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I recently built a NUC into an Akasa case as Roon networking bridge /endpoint with great results I have expanded the project to do a little more tinkering. I briefly played with WiFi, and I am pretty sure that the WiFi was messing with my system. The NUC I am using has an M.2 "e" slot for PCIe networking. There is an M.2 network card that drives an SFP. I am considering putting this in my NUC. https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833453141&Description=M.2 SFP &cm_re=M.2_SFP-_-33-453-141-_-Product If you have a spare PCIe slot in your server, you can put a PCIe SFP card in the server. https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833114123&ignorebbr=1 With these two network "cards" we can now test direct fiber between the server and the endpoint. This idea is going through my head while I am testing the TLS modified network switch. I have a PLAN! My current server is a Sonic Transporter i7 DSP that is set up for network bridging. I have a run of bog-standard CAT6 from the basement computer shelf to the system in the Living Room with the NUC. My TLS switch hooked up to an LPS-1.2 in the rack with the stereo. To start testing this idea I ordered some fiber gear from FS.COM as follows. (Ignore the switch for this part of my project) 8-Port Gigabit PoE+ Managed Switch with 2 SFP, 150W ID #73457 US$ 160.00x1 US$ 160.00 1000BASE-BX BiDi SFP 1310nm-TX/1550nm-RX 10km DOM Transceiver Module for FS Switches ID #29892 US$ 9.00x2 US$ 18.00 1000BASE-BX BiDi SFP 1550nm-TX/1310nm-RX 10km DOM Transceiver Module for FS Switches ID #29893 US$ 12.00x2 US$ 24.00 Unmanaged 1x 10/100/1000Base-T RJ45 to 1x 1000Base-X SFP, Gigabit Ethernet Media Converter, AC 100V~240V ID #17237 US$ 31.00x2 US$ 62.00 1m (3ft) LC UPC to LC UPC Simplex OS2 Single Mode PVC (OFNR) 2.0mm Fiber Optic Patch Cable ID #40446 US$ 1.50x2 US$ 3.00 5m (16ft) LC UPC to LC UPC Simplex OS2 Single Mode PVC (OFNR) 2.0mm Fiber Optic Patch Cable ID #40436 US$ 1.90x2 US$ 3.80 15m (49ft) LC UPC to LC UPC Simplex OS2 Single Mode PVC (OFNR) 2.0mm Fiber Optic Patch Cable ID #40441 US$ 3.00x2 US$ 6.00 The first test configuration was system validation placing the FMC devices between the home network and the server using a short fiber cable. Everything operated as expected for four hours while I was working. Plug and Play! Note that the SFP system I am using has a Single Mode single fiber and the SFP's are in pairs transmitting on 1310 or 1550. There is now a 15M fiber cable between the endpoints. I powered the server-side FMC with one rail of the HDPLEX 200 supply. The second FMC is next to the TLS switch. I only have one LPS up there, so the FMC is on the provided SMPS. Here is the test plan outline. *** I like to work backward from what I think will be the best.*** With a little more run-in time on the TLS switch I will listen between the fiber network and Ethernet network with the TