DIY Project High Performance Audio PC with high quality wiring

[Energy]

3 hours ago, elan120 said:

The 8GB Apacer WT ECC DDR4 UDIMM part number is D31.23245S.001

 

I see nowhere that sells this RAM. Do we have to contact Apacer directly in order to purchase it?

[elan120]

1 minute ago, Energy said:

 

I see nowhere that sells this RAM. Do we have to contact Apacer directly in order to purchase it?

That certainly is an option, or purchase from Mouser for 4GB module when they are back in stock to use it in either 2x or 4x configuration.

[StreamFidelity]

And it goes on 😀

 

1.11 Minimization of resonances

 

We will try different combinations of the BF Magic Spacer Z1. These parts are made of stainless steel with an accuracy of 1/100mm. The stainless steel 4 mm allen screw fits exactly into the HDPLEX 2nd Gen H5 Fanless Chassis. Balls made of black glass, rose quartz or steel can be added between the device feet Z1 and the discs S1.

 

 

All three ball variants are always supplied with a set of device feet. Fine tuning can also be done with the discs. The standard variant is the precisely fitting fis Magic Spacer S1 disc.

 

 

For reasons of sound, most customers use the larger fis Magic Disk 1 or fis Magic Disk 2. The same discs can also be used for the fis Magic Spikes.

 

 

[dminches]

I have my motherboard powered by an HDPlex 800w dc-atx which is powered by a Keces 20v/8A LPS. Since I am only running Roon server I never see it go above 2A on the Keces. 

[ASRMichael]

12 hours ago, StreamFidelity said:

And it goes on 😀

 

1.11 Minimization of resonances

 

We will try different combinations of the BF Magic Spacer Z1. These parts are made of stainless steel with an accuracy of 1/100mm. The stainless steel 4 mm allen screw fits exactly into the HDPLEX 2nd Gen H5 Fanless Chassis. Balls made of black glass, rose quartz or steel can be added between the device feet Z1 and the discs S1.

 

 

All three ball variants are always supplied with a set of device feet. Fine tuning can also be done with the discs. The standard variant is the precisely fitting fis Magic Spacer S1 disc.

 

 

For reasons of sound, most customers use the larger fis Magic Disk 1 or fis Magic Disk 2. The same discs can also be used for the fis Magic Spikes.

 

 

Bit of advice, I use similar design (symposium rollerblocks). Play around with placement before you decide on final location. I’ve spent countless hours finding the best sq placement. Its really worth the time experimenting. Location varies per device. 

[StreamFidelity]

Grounding with Minadax® ESD antistatic mat and grounding cable

 

Every time I shuffle over the carpet to the power amplifiers, I get an electric shock when I switch on. 😂

 

This is very harmful when assembling sensitive electronic parts. I therefore use a grounded antistatic mat. I am also grounded through a bracelet. I connected the crodcodile clips to the protective contact of a socket. I also wear ESD gloves. You can also see the massive copper block from HDPLEX for cooling the CPU. Also shown is the Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut thermal paste, which is said to be very good.

 

 

1.3 Intel Core i9-9900K (95W TDP), 3.6GHz - 5.0GHz OctaCore - HD Graphics 630

 

The CPU is "married" to the mainboard, as Bernd says. 😁

 

The countless contacts have to be connected precisely.

 

 

 

1.1 HDPLEX 2nd Gen H5 Fanless Chassis

 

The HDPLEX package included quite valuable copper bars and blocks for passive cooling.

 

 

 

1.5 Samsung 970 EVO Plus MZ-V7S250BW - 250 GB SSD

 

Here you can see the small M.2 Optane SSD. I ordered a second one because I want to try RAID 0. With RAID 0, the two SSDs become one and this offers increased transfer rates through parallel access.

 

 

1.4 Corsair DOMINATOR® PLATINUM 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4 DRAM 2400 MHz C10 memory kit

 

In the background you can see the two RAM bars with their heat sinks.

 

[Solstice380]

@StreamFidelity  Very nice!  Consider this:  the heat pipes are too short to extend the full length of the copper block so you are losing - it looks like - 15-20% of the heat transfer area.  Do you have enough thermal paste left over to fill those?  At least it is better for heat transfer than air.

