Building a DIY Music Server

[Nenon]

5 hours ago, MarcelNL said:

On the PSU, I wonder if you or anyone already tinkered with a large amount of smaller caps vs the large cans?

Yes, I have. I prefer the big ones but only when bypassed with the VCAPs. Here is an old post I just found:

On 5/7/2021 at 12:20 PM, Nenon said:

Capacitors selection:

This is the part where you can apply the most personal preferences and be more creative and “voice” things to your liking. There are several aspects to consider - capacitor specs (capacitance, ESR, etc), capacitor brand, model, etc. Having had a lot of DIY experience with capacitors, I know how different capacitors sound. I have tried many - Nichicon, Panasonic, Mundorf, Audio Note, Elma, Kemet, Black gate to name a few. Without any doubt, Mundorf is my go to when it gets to high capacitance capacitors. I did try a few other capacitor brands I had on hand, but I quickly narrowed down the choice between Mundorf AG and Mundorf HC. The Mundorf AG had better / smoother highs. The Mundorf HC had deeper and better bass but was a little more rough in the higher frequencies. How do you get the best of both worlds? It’s not easy for the Mundorf AG caps in this application to get the deep bass of the Mundorf HC (although there are ways to get close). But there is a trick to significantly improve the highs on the Mundorf HC - using film bypass capacitors. After trying a dozen different film caps, I liked the VCAP ODAM as bypass caps the best. In my opinion the Mundorf HC with VCAP ODAM film caps sounds better in every level than the Mundorf AG in this particular application. That makes the unregulated LPS huge and more expensive, but that was my choice. It’s an overkill, and perhaps people with smaller speakers don’t need that. Mundorf AG caps would work perfectly fine here. But my highly efficient 18’’ paper cone woofers driven by dedicated SET mono blocks love the HC+ODAM combo. As far as capacitance, I have tried quite a few option and have settled on the two options I liked the best.

 

[Nenon]

6 minutes ago, MarcelNL said:

@nenon thanks! I read that about the cap selection, I was wondering if you also tried to split the relatively large capacitance over a few paralleled caps in this use case.

 

Yes, I've done this too. 

- 3 x Mundorf HC 22000 uF (bypassed with VCAPs) sounded better than 6 x Mundorf AG 10000 uF. But if you look at the specs, the 3 x Mundorf HC will give you 2.3 mOhm ESR while the 6 x Mundorf AG 10000 uF will give you 4 mOhm ESR. That might be part of the reason why but not the only reason... HC and AG caps sound different. 

- The custom Taiko 220000 uF Mundorf HC cap sounded a little better than 10 x Mundorf HC 22000 uF, but the difference is not as big as when you compare HC to AG caps. 10 x Mundorf HC 22000 uF also have higher impedance. 

 

I was quite concerned about using big caps. They are usually slow. But the thing is that when you combine an active rectifier with the GaN DC to DC to ATX, everything is so fast and transparent that the last thing you need to worry about is speed. Bigger caps generally sound better in this application. In fact, if you go with many small caps to increase the speed it may start sounding too lean. 

[Nenon]

2 hours ago, MarcelNL said:

Anyone with thoughts on grounding strategy? I plan to use a star ground, so one wire from each cap (as short as possible) to one common point, likely the rectifier and I leave the chassis ungrounded as it will not be metal. Yet then comes the Taiko ATX (for which I have not seen any design spec)...

Starground works great. Thick copper busbars too. Think about lowering the impedance as much as possible while building it. 

[Nenon]

15 minutes ago, MarcelNL said:

No criticism, here, believe me, just trying to understand the rationale. At the moment I'm invlined to pick the 800VA transformer over a 400VA as transients are what a CPU needs.

I've tried a 600 VA transformer and a 750 VA. They are both sitting unused now. I am sticking to a 400 VA transformer in my case.

I won't go into the reasons why, although I might have mentioned bits and pieces in earlier posts. 

 

Let me put it this way - I have spent many months of testing all kinds of things before suggesting v2 and v3. I've tried a lot more things that I have shared. And I've learned a lot from Emile and Sean in that process. I have shared everything I can. But there are things I've learned from Emile and Sean I can't share. It's hard to beat v2 and v3 in a way that will work universally in most systems. 

