NVMe SSD designed for audiophiles

[MarcelNL]

I want that one....but now with the femto SSD mounted!

[jabbr]

On 6/8/2022 at 5:23 AM, yamamoto2002 said:

 

IIRC I/O port of current gen NVMEoF Ethernet SSD is copper based: a protocol converter on the SSD speaks RDMA UDP protocol over its 25Gbe copper ethernet interconnect and Copper to Optical Media converter is needed to convert it to fibre optic. In the near future, I hope it will be replaced with direct silicon photonics optical protocol converter (for lower power consumption).

 Source: https://www.servethehome.com/marvell-88ss5000-nvmeof-ssd-controller-shown-with-toshiba-bics/

 

In the photo, there are two SFP28 ports. most certainly it is for redundancy like SAS drives

 

Nice, I think the more common situation will be a specialized server box which has an array of NVME SSDs, 

so: https://www.servethehome.com/ingrasys-es2000-for-kioxia-em6-nvme-of-ssds-at-sc21/

and: https://www.dell.com/en-us/dt/storage/powermax/powermax-2000-all-flash-storage-array.htm

and: https://www.supermicro.com/en/products/nvme

 

and you can build one on Linux using an NVME array controller along with a 100Gbe NIC etc

[yamamoto2002]

One concern is power consumption and need for high CFM fan ... Behold the counter rotating fan of Ingrasys enclosure, its sound is like a jet engine. I have a enterprise SAS12G SSD and it quickly becomes 70 ℃ and thermal shutdown with no airflow.

[jabbr]

21 hours ago, yamamoto2002 said:

One concern is power consumption and need for high CFM fan ... Behold the counter rotating fan of Ingrasys enclosure, its sound is like a jet engine. I have a enterprise SAS12G SSD and it quickly becomes 70 ℃ and thermal shutdown with no airflow.

Ah yes but with a 100Gbe single mode fiber, the noisy box is in my basement and thoroughly isolated from my audio areas! The latency and access are essentially the same as for an SSD attached to my PCIe bus! RDMA/ROCE all the way! 

[Savolax]

So JCAT Officially released their SSD drive

 

https://jcat.eu/product/m-2-femto-ssd/

 

Looks a lot like the SSD in the topic. Did I miss out on something or is it the same product?

[Tubeman66]

11 minutes ago, Savolax said:

So JCAT Officially released their SSD drive

 

https://jcat.eu/product/m-2-femto-ssd/

 

Looks a lot like the SSD in the topic. Did I miss out on something or is it the same product?

Jcat is a Euro reseller

[MarcelNL]

looks like they forgot to update the max website traffic volume, or the disc is very slow ;-)

 

[Tubeman66]

3 minutes ago, MarcelNL said:

looks like they forgot to update the max website traffic volume, or the disc is very slow ;-)

 

??

[Savolax]

4 minutes ago, Tubeman66 said:

??

OT: I occasionally have problems also opening JCAT website with Chrome. Could be a certain browser setting or anything but opens up promptly with edge

[Smaragdhk]

1 hour ago, Savolax said:

So JCAT Officially released their SSD drive

 

https://jcat.eu/product/m-2-femto-ssd/

 

Looks a lot like the SSD in the topic. Did I miss out on something or is it the same product?

I have a déjà vu experience… ☺️

[AudioDoctor]

@Tubeman66 ,are you having a bad day? Are you okay?

[Tubeman66]

Can not feel better!
But thought the members here were adults who could stick to the topic, But apparently not, !!
Same as usual here so By By for me!!

[di-fi]

Many satisfied users here. Thanks for sharing.

1. Since the effect of this SSD seems quite substantial I wonder if someone here tried music storage on a second larger 1 gig M2 Femto to further improve?
2. Did someone compare sound quality between the two different versions?
3. Did someone try caching music that resides on a different drive or a NAS on a partition on the same Femto drive to improve sound? I know for example that Euphony OS allows for this (or not).
4. Is there any (“ordinary” Samsung, Intel ) NVMe SSD that comes close to this sound quality if your budget does not allow to spend 1099 USD? What where you using before the upgrade?

Thank you for taking the time 

[Carlosoptico]

1. Since the effect of this SSD seems quite substantial I wonder if someone here tried music storage on a second larger 1 gig M2 Femto to further improve? 
2. Hello, I can only answer the first question.  I have a second NMVE Femto SSD in pseudo SLC mode for the library and the results are impressive, especially after disabling the noisy SATA controllers in BIOS.  According to Dark Force there is better SQ in pseudo SLC mode, even if it's for the library.  Compared to an Apacer SLC SATA SSD in external enclosure via USB, the NMVE Femto SSD via PCIe adapter card and powered by a Plixir Elite BDC 4 Amp LPS has better ssound . Carlos

[di-fi]

On 8/29/2022 at 2:32 AM, Carlosoptico said:

1. Since the effect of this SSD seems quite substantial I wonder if someone here tried music storage on a second larger 1 gig M2 Femto to further improve? 
2. Hello, I can only answer the first question.  I have a second NMVE Femto SSD in pseudo SLC mode for the library and the results are impressive, especially after disabling the noisy SATA controllers in BIOS.  According to Dark Force there is better SQ in pseudo SLC mode, even if it's for the library.  Compared to an Apacer SLC SATA SSD in external enclosure via USB, the NMVE Femto SSD via PCIe adapter card and powered by a Plixir Elite BDC 4 Amp LPS has better ssound . Carlos

@Carlosoptico Interesting. To compare apples to apples, you just made me realise the SSD discussed here is ONLY the smaller 320GB pSLC mode (best sound quality) WITHOUT external power (unless you use with external power?)

