Building a DIY Music Server

[kraftundkultur]

Nice work Angelo!,

I ask what type of crimping tool you use, can you attach a picture

[AngeloVRA]

5 hours ago, kraftundkultur said:

 

Nice work Angelo!,

I ask what type of crimping tool you use, can you attach a picture

 

 

Hi @kraftundkultur!! This is the crimping tool I used for this project.  You can position the flat part either on to or bottom of the cable lug. Initially, I positioned it at the bottom since there is a seam on the top and I was worried the seam might separate. That, however, isn’t the case with the Mundorf cable lugs and it works equally well as you can see below

 

[MarcelNL]

anyone else with results from some bypass capacitor rolling? Or adding some capacitance AFTER the Taiko ATX module?

 

[NewOldman]

why should we add capacitors AFTER the ATX module,

and change the behavior of Taiko ATX

[MarcelNL]

there is no NEED, but there is the possibility to do so and it woný change any behaviour of that module. The MB also has capacitance in various places. The length of EPS wire between the ATX and the MB, even when kept short does not help.

 

More importantly, Taiko specifies that the max capacitance the module can handle, that got me thinking about capacitors on the MB, and I simply tested adding a small cap connected to the EPS wire as close to the EPS connector as I could add it and low and behold it does improve SQ.

[Nenon]

On 1/3/2022 at 3:52 PM, Nenon said:

I finally got my hands on 10 pcs. of the long awaited custom Noratel transformer from Taiko. I know some people were waiting these. Send me a PM if you need one. 

 

Those are all gone now. It was quite a bit of work to pack and ship all transformers (110 lbs). 

 

I will be expecting photos and feedback from these 10 people 😊.

 

I managed to try a couple of things this week. 

 

This is a modified Auralic Aries G2.1 with a 3-rail Sean Jacobs ARC6 DC4. 

It sounds really good.

I have heard this Auralic many times and it was never my cup of tea. It sounded too digital to my taste. Hifi is another term that came to mind. A better linear power supply really changed this. Well, that was my experience with the Chord DAVE DAC too. I never cared about the stock DAVE version but it turned out to be an excellent platform for tweaking. 

If I did not have a Taiko Extreme coming my way I would probably have bought one of these G2.1 for myself and play more with it as it seems like it scales really well with good power supplies and good network! 

 

I also heard a Lumin U1 while picking up a Gryphon Essence amplifier to try at home. The U1 did not sound bad at all, and the thought about trying a better supply on it occurred to me right away. But it was in another system and hard to tell if it was good or just the rest of the system was pretty good. 

As for the Gryphon Essence amp, it's really good. But I decided to stay with my four SET monoblocks. It's hard to switch from SET to solid state, but the Gryphon came very close and certainly did some things better. 

 

The last experiment... I don't really know how to say this...

 

 

This is a QSA silver fuse. It retails for $5000. It can be obtained cheaper, but still... it's the most expensive fuse I have seen by far. I am listening to one of these right now, and it's hard to comprehend what this thing does. 

First, it sounds amazingly good. 

Second, it sounds a lot better than bypassing the fuse. 

Third, I have tested some really expensive power cords lately (a $25K High Fidelity Cables Pro and a $9K Shunyata - Omega QR to name a couple). The impact this fuse has in my system is bigger than any power cord. In fact, I made an experiment and compared one of my reference power cables with a SR Orange fuse against a stock (black plastic) power cord with this QSA silver fuse. And I prefered the plastic cable with this fuse. 

Fourth, I upgraded a set of electro Harmonix 300b tubes with a set of Takatsuki 300b, and that made a huge difference. This fuse made a bigger difference. 

I am still shocked from this experience, and it's one that is hard to comprehend. 

 

Lastly, inspired by some battery experiments @romaz, @ray-dude, and I did last year before the ARC6 was born, as well as the recent articles by @austinpop, and also after an extensive research @romaz has done, there is a battery that looks really interesting due to its super low output impedance. One of these is on the way to Chicago (well it has been on the way for a couple of months but it's finally in the States, waiting for customs release). The idea is to use it to generate 120V AC with an inverter and power your entire system with it. It's powerful enough to power an entire system, including power hungry amps. And it has a very long lifespan. Think of it as one of the big high power Stromtanks. Some groundwork has been done to make us believe this might be really good. I will need some time to explore all this but will share if it's worth sharing for DIY. 

