Building a DIY Music Server

[MarcelNL]

great idea, I just picked up a Corsair AX 1200i to power the MB but I'll make sure to try the old PSU for the fan

[MarcelNL]

Nice piece, I ogled something similar for the same purpose but decided against it as I might be able to stay away from fans.

Currently with the latest update Daphile is running at around 37'C which should mean that a passive cooler is feasible.

Cannot wait to dig into the 1200W PSU, adding some nice caps to the end of the cables and using some serious cable rather than the stock stuff...is there a source for decent connectors for ATX PSU power cable DIYing?

 

[MarcelNL]

initial impression (Ax1200i warming up (in so far that is applicable at the low load I'm presenting it with), amp also still warming up is: good!

 

Faster transients, inkier black background better separation between instruments and sounds, cleaner highs, more intricate detail, more peace &quiet leaving more room for overtones etc.

 

edit: forgot to mention a 'slight' benefit of additional push and control in the low end freq region :-) 

Nice!

 

[MarcelNL]

3 hours ago, kelvinwsy said:

The Gallium arsenide transistors in the Corsair AX1600i woll sound evem better as switching frequency pushed up to 100Mhz and above way out of sound reproduction...better transient characteristics .. should sound noticeably better.. So saving up my pennies for One big jump to the AX1600i

that makes sense, sounds as if it's a nice piece of kit for audio that could give any audio PSU a run for it's money!

 

I found a used AX1200i on the 'cheap' while searching for a seasonic to improve the rather bland 400W Bequiet that came with the case, so I jumped in the car and picked it up.

 

I am still thinking about the Taiko ATX supply or building a linear supply...having heard this AX1200i after it warmed up last night (it got very LATE) makes me wonder what new cabling does and I'll venture there first now I have a complete set of spares to tinker with (have not found connectors anywhere else but at Ghent audio so I will probably chop those spares).

[MarcelNL]

so meanwhile I found some sources for Molex connector houses and connectors, has anyone tips for a crimping tool that works well but does not cost the world or should I not bother and just solder them?

When crimping I;d prefer a ratchet as that comes with preset force, like this one

 

 

https://nl.rs-online.com/web/p/crimp-tools/0220914/?cm_mmc=NL-PLA-DS3A-_-google-_-CSS_NL_NL_Hand_Tools_Whoop-_-(NL:Whoop!)+Crimp+Tools-_-220914&matchtype=&pla-303008307297&gclid=CjwKCAiA1eKBBhBZEiwAX3gql62y-TIbQVIfRv1qde2dl3tYlfBqjTtlr0HzZOd0y79UeagLgQsbOBoCqqkQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

[MarcelNL]

I'm not so sure anymore that a SMPS cannot compete with linear, we're talking high current here and if there is one thing linear PSU struggles with it's high power. I would LOVE to be able to compare the Taiko ATX to a well reputable (or home grown) linear PSU versus the Corsair AX 1600 as it's 100Mhz switching freq should put interference/noise well out of the trouble zone.

 

 

 

 

[MarcelNL]

makes sense, I just wonder what TAs would need to run redbook only, no upsampling or processing? would that require dual octa core CPU's?

 

[MarcelNL]

Tranny porn, sounds cheesy...I know...😀

[MarcelNL]

Thanks, that was indeed the sort of comparison I was hoping for!

 

At least my comparison of a 400W PSU and a 1200W learned me a lot, and both will find their way to other systems once the Taiko is revealed. Schottky's always did well for me in audio and many sound real good with only nuances between them.

 

Diodes are a mine field, you really need to audition them, great that you tried the expensive Cree's and the FET, that takes two out of the equation. 

[MarcelNL]

1250-ish is what I seem to recall, so far it's silent but I trust we will be informed in due time.

I also have some exotic filtering in my 6way extension box and that works too but I expect that getting the PSU right has a bigger impact than filtering the AC going in, for now I just need to be able to get into a shop to get a new lid for it to install the Furutech NCF Schuko sockets in the box.

[MarcelNL]

crimping is a skill, as is soldering, but it's doable when you get the right equipment and follow instructions.

I just ordered some EPS connectors and pins and Neotech UP OCC cable to tinker with the cables between the MB and the Corsair AX1200i 

[MarcelNL]

I just upgraded to an AMD 7 3700x (8cores) CPU on the GB Aorus 570 Elite MB, after a LOT of trouble I got it to work...turns out that the Ghent audio 8Pin Neotech cable I ordered is faulty/incorrectly laid out AND the two sticks of Apacer ECC Ram need to sit one bank....against the MB manual and lettering on the MB where it says A2 and B2 for dual channel using 2 sticks.

