DIY Project High Performance Audio PC with high quality wiring

[StreamFidelity]

10 hours ago, Zauurx said:

By the way, I don't know the sync-mqa-lp filter. Interesting for upsampler from redbook to dsd?

 

This filter is not suitable for red book, but for Hi-Res from 88.2kHz. Very nice transients combined with a very good soundstage.

[fmzip]

On 2/9/2021 at 3:37 AM, StreamFidelity said:

 

This filter is not suitable for red book, but for Hi-Res from 88.2kHz. Very nice transients combined with a very good soundstage.

Is there a cheat-sheet  somewhere as to which filter is best for certain music?

[StreamFidelity]

1 hour ago, fmzip said:

Is there a cheat-sheet  somewhere as to which filter is best for certain music?

 

The manual gives some hints. I also wrote something, see Audio PC Basics Oversampling (in German). 😉

[fmzip]

34 minutes ago, StreamFidelity said:

 

The manual gives some hints. I also wrote something, see Audio PC Basics Oversampling (in German). 😉

Awesome writeup, love the site!

[StreamFidelity]

And it continues with a slightly more complex product. Briefly the prehistory: The back plate of the HDPLEX 2nd Gen H5 Fanless Chassis is made of 2mm sheet metal, bends easily and attaching PCIe cards to it is difficult.

 

New CNC black anodized 4 mm aluminum

 

For comparison, here are the old plate (above) and the new aluminum plate (below).

 

 

 

1st idea: clamp the low profile bracket in place

 

I was tired of threading and screwing the PCIe card fastening! The picture below shows a strip of insulating foam mat (Armacell Armaflex ACE). This clamps the lower low-profile sheet metal. Usually this is in a wobbly recess. The insulating foam mat is intended to reduce any resonances from the sensitive PCIe cards.

 

 

The upper low-profile sheet metal is usually screwed into place. No matter which computer I saw, most of the time it was sheet metal screws that wore out quickly. Stop it! This is now simply clamped in place with a narrow wedge. The wedge presses the PCIe card very firmly into the slot on the mainboard.

 

 

And this is how it looks from the outside. Almost as good as the Taiko Audio SGM Extreme. 😂

 

The holes can optionally be closed with low-profile perforated sheets.

 

 

If a PCIe card is to be used or removed in the future, the screw connection on the entire rear panel is simply loosened and pulled backwards. I love simple solutions.

 

2nd idea: flexible cable openings

 

There are cutouts on both sides of the rear panel that allow any cable material to pass through. Bernd (fis Audio) and I like straight cables without an adapter. And as can be seen, the DC cables can be clamped.

 

 

The finished screwed back cover.

 

 

[Zauurx]

Very professional look and design.

[John769]

If you use a solarflare 8522 in a reasonably powerful server machine with passive cooling, playing native hi-res PCM only, would you likely need to leave the top cover off due to the extra heat produced by the card?  Obvioulsy, a very generalised question indeed (influenced by many factors) but just trying to get a sense of how much of a 'heating element' the card could be in practice.-)

[StreamFidelity]

27 minutes ago, John769 said:

If you use a solarflare 8522 in a reasonably powerful server machine with passive cooling, playing native hi-res PCM only, would you likely need to leave the top cover off due to the extra heat produced by the card? 

 

That was the case with the old cover of the HDPLEX H5 chassis. With my redesign of the acrylic glass cover, the problem is a thing of the past.

 

 

[John769]

Very nice cover, which I did notice though..

[Zauurx]

And for the ATX or CPU cable, in 65w ... it is better to 18AWG (Silver Plated Copper Wire) ?
It is to directly connect my HDPlex 400W-ATX.

[StreamFidelity]

1 hour ago, Zauurx said:

it is better to 18AWG (Silver Plated Copper Wire) ?

 

These are our specifications:

 

- Directional high-purity copper 18 AWG
- separate wires for different voltages and directions
- gold-plated Molex pins (for ATX 6P, 8P, 24P)
- shielded with Teflon
- high quality solid plugs
- Handcrafted by fis Audio from Germany

 

Whether copper or silver or both is perhaps a matter of taste. In any case, the material should enable an uninterrupted flow of electricity.

[StreamFidelity]

Now my last prototype has been tested and approved. It is acrylic glass tinted in light gray, 3mm, screwable.

 

 

 

[Exocer]

@StreamFidelityI would like to give you a huge thanks for introducing us to this fiber NIC.

 

Since initial testing, I have switched to a full ATX board, and have the Xilinx SFN8522 Onload sitting in a proper PCI-E 8X direct to CPU slot. I have also been able to move my Optane storage to a direct to CPU PCI-E slot. The board I am using has 3 16x sized PCI-E slots, with capability of PCI-E lane breakdown of 8x/4x/4x (last slot selectable between PCH or CPU direct). This was a noteworthy improvement in general. Everything sounds less "stressed" and fluid. Less restricted.

 

A more recent test was conducted, by switching the Startech PEX1000SP2 back into the system after having lived with the Xilinx for several weeks.

 

Observations:

• The Xilinx sounds a lot closer to local playback than the Startech.
• The sound stage was a bit smaller with the Startech, and overall resolution and presentation was a more obvious step-down compared to local playback.
• The Xilinx narrows the streaming/local playback gap much more so than the Startech.

Overall, very happy with the purchase and it is definitely here to stay. Heat may become an issue though, so I am researching methods to deal with that..unless you plan on mass-producing the HDPlex top plate! :)

 

Cheers

[StreamFidelity]

7 minutes ago, Exocer said:

I would like to give you a huge thanks for introducing us to this fiber NIC.

