Building a DIY Music Server

[MarcelNL]

40 minutes ago, flowcharts said:

USB won't work for a firmware update unfortunately

thanks !! that allows me to stop looking!

Just found out that my Thinkpad has an M.2 slot...but just one...

 

forget it, should work on the server when i connect the keyboard mouse and screen....the process uses a bootable USB stick, so all I need to do is follow the steps and change boot order to USB and reboot.

 

 

 

[baconbrain]

Apologies if this question has been asked previously (no luck with SuFu) but I am curious as to the average CPU operating temp (ideally the Xeon 4210) for any owners of the Taiko DIY chasis? Thx.

[seeteeyou]

Not sure if anybody were able to grasp the enormity of these experiences shared by @romaz recently?

 

https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/qsa-lanedri-series.36078/page-2#post-847711

Quote

This CAT6 cable (combined with a QSA LAN Jitter) have singlehandedly made Roon sound better than XDMS on the Extreme (no small feat) and have allowed Qobuz streaming to sound identical to the playback of locally stored files in blind testing (which is a first for me). This simple LAN cable almost completely renders the network moot in my system.

 

https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/qsa-lanedri-series.36078/page-8#post-855877

Quote

As good as the SGM Extreme is, at this point, my nVidia TV Shield Pro, this $200 piece of gear that has no right to be fed data from an expensive QSA Gamma Infinity LAN cable and powered by a Paul Hynes SR4 LPSU with QSA Silver fuse and a Gamma Infinity power cord was outperforming a $30k music server that I consider to be the best in the world. Compared to the Extreme, the nVidia device sounded a touch more forward than I would like but otherwise, dynamics, sound staging, air, clarity, and tone were either on par or better than the Extreme now. It was bad enough that until I got the Spectra back yesterday, I had decided to shut down the Extreme.

 

https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/qsa-lanedri-series.36078/page-10#post-857357

Quote

On their website, they indicate that QSA's technology is the result of more than 22 years of R&D and so it's clear to anyone who has read what has been said that Anas Lanedri is not the developer of this technology.

 

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If Furutech Nano Liquid were working so darn well for these components already, let's just imagine what QSA could accomplish if we're sending them some of our music server parts for processing

 

https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/topic/30376-a-novel-way-to-massively-improve-the-sq-of-computer-audio-streaming/page/542/#comment-941760

On 3/25/2019 at 4:50 AM, romaz said:

He agreed and so I tore down this machine and started over, this time more copiously applying the Nano Liquid to the CPU, Optane card, RAM, JCAT card, and ATX/EPS connectors.  Since I was given the green light, I figured if we were going to go down and be forced to buy a new motherboard, we might as well go for a home run.  Well, after application of this Furutech liquid, this server did improve...dramatically...and it was noticeable immediately.  If I have to guess, it is with the CPU where this liquid makes the most difference.

 

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Basically we could break things down in terms of trifecta.

 

Mission-critical components

Quote

• Custom HiFi Cables (i.e. Dr. Sean Jacobs and @Nenon)
• QSA
• Taiko Audio

 

Capacitors

Quote

• Audio Note
• Duelund
• Mundorf

 

Software

Quote

• ASIO drivers for TACDA & TACDD
• Software music player
• Windows 11 Preinstallation Environment (reduced all the way down to approximately 110MB as of February 2023)

 

Finding the right (bulk) wires for building our cables could be tricky if we're actually send them to QSA for processing, ideally the purity should be reasonably low while other factors are still important.

 

Not sure about the purity of their products but we might consider some Space / Aerospace cables from W. L. Gore

 

https://www.wiremasters.com/catalog/products/wire-and-cable/w-l-gore-and-associates-inc-

 

If $200 nVidia TV Shield Pro (plus the tech behind QSA that is) were able to beat another $30K music server, could we find a way to build something that's even better than an Extreme with their upcoming BPS?

 

The evolution of (unregulated) ARC6 might do the trick if we're able to get the right capacitors / transformers / wirings for QSA

 

https://www.custom-hifi-cables.co.uk/power-supplies/unregulated-arc6-power-supply-for-taiko-atx

 

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And then here's a little something for several years ago

 

https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/topic/30376-a-novel-way-to-massively-improve-the-sq-of-computer-audio-streaming/page/313/#comment-813712

On 4/26/2018 at 4:25 PM, nvitorino said:

1. ATX only (using a Pico-PSU with a clean 12V input)

2. 12V only

3. ATX + 12V

 

1. and 2. sound similar in our tests. 3 sounds significantly better. At first, we were expecting 2. to be the best, as it removed the Pico-PSU from the equation. But seems the board itself will do the same job as the Pico and doesn't seem to do it any better than that.

 

Pro WS W790E-SAGE SE seemed to be pretty interesting once we've taken what we just read into consideration

 

https://www.asus.com/motherboards-components/motherboards/workstation/pro-ws-w790e-sage-se/techspec/

Quote

2 x 24-pin Main Power connector
4 x 8-pin +12V Power connector

 

FYI - here are the block diagrams for W-3400 CPUs / W-2400 CPUs

 

https://dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/LGA4677/Pro_WS_W790E-SAGE_SE/E21447_Pro_WS_W790E_SAGE_SE_UM_WEB.pdf#page=83

 

TDP seemed to be somewhat challenging for a fanless chassis, though

 

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/codename/126212/products-formerly-sapphire-rapids.html#@Workstation

 

 

We've got 6 cores @ 120W TDP and that shouldn't be a big deal then? 165W or above wouldn't be all that practical.

 

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Finally let's see what we could do about the software

 

http://jplay.eu/forum/index.php?/topic/4410-windows-11-pe-audiophile-creation-guide/?p=63285

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The sonic results have been as expected, greater cleanliness, precision and focus of the sound scene, with more realism, without any grain, and crystal clear treble but without stridency, with a lot of detail and micro-information. The music has more presence in the room, the live recordings make you feel like you are at the concert.
The problem is that it discriminates more between the different recordings, and it is more noticeable when they are of poorer quality.
The degree of difference to the last Ultralite I tested (approx. 234 MB) is significant, though not huge, but clearly noticeable, effortlessly.
 
I have started from the 234 MB Windows Ultralite, which I referred to in post #511, to get to this other 112 MB (MINIMAL)

 

http://jplay.eu/forum/index.php?/topic/4410-windows-11-pe-audiophile-creation-guide/?p=63332

Quote

In any case, I'm happy with the result, music has never sounded so fresh and natural. What is clear is that in audio "less is more".

 

Dunno how many of us would like to work on something like that? Quite a bit of learning curve should be expected since we're spending over a year on that particular forum thread. Most likely we could still go further by pushing the envelope.

 

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And then we could always use a better software music player for Windows 11 Preinstallation Environment, not trying to say that we'll get anywhere close to the performance of TAS or even XDMS.

 

However, we're already making so much progress on the OS side and that's why it would be great to get our hands on a decent piece of software in order to "sweeten the deal" if you will.

[di-fi]

20 hours ago, flowcharts said:

Samsung PM893 recommended by Antipodes is better than an 870 Evo, and it was pretty obvious

Samsung PM893 SSD is known to raise sound quality significantly in all Antipodes servers/players (up to their best US$ 25K server) always connected with SATA cable to the server board.

What is your setup to get this obvious improvement for playing local files from PM893 over SATA ?
Did you / can you compare with sound quality of files stored on the Samsung 890pro? or any other local NVMe/M.2 drive?

 

Your setup:

Music flac? files installed on Samsung PM893 what size?

connected with a SATA cable? or as external drive over USB? on NAS?

to what mobo?

that functions as server/ player?

under what OS? installed on the Samsung 890pro 

 

thanks for the details :-)

[flowcharts]

20 minutes ago, di-fi said:

Samsung pm893 is known to raise sound quality significantly in all Antipodes servers/players (up to their best server) always connected with SATA cables to the server board.

What is your setup to get this obvious improvement for playing local files over SATA ?
Did you / can you compare with sound quality of files stored on the Samsung 890pro? or other local NVMe/M.2 drive?

 

Your setup:

Music flac? files installed on Samsung PM893 what size?

connected with a SATA cable? or as external drive over USB? on NAS?

to what mobo?

that functions as server/ player?

under what OS? installed on the Samsung 890pro 

 

thanks for the details :-)

My only comparison point was an 870 Evo via sata-- I don't have any spare m.2/pcie space on my current z590 itx (besides the wifi slot).  The 893 i'm using is 3.84tb, connected via sata, externally powered by a plixir bdc w/ ghent gotham cabling externally, and neotech internally.  Also using an Elfidelity SATA filter, and Techflex flexo anti-stat shielding on the power & data cables. 

 

Flac files, for Roon + HQPlayer pcm upsampling, functioning as both server/player on win10.

[di-fi]

35 minutes ago, flowcharts said:

My only comparison point was an 870 Evo via sata-- I don't have any spare m.2/pcie space on my current z590 itx (besides the wifi slot).  The 893 i'm using is 3.84tb, connected via sata, externally powered by a plixir bdc w/ ghent gotham cabling externally, and neotech internally.  Also using an Elfidelity SATA filter, and Techflex flexo anti-stat shielding on the power & data cables. 

 

Flac files, for Roon + HQPlayer pcm upsampling, functioning as both server/player on win10.

Great the PM893 worked out so well for you. Maybe before installing a Revelation M.2 you seem to be considering ;-)

could/would/should you compare with sound quality of files stored on the Samsung 890pro?

I just mention that because no one here in this thread would even consider using  a SATA SSD because in their experience NVMe sounds better. I absolutely do believe your and Antipodes’ good results though. It’s an interesting data point. 

[baconbrain]

9 hours ago, seeteeyou said:

Not sure if anybody were able to grasp the enormity of these experiences shared by @romaz recently?

 

https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/qsa-lanedri-series.36078/page-2#post-847711

 

https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/qsa-lanedri-series.36078/page-8#post-855877

As good as the SGM Extreme is, at this point, my nVidia TV Shield Pro, this $200 piece of gear that has no right to be fed data from an expensive QSA Gamma Infinity LAN cable and powered by a Paul Hynes SR4 LPSU with QSA Silver fuse and a Gamma Infinity power cord was outperforming a $30k music server that I consider to be the best in the world. Compared to the Extreme, the nVidia device sounded a touch more forward than I would like but otherwise, dynamics, sound staging, air, clarity, and tone were either on par or better than the Extreme now. It was bad enough that until I got the Spectra back yesterday, I had decided to shut down the Extreme.

 

😲 I will definately need some time to digest that statement.

[MarcelNL]

18 minutes ago, baconbrain said:

 

😲 I will definately need some time to digest that statement.

me too, and would like to see that replicated by someone with another extreme just to make sure nothing is wrong with that one. N=1 and all that

[Toymanmark]

16 hours ago, baconbrain said:

Apologies if this question has been asked previously (no luck with SuFu) but I am curious as to the average CPU operating temp (ideally the Xeon 4210) for any owners of the Taiko DIY chasis? Thx.

My Temps on my dual 4210 across all 20 cores according to Euphony v4 range from 32-38 degrees. This is after playing music for hours on end! This is Stylus alone with no upsampling! Yes this is in the Taiko case. Curious what temps you are getting?

 

I also wanted to thank you for your heroic efforts on reviewing so many power supplies. It helped tremendously in picking my path.

 

 All I can say is a Sean Jacobs based supply I built is incredible. I did 3 x 5 volt rails for Network card USB card and the OS m.2 femto card.

[baconbrain]

30 minutes ago, Toymanmark said:

My Temps on my dual 4210 across all 20 cores according to Euphony v4 range from 32-38 degrees. This is after playing music for hours on end! This is Stylus alone with no upsampling! Yes this is in the Taiko case. Curious what temps you are getting?

 

I also wanted to thank you for your heroic efforts on reviewing so many power supplies. It helped tremendously in picking my path.

 

 All I can say is a Sean Jacobs based supply I built is incredible. I did 3 x 5 volt rails for Network card USB card and the OS m.2 femto card.

Hi Toymanmark,

 

Are the values quoted in Degrees Celsius or Fahrenheit? If they are in Fahrenheit, then they are very low compared to mine. My Roon  / HQPlayer Server has been playing music for the last 8 hours (Oversampling to 384 / 32 PCM) and both CPU's have been running at approx. 60 Degrees Celsius.

 

I can live with the 60 Degrees but feel it could be improved. Are you using the Taiko supplied Heatpipes or something else?    

[MarcelNL]

32 F is the freezing point of water ;-) Pretty sure that are temps in Celsius.

 

IME lower is better, the sonic difference between 55'C and 40'C is real in my server.

[baconbrain]

10 minutes ago, MarcelNL said:

32 F is the freezing point of water ;-) Pretty sure that are temps in Celsius.

 

Good one! Someone wasn’t thinking ;-)

 

Completely agree on the lower the better. Trying to figure out if I did a poor job with my cooling setup or if the DIY Chassis is working as designed.

 

[di-fi]

19 hours ago, seeteeyou said:

Not sure if anybody were able to grasp the enormity of these experiences shared by @romaz recently?