[One and a half]

2 hours ago, Nenon said:

I also heard a Lumin U1 while picking up a Gryphon Essence amplifier to try at home. The U1 did not sound bad at all, and the thought about trying a better supply on it occurred to me right away. But it was in another system and hard to tell if it was good or just the rest of the system was pretty good. 

The Lumin X1 power supply can also be used on the U1 with a cable supplied to suit.  Any Lumin is heavily dependent on the source that's feeding it, that includes cables, and the music server. If I make changes to the source, the effect is noticeable right away on the U1.

[Nenon]

19 minutes ago, One and a half said:

The Lumin X1 power supply can also be used on the U1 with a cable supplied to suit. 

Yeah, I heard it with the X1. But I wondered how it would sound with something significantly better than the X1. 

[One and a half]

1 hour ago, Nenon said:

Yeah, I heard it with the X1. But I wondered how it would sound with something significantly better than the X1. 

Only limited by $. I measured the supply, well tried to, I think it's a multiple of 12V rails.

[MarcelNL]

I'm now auditioning some bypass caps for the Taiko ATX output, first in line is a Duelund tinned copper...first impressions are very good!

 

Still in proto phase, so do not mind te long leads and iron croc clamps....

 

Still in prototyp

[MarcelNL]

The verdict is in, the Duelund is very good but there is better..out of all caps the Duleund was third, the proprietary cap I mentioned earleir comes second and a hand made prototype a friend of me made with exotic metals comes in first. The Duelund still suffers from a little edge and is not as open as the other two and above all the winner sounds so natural in timbres and overtones.

[Rovo]

On 12/13/2021 at 9:31 AM, Rovo said:

Just to show you my version of Nenon ULPS v3. A prototype in Multiplex. Now that it all fits I can start making it from aluminium. The PC is used as a HQPlayer NAA endpoint. 

 

 

A short update on my experiences with my new Nenon ULPS v3 powered endpoint. 

 

In the initial burn in phase I noticed that my two Paul Hynes SR4's (12V version set at 5V) were running quite hot. They are used to externally power the JCAT NET and USB XE cards. Due to the problems with Paul Hynes Design Ltd I started looking for alternatives. The review of power supplies on Audiobacon.net was really helpful (https://audiobacon.net/2021/08/06/the-worlds-best-audiophile-linear-power-supplies/). I decided to try out the Plixir Elite BDC on the JCAT USB XE card. In short: I can fully agree with the review on Audiobacon.net. Compared with the Paul Hynes SR4 all audiophile aspects improve except the tonality. With some instruments you notice that they sound a little less "real". BUT, the other improvements add up to such a big plus that there is no stepping back to the PH SR4. 

 

Both the Nenon ULPS v3 and the Plixir Elite BDC are still burning in. It is for me not possible to know which improvement in the burn in phase is by which of the power supplies. But what I can tell you is that the (combination of) improvements are huge compared to my previous power supplies (Paul Hynes SR7/HDPlex DC-ATX 400W and PH SR4's). Transparency, dynamics, ... all stepped up to the next level. Let me try to explain it this way: I no longer listen to the technical aspect of the music, but to how well the emotions of the music are conveyed. And the best part: the burn in phase is not finished yet 😁. 

[Huite]

On 1/9/2022 at 5:46 AM, Nenon said:

 

This is a modified Auralic Aries G2.1 with a 3-rail Sean Jacobs ARC6 DC4. 

It sounds really good.

 

Interesting! Wil there be a Bulgarian build ARC6 DC4 for the Auralic? :)

[skyline]

On 1/8/2022 at 11:46 PM, Nenon said:

This is a QSA silver fuse. It retails for $5000. It can be obtained cheaper, but still... it's the most expensive fuse I have seen by far. I am listening to one of these right now, and it's hard to comprehend what this thing does. 

