Building a DIY Music Server

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1 hour ago, di-fi said:

Who knows? I am following a few users that use both Extreme and Oladra or K50, they can compare but it quickly becomes complicated when there are many variables that are outside of control; power, network infrastructure, ethernet cables and switch, vibrations (control), powercords, interconnects. I am very curious myself and both keep evolving.

I think here at AS we could be biased to not like Antipodes (SATA what !?), but we do like Extreme more and put DIY equal or at the top. Of course I am guessing that is the case here ;-). 

I think the dislike of SATA doesn’t have anything to do with Antipodes, and more to do with the tests we’ve conducted in our own systems. If Antipodes has found a way to make SATA sound equivalent to NVME or M.2, great. 
 

As for you, I kindly suggest you try both and draw your own conclusion. This usually yields the best result for your system.

 

There were a number of popular fiber nics at one point. I tried several of them and I decided to stick with a less popular solution regardless of what anyone else had to say about the particular card. I then took things a step further by modifying it (trying Audionote caps) to see if sound quality would further improve (it did).

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5 minutes ago, di-fi said:

So far both you and Nenon mention Intel Optane 900P, so maybe that's an interesting option instead of keep trying more of the 'same'.

Highly suggest this. Buy one from @Nenon, and if you don’t like it youll be able to flip it quickly. I suspect you will like it more than the M10. Don’t let the nervosa get to you 😎. The 900p is a safe place to stop and focus on other areas.

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8 minutes ago, di-fi said:

I can not agree more and because of that I can even see a reason to re-explore SATA for a DIY server if I knew more about how Antipodes OS uses this to its advantage.

Dont forget the “if” in my statement. Without the “if” it changes the entire meaning. I am in no way claiming they have made SATA sound better. If they have, it is part of their secret sauce. They will safeguard such secret sauce 😎 if it exists.

 

That being said, I wouldn’t be surprised if swapping their Sata for an Optane improves SQ in those systems too, but that is pure speculation. I am only going by what my ears told me in my own system.

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53 minutes ago, di-fi said:

but I will not also ask for fiber nic recommendations here 🤐

Yeah you’ll have to do that on your own as well. Lots of good guidance here. FWIW, I think I’m using Finisar 1321s. Ive also tried some Twinax cable to good effect but the sound was a thicker and less transparent in the end so I ended up going back to fiber.

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3 hours ago, novaca said:

Do you think, given the above, it is better to connect MVMe via a PCIe adapter to the direct CPU links, or to the M.2 port on the motherboard, but via the PCH lines?

To my ears, CPU direct wins. I have not compared a bad sounding M.2 to pcie adapter (cpu direct) to M.2 via PCH for OS. I do not have a clear answer to this question. What I can say is using M.2 via pch for my local files hasnt been the worst thing for SQ. For OS, PCH had more of a negative impact. This is comparing local playback to streaming.

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20 minutes ago, VaG said:

After that ?

If its in your budget, better power will be rewarding.

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25 minutes ago, VaG said:

So you think to move USB card to the location with red arrow?

Yes, hes right. That slot should sound better since it will be cpu direct. Disregard the slot size mismatch.

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14 minutes ago, drjimwillie said:

 Has anyone tried it? 

I have successfully used this type of cable (Twinax) Between the ER and my server. It sounded really good, but I suspect it is yet another rabbit hole. I have about 5 of them on-hand and each one sounded a bit different. I did not give the cable a chance to break in, as I felt as though I lost some of the transparency I had with Fiber and SFPs. The sound was a bit thicker as well, with less "bite" compared to SFPs and single mode fiber. Perhaps this is worth revisiting. I do not think I gave it a fair amount of time to break in before swapping them all out again.

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3 minutes ago, drjimwillie said:

Does it plug directly into the fiber optic transceiver port?

Yes.

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15 minutes ago, sandston said:

Another note fromwhen we used to use this material in our snowboard cores of all places. We found that there are two types of this material. Compreg and Impreg. Impreg is phenolic impregnated wood ply and Compreg is compressed impregnated wood ply. 

