Building a DIY Music Server

[Dev]

10 hours ago, rico25 said:

Hi, in the case these chokes improve the SQ and could improve the cold start too, then yes I am interrested in :)

Even if, in my case, with no GPU and with net and spdif cards powered by external PSU, I dont see the origin of difficult cold start (65w cpu) 

 

yeah, something is not right with the cold start. When you use the power-on button, it just doesn't immediately start pumping up current to cause a significant voltage sag. I tested with a very old 150watts ATX smps power supply and it works every time. 

[Dev]

Jumping on the train as well. 2 for me

:-)

[Dev]

@MarcelNL, you mount these chokes on which side ? L, W or H ?

 

If they are mounted like it is in the picture, can you check with the choke designer if they can be made taller in height (Taiko case is probably 6" tall inside ?) to reduce length/width footprint ? That might be the only option to fit a pair inside the Taiko.

[Dev]

3 minutes ago, MarcelNL said:

I have mounted  them on their 'feet' at a 90'angle but I have less constraint since I'll be building a non ferrous case when the LPSU is final. One more step to go; adding a second Taiko ATX (to split 12V and all other supply voltages), will be the end game.

 

 

 

not sure if I understand what you mean by feet ? Does the feet refer to the length or width or height ? pics will be useful :-)

[Dev]

I think I read somewhere they use Oyaide IEC on the Extreme. Suspect that the DIY chassis will have the same cutout.

 

https://www.vhaudio.com/oyaide-inlets.html

[Dev]

3 minutes ago, BCRich said:

So far I’ve had to retap screw holes, the holes for the feet in the bottom plate were not countersunk, had to re-drill to be able to attach the feet. Then the hole to mount to Noratel to the large inner plate is on the wrong end. The wires will not pass through the notch in the small inner plate. I can reverse it but than I loose the holes to attach the rear panel where the PCIe Slots are.

 

I know folks who ordered the 1st batch had issues. So wondering if these issues are with current production ? I was planning to order one but getting demotivated now. Do you have to rework a lot ? Just trying to figure out how much extra work as I have been starved of time these days.

[Dev]

Does anybody know how much RAM is Extreme using ? I know they populated all the 12 slots of the sage but is it a 4Gb or 8Gb DDR4 stick ?

[Dev]

11 minutes ago, Nenon said:

I had the same problem initially. But then I realized I had the bottom plate upside down (took me good 10-15 minutes scratching my head). That may not be your case but it's worth checking - are the feet holes on the bottom countersink? If they are, you might have done the same thing as me... if that's the case flip the bottom plate, and some of the other pieces may come into place too. 

 

I was thinking the same but then if you flip the bottom plate the motherboard standup mounts might get messed up ?

[Dev]

17 hours ago, Nenon said:

48G (12 x 4G)

 

do you know if it runs 2400Mhz or 2666Mhz or something else ?

[Dev]

14 minutes ago, JackJohnson316 said:

Is there somebody that is good with CAD that could design a riser for the lid of the HDPlex H5 PC case, and also make the backplate taller, to accommodate the Taiko USB card and the Taiko Dac in the HDplex case?

AFAIK from several discussions with Larry that hdplex is coming up with a full height chassis. Timeline is not yet known.

[Dev]

1 hour ago, MarcelNL said:

it's supposedly this stuff, I got 4 but they seem incompatible with my MB

 

 

Are you saying that is the exact RAM Taiko is using ? Or just replying to my question on the speed ?

 

What motherboard are you using ? This is a RDIMM and mostly works with server motherboards. For regular motherboards, you probably need UDIMM.

[Dev]

2 hours ago, baconbrain said:

 

I struggled with the decision to format each M.2 drive as ExFat ensuring Euphony compatibility, versus the recommended Windows Storage Space setup, and decided for the later as I didn’t want to spread my library across 10 seperate drives. Not sure if I will stick with it as I do like Euphony alot …

 

Linux has a very well executed software raid support. Similar to Windows storage space, you can configure jbod raid using lvm where you are being presented a single virtual drive with many physical drives underneath. Another excellent implementation is FreeBSD’s ZFS. There is a Linux port for it as well, openzfs. I have no idea if they are as transparent as accessing physical drives in terms of audio quality but these software implementations are very good.
 

The biggest problem for Euphony users will be to have them integrated in Euphony - they are already struggling to keep up with the basics and their beta release seems to vary quiet a bit in sound quality as I read from their thread here.

 

Their will also be an impact of SQ on which playback software you use. For Stylus, I don’t much impact between physical vs logical drives. For Roon users (like me), the impact can be substantial. From what I gather from different experiments with Roon 1.8, is that it constantly accesses the storage media, even if all processing are turned off. So my guess is logical volumes/drives might give a better SQ. This is just a hunch as I will not be able to experiment with Euphony due to lack of tools support. Maybe I will try AudioLinux at some point but being a heavy Roon user and for these reason I have moved my Roon storage from multiple m.2 drives locally in the sever to a DIY NAS where I have a single large 3.5” drive which gets backed up in another Raid 5 based ZFS pool.

[Dev]

I should have mentioned that there is a finer line and trade-off from moving storage from local to NAS. It all depends on how the network is optimized. Anything you can do to optimize the network has an amazing effect on the SQ. When I moved the local storage ( 2 x 2Tb Intel 660p) to NAS I had Roon 1.8 running at the time. I have not tried recently with Roon 2.0 to see if anything has changed in this regards.

