Gentooplayer: Everything except software

[Auke]

In the original topic about this exceptional piece of software for our music players, whe get a bit of topic now and then. This is the place where whe can discuss about hardware, about tips and tricks for a better network and all what is needed to get the best out of Gentooplayer.

 

All software related stuff, please in the original topic:

 

 

 

[Auke]

A cheap hardware tip i came across. Works very wel in my setup. I use it for:

-usbcable (harddisk to rpi4 host)

-LAN cable (rpi4 - rpi3)

-LAN cable from switch to rpi4 host

-DC cables Allo Shanti

 

Biggest jump in sound quality was for my both dc cables (allo shanti to rpi3 and 4

 

https://ethernet-sound.com/das-drosselkabel-minimierung-der-gleichtaktstoerungen-auf-dem-letzten-meter/

 

https://ethernet-sound.com/forums/topic/drosselkabel/

 

(Copy and paste above links. I can't make them clickable somehow??)

[Auke]

Made one with utp cat5e 4*2*24agw solid coper wire i did have. With no name plugs.

 

Sounds very very good.

[Auke]

A friend of mine discovered by accident that a usbcable to a external hard disk made a big difference in sound quality. It was really was. All USB cables sounded different. Some are better, some are worse.

 

So i have gone searching the web and learned some stuff. It brought a big quality jump for not a lot of money.

 

The sort of hard drive makes a difference. You need a CMR disk. For 2.5-inch disks, the CMR disks are not bigger than 1TB. There are not a lot to buy anymore. Most 2.5-inch disks are SMR.

A SSD is also possible. But I understand that only the really expensive ones sound good

 

https://nascompares.com/answer/list-of-wd-cmr-and-smr-hard-drives-hdd/

 

The enclosure of the disk is important. The Sabrent seems to be very good. In a German forum, someone tested them and make changes to make them sound better. I did not do anything to it.

 

Using some Ferrite clamps on usbcable and networkcable can have a very possitve effect.

 

https://www.open-end-music.com/forum/tuning-update-reparatur-und-restauration/tuning/tuning-allgemein/685685-sabrent-klanglich-positive-alternative-zu-inateck-1153-festplattengehaeuse

 

 

 

 

I did find something else very interesting

 

An option to use Wi-Fi and select all Kernels in Gentooplayer. Works very, very well.

 

 

https://ethernet-sound.com/tp-link-tl-wr902ac-im-akku-modus-100ige-isolierung/

 

(cant make this link work. Just copy and paste)

[Auke]

A question:

 

For use of diretta, i use a: USB LAN Adapter. I have a very cheap one. It works reliable for years now. Does anybody know if a better adapter is a good investment to get better audio?

 

 

[PML]

On my side, I appreciate a lot :

https://www.audiophonics.fr/fr/alimentations-hifi/furutech-ncf-clear-line-optimiseur-d-alimentation-ac-p-14778.html

associated with :

https://www.audiophonics.fr/fr/alimentations-hifi/ifi-audio-ac-ipurifier-filtre-secteur-actif-avec-detection-phase-et-terre-p-12526.html?search_query=ifi dc&fast_search=fs

 

And convolution from :

https://www.homeaudiofidelity.com/

especially xtalk

with this convolution plugin :

https://www.waves.com/plugins/ir-l-convolution-reverb

That I use in Audirvana (VST plugin)

This convolution with THIS plugin made a huge rise of SQ

[Steviewunda]

Hi @Auke - can't have you feeling lonely here 😉

I'm just trying 2 cheap fiber media converters as recommended by camrector in the Asynchronous I2S FIFO project at DIYaudio.  No revelations so far...and I'll try the 'throttle lan cable' as described at ethernet-sound.com when the parts arrive. Will keep you posted

[chrisc]

Using a Mercury Pi2 which is by far the best device I have used, and especially with Gentooplayer

 

The source is a 4Tb SSD using USB

The best output I found is the AES socket and I'm using a Shunyata Cobra cable.  Its a 110 ohm impedance cable.  Prior to that was a 110 ohm cable and 2 x XLR plugs which I made myself

There is a Cat6 LAN cable for the network.  Using Maximum MPD as a player on an iPad.  Tinkered around with purchased MPD players but all of them have drawbacks to some extent

Also using a 12 volt 5 amp linear power supply

 

 

 

[Auke]

On 2/24/2024 at 9:39 PM, Auke said:

A cheap hardware tip i came across. Works very wel in my setup. I use it for:

-usbcable (harddisk to rpi4 host)

-LAN cable (rpi4 - rpi3)

-LAN cable from switch to rpi4 host

-DC cables Allo Shanti

 

Biggest jump in sound quality was for my both dc cables (allo shanti to rpi3 and 4

 

https://ethernet-sound.com/das-drosselkabel-minimierung-der-gleichtaktstoerungen-auf-dem-letzten-meter/

 

https://ethernet-sound.com/forums/topic/drosselkabel/

 

(Copy and paste above links. I can't make them clickable somehow??)

This tip isn't for every cable. A very good (diy) LAN cable i came across didn't benefit from this.

 

(Didn't made the cable myself, so can't tell you more about it)

[PML]

Have you seen this nice RPI5 box to avoid fan ?

Raspberry Pi Case and Tooling Fixturing for CNC Machining – DeSalvo Systems Inc (desalvoinc.com)

Just bougth one !