[elan120]

7 hours ago, StreamFidelity said:

The HDPLEX package included quite valuable copper bars and blocks for passive cooling.

 

 

5 hours ago, Solstice380 said:

@StreamFidelity  Very nice!  Consider this:  the heat pipes are too short to extend the full length of the copper block so you are losing - it looks like - 15-20% of the heat transfer area.  Do you have enough thermal paste left over to fill those?  At least it is better for heat transfer than air.

I was thinking about the same thing, looks like a real concern.  Here is a screenshot from HDPlex website where the heat pipes are extended past the heat distribution block.

 

[Solstice380]

1 hour ago, elan120 said:

Here is a screenshot from HDPlex website where the heat pipes are extended past the heat distribution block.

 

Can you get longer pipes?  That may be the best / safest approach.

[Linmon]

14 hours ago, StreamFidelity said:

Grounding with Minadax® ESD antistatic mat and grounding cable

 

Every time I shuffle over the carpet to the power amplifiers, I get an electric shock when I switch on. 😂

This is very harmful when assembling sensitive electronic parts. I therefore use a grounded antistatic mat. I am also grounded through a bracelet. I connected the crodcodile clips to the protective contact of a socket. I also wear ESD gloves.

 

 

This happened to me when listening to my audio a few months ago, somehow the static electricity transmitted through my pre-amp volume knob when I touched it and signal traveled thru to my outbaord DAC - it went away after rebooting the DAC, was a scary moment as I feared that damaged was a result. Everything seems to be working ok now.

 

I now make a habit of touching my metal "Audio Rack" frame prior to adjusting the volume.

 

Good advise for when building a pc tho'

[StreamFidelity]

On 2/28/2020 at 11:33 AM, Solstice380 said:

Consider this:  the heat pipes are too short to extend the full length of the copper block so you are losing - it looks like - 15-20% of the heat transfer area. 

 

Thanks for the tip. However, I am absolutely delighted with the cooling performance. When overclocking to 4.1GHz with hyperthreading (16 threads) and HQPlayer with poly-sync-long-lp, PCM 192/32 with activated convolution filter, the CPU temperature remains below 50 °C. With poly-sinc-ext2, ASDM7EC, DSD 256x48, the CPU remains well below 60 °C. The case is just getting lukewarm. I think that's excellent. I can still experiment with undervolting, then it becomes even less.

 

The mainboard has an OLED display that shows the temperature.

 

 

This display is very easy to see through the ventilation holes.

 

 

[Solstice380]

20 hours ago, StreamFidelity said:

 

The mainboard has an OLED display that shows the temperature.

 

Glad to hear it's working well!  Pretty even temps across the cores, too?  That is one massive block so the temp across it probably stays pretty uniform. 👍

[StreamFidelity]

1 hour ago, Solstice380 said:

Pretty even temps across the cores, too?

 

Yes absolutely. Checked with HWMonitor. I have been listening to HQPlayer ASDM7EC with DSD 256 for hours. The temperature is chiseled how in stone at 53 C°.

[WilliamWykeham]

Extremely high-value thread which has motivated me to try building my own server with these exact parts.  I am coming from a background of very little technical knowledge about the operation or assembly of computers and electronics.  The only area where I plan to diverge from what's here is to use a single linear power supply, the Keces P8, 20V/8A.  I'll also add the JCAT USB bridge at a later date.  Two questions:

 

1) I'll use the wiring diagram on page 2, but with only 1 Keces P8, where/what do I connect the 4-pin, EAT12V_2 input to?

2) Any recommendations for upgraded PC/DC cables that won't break the bank?  

 

If anyone has advice about common areas where things go wrong for first-time assemblers I'd love to hear.    

 

[dminches]

You will power your CPU EPS from the connector on the 400W DC-ATX directly.

 

 

[elan120]

13 minutes ago, WilliamWykeham said:

1) I'll use the wiring diagram on page 2, but with only 1 Keces P8, where/what do I connect the 4-pin, EAT12V_2 input to?

With one P8, you will connect just the 8 pin EPS and leave the 4 pin EPS not connected.  If you can make your own EPS cables or have one build, you can have the 4 pin EPS wired in parallel to 4 of the 8 pin EPS connector.