[Dev]

how is a commercial product part of a DIY thread ? 

[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.

[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.

[Dev]

12 minutes ago, Nenon said:

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.

 

13 minutes ago, Nenon said:

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.

 

Honestly, I can't figure out if this result is an insult to Extreme or the marvel of QSA products.

 

14 minutes ago, Nenon said:

And it kind of fits into building a DIY server thread, although it's not exactly building a server. 

 

Well, this seems like now there is no point in building expensive music server if a couple of QSA treated cables can do a better job with a cheap $200 device. A tough pill to swallow though.

[Dev]

10 minutes ago, MarcelNL said:

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

 

Here is some food for thought on the fuse side of things. Note, using or not using a fuse for sound quality is one thing, using it for safety is another :-)

 

https://www.verafiaudiollc.com/products/best-audio-products/swiss-digital-fuse-box-52299809

 

[Dev]

5 minutes ago, Nenon said:

Indeed.

Actually, I have everything I need to perform this test except the cheapest part - the $200 nVidia. I honestly have no motivation to buy one of those nVidias and try this. There are much more exciting experiments in my queue. Whenever I run out of exciting things to test, I can give it a try and report back. 

I have just received and set up new speakers. Receiving new tubes on Friday. The Taiko switch and NIC should be shipped to me tomorrow. The list goes on... and nVidia is not even on it at the moment. 

 

In a typical audiophile's world, there are always new influx of things. I do not know a single person, including myself, that has been listening to the same set of electronic/cables/speakers/tweaks over a long period of time - things are always moving. However, if I was in that category, I would be blessed 😀 

[Dev]

5 minutes ago, Exocer said:

I didn't need to spend $5000 to draw the same conclusion with QSA Yellow fuses FWIW. 

 

Unfortunately, I tried QSA yellow and did not like it at all. I was smitten initially but then over time it felt like things were exaggerated and sounded very unnatural. I have also compared with others, like SR and AM but finally settled in with a combination of AM M1 and SR Purple in different places but never felt QSA had the edge. Maybe a higher priced QSA is a different tell but I don't feel like spending $5k on a fuse that might just blow one day.

[Dev]

10 minutes ago, Johnseye said:

 

It's also well timed with the February half off sale.  With a lot of people buying these cables now, we should get a lot more opinions and see if everyone's world views will change as a result ;)

 

so how many of you have put orders with Ultimatum series Infinity line ? With 1/2 off, its really cheap. I am told that is where most of the magic is.

[Dev]

1 hour ago, Superdad said:

So “half-off” would make the yet-to-be-produced Ultimatum Infinity power cable $9,000 instead of $18,000, and the speaker cable $11,000 instead of $22,000?  Wow, what a bargain!  You know, normally I’d sell my house for $2mil., but for the next 30 days I’m offering it for half-off.  It’s based on a stock ranch-house build design, but over the decades I’ve done some special “treatments” that I can’t explain to you, but trust me you’ll love it.  And your Ultimatum cables will sound great in your new home.

 

[Edit: Oh wait, the QSA page says that only the Revelation line is being offered at 50% off. The Infinity line is being offered at the Revelation line price—for a limited time only.  So that’s $12K for the power cord and $15K for the speaker cables.  Better hurry before they are all gone! ]

 

@Superdadthanks for pointing out my oversight. You know that you have always been brilliant for catching these types of things 🙏 but for a wealthy guy like me, its not really a big deal for the price I have to pay for all my cables at roughly $125k for my 2-channel listening pleasure.

 

On a side note, I just calculated in my head how many hungry children around the world can be feed with that kind of money and its just mind boggling.

[Dev]

36 minutes ago, auricgoldfinger said:

 

I guess my reading comprehension skills have deteriorated because I'm not seeing much open-mindedness in this discussion.

 

Sorry, maybe I am missing the point but what is there to discuss ? Manufacturer has closed lipped his technology, so not much can be discussed on the tech. Moreover, its a Belden/Blue Jean cables they are using underlying, so that's not much to discuss there either. The only thing one can do is to buy it and audition it in their system with 30 days trial, provided there isn't any hidden fees associated with it. What more can you ask ? I have recently bought some Japanese branded power cable and there wasn't any returns option but fortunately I liked the cable. Having said that, with any new products, especially when the prices are on the higher side and when known members are endorsing it heavily, it's going to churn some discussions. There is nothing new in it. It has happened in the past and will happen in the future. So folks who have vested interest will have to deal with it.

[Dev]

13 minutes ago, di-fi said:

Since you asked the question, not sure you are interested, but for everyone else:

 

(...) I guess most are familiar with the fable of the Philosophers Stone…..essentially the tale of the ancient Alchemists’ search for a stone (ingredient) that would turn base metals into Gold. Well apparently QSA-Lanedri have found the audiophile equivalent, which I believe is worthy of some discussion. (...)

https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/qsa-lanedri-and-the-audiophile-version-of-the-philosophers’-stone.36426/

 

I saw that thread earlier too and read with great interest. I believe there is nothing wrong in discussing it. However, its all speculation and will be for the foreseeable future unless manufacturer comes out openly (or is open-minded 😜 in discussing it's tech).  

[Dev]

Did Taiko stopped selling the DIY case ? Don't see it being offered anymore.