I have a problem with Romaz being the audiophile we all know for many years of sharing his subjective experiences (I have various Romaz pages bookmarked) lending his name to QSA Lanedri cables.  He is a leader having many followers. A very inspiring audiophile to follow because of very detailed experiences he shares with the community.

 

Now suddenly he pops up on a commercial WBF page heavily promoting very expensive cables (in the ++ US$ 1000 range) that according to Romaz make a US $200 device sound better than a US$ 30K Extreme (does it sound to good to be true?). Also according to him all those cables sound better than anything else because of a secret cable treatment that Romaz knows together with the owner of QSA. No detailed Romaz style reviews / descriptions and trials this time, a few paragraphs only.

Romaz also seems to have access to all these cables and he can even have his personal cables treated as well at QSA. He also confirmed he designed himself (or was involved in the design of) a few of the new cables. Orders currently seem to come in by the hundreds without listening (30 day trial). Some clients order 5 or 6 cables at the same time adding up to $10k or $20k orders. The new owner, Lanedri, just bought the business in 2021, will he deliver? time will tell.

 

This makes me wonder what exactly is Romaz commercial interest in this? He made it very clear he is sharing his promotional talk in a specific WBF commercial segment paid for by QSA. Confusing for me and apparently also for  @kennyb123&@Blackmorec who he kind of aggressively accused of trying to get to understand this secret cable treatment. Now they, as I was, thought they were having an exchange with the @romaz we all know , but this almost seems an other Romaz (II) strictly talking about the benefits of QSA cables in this commercial segment of WBF and as far as I know not anywhere else where we usually can exchange with Romaz (I). I find this very confusing. It seems to me he used his (well known) name Romaz , maybe unwillingly, to help facilitate the sale of QSA cables. We'll see how this develops, maybe I am wrong but I find it a little awkward. I guess all I am saying;  if someone is wearing two different hats, just be aware. 

 

And sorry if this is slightly off-topic, but my way of  

Quote

grasping the enormity of these experiences shared by @romaz recently?

Thanks @seeteeyou

[Dev]

how is a commercial product part of a DIY thread ? 

[Iving]

9 minutes ago, di-fi said:

This makes me wonder what exactly is Romaz commercial interest in this?

 

Needn't be a commercial interest. There are all sorts of motivations in this Hi-Fi game. Many hidden even unto ourselves.

[MarcelNL]

6 minutes ago, di-fi said:

I have a problem with Romaz being the audiophile we all know for many years of sharing his subjective experiences (I have various Romaz pages bookmarked). He is a leader having many followers. A very inspiring audiophile to follow because of very detailed experiences he shares with the community.

 

Now suddenly he pops up on a commercial WBF page heavily promoting very expensive cables (in the ++ US$ 1000 range) that according to Romaz make a US $200 device sound better than a US$ 30K Extreme (does it sound to good to be true?). Also according to him all thoses cables sound better than anything else because of a secret cable treatment that Romaz knows together with the owner of QSE. No detailed Romaz style reviews / descriptions and trials this time, a few paragraphs only.

Romaz also seems to have acces to all these cables and he can even have his personal cables treated as well at QSE. He also designed himself a few of thoses new cables. Orders currently seem to come in by the hundreds without listening (30 day trial). People order 5 or 6 cables at the same time adding up to $10k or $20k orders. The new owner just bought the business in 2021.

 

This makes me wonder what exactly is Romaz commercial interest in this? He made it very clear he is sharing his promotional talk in a specific WBF commerical segment paid for by QSE. Confusing for me and apparently also for  @kennyb123&@Blackmorec who he kind of aggressively accused of trying to get to understand this secret cable treatment. Now they, as I was, thought they were talking to the @romaz we all know , but this almost seems an other Romaz (II) strictly talking about QSE in this commercial segment of WBF and as far as I know not anywhere else where we usually can exchange with Romaz (I). I find this very confusing. It seems to me he used his (well known) name Romaz , maybe unwillingly, to help facilitate the sale of QSE cables. We'll see how this develops, maybe I am wrong but I find it a little awkward.

 

I have my doubts too...smells of snake oil or it's April closing in pretty fast?

[Dev]

33 minutes ago, baconbrain said:

 

Completely agree on the lower the better. Trying to figure out if I did a poor job with my cooling setup or if the DIY Chassis is working as designed.

 

 

My experience has been slightly different - I find that every component has an optimal temperature range that it performs the best. In my case, which includes the motherboard/cpu/ram combo, sounds its best at 38-44deg C. Anything lower or higher, has an impact on the sound. This is probably why in my setup running Euphony v4, Roon and Stylus doesn't sound too drastically different as some claims it does it their setup.