We want impreg right?

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31 minutes ago, skyline said:

 

So mundorf silver/gold, as insightful as it is, isn’t a one size fits all.

I concur. I have done extensive testing of Mundorf SG and CAW cables using identical connectors and cable lengths. For my JCAT USB XE, I prefer the SG cable. For my Femto nvme, I preferred Angelique. For my Etherregen, I really liked the thin cotton/oil Duelund 20awg conductors for DC vs SG. Within my Buffalo switch, SG was noticeably better than the Jupiter cotton insulated solid core copper. I may try Angelique there next. SG is great, but definitely not a one size fits all. 
 

Oh and I compared Gotham, CAW, Neotech (14awg occ, teflon insulated) wires more recently for Taiko dc-Atx input. CAW won although it took some time to settle in again. I wonder how SG will sound in this position.

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59 minutes ago, di-fi said:

Interesting, thanks!
Does anyone know these specs regarding HDPLEX Hi-Fi 400W DC-ATX Power-Supply 2.1? maybe the SATA connector also has better ripple rejection :-)?

 

Happy holidays to all!

 

 

I could be mistaken, but is this the spec you're looking for?

 

From here: https://hdplex.com/hdplex-400w-hi-fi-dc-atx-power-supply-16v-24v-wide-range-voltage-input.html

 

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On 12/23/2022 at 2:43 AM, Tubeman66 said:

This DC plug is recommended for DIY Cables made of billet copper/brass
in my opinion better than Oyaide,

 

VIBORG DC21G Jack DC 5.5/2.1mm Connector Gold Plated Ø9mm - Audiophonics

I will add these to the list. I have built two DC cables recently with these and they sound better than the Oyaide connectors as well: https://www.audiophonics.fr/en/jack-dc-plugs/elecaudio-dct-21g-jack-dc-55-21mm-connector-tellurium-copper-gold-plated-3-p-15441.html

 

or

https://www.audiophonics.fr/en/jack-dc-plugs/elecaudio-dct-25g-jack-dc-55-25mm-connector-tellurium-copper-gold-plated-3-p-15442.html

 

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On 12/24/2022 at 8:34 PM, Exocer said:

I will add these to the list. I have built two DC cables recently with these and they sound better than the Oyaide connectors as well: https://www.audiophonics.fr/en/jack-dc-plugs/elecaudio-dct-21g-jack-dc-55-21mm-connector-tellurium-copper-gold-plated-3-p-15441.html

 

or

https://www.audiophonics.fr/en/jack-dc-plugs/elecaudio-dct-25g-jack-dc-55-25mm-connector-tellurium-copper-gold-plated-3-p-15442.html

 

 

5 hours ago, JBL said:

I like the Elecaudio plug a lot.  There is more space on the metal tab for easier soldering of the negative conductor and the barrel has a tighter tolerance and fits much more snugly than the Oyaide.

100% in agreement with the above. Its a win-win. I kick myself for not trying them sooner. In fact, I may go as far as rebuilding some of my existing cables with these.

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On 1/6/2023 at 10:54 AM, JackJohnson316 said:

I have a question about buffering and playing streamed files from RAM. If I buffer my music (streamed or local files) to ram in Euphony Stylus V4, do I need to invest in an OCXO network switch? The reason I ask is my previous streamer did not allow buffering to ram, and the network switch made a noticeable difference. I tried many different high end switches and they all sounded different. But now that my current streamer offers buffer to ram, I personally cannot hear a difference in network switches, so I sold my Etherregen and NA Eno network switch. I currently use a Jcat netcard XE with a Pink Faun LAN Isolator connected to a basic model Buffalo network switch, but the Etherregen and NA Eno didn’t make a difference IMO. Does the buffering to ram negate the need for a high end network switch? Thanks for helping me to understand.

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.

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5 minutes ago, bit01 said:

ATX/EPS cables were changed too?