 

This is DIY. Everyone can explore. Go with the 800 VA if you like. Just letting you know I've tried that too (750 VA to be correct). 

[Nenon]

1 hour ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

 

Hello Soul Analogue, it was brought to my attention that nine days before telling me you are merely a hobbyist, you solicited a product review from another website by saying you are a builder of custom linear power supplies (see your post below). 

 

As of right now, you must follow all the rules that others with a commercial interest follow on Audiophile Style. Your signature line below every post must indicate your affiliation in the industry and you shouldn't talk about your products unless someone asks you a questions about them. 

 

If you'd like to communicate without restrictions, you're welcome to open a sponsored forum here like other manufacturers who support Audiophile Style. 

 

 

 

 

For complete transparency (and in the spirit of a drama free forum) - I am NOT the one reporting @Soul Analogue, if that is what is triggering Chris's posts. 

 

In fact, I reached out to @Soul Analogue privately asking him if it's possible to get one of his unregulated power supplies to listen to in my system. I told him if it is as good as he claims, I will post about it and recommend it to everyone asking about it. And if it is not that good, I will return it and not post publicly about it. He said he would consider, and that was the last communication between us. 

 

I am extremely busy and have very little time for DIY these days. A lot of people reached out to me about the unregulated LPS. It will be a huge relief if @Soul Analogue's ULPS sounds better (or as good) and he takes over that part from me. I will gladly refer everyone to him. He uses much cheaper parts which makes his product more affordable. But until I listen to his ULPS, I cannot recommend it. Both Emile and Sean have hinted that it's not worth my time trying a choke input ULPS for this application, and this is why this is an unexplored area for me. I've learned to trust both of them over the years. 

 

But I am still a curious DIY audiophile. If anyone can arrange for me to listen to @Soul Analogue's ULPS, I will give my unbiased feedback about how it compares to the v2 and v3 designs. TBH, I might be slightly biased, because I really want his ULPS to sound better. 

[Nenon]

15 minutes ago, elan120 said:

You have, and I am going to build your V3 version very soon (some time in Oct), once I have few more parts ordered including the enclosure delivered, and if it is ok, I will share the build process with details similar to my other power supply build thread.

Good man! Your guide last time was awesome. Looking forward to this one. 

 

37 minutes ago, auricgoldfinger said:

Were you unable to find someone who would build the unregulated LPS for $500 labor plus parts as you had hoped at one time?

I did. But we are still waiting for the Noratel transformers! I think I will give Noratel another week for an update before giving up on them. 

[Nenon]

8 hours ago, derBen said:

Hi,

 

I just finished my second DIY Audiio Server and I would like to share some impressions.

 

I'm running a Aaeon Mini-ITX board with 16GB Apacer Ram, a 250GB Samsung 980Pro M.2 SSD and a Intel i7 9700T CPU.

For the connections I use JCAT FEMTO cards: USB and NET.

The operating system is Euphony OS running ROON.

 

The server is built into two cases:

- One external PSU regulating 16V + 16V + 9V + 7V from a custom 400 VA toroid

- The main case containing the local PSU (regulating 12V + 12V + 5V + 3,3V) and the computer components

 

Both cases have the same shape and dimensions, only the button in the front is missing in the PSU case.

 

What dio you think?

Ben

 

Very cool design. Better than many commercial products. 

Have you considered making it a commercial product? 

[Nenon]

8 hours ago, MarcelNL said:

anyone here who added some capacitance after the ATX? 

IMO, this is a bad idea. 

You will get the best results by keeping the Taiko ATX close to the motherboard with short cables and utilizing all Molex PINs (46 in my case) with 16 AWG wire.

 

8 hours ago, MarcelNL said:

I am hard pressed to pick another route than 'tinker to the max'

Bigger is not always better. Not in this case at least.

I saw the biggest Toroidal in the Taiko's parts room. It was several thousand VAs! Should have taken a photo of it. There is a good reason it's sitting in that room and not on the Extreme. 

But if you believe you will max out the design with 800VA toroidal, give it a try. I've tried it already. 