First, it sounds amazingly good. 

Second, it sounds a lot better than bypassing the fuse. 

 

I have owned the QSA blue, yellow, and red. 

 

They all have a gloss/sheen that is instantly recognizable.

 

Some may find that too bright.

 

Both the yellow and red have that mesmerizing layering effect, where you can simultaneously hear several layers of music.

 

I also notice they lean towards the analytical/detailed side.

[Nenon]

The Noratel custom transformer from Taiko can be purchased here:

https://taikoaudio.com/taiko-2020/product/taiko-audio-transformer/

 

From Taiko:

If you are also interested in our DIY audio server chassis; we will be providing the opportunity to order a DIY chassis together with a transformer and/or other options in the future. To save on shipping you can choose to wait until the DIY chassis becomes available, however unfortunately this won’t be until at least end of March, due to severe supply chain issues regarding delivery of the heatsinks. The reason that delivery of the DIY Chassis is delayed - again – is because our supplier of heatsinks has -once again- delayed delivery of the heatsinks.

[Nenon]

These do look cool indeed:

 

On 2/3/2022 at 7:24 PM, The Computer Audiophile said:

These look cool. 
 

https://bartxstore.com/shop/custom-ram-copper-heatsinks-for-ddr5-ddr4/
 

 

[msb1]

Hi,

This is a super informative thread.

I am considering building a Server to run Euphony with Roon Core with the following hardware:

Motherboard: Asus B550M-A

Processor: AM Ryzen 7 3700x

PowerSupply: HDplex 200W. 19V for the MB through DC-ATX, 12V for the CPU and 12V for the HDD.

 

Does anyone use the same or similar MB/CPU config? I have been trying to find compatibility with ECC RAM for this combo but haven't been able to. If anyone can give me some insights on this, that would be very helpful.

[internethandle]

A general rule of thumb is that unless the mobo has some sort of documentation stating support for ECC (or is made for server-class chips), the ECC function of the RAM will not work. You may (or may not) be able to use the ECC sticks you purchase on a motherboard that doesn’t support them, but they will run in non-ECC mode. This is my understanding, anyway.

[Nenon]

AMD Ryzen 7 3700x supports ECC (although not officially documented). 

[msb1]

3 hours ago, Nenon said:

AMD Ryzen 7 3700x supports ECC (although not officially documented). 

Thank you. Any idea if the motherboard does too? I can't seem to find this information on their site.

Also, I need a 19V DC-ATX. Any recommendations for this?

[Nenon]

9 minutes ago, msb1 said:

Thank you. Any idea if the motherboard does too? I can't seem to find this information on their site.

It looks like it does. 

 

11 minutes ago, msb1 said:

Also, I need a 19V DC-ATX. Any recommendations for this?

My recommendation is the Taiko DC to DC ATX with an unregulated LPS... but I would feed it with more than 19V.

If that's above your budget, then Hdplex I guess. 

[oneguy]

 Group buy info for the Saligny Rectifier (part of the ULPS build):

 

Currently have 4 reserved.

 

[TheAttorney]

On 1/9/2022 at 4:46 AM, Nenon said:

This is a QSA silver fuse. It retails for $5000.
 

Did you try any of the "cheaper" colours before settling for the silver?

I wonder how the red or black-red would have fared in comparison.

[msb1]

On 2/10/2022 at 7:03 AM, Nenon said:

It looks like it does. 

 

My recommendation is the Taiko DC to DC ATX with an unregulated LPS... but I would feed it with more than 19V.

If that's above your budget, then Hdplex I guess. 

Hi,

ECC Ram worked with the MB/CPU combo. Thanks

I'm thinking of adding a PCI Card with Fiber Optic Ethernet. The MB has a PCIe x1 port that I can use. 

Does anyone know of a suitable card supported by Euphony?

[StreamFidelity]

6 hours ago, msb1 said:

Does anyone know of a suitable card supported by Euphony?

 

Solarflare NICs e. G. SFN8522, X2522 are the best I know.