[MarcelNL]

6 minutes ago, Dev said:

how is a commercial product part of a DIY thread ? 

IMO since DIY is also using commercial products? I'd love being able to draw my own UPOCC copper but will leave at buying it ;-)

[MarcelNL]

1 minute ago, Dev said:

 

My experience has been slightly different - I find that every component has an optimal temperature range that it performs the best. In my case, which includes the motherboard/cpu/ram combo, sounds its best at 38-44deg C. Anything lower or higher, has an impact on the sound. This is probably why in my setup running Euphony v4, Roon and Stylus doesn't sound too drastically different as some claims it does it their setup.

agree, I was referring to that combo but indeed there are other items that have a different sound optimum temperature

[Dev]

Just now, MarcelNL said:

IMO since DIY is also using commercial products? I'd love being able to draw my own UPOCC copper but will leave at buying it ;-)

 

Not really. Those QSA cables are sold for end use. Nothing to DIY on it. I have nothing against discussing it (as a matter of fact, it should be) but discussion it over here pollutes this thread.

[di-fi]

48 minutes ago, Dev said:

 

I have nothing against discussing it (as a matter of fact, it should be) but discussion it over here pollutes this thread.

You are right, sorry if I got taken away a little by the subject. Actually I follow WBF usually only because of Taiko / Extreme developments. But I remember once here I reproached Nenon (an other influencer for that matter) putting a negative verdict towards a certain LPS manufacturer without trying/hearing it first. This 'wearing of two hats' happens, even here. I just copied my observation to WBF (could not edit anymore the previous post).

[Exocer]

1 hour ago, di-fi said:

I have a problem with Romaz being the audiophile we all know for many years of sharing his subjective experiences (I have various Romaz pages bookmarked) lending his name to QSA Lanedri cables.  He is a leader having many followers. A very inspiring audiophile to follow because of very detailed experiences he shares with the community.

 

Now suddenly he pops up on a commercial WBF page heavily promoting very expensive cables (in the ++ US$ 1000 range) that according to Romaz make a US $200 device sound better than a US$ 30K Extreme (does it sound to good to be true?). Also according to him all those cables sound better than anything else because of a secret cable treatment that Romaz knows together with the owner of QSA. No detailed Romaz style reviews / descriptions and trials this time, a few paragraphs only.

Romaz also seems to have access to all these cables and he can even have his personal cables treated as well at QSA. He also confirmed he designed himself (or was involved in the design of) a few of the new cables. Orders currently seem to come in by the hundreds without listening (30 day trial). Some clients order 5 or 6 cables at the same time adding up to $10k or $20k orders. The new owner, Lanedri, just bought the business in 2021, will he deliver? time will tell.

 

This makes me wonder what exactly is Romaz commercial interest in this? He made it very clear he is sharing his promotional talk in a specific WBF commercial segment paid for by QSA. Confusing for me and apparently also for  @kennyb123&@Blackmorec who he kind of aggressively accused of trying to get to understand this secret cable treatment. Now they, as I was, thought they were having an exchange with the @romaz we all know , but this almost seems an other Romaz (II) strictly talking about the benefits of QSA cables in this commercial segment of WBF and as far as I know not anywhere else where we usually can exchange with Romaz (I). I find this very confusing. It seems to me he used his (well known) name Romaz , maybe unwillingly, to help facilitate the sale of QSA cables. We'll see how this develops, maybe I am wrong but I find it a little awkward. I guess all I am saying;  if someone is wearing two different hats, just be aware. 

 

And sorry if this is slightly off-topic, but my way of  

Thanks @seeteeyou

 

49 minutes ago, MarcelNL said:

 

I have my doubts too...smells of snake oil or it's April closing in pretty fast?

Just thought i'd give my .02 as I have no dog in this fight.

 

@di-fi - I totally get where you're coming from, but I assure you this is the same Romaz we all know. He is just really excited about the impact these cables have had on his system. I currently have two of these cables in my system (the lower tier versions), the QSA Gamma Revelation Power cable and Gamma Revelation XLR. These cables have drastically improved my system beyond any other cables i've owned. I have deliberately not shared those impressions here because it is a bit off topic.

 

To @Dev's point, this is probably not the best place to talk about it unless we eventually have the option to purchase/try QSA treated conductors for DIY cable use or perhaps QSA treated pre-built ATX/EPS cables. Let's cross that bridge when we get there.