 

8 hours ago, guiltyboxswapper said:

Going from 60,000uf to 165,000uf (both Mundorf AG) has proven to be a dramatic difference with the audio grade SMPS I helped put together, and its not even been a week yet (still breaking in).  Much extended (subsonic) bass response at even normal listening levels, with transient response (including gut wrenching impact) stepped up quite a notch in the process. 

For sure. But there is a point at which things start to sound not so good. That point with the v3 ULPS is probably around 300,000 uF. BTW, speaking of deep bass - try the Mundorf HC equivalent capacitance. 

 

7 hours ago, Audiomaster said:

 

I think that it was not in vain that Taiko installed such an array of capacitors in the last ripple smoothing cascade C5 - C16 - 564000 mKf. As my experience in other DIY designs shows, the large amount of energy in the capacitors makes the sound bigger and more dynamic.

Just pointing out that this is NOT the Taiko schematics (confirmed by Emile). Let's not refer to this diagram as the Taiko Extreme as people might get confused. However, we do know from the pictures that the Extreme uses a lot of capacitance.

As I mentioned here, we would need more capacitance with other chokes:

On 9/13/2021 at 10:20 AM, Nenon said:

For those who want to play with the Hammond 195J10 or the even bigger Hammond 195K12 choke, here is what you need to do:

• 22000uF - Hammond 195J10 - 22000uF - Hammond 195J10 - 220000uF; or
• 22000uF - Hammond 195K12 - 22000uF - Hammond 195K12 - 330000uF

 

[Nenon]

14 hours ago, Soul Analogue said:

I have been repeatedly saying my design is NOT a choke input ULPS...

Sorry about that @Soul Analogue. I was mislead by some of your comments, such as:

On 8/16/2021 at 7:38 AM, Soul Analogue said:

In my diy venture… i first started with cap input… and later tried on choke input and could never go back….so L input for me as far as practicable

 

On 8/15/2021 at 10:02 PM, Soul Analogue said:

I am also into Choke input PSU..

 

Noted that it's not a choke input ULPS. Good to know that. 

[Nenon]

4 hours ago, MarcelNL said:

Just came back from the Berlin Audio Meet, where my prototype met these beauties

 

Nice horns. For some reason I can't picture them with digital source and imagine a nice vinyl-based source with them :).

How did your server sound there? 

I am excited for you yo try ULPS + Taiko ATX power supply... 

[Nenon]

I've heard from behind the scenes that Taiko's CNC machine is up and running and is or will be CNC-ing the first prototype of the DIY chassis. Just letting people know this project is not dead (like it happened with two other manufactures on other threads here). I am hoping to see a prototype later this month. 🤞

 

With the current shortage of computer hardware, I started digging in my closet to see what I have, and I found a couple extra PCIe Optane 900P 280GB drives. I bought them last year and forgot about them :). Those are the drives that the Extreme uses for the OS. That is a part of the DIY recipe. Unfortunately these are end of life and very difficult to find. But ping me on PM if you need one. I can easily sell them on eBay for a lot more money, but planning to give them to people reading this forum for the price I paid. 

 

[Nenon]

1 minute ago, Downtheline said:

@Nenon any luck getting the noratel transformers? I seem to have everything else I need for the v2 supply. 

 

They should arrive this month as well! 🤞

[Nenon]

On 10/11/2021 at 2:06 PM, MarcelNL said:

On the subject of grounding, do you connect the heatsink to the ground of the MB/PSU (EPS)?

 

I don't. 

[Nenon]

7 hours ago, RickyV said:

Hi @Nenon I get the feeling you are considering new components, 🙃. 
Just curious to know what your plans are. 
 

I have a feeling you are going for the real thing. 

 

Some observant people noticed that I put some items for sale. Several people reached out to me, so let me try to answer some questions. 

 

DIY Server Sale
I posted my DIY "Extreme" server for sale. There are multiple reasons for that.

First, I do expect the Taiko chassis to be ready soon. I will need more room and more parts to put together a new server in that chassis and document the full process of assembling the hardware and configuring the software.

Second, I have a Taiko Extreme on order. Yes, that's right. As good as my DIY server is, there are several things that I can’t reach as a DIY-er.