Good point. @Gavin1977 were you able to replicate this issue with your old cables?

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30 minutes ago, Superdad said:

Still, a passive Direct Attach Cable may have some interesting applications and I intend to try a 7 meter DAC between two EtherREGENs in my own music system to hear the result. I presently use single-mode Finisar SFPs and fiber between them.

You just reminded me, there were a few I did not try yet! Will report back as well.

 

These would be between my individual ER and Server.

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@Rovo checked with Mundorf and they have validated the VN300-10 as a suitable alternative to the higher current handling Hammond chokes.

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I’ve had an instance where the first pci slot on my motherboard stopped working after a bout of “sparks”. One of my diy power cables shorted due to an oversight on my part, and that was the result.

 

To my surprise, swapping motherboards didnt fix the issue. So I ended up with an extra motherboard 🤣. It was incredibly perplexing to me. 
 

So, I installed my spare i7 8700t in place of the cpu that was installed at the time and the slot worked on both the new and old motherboards. Go-figure, the cpu itself was the issue. I had never experienced anything like this. Had I swapped CPUs earlier on I may have saved myself a couple of hundred bucks.

 

Luckily Intel RMA’d the i9 9900k and refunded full retail price. I was able to find a replacement for less…

 

Moral of the story, check every part of the build. You may be shocked at the cause 😎.

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16 minutes ago, di-fi said:

Yeah, look forward to hear back. You tried these two years ago? So you must have made up your mind?

I understand a longer passive DAC cable at a certain length (7m?) has to be replaced by an active DAC to make up for losses (audible or not). 

A look inside, nothing in the signal path. Only a chip on the bottom of the board.

I had them sitting around for two years, tried another one that I did not source from Amazon, and lost patience with it as I just wanted to enjoy my listening. I didn’t try either of the cables pictured above. They are brand new in package. Will definitely try them at some point and update this thread.

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4 hours ago, Rovo said:

on the winding  - dimension incl. the core facts the VN180 and VN300 will be loadable at 5A (I requested no more than 5A!). And they also mentioned 4A are possible for each qmm. 

Thanks for confirming. My previous post is incorrect. For those who want a Mundorf choke with support for more than 5A, please reach out to Mundorf directly and get their take. 

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15 minutes ago, Nenon said:

Keep in mind that Inductors behave differently with AC and DC. The Mundorf chokes are designed for speaker crossovers (i.e. AC). We use them for DC.  

@MarcelNL - is your guy willing to make some more chokes? I heard excellent feedback about them, and they might be the best option for ULPS exceeding 5A.

Yeah, I would be very interested in joining a group buy. But @MarcelNLthere is one thing you mentioned that I've always wanted to ask about.

 

Do you recall mentioning your output voltage dropping to 24v with the chokes mentioned above? Can you explain if that is expected behavior or if something else was the cause of the voltage drop?

 

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22 minutes ago, MarcelNL said:

He is willing, yet availability of core material is an issue.

He used his last cores and ordering new comes with a lead time of like a month or two.

It's probably best to group order to allow him to order enough in one go, he is a hobby coil winder and will not be able to keep much cores in stock, just in case.

 

I discussed the voltage drop with him and he explained it to me , the explanation sounded plausible but my knowledge of coil behaviour etc does not go far enough to fully grasp it....I'll reread and to convey it here later (do remind me as I'm in the middle of moving house)

 

 

I suppose one can plan around this by choosing a transformer with higher voltage secondary winding To account for the 9v drop. With the Mundorfs, my measured output is identical to what it was with the Hammond 159zj.

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55 minutes ago, MarcelNL said:

If everyone expressing interest would copy the last post by someone adding his nick (with the @in front) we end up with a clean list, otherwise we run the risk of someone getting lost as there propably will be other posts in between.

 

@basillus

@Exocer

 

 

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18 minutes ago, lwr said:

Cool. So you were able to fit two of the larger chokes in the Taiko chassis? 
 

Edit: missed your previous post. Thank you.