 

The 960GB TLC mode (high capacity) with or without external power has not been tested, or test results being shared here.

[darkforce]

Based on feedback from users, we have introduced a bracket extension cable, which can be installed and tested more concisely. At the same time, a special sale is currently underway, and a 2TB (TLC) version of NVMe will be launched in the near future.

[Carlosoptico]

On 9/3/2022 at 8:48 PM, di-fi said:

@Carlosoptico Interesting. To compare apples to apples, you just made me realise the SSD discussed here is ONLY the smaller 320GB pSLC mode (best sound quality) WITHOUT external power (unless you use with external power?)

 

The 960GB TLC mode (high capacity) with or without external power has not been tested, or test results being shared here.

Both of my M.2 Femto SSDs are externally powered by Plixir and JCAT Optimo 3 Duo. Carlos

[di-fi]

On 9/7/2022 at 9:36 AM, Carlosoptico said:

Both of my M.2 Femto SSDs are externally powered by Plixir and JCAT Optimo 3 Duo. Carlos

Hi @Carlosoptico, thank you for the details, saw you install pictures as well. I have to apologize for my repetitive questions (also to some other contributors). For some reason I missed mostly pages 2-8 of this thread, I just caught up. Wow, thanks! I was recently reading from Ipad mini with many tabs of AS open, that did not work well, back to PC.

 

But while taking the time to read, always plenty interesting experiences here (thanks again all !), the Revelation Audio SSD price went down from $1099 to $899, great. And indeed unfortunately the 960GB TLC mode (high capacity) has not been tried (did they sell at all?).

Now I am shifting through the types of external power used here to find the most economical match, because external PSU is essential you all convinced me. Have to decide whether to connected in PCIe slot vs. M2.  I also wonder for external power for any other SSD (M2 / NVMe ) if anyone did solve this?

 

Cheers,

Paul

[di-fi]

20 hours ago, di-fi said:

I also wonder for external power for any other SSD (M2 / NVMe ) if anyone did solve this?

With a M.2 NVME to PCIe adapter and this cable AND the right voltage could external power work for a 'standard' NVMe M.2 SSD? but how to be sure to be only on external power?

 

http://www.adt.link/product/R42SF.html

 

 

[MarcelNL]

That one might just work, why not give it a go? if the NVME does not work when the 4pin Molex is not connected you have cracked the code and made a great find!

[darkfrank]

So, I ordered the 960GB TLC version after reading all the reviews here and on other forums, and I received it yesterday. My initial impression is very good.

 

A little bit of background on my music server: I have an Intel 8700K, Z370-G M-ATX, ADT Wide Temp 2666 DDR4, Pinkfaun Ultra OCXO USB card, Taiko DC-ATX, and HDPLex H5. I use ROON for local playback, with no streaming services or internet connection. My customized Windows 8.1 OS has many kernel services stripped off.

 

As you can see, storage is crucial in my build. I prefer a single storage device partitioned with OS and storage rather than a small-size OS disk and separate storage disks. Adding an additional storage device obviously degrades sound quality by a lot, no matter how good the storage disks are.

 

Before making this decision, I also purchased the Optane 905P 960G U.2 and was really disappointed. It lacks the musicality of Intel DC S3510/S3710 SATA SSD. The Optane was connected to the CPU-directed PCIE lane by using a U.2 to PCIE adapter card/U.2 to PCIE adapter flat cable. (The cable performs a little bit better). Both adapters are 3.3V and 12V PCIE pin tapped to be able to be externally powered by the Taiko DC-ATX 12V DC output.

 

The sound of the Optane 905P is dynamic, powerful, and analytical, but the decay simply stops too fast and straightforward, which always reminds me that I'm listening to a computer. The Intel SATA SSD, with the help of a good SATA cable, linear power supply, and DC cable, does not have such powerful resolution and dynamic - maybe a little softer and with less precise imaging - but presents music more naturally.

 

On the other hand, the NVMe Femto SSD preserves the dynamics and micro-details that Optane has, but also brings musicality back to some extent. It would be promising after the run-in period is finished.

 

 

 

 

[MarcelNL]

I just installed a Samsung 990 pro, with reportedly quite low jitter spec (a.o.) and must say it's worthwile improvement over the 970 Evo plus I had installed for file storage previously (all files played from RAM)

[MarcelNL]

To be clear, it's no competition to the femto drive...yet that has more impact as OS drive than as file storage drive. YMMV

[1laraz]

What could go wrong here?

 

https://alpha-audio.net/review/zzyzx-revelation-femto-ssd-bit-by-bit/

[MarcelNL]

I do not see what version it was, pSLC or TLC, and an Sbooster is IMO not a worthwile upgrade for external power...this thing starts to sing with a great PSU, but even so on internal power it outperformed Optane and all NVME I had in stock easily when used as file storage disc but even more clearly when used as OS disc.

What the 'alpha Audio streamer consists of is not clear to me, you need a pretty good system to benefit from different NVME discs IME...

 

break in is not mentioned, that takes a good week or so...I'm happy to take it off their hands ;-)