[LJONESATL]

On 2/24/2020 at 11:52 PM, Nenon said:

This is interesting. In my tests, the EPS connector is the most important to the sound quality. Can you please share what motherboard and CPU your friend used in his testing? I remember that on low powered motherboards the 5V made bigger difference and benefitted by oversizing the power supply a little. The reason for that might be that the oscillators might be using that rail, but that is just a guess. 

 

The Neotech wire is $3 per foot, and that's the best conductor Ghent offers. The Mundorf silver/gold wire I use in my DIY DC cables is $33 per foot. 

 

Although this thread is intended to focus on commercial cables at some point, I would like to point out that I have not heard a better DC cable than the DIY recipe I have shared with everyone yet. I do encourage people who are looking at the best of the best to give it a try. The best thing (for some) is that this is a DIY cable that you can do on your own, which makes it a great value for the money. The bad thing is that it's a DIY cable, which means not everyone can make them.

 

@Blackmorec wrote an awesome review about a week ago and told me today they got even better:

 

@Dev made one of them too and liked them better than his reference AudioSensibility solid core silver cable.

 

Another member pinged me a couple of days ago and told me that the DC cable made much bigger difference than replacing the regular RAM with Apacer RAM. And for those of you who have tried the Apacer RAM, you know than means a lot. 

 

I am following this thread with pleasure and waiting to see what fis would come up with. Anything that sounds better is always welcome. The more good products we have, the better!

 

And just for completeness, you can find the DIY DC cable recipe by following the link in that post:

 

I wholeheartedly agree that the 15.5AWG Mundorf silver/gold wire can't be beat.  I've also tried out the Neotech OCC Copper wire and much prefer the SQ of the Mundorf (using JSSG360 X 2 configuration) hands down and even without any burn in time.  It's just that good IMHO, and worth the $33.00/ft.

[WilliamWykeham]

4 hours ago, elan120 said:

With one P8, you will connect just the 8 pin EPS and leave the 4 pin EPS not connected.  If you can make your own EPS cables or have one build, you can have the 4 pin EPS wired in parallel to 4 of the 8 pin EPS connector.

Just bought all the parts.  What’s the advantage of the two wires in parallel vs. just the 8 pin EPS? 

[elan120]

56 minutes ago, WilliamWykeham said:

What’s the advantage of the two wires in parallel vs. just the 8 pin EPS?

It will help lower the total resistance, which in the end, will contribute to a bit of SQ improvement, but certainly not a show stopper.

 

One thing to keep in mind that there are other parts in the build can have much greater effect then having these EPS wires in parallel, such as power supplies, RAMs...etc., once you have the server done, there is a good chance you will continue to experiment, change certain components, set things up differently, which is a good reason to go through the build yourself, but certainly keep an open mind on possible more changes after the build.

[StreamFidelity]

10 hours ago, WilliamWykeham said:

The only area where I plan to diverge from what's here is to use a single linear power supply, the Keces P8, 20V/8A.

 

We are very happy if we can give suggestions. Bernd and I gave the project a name: fis Audio PC. We are very humble because fis stands for finest innovative systems. 😁

 

I am now pretty sure that a Keces P8 (Single 20V / 8A) is sufficient for this build. I've been listening very relaxed to music for hours. The fis Audio PC runs with the HQPlayer with the most computationally intensive DSD modulator currently available: ASDM7EC with DSD 256.

 

 

The CPU has a load of 17% and temperature is stable about 53 ° C. The Single Keces P8 has a power consumption of 20V / 3A.

We will test whether a second Keces P8 (Single 12V / 8A) is still postive audible.

[dminches]

2 hours ago, StreamFidelity said:

 

We are very happy if we can give suggestions. Bernd and I gave the project a name: fis Audio PC. We are very humble because fis stands for finest innovative systems. 😁

 

I am now pretty sure that a Keces P8 (Single 20V / 8A) is sufficient for this build. I've been listening very relaxed to music for hours. The fis Audio PC runs with the HQPlayer with the most computationally intensive DSD modulator currently available: ASDM7EC with DSD 256.

 

 

What cable are you using between the Keces and jcat USB card?

 

[StreamFidelity]

4 hours ago, dminches said:

What cable are you using between the Keces and jcat USB card?

