HQplayer 4 and Mac-mini M1

[Schafheide]

My system is NAS > cat 6A > Router > Mac Mini > Router > ultraRendu NAA > Sonore SU-6 DDC ..........

Would an EtherRegen improve the SQ?  If so, where would be the best place to insert the EtherRegen ?

[Account Closed]

3 hours ago, Schafheide said:

My system is NAS > cat 6A > Router > Mac Mini > Router > ultraRendu NAA > Sonore SU-6 DDC ..........

Would an EtherRegen improve the SQ?  If so, where would be the best place to insert the EtherRegen ?

The ER is no longer in production, a new version maybe later this year.

[Schafheide]

All of a sudden there is no sound coming from the RH channel of my Mini (connected to network via ethernet cable).

All other components in the chain do check out.

Is this easily fixed or is the Mini now a brick?

TIA

[Schafheide]

Panic over - somehow, in Pipeline settings, the Gain unit had changed from dB to Linear.  How?

[Schafheide]

I meant to say that the working channel showed dB, but the "dead" channel showed Linear.

[Miska]

Yeah, having gain value of 0 and linear means silence will output. It could happen if you accidentally touch scroll wheel or similar (two fingers on touch pad) while mouse pointer is on top of the selection list.

 

[Badge]

I am running a Mini M1 with Roon and HQP which uses an SoTM SMS-200 Ultra an a NAA. The NAA then sends signal via USB to SoTM tx-USBUltra USB reclocker, then USB to Aqua La Voce S3. 

 

My issue is when using the highest sample rate my DAC can handle, 352.8 / 384, I get popping noises every 30 seconds or so, very much like the subtle popping when playing vinyl. 

If I switch to 176.4 / 192, I no longer have the popping noise. 

 

See screen shots for CPU and RAM usage. 

[stefano_mbp]

@Badge I have had a similar issue with my SOtM sMS200 Neo (not ultra) that I solved setting (in HQP Output device settings) the buffer time to 10 

[Badge]

Stefano, thanks for the tip. 

I had increased the buffer time, see HQP settings screenshot. 

[stefano_mbp]

4 minutes ago, Badge said:

Stefano, thanks for the tip. 

I had increased the buffer time, see HQP settings screenshot. 

👍

[AudioDoctor]

1 hour ago, Badge said:

I am running a Mini M1 with Roon and HQP which uses an SoTM SMS-200 Ultra an a NAA. The NAA then sends signal via USB to SoTM tx-USBUltra USB reclocker, then USB to Aqua La Voce S3. 

 

My issue is when using the highest sample rate my DAC can handle, 352.8 / 384, I get popping noises every 30 seconds or so, very much like the subtle popping when playing vinyl. 

If I switch to 176.4 / 192, I no longer have the popping noise. 

 

See screen shots for CPU and RAM usage. 

 

Take the USB Reclocker out of the path and see if that helps. If not, we know it's not the problem. My M1 mini can do 1.5Mhz pcm all day long every day so 352.8Khz should not be a problem.

[Schafheide]

On 10/10/2022 at 12:30 PM, bobflood said:

The ER is no longer in production, a new version maybe later this year.

I have located a local distributor who has a couple of these in stock.

Which brings me back to my original question - will it improve the SQ of my setup, and if so, where would be the best place to insert it?

[Account Closed]

46 minutes ago, Schafheide said:

I have located a local distributor who has a couple of these in stock.

Which brings me back to my original question - will it improve the SQ of my setup, and if so, where would be the best place to insert it?

Put it in front of the HQP NAA.  Also, keep the cable between the ER and the NAA as short as possible and use a CAT 6 with no grounding (plastic ends). Blue Jeans Cables are reasonable and good quality. Also, power it with a Linear power supply if possible and use a good quality cable for that as well (Ghent makes reasonable quality DC cables). Lastly, don't put any other devices on the ER.