 

@seeteeyou - great post. I have often asked myself that same question. But the costs of replicating what Romaz has done, is still a lot of $$ if you think about it. All else equal, I think the SGM Extreme would win in the end. 

 

@MarcelNL - it is definitely not snakeoil although I totally get where you're coming from. I too would probably think that way had I not heard it in my own system.

 

Ok to bring things back on topic:

I built an EPS cable from Angelique 15.5awg wire and its REALLY darn good and highly recommend it:

[Nenon]

1 hour ago, Dev said:

how is a commercial product part of a DIY thread ? 

 

 The only relation to this thread is the claim from @romazthat @seeteeyou quoted:

20 hours ago, seeteeyou said:

  Quote

As good as the SGM Extreme is, at this point, my nVidia TV Shield Pro, this $200 piece of gear that has no right to be fed data from an expensive QSA Gamma Infinity LAN cable and powered by a Paul Hynes SR4 LPSU with QSA Silver fuse and a Gamma Infinity power cord was outperforming a $30k music server that I consider to be the best in the world. Compared to the Extreme, the nVidia device sounded a touch more forward than I would like but otherwise, dynamics, sound staging, air, clarity, and tone were either on par or better than the Extreme now. It was bad enough that until I got the Spectra back yesterday, I had decided to shut down the Extreme.

I received several messages after people read those comments. The idea that a $200 nVidia TV Shield Pro + $4000 (on sale for $2500 at the moment) LAN cable + $4000 (on sale for $2500 at the moment) Power cord, a decent LPS (it does not have to be the SR4, as the key here is the QSA treatment), and a $5000 fuse is as good as the Taiko Extreme is intriguing. And it kind of fits into building a DIY server thread, although it's not exactly building a server. 

 

I have the above mentioned cables in my posession. They are indeed very special. The impact of some of these QSA Lanedri cables is nothing like you would normally hear from cables. It's at the level of changing components. For example, the impact of the ultimatum speaker cables is bigger than replacing amplifiers (but smaller than replacing speakers). I have verified this in 2 different systems. Still wrapping my head around this stuff. That's why I haven't commented on their commercial WBF thread besides the fact that I have multiple of these cables in my system. 

I also have a Taiko Extreme. I just don't have the $200 nVidia TV Shield Pro to try romaz's claim.

Do I believe the the nVidia will outperform the Extreme? No, not at all. 

Do I trust romaz? Yes. 

Do I like what I have heard from these QSA cables? Yes. 

I have a feeling that you need a lot more QSA treated stuff in your system to get the result romaz had reported. 

 

I have one of the two early prototypes of the QSA Lanedri speaker cables (romaz has the second pair). They were sent to me to try them and give my opinion. They were so good that I told the QSA Lanedri owner that these cables are not leaving my system. And they never did. They were a bigger improvement than my amplifier upgrade here and in one other system. I did lend a hand in some of the R&D of their Ultimatum line of products. That gave me access to more early prototypes. I liked some and did not like others, but those I did not like were discarded and what went to production is the cables were a clear improvement and had no system balance issues. In fact, I highly recommend the speaker cables to anyone who can afford them. 

 

The other thing that was shocking was the Gamma Infinity LAN cable. I bought one at the same discount that is available to everyone at the moment, besides the fact that I helped with some R&D. It had bigger impact in my system than the power cable feeding my DAC. I'd definitely recommend to try that if you can. 

 

Before you ask - I really have no idea what that treatment does. It's some kind of voodoo magic that happens in their Hong Kong facility, but has a big impact on audio. I've been through hundreds of different speculations in my head but the truth is that I know exactly as much as any of you. 

 

Anyhow, this thread is not about QSA, but I wanted to add a quick post about the nVidia report as people started reaching out with questions. I will have a lot more to report in the near future but will do that in the QSA thread on WBF. I am doing my own experiments with QSA as well, such as treated capacitors, chokes, and transformers, but those will take more time. 

[Toymanmark]

This photo was taken when I first fired up the dual 4210 with no Nic card or USB card.

 

What are your temperatures like at idol nothing playing and temperatures as you go from 44.1 files+?

[MarcelNL]

good to know that not using a fuse is great for sound AND saves 5K ;-)

 

without any info on a 'treatment' NOS (not otherwise specified) I'm wary, for sure there are things that work (heck I'm doing some crazy stuff in my own builds) yet the claims that were made are kindof incredible...if it sounds too good to be true and all that...