 

At the moment it is a cable from ghentaudio:

 

Neotech UPOCC 7N Copper 18AWG DC (JSSG360) Cable
USB to Oyaide

 

The project is designed to use own DC cables. We want to make it even better. 👍

Bernd still needs some time.

[StreamFidelity]

1.11 Minimization of resonances

 

The BF Magic Spacers from fis Audio looks good and the case is calmed very effectively.

 

 

A new chapter while Bernd is still working on the cables. 😉

 

2. Software

 

I will provided these chapters:

2.1 BIOS
2.2 Operating system
2.3 Connectivity
2.4 Music player / renderer

 

2.1 BIOS

 

BIOS stands for "basic input / output system" and is the firmware on the mainboards. You can access the BIOS settings by clicking the F2 key several times during booting. Screenshots are taken on ASUS boards with the F12 key and e.g. B. stored on a USB stick. There are really a lot of setting options. Below I describe the most important ones I use.

 

2.1.1 BIOS update

 

Before the BIOS configuration and installation of the operating system, the latest BIOS version should be loaded in any case. There are different methods. I like to use the internet connection because it is very straightforward.

 

 

All BIOS settings are lost during the update. At least with this board. Anyone who has already made settings is well advised to save these settings on the USB stick.

 

 

2.1.2 RAM settings

 

The XMP II profile is recommended for system-stable operation. This setting reads out the profile in RAM and applies it.

 

 

2.1.3 CPU clock frequency

 

The most important setting for high performance concerns the clock frequency of the CPU. The Intel Core i9-9900K has a base clock of 3.6GHz. Not enough for the EC modulators of the HQPlayer. At least 4GHz on 3-4 cores are required. The CPU has 8 cores. I experimented with different settings. For example, clocking the first cores higher than the following ones. I did not like it. I stayed with the simple configuration: all cores on 4.1GHz.

 

 

2.1.4 Hyperthreading

 

If the HQPlayer loads complex filters, it will occupy all cores with 100%. To prevent the system from freezing, hyperthreading should be activated. 16 logical processors are then made available. As a result, the computing load can be better distributed.

 

2.1.5 Energy management

 

I am not describing settings for climate protection, but for increasing audiophile PC operation. The rule of thumb is to deactivate all energy saving options! The clock frequency should remain stable at 4.1GHz and not be reduced. The result would otherwise be z. B. Dropouts when playing the music. Deactivating the CPU C-states prevents (among other settings) switching back the clock frequency.

 

 

2.1.6 Temperature development

 

One of the main problems, especially with a passively cooled system, is the temperature development. By reducing the voltage, excessive temperature development can be avoided. However, if the voltage is set too low, the system freezes. The CPU is cooled very well. I therefore set the setting for BLCK Aware Adaptive Voltage to Enabled without fine adjustment.

 

 

In addition, I have the power consumption at 120W with max. 160W limited.

 

 

The CPU i9-9900K can up to max. 100 °C operated. Way to high. I have a max. Temperature set at 95 °C.

 

 

2.1.7 Deactivate functions that are not required

 

Basically, all functions of the board that are not required must be switched off. This saves electricity and promotes trouble-free

operation. In any case, I prefer M.2 SSDs and therefore do not need the SATA controller. That is also one of the reasons why I did not try RAID 0, because otherwise I could not have deactivated SATA.

 

 

I was able to switch off HD audio on this board without any problems. It seems that this also bypasses the problems on Windows. With a digital volume control like with the HQPlayer you have to switch off the Windows system sounds, which can otherwise be quite loud.

 

 

I have deactivated Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

 

 

There are countless USB ports on the board. I only need three: for keyboard, mouse and USB stick. The assignments can be found in the mainboard manual. The JCAT USB Card Femto uses a PCIe connection and is not affected by these settings.

 

 

2.18 Settings for fanless operation

 

It is very important to deactivate the monitoring of fans or water pumps. Otherwise the system always shows an error message and does not start up.

 

 

[Energy]

@StreamFidelity Did you by any chance listen before and after applying the new BIOS configuration to listen for audible changes?

[StreamFidelity]

@Energy  The settings of the CPU clock frequency, hyperthreading and Energy management were the most important for me. I think it depends a lot on the renderer used. In my experience, the HQPlayer requires an even clocking of the cores. Otherwise the sound becomes restless and it can also lead to stuttering.