingly, cotton/silk tubing and JSSG360 shielding didn’t really work out for me in this scenario. Thank you for sharing :) It would be interesting to have, if possible, more details about differences between "teflon tubes" and "cotton/silk tubing, JSSG360 shielding", from a sound point of view Iving 1 Link to comment
Popular Post AngeloVRA Posted July 18, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted July 18, 2021 3 minutes ago, rico25 said: Thank you for sharing :) It would be interesting to have, if possible, more details about differences between "teflon tubes" and "cotton/silk tubing, JSSG360 shielding", from a sound point of view @rico25 The teflon tubes were a substitute for the standard teflon insulation of the insulated Mundorf SG wherein there is 100% contact between the wire and the insulation. I bought the cheaper bare, uninsulated Mundorf SG and placed them inside oversized teflon tubes so that there was minimal contact between wire and insulation. I didn't try cotton/silk tubing on its own without any other insulation as that didn't feel "safe" enough for me. My experiments with cotton and silk tubings were placing them on top of the oversized teflon tubes. My trials with JSSG360 was the same, with copper braid over the teflon tubes, teflon tape wrapped, then another copper braid layer, and finally a thin expandable PET braid. In both cases, in my system and to my ears (YMMV), transients, presence and immediacy sounded diminished, as if it was "over damped". I tried both for a couple of days but ultimately preferred leaving the teflon tube insulated wires bare. The above is for the external DC cables connecting the server to my PH SR7T. I did not do the same experiment on the server internal wiring as it was too stiff and putting on/taking off silk tubings and JSSG360 would mean disconnecting the pins from connectors, straightening the wires, installing the tubings, shaping the wire to fit and assembling the pins into the connectors again. For the internal wiring, I just used very thin PET expandable braid to organize the wires for a relatively neater install. Hope that helps. These things are very system dependent so I would encourage you to experiment on external DC cables in your own system. lwr and Iving 1 1 Link to comment
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