- Having heard the Taiko USB card on my server, it’s the best I have heard, and that includes the JCAT XE and the PinkFaun with ultraOCXO clock, which I like a lot. But Taiko made it clear that this USB card will not be available for DIY.

- Then there is the proprietary Taiko USB driver, which I’ve heard on multiple occasions.

- And then there is the Taiko software development. TAS sounds really good. And the new software is even better.

- Lastly, I’ve seen some of the development in progress when I visited Taiko and during my follow up conversations with Emile, and I definitely feel like I need to join the Taiko family and be a part of that.

I’ve said that before, but this DIY server with the Taiko hardware is way better than any of my previous music server attempts. No comparison actually. Having said that, I am still planning to complete the DIY server recipe, but I do need to free up some space and recover some of the cost from my previous projects. If you are interested in this build, you can find my ad in the classifieds section.

 

Chord DAVE DAC - ARC6 DC4 Sale
I also posted my Chord DAVE DAC and ARC6 DC4 for sale. This was a tough decision, and I am still unsure about it. If I can sell it as package, I will do. If not, I will probably keep it. Let me go over some of my thought process.

I never liked the DAVE in its stock form. From my perspective, there are too many problems with it. But if you address them it turns into a magical DAC. 

 

1. The Amanero USB input interface is not my favorite. When combined with a low-latency server such as the Taiko Extreme or my DIY version of it you can hear the shortcomings of the higher latency Amanero. The SRC.DX is an excellent way to bypass the Amanero on the DAVE. It has a USB interface on one end a dual BNC output on the other. I connect my server to the USB input on the SRC.DX and connect the SRC.DX to the DAVE via two BNC cables. Those cables make a big difference. On the USB side, I like the Sablon as an all-rounder. But the Shunyata Omega USB is better (and much more expensive). On the BNC side I tried several different cables, but when I was sent a demo of the new High Fidelity Cables CT-2 3D, I knew that was it for me and bought a pair. I haven't tried some of the other popular cables like these for example - https://www.wavehighfidelity.com/storm-1/wave-storm-bnc-cable, but I am super happy with the HFC. 

 
2. The next problem with the DAVE is the internal upsampler. Unless you feed the DAVE with a 16fs stream, an internal upsampler gets engaged. You can measure that the digital rail power consumption nearly doubles and you can clearly hear the noise this generates in my system. I’ve considered 3 different ways to address that - adding a Mscaler, using HQPlayer to do realtime upsampling, and using PGGB to upsample my files offline. My preference, by a large margin, was PGGB. 

3. The next problem is the analog section of the DAVE. Luckily, adding a good preamp solves that problem. I have a tube based DIY preamp that started as a kit from here - http://www.tubes4hifi.com/SP14.htm. Then I got familiar with the upgrades Don Sach makes - http://www.dsachsconsulting.com/custom line stage.html. I did all of these, and a lot more (I.e. Duelund capacitors, better transformer, Z-foil resistors, etc.). Highly recommended, superb preamp. Here is the end result:

(BTW, I may have this preamp for sale at some point too. I am interested in trying some other tubes in the preamp tier. Also, I have done some more upgrades since this photo was taken like the rectifier change to 6BY5).

4. Last but not least is the power supply on the DAVE DAC. This is the biggest transformation of the DAVE really. I won’t talk much about this (other people can do the talking), but if there is an audio related project I am the most proud of, that will be the ARC6 DC4 power supply for the DAVE. Big thanks for that go to @romaz , @ray-dude, @austinpop, and a few other people who were involved in the development of that (they know who they are :)). It was a fun project during lockdowns for a lot of us. 

The DAVE was already transformed with the DC3 LPS. Then it had another transformation with the DC4 LPS. But what the ARC6 DC4 did to the DAVE was incredible. IMO, it put the DAVE on the top shelf. And when you combine the ARC6 DC4 upgrade with the SRC.DX, PGGB, and good cables, it’s definitely out there in the top 5 regardless of the price. Or even the top 3 if you ask me. When you get to those top products, it's not a number 1, number 2, etc. They are all on the top, and it's just a matter of personal preference.

 

I am yet to hear a DAC that I like better than the DAVE with all the additions listed above. So, no I haven't found a replacement that I like better. At least not yet. I will be happy to share if I do. Or I may likely go back to the DAVE...