 

For now I'm going to give it a listen with both stick of Ram in slot A, probably need to order 2 more, but is there anyone who can shed light on this? is ECC RAM any different or is the MB screwed up? (seen plenty of reports of folks not being able to boot that MB after a new build, wish I knew before...) 

[MarcelNL]

interestingly enough the Bios version I downloaded and installed yesterday to ensure the Mb is compatible with most recent CPU's version F33c is no longer available now 32 is the latest...weird

 

[MarcelNL]

Nice, will keep a eye open for that board. I'm currently using the Aorus X570 Elite with 12+2 phases using a Corsair AX1200i to feed the Ryzen 7, and have just started doing an 8Pin power cable, Next thing is changing to W10 as the Solarflare cannot be added to Daphile. With exchanging the Ryzen 5 for the 7 the soundstage increased and dynamics also improved.

[MarcelNL]

After some more attempts I got the Solarflare to work in Daphile 😃, apperently support is 'native' Linux and I probably just had the A and B channel fibers plugged in incorrectly last time...

 

Too early for a good verdict but the initial impression with the computer and the Klangfilm amp still warming up is GOOD!

[MarcelNL]

The difference between fiber optic into switch, CAT8.1 out into MB Gb network, versus fiberoptic into Solarflare into MB via PCIe is NOT trivial,😎

Next I'm going to disable some stuff I don't need anymore on the MB

[MarcelNL]

And finally I got the 8 pin EPS cable finished, learning to crimp molex pins the hard way (trial and error), I used 18 AWB Neotech UP-OCC, the impact is such I cannot believe it....on the power side of the CPU, it's silly and goes against everything I know about digital yet so far all changes have very similar effect as when working in an analog environment.

Finally getting somewhere, the polished up recording of la Callas singing Casta Diva gets me goosebumps.

 

Now for the mammoth job of doing the 24 pin cable.....not making the misstake to forget the swapped connection at the Corsair AX PSU side.

[MarcelNL]

On 3/18/2021 at 9:02 AM, Gavin1977 said:

Yep that's what I boiled it down to as well, GT710 or GT 1030 - there are no other alternatives for this application at present (Although Nvidia will release a GT 1010 / 1020 shortly to replace GT710).  Appalling prices at the moment though due to GPU shortages, they should be miles cheaper than they are.  AMD doesn't do any fanless / low profile options.

I'm using the same graphics card, and wonder if there is something even less fancy, or is it possible to switch off the card once the computer has booted? (I don't mind manually flicking a switch on a modded graphics card if SQ benefits)

[MarcelNL]

12 hours ago, Gavin1977 said:

Apparently not, the only way to truly deactivate an installed card is to remove it or cut the power planes on the card itself / add a switch as an onboard regulator (if present).

that would do me fine, my graphics card is on a riser cable connected to a 1x slot anyhow so it should be doable to snip some wires and install a switch. Looking at the PCIe pinout shows 5 12V pins and 4 3.3Vpins which may be too much to handle.

Daphile does turn off graphics output as it runs headless, I'm not sure how much juice is running through the card in that state and if noise can be minimized by switching off completely.

[MarcelNL]

36 minutes ago, Mops911 said:

Take it out and listen if you can hear a difference. if not, dont bother, if yes, only then this discussion becomes relevant...

Booting without it does not work on this mobo, I'm not so sure it's a good idea to take it out of a running system? 

 

Power draw is not my main concern, noise is.

 

 

[MarcelNL]

many (most?) mobo's will not boot without GPU, the MSI card referred a couple of posts higher is probably the lowest spec/TDP card around. You can always stick the GPU card on a PCIe 1x riser and power that via a regular switching PSU using one of the PCIe cables.

(mine is connected that way)

[MarcelNL]

borrow one for a couple of days? If you need a GPU to get past P.O.S.T on that mobo you can always invest in an additional PSU/rail to power the card separately using a riser.

[MarcelNL]

Think he has to enable the on board GPU first.

[MarcelNL]

Thanks for the tip, biggest challenge is finding a VGA cable as I likely threw all of that stuff out long ago 

[MarcelNL]

aren't those expansion ports on that MoBo ports for which you need a GPU or internal video processor in the CPU to work with?

My MoBo has HDMI out and some support chip for making that work but not without a CPU with internal GPU.