[Jud]

1 hour ago, bobflood said:

Put it in front of the HQP NAA.  Also, keep the cable between the ER and the NAA as short as possible and use a CAT 6 with no grounding (plastic ends). Blue Jeans Cables are reasonable and good quality. Also, power it with a Linear power supply if possible and use a good quality cable for that as well (Ghent makes reasonable quality DC cables). Lastly, don't put any other devices on the ER.

 

Or, if you're going to get one cable from Ghent, you might look at getting both. I personally (purely subjectively) liked Ghent's very reasonably priced JSSG360 Ethernet cable much better than the Blue Jeans in my system.

[Schafheide]

On 10/13/2022 at 10:34 AM, bobflood said:

Put it in front of the HQP NAA.  Also, keep the cable between the ER and the NAA as short as possible and use a CAT 6 with no grounding (plastic ends). Blue Jeans Cables are reasonable and good quality. Also, power it with a Linear power supply if possible and use a good quality cable for that as well (Ghent makes reasonable quality DC cables). Lastly, don't put any other devices on the ER.

Thank you for the info - I am guessing that you have some experience with it.  A couple of questions -

1. The manual says that the supplied PS is all that you need.

2. Metal-ended Cat 6A cables are fine, so long as there is only one connected on the "B" side.

 

Your comments would be appreciated.

[Account Closed]

1 hour ago, Schafheide said:

Thank you for the info - I am guessing that you have some experience with it.  A couple of questions -

1. The manual says that the supplied PS is all that you need.

2. Metal-ended Cat 6A cables are fine, so long as there is only one connected on the "B" side.

 

Your comments would be appreciated.

Yes, the included PS should work fine. You might get a boost in performance with a LPS but start with the included PS. Also, Ethernet cables with metal ends can be fine if the ground wire is only connected at one end. I have many Audioquest cables that are built this way. They are Cat 7 or Cat 8. The Cat 6 spec calls for no end to end ground connection thus the use of plastic ends. As to whether it will improve your system, only you can make that decision after you test it.

[Schafheide]

Given that I already have the Cat6A (metal end) cables installed, I wonder if it is possible to find an RJ45 Cat 6A coupler (which is insulated), then a short length of Cat 6A (metal end) cable.  Or else a coupler which is not insulated, and then use a short length of Blue Jeans (plastic end) Cat 6A cable.

[AudioDoctor]

19 minutes ago, Schafheide said:

Given that I already have the Cat6A (metal end) cables installed, I wonder if it is possible to find an RJ45 Cat 6A coupler (which is insulated), then a short length of Cat 6A (metal end) cable.  Or else a coupler which is not insulated, and then use a short length of Blue Jeans (plastic end) Cat 6A cable.

 

That sounds like a Rube Goldberg solution to a problem that will create more problems. Why not just get a new ethernet cable with the plastic ends on it?

[Account Closed]

12 minutes ago, Schafheide said:

Given that I already have the Cat6A (metal end) cables installed, I wonder if it is possible to find an RJ45 Cat 6A coupler (which is insulated), then a short length of Cat 6A (metal end) cable.  Or else a coupler which is not insulated, and then use a short length of Blue Jeans (plastic end) Cat 6A cable.

Before looking for such, do a simple multi meter test to see if the cable you have has the ground connected at both ends. If it does just buy a Ghent or Blue Jeans cable with plastic ends. Neither one is expensive. A coupler would cause some signal loss and possibly defeat what you are trying to do with the ER. You can then A-B test the two. Don’t overthink this.

[Schafheide]

Of course you are both correct, but, unfortunately, the cables (which do have the ground connected at both ends) are inside the walls plus both Ghents & Blue Jeans are very expensive here in Oz.  So I am looking for a cheap work-around.  Maybe wrap Polyimide Hi-Temp Tape around one metal end - I have done this on the USB cable into my SU-6.  A pity that the socket in the EtherRegen is not insulated, thus eliminating the need for plastic end cable.