 

But I haven't addressed the big question here - why am I considering selling the DAVE if the way I implement it is the best I have heard?

Since I am buying a Taiko Extreme, my DIY server tweaking part is likely to stop for a while. I am planning to finish the DIY recipe for a Taiko Extreme influenced DIY build, which will be the best I can do at this time.

But I really enjoyed my DAVE DAC journey and would like to explore the DAC-arena and if I can do something similar with other DACs (i.e. build a new power supply, tweak, modify, etc.). I have already earmarked some potential projects I've wanted to do for a while. I have an Auralic ARIES G2.1 here and working on a 3-rail ARC6 DC4 for it. It's a product a lot of people like and I would like to push its limits and see where it takes me. Not a fan of the G2.1 in its stock version, but I did not like the DAVE DAC either. And the G2.1 is not a DAC either. But I have some other DAC projects in mind, which I would rather not mention at this early stage. The parts and supply shortage does not help much, but I will do whatever I can. 

The bottom line is I know what I've heard from the DAVE DAC the way I implemented it and I can always do it again. It's not unlikely that I will come back to this and do it again. But for now I would like to explore some new projects. 

 

The reason I am selling the Synergistic Research Active Ground Block SE is because I want to try their BlackBox. I heard it at @romaz's house and I wanted to get a couple of these to try at my house. 

 

On my short list is also to try the Gryphon Essence amplifier. And there is a lot of excellent feedback from people I trust about the QSA fuses. Claims are made that their higher-end (read: more expensive) fuses make a bigger difference than power cords and power conditioners. Hard to wrap my head around this but I trust the people who said that and need to try it myself. If that is true, then these QSA fuses must be a lot better than bypassing the fuse - again, hard to imagine, but I try to stay open minded. 

[Nenon]

2 hours ago, fds said:

Hm, once arrived at that point, I find it hard to understand the decision to sell this device ... except maybe if one knows that a DAVE2 is soon to come or if one has experienced a better performer (Tambaqui?) ... or if one wants to go towards the multichannel road for better digital room correction.

 

To my knowledge, there is no DAVE 2, and Chord Electronics is not even working on one. If anyone has more updated info, please share.

 

Also, to my ears the Tambaqui is far behind the DAVE the way I've implemented it. If I was to categorize them, the Tambaqui would be a mid-fi component while the DAVE would be a top hi-fi component. Again, I am not referring to the stock DAVE... the stock DAVE is worse than the Tambaqui... I am referring to the DAVE with ARC6 DC4, SRC.DX, fed by a server of the level of Taiko Extreme, playing PGGB files, and using really good cables. 

 

No multichannel road for me. While DSP is a good way to fix problems with cheaper components, it has its own drawbacks in a really good, fine tuned, big system. The only acceptable way for digital room correction in my system is if it's done through PGGB and just touching the low frequency. YMMV. Please refer to this post:

On 6/20/2021 at 4:37 PM, romaz said:

PGGB - EQ / Room Correction Edition

 

Here is the listening room I wish I had:

 

 

This is the Magico listening room in Hayward, California.  This room reportedly cost $250,000 to build.  It measures 33' x 22' x 13'.  It is a room within a room.  The outside walls are 5" thick Quiet Rock.  The inside walls are composed of 2 layers of sheet rock.  The floor floats meaning it has no interaction with the rest of the room.  The room was designed to have minimum gain and a noise floor of only 24dB.  According to Alon Wolf, Magico's founder, "It's very easy to measure a speaker above 800Hz, regardless of the room it's in. Below that, it gets tricky. Hence, the environment in which you listen to and test your loudspeakers is crucial...So I've taken the room out of the equation. In this room, you hear the bass from the speaker alone, not from the interaction of the speaker with the room. This helps us voice loudspeakers more accurately." 

 

I have enjoyed listening to music in this room on a few occasions and regardless of the speakers and the electronics that were in the room that day, each time, I came away feeling deeply envious.  If I could use one word to describe it, it would be "balanced."  Not too lively and not too dead and everything sounds natural.  Ambience, imaging, clarity, natural decay, this room portrayed it all.  It has been said that your room is your most important component.  After listening to music in this room, I've become a believer.