 

I am very happy that you benefit from it. It took some research to find the right Xilinx Solarflare Card.

 

7 minutes ago, Exocer said:

The Xilinx narrows the streaming/local playback gap much more so than the Startech.

 

That is my observation too. The music flows.

 

9 minutes ago, Exocer said:

unless you plan on mass-producing the HDPlex top plate!

 

I actually offer the acrylic glass top plate. Unfortunately only within the EU, as shipping and customs regulations are too expensive and time-consuming.

[Exocer]

1 hour ago, StreamFidelity said:

I actually offer the acrylic glass top plate. Unfortunately only within the EU, as shipping and customs regulations are too expensive and time-consuming.

Awww shucks 😁. Looks like I may need to relocate!

[John769]

1 hour ago, Exocer said:

Since initial testing, I have switched to a full ATX board,

Which is? (out of interest) 😐

[Exocer]

2 minutes ago, John769 said:

Which is? (out of interest) 😐

Gigabyte Designare z390. Received a special offer I could not refuse :). Nothing new or cutting edge going on here.

[ASRMichael]

8 hours ago, StreamFidelity said:

Now my last prototype has been tested and approved. It is acrylic glass tinted in light gray, 3mm, screwable.

 

 

 

Stunningly gorgeous! Steve Jobs would be happy with that! 

[bit01]

It does look nice - One could add a mesh EMI shield under the acrylic. It would allow air flow while doing its duties and also prevent small objects disappearing into the case!

 

PS - I would add a couple of holes over the ATX area. In addition to the existing slots in the floor plate cooler air can descend  into the case when cpu/cards fins  get hot!

[Johnseye]

Has there been any consensus on which SFP is best paired with the Solarflare card?  This Planet Tech was supposedly the best sounding a while ago with various switches.

 

Has anyone compared the Solarflare with the JCAT NET Card XE?

[StreamFidelity]

8 hours ago, Johnseye said:

Has there been any consensus on which SFP is best paired with the Solarflare card?

 

Maybe it helps 😉

 

On 1/16/2021 at 11:49 AM, StreamFidelity said:

Transceiver

 

Due to the high performance of the Solarflare card 8522, the transceiver must be of high quality. There are some recommendations in the manual:

 

Cisco
30-1299-01
1000Base-LX

Finisar
FTLF8519P2BCL
1000Base-SX

Finisar
FTLF1318P3BTL
1000Base-LX

 

There is even more choice. Some compatible transceivers are not mentioned. I use Startech 1000BASE-EX SFP-SM LC-40 KM transceivers and they sound very good.

[MarkusBarkus]

I use and like the Planet MGB-TLX SFPs in the SonoreOM and PFBuffalo switch. I plan to install one in a Taiko in a week or so. Full disclosure: I have not done extensive SFP rolling. I am just offering another data point.

[Darryl R]

On 2/12/2021 at 10:13 AM, StreamFidelity said:

And it continues with a slightly more complex product. Briefly the prehistory: The back plate of the HDPLEX 2nd Gen H5 Fanless Chassis is made of 2mm sheet metal, bends easily and attaching PCIe cards to it is difficult.

 

New CNC black anodized 4 mm aluminum

 

For comparison, here are the old plate (above) and the new aluminum plate (below).

 

 

 

1st idea: clamp the low profile bracket in place

 

I was tired of threading and screwing the PCIe card fastening! The picture below shows a strip of insulating foam mat (Armacell Armaflex ACE). This clamps the lower low-profile sheet metal. Usually this is in a wobbly recess. The insulating foam mat is intended to reduce any resonances from the sensitive PCIe cards.

 

 

The upper low-profile sheet metal is usually screwed into place. No matter which computer I saw, most of the time it was sheet metal screws that wore out quickly. Stop it! This is now simply clamped in place with a narrow wedge. The wedge presses the PCIe card very firmly into the slot on the mainboard.

 

 

And this is how it looks from the outside. Almost as good as the Taiko Audio SGM Extreme. 😂

 

The holes can optionally be closed with low-profile perforated sheets.

 

 

If a PCIe card is to be used or removed in the future, the screw connection on the entire rear panel is simply loosened and pulled backwards. I love simple solutions.

 

2nd idea: flexible cable openings

 

There are cutouts on both sides of the rear panel that allow any cable material to pass through. Bernd (fis Audio) and I like straight cables without an adapter. And as can be seen, the DC cables can be clamped.

 

 

The finished screwed back cover.

 

 

 

This is very nice work.  Larry said he was going to make a backplate without top and bottom edges this summer, but I thought he needed to lose those slots where the bracket bottoms snap in as well.  I'm so tired of taking that backplate off to mess with expansion cards.  I always wondered why he didn't do it this way to begin with.

 

If you redid the bottom plate, this might give the Taiko DIY chassis (which we haven't seen yet) a run for the money.

[Nenon]

On 2/20/2021 at 7:11 PM, Darryl R said:

 

This is very nice work.  Larry said he was going to make a backplate without top and bottom edges this summer, but I thought he needed to lose those slots where the bracket bottoms snap in as well.  I'm so tired of taking that backplate off to mess with expansion cards.  I always wondered why he didn't do it this way to begin with.

 

If you redid the bottom plate, this might give the Taiko DIY chassis (which we haven't seen yet) a run for the money.

 

There is a very easy solution. Just cut the part in red:

 

[Darryl R]

50 minutes ago, Nenon said:

 

There is a very easy solution. Just cut the part in red:

 

 

Not really ;)  You still have the slots at the bottom (and the thin metal that's sometimes a little warped, and the curved bottom edge that barely clears pre-attached I/O plates, which is why Larry said he's going to change it).