[Account Closed]

9 hours ago, Schafheide said:

Of course you are both correct, but, unfortunately, the cables (which do have the ground connected at both ends) are inside the walls plus both Ghents & Blue Jeans are very expensive here in Oz.  So I am looking for a cheap work-around.  Maybe wrap Polyimide Hi-Temp Tape around one metal end - I have done this on the USB cable into my SU-6.  A pity that the socket in the EtherRegen is not insulated, thus eliminating the need for plastic end cable.

I would try that, it will probably work fine. I don't think there is any adapter like the one you want but Google is your friend if you must go that route.

[Account Closed]

9 hours ago, Schafheide said:

Of course you are both correct, but, unfortunately, the cables (which do have the ground connected at both ends) are inside the walls plus both Ghents & Blue Jeans are very expensive here in Oz.  So I am looking for a cheap work-around.  Maybe wrap Polyimide Hi-Temp Tape around one metal end - I have done this on the USB cable into my SU-6.  A pity that the socket in the EtherRegen is not insulated, thus eliminating the need for plastic end cable.

The other thing you could do is re-terminate the in-wall cable with plastic ends. It is a fairly easy DIY project or any tech could do it.

[Miska]

12 hours ago, Schafheide said:

Of course you are both correct, but, unfortunately, the cables (which do have the ground connected at both ends) are inside the walls plus both Ghents & Blue Jeans are very expensive here in Oz.  So I am looking for a cheap work-around.  Maybe wrap Polyimide Hi-Temp Tape around one metal end - I have done this on the USB cable into my SU-6.  A pity that the socket in the EtherRegen is not insulated, thus eliminating the need for plastic end cable.

 

If you have wall sockets that have grounds connected, just use CAT6(a) U/UTP patch cable for connections.

 

Even switches with seemingly plastic connectors can have small metal taps on the connector sides for ground connection when using STP cables. IIRC, Apple's Airport Extreme was one of such.

 

If necessary, there are some plastic female-female RJ45 connector blocks that can be used.

 

[Account Closed]

12 hours ago, Schafheide said:

Of course you are both correct, but, unfortunately, the cables (which do have the ground connected at both ends) are inside the walls plus both Ghents & Blue Jeans are very expensive here in Oz.  So I am looking for a cheap work-around.  Maybe wrap Polyimide Hi-Temp Tape around one metal end - I have done this on the USB cable into my SU-6.  A pity that the socket in the EtherRegen is not insulated, thus eliminating the need for plastic end cable.

These are network isolation transformers that would accomplish what you want to do:

 

https://www.dxengineering.com/parts/dxe-iso-plus-2

 

https://jcat.eu/product/net-isolator-gigabit-network-isolator/

 

and there are others.

[Miska]

No need for isolator is such, here's one example, for $7 for 5 pieces:

https://www.amazon.com/Rapink-Keystone-Connector-Ethernet-Extender/dp/B0916W7LYN/ref=sr_1_6?keywords=rj45+female+to+female&qid=1665943373&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIzLjk1IiwicXNhIjoiMy42MyIsInFzcCI6IjMuNTgifQ%3D%3D&sr=8-6

 

Or another one:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09D39C59R/ref=sspa_dk_detail_1?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B09D39C59R&pd_rd_w=JWDu9&content-id=amzn1.sym.25e96bbe-93d6-4790-9c18-ab0bc96db737&pf_rd_p=25e96bbe-93d6-4790-9c18-ab0bc96db737&pf_rd_r=NPEJJFCT8DW9J577C85V&pd_rd_wg=zHRez&pd_rd_r=1f096a23-be98-4718-9466-32336146539b&s=industrial&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9kZXRhaWxfdGhlbWF0aWM&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyTFQ1UzlBVFM1STdHJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNzI1Njk0MUs3UUNTRUM4MlE1VSZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMDQyMzQ2WEc3OVNBU05ESlBLJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfZGV0YWlsX3RoZW1hdGljJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==