 

Here are photos of my actual listening room:

 

 

 

 

Yes, I know, lots of problems.  As you can see, it's not a dedicated listening room.  Aside from my Wilson Alexia Series 2 speakers, I'm not allowed to have any audio electronics showing.  I've tried various room treatments from bass traps to various diffusers and absorbers but they kill the look of the room and so with a few exceptions (Synergistic Black Box and a few HFTs and other resonators), I live with the speaker placement restrictions that I have and the natural resonances of this room.  Fortunately, despite my limitations, at my listening position, my room measures pretty smoothly with no horrendous peaks and valleys and listening to music in this room has been very enjoyable.  

 

But each time I experience a really good sounding room (like the Magico or the Taiko Audio listening room), I can't help but want to make improvements and so on more than a few occasions, I've dabbled in room correction or DSP.  I've tried products from Denon (Audyssey), Lyngdorf, and DEQX.  I've brought in speakers that incorporated DSP like the Kii Three.  These solutions did not work for me.  I had my room measured and I enlisted the services of highly respected people like Uli Brueggemann and Mitch Barnett.  I can't say enough good things about these individuals and the services they provide.  They clearly know their craft and were very pleasant and enjoyable to interact with.  I learned a lot about minimum and linear phase filters from Mitch and after much trial and error, I settled on a group of mixed phase filters that I felt were generally to my liking.  The problem with these filters, ultimately, was transparency.  They did some good things but also did some not so good things and so there was always some tradeoff.  I also found that some filters sounded good with some tracks and horrible with other tracks and so this bothered me.  For example, my preferred mixed phase filter did a nice job smoothing the bass with a certain bass-heavy track from Fink or Daft Punk but with Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, as the cannons go off at the end, instead of an explosion, all you hear is a compression.  A dud.  Ugh.  Simply horrible.  With time, I found myself not using any of my room correction filters because implementing them for some tracks and removing them for others was more trouble than it was worth.  I figured that room correction technology, while good for movies and certain types of amplified music was not so great for the natural expression of unamplified acoustical instruments and this is what I listen to the most.  What was especially missing were natural extension, depth, and decay.  

 

For some time, I've been aware of @Zaphod Beeblebrox's background and interest in EQ and room correction.  On several occasions, he's encouraged me to give it another try because he felt he could more properly implement it within PGGB.  Based on my disappointment with previous experiences, I didn't prioritize it very highly but eventually I got around to giving it a try.  Because of how much more transparent sounding PGGB made my library sound, I was cautiously hopeful this transparency would extend to room correction and so I provided ZB with my room measurements.

 

With the first two attempts, I was immediately impressed by the transparency in the bass.  The cannons on 1812 Overture exploded with full extension.  I sensed zero compression in the lower octaves.  I also sensed no truncation of depth which seemed to be the other failing of room correction in the past.  On these 2 counts, this was a big win but I found the midrange and treble to sound too smooth and homogenized.  It became clear that I enjoyed the natural resonances of my room in the higher octaves and he wasn't surprised because he felt the mids and highs were well behaved in my room and so on the third try, he limited room correction to below 250Hz.  Here are the before and after measurements:

 

 

The bright red and blue tracings at the top are the "before" measurements of my left and right channels, respectively, and you can see a fairly prominent dip in the bass below 50Hz in the left channel with respect to the right channel.  If you look at the photos of my room, you can clearly understand why.  There is also a moderate peak at 60Hz with the left channel.   With the "after" measurements, you can see how he boosted the left channel below 50Hz and cut the peak at 60Hz to match the right channel.  He used purely linear phase correction.  He left >250Hz alone.  To allow for easy A/B, he also boosted the overall gain to level match what I was getting with no filter applied.  

 

With this 3rd EQ filter, the results that I got were nothing short of AMAZING.  Bass was extended, full, powerful, clear, defined, controlled, and TRANSPARENT!  I once brought in a pair of REL 212SE subwoofers into this room but I could never quite get them to blend seamlessly enough and at no time did adding those subwoofers ever sound this good with these Wilsons.  Because my D'Agostino Momentum HD preamp and Block Audio SE class A monoblocks are capable of generating tremendous amounts of bass by themselves, bass quantity has never really the issue but never have I experienced this level of bass quality with no apparent compromises in my room before.  What is just as satisfying is that while room correction extends only to about 250Hz, it's apparent that my smeared bass was masking midrange detail because my midrange clarity has also very noticeably improved.  Vocals have taken on a new level of clarity and audibility.

 

This is a remarkable level of transparency that I had not experienced before with room correction.  Room correction with PGGB takes place after upsampling but before noise shaping.  Whether the order matters or not in the re-mastering process is not clear and so I will leave it to ZB to discuss the technical aspects of what he has done to the extent that he feels comfortable but clearly, he has accomplished something very right.  There is also the option of time domain correction but with further analysis, he did not feel my room would significantly benefit.  I am now in the process of re-mastering my entire library once again, this time with this room correction filter in place because unlike in the past, regardless of the track I have applied it to, this room correction thus far has improved everything I've tried it on.  If I were to gauge the level of impact, in my listening room, I would say it is at least equivalent to every other quality PGGB offers.  

 

 

There is really no more than what I've said in my post. These DIY experiments get very expensive. And every now and then I need to reset (free up some room and budget) and start from scratch. It's my hobby, and since I am done with servers for now, I want to look more into tweaking DACs. It's very likely that I will end up getting a DAVE again. Or perhaps I will not even sell it. 

[Nenon]

Sure but make sure you use thick wires. A single 16 AWG wire is not recommended. I would use at least 11 AWG (which is what 3 x 16 AWG wires do). Lower resistance makes a much bigger difference on this power supply than star grounding, at least in my system. 

[Nenon]

In this case the switch just controls the softstart. It's not in series with the rest of the power supply. 

If you want to add a central on/off switch between the IEC and the softstart, then make sure you get a good quality switch. 

[Nenon]

8 minutes ago, Mags said:

Actually, I found this module from Connex for $50 shipped to my home. It has a SMPS but only to power the relay. It is actually a better fit in the amp than the Hypex and also has the pushbutton/LED feature I need.

https://connexelectronic.com/product/power-soft-start-v4/

If you ask for my advice - pay the extra shipping cost from Europe for the Hypex. 

[Nenon]

4 hours ago, Tatomek7 said:

BTW,

 

still in process of tinkering. Negative leads almost done. 

 

 

 

This doesn't look like v2 or v3. All 6 Mundorf HC caps are in parallel. I guess are you doing something else?

[Nenon]

ULPS Update:

 

As discussed on these pages my golden standard for powering up a computer is the v3 of the unregulated linear power supply + the Taiko ATX. With this configuration, there is no need to power the CPU separately from another LPS. It sounds better when you power the CPU (EPS) and the ATX from the Taiko ATX. 

 

Prices have changed since I originally posted the BOM for the ULPS, so here is an update:

The price in red is either not confirmed or depends on your choices, but I put an estimated number to have more complete totals. 

 

I have been getting a lot of messages about a wiring diagram. I am trying to be as helpful as I can but don't want to get in trouble. I have no financial interest in sharing any of this. So let's get some disclaimers out first...

 

I was hesitant to provide a wiring diagram, because if you don't know what you are doing, you should not be building a power supply! This is dangerous, so take this as a reminder that you are working with lethal electricity. A lot of things can go wrong. You can injure or even kill yourself. You can burn your house. Those are some of the risks you are taking when building a power supply. Everything you do is at your own risk. If you are not absolutely sure what you are doing, don't do it! 

 

With that disclaimer in place, below is something I put together. It's just a partial wiring of my ULPS. It's not a complete diagram and is intended just for illustration purposes. You will have to decide how to implement this in a safely manner. I purposely did not include the IEC ground, the output connector, and some other details that need to be properly and safely utilized in a complete power supply unit. This is DIY, and you will have to make your own decisions on how to make this unit safe. Again, if you don't know what you are doing, you should find a professional to build this for you. Okay, done with all the warnings.

 

Here is the diagram I put together:

 

There is a VCAP ODAM bypass capacitor on each Mundorf HC capacitor. I didn't include this on the diagram above as it gets too crowded, but it would look like this:

 

Some people prefer to do starground - connect all MINUS wires to one central point. I think that's a good idea. 

It's important to optimize the power supply for low output impedance. That means that you need to use low gauge wire. I use 3 runs of 16 AWG stranded wire, which gives me approximately 11 AWG. I would say that's the minimum I would go for. The shorter the cables, the better. The Neotech UP-OCC Copper Wire PTFE Stranded wire is not a bad choice here. 

 

[Nenon]

7 hours ago, ted_b said:

1)  For those of us using HQplayer and it's NAA "endpoint" do the differences between V2 and V3 still show through when the server is not directly connected to the dac?

Yes, I am pretty sure you will hear a difference in a good resolving system. V2 is pretty good as well. It just sounds different. 

We have to keep in mind that this design uses 5A chokes. At 35V that's still 175W. But for heavy DSD upsampling, you may need more power. I think as a general rule if you can efficiently passive cool your server, the 5A will be fine. But if you can't passively cool the server and have to use massive active cooling, you may need to use a slightly different design ULPS.

 

7 hours ago, ted_b said:

2)  For US prospects (I already own the Taiko ATX but no new server build yet) what is the best way to contact the US builder who has agreed to the $500 build fee?  Not ready yet, but would love to know reasonable build and delivery times, etc.

I am afraid the person who wanted to do that got too busy with his new job. I don't currently have anyone else in mind... but still looking. 

[Nenon]

9 hours ago, Rovo said:

you mention to use a slightly different design ULPS in case you need more power. Can you share what your ideas are on this different design. Just playing with the idea to also provide my HQPlayer upsampling PC with an ULPS.

 

I can refer you to an earlier post:

On 9/13/2021 at 10:20 AM, Nenon said:

For those who want to play with the Hammond 195J10 or the even bigger Hammond 195K12 choke, here is what you need to do:

• 22000uF - Hammond 195J10 - 22000uF - Hammond 195J10 - 220000uF; or
• 22000uF - Hammond 195K12 - 22000uF - Hammond 195K12 - 330000uF

These designs will sound tighter and a bit more mechanical than the v2 and v3 I have shared. These larger values chokes will have a sound signature more typically associated with “digital sound” when used with the DIY DC-DC ATX. The difference in sound between these two versions is very minimal. But the Hammond 195K12 is very big and won't fit in the upcoming DIY chassis. You will need an external chassis for that. 

 

My recommendation still remains the V2 or the V3, but if you want to play with different chokes, at least make sure you have the right capacitance for the choke you are using. 

 

The Hammond 159ZJ perfectly powers my dual Xeon (85W TDP each) server, and I prefer them compared to the higher powered Hammond chokes as mentioned in the post above. 

[Nenon]

44 minutes ago, MarcelNL said:

NOt there yet, but the ATX module is now connected to my 36V, no magic smoke or anything else to show for....I tried to see if the 12V rails are powered but these only show 0.5V but that SATA connector has 5V....

For lack of any description is that JMPR 01 needed for anything or is connecting the EPS and ATX cables enough to allow me to use the MB pushbutton to power on and off?

 

(still working on the EPS and ATX cables.. or I'd simply try)

 

If you are referring to the jumper on the Taiko ATX, that is an always-on jumper. I used it to force the Taiko ATX to provide 12V EPS after I killed one of the ATX rails early on before Taiko added protection. 

 

Without the jumper, the Taiko ATX is controlled by the motherboard (after you connect the 24-pin ATX of course). With the jumper, all rails are always on all the time. 

 

Think of the jumper as jump starting an ATX power supply - 

 

[Nenon]

On another news, I heard from Emile that the Taiko DIY chassis is now pushed to the end of January (the earliest) due to supply shortage. 

[Nenon]

2 hours ago, MarcelNL said:

Bypassing will be a task for after burn in and I know what that can do from previous experience building and using a Le Monstre amp...

 

This is different than an amp power supply.

As you know the Taiko ATX uses GaNFets that switch at a very high frequency. Bypass caps are needed to reduce the output impedance at high frequencies. Without them, the Taiko ATX may see too high impedance and not start. I can't predict if that will happen or not in your particular version, but just FYI. They are a part of the design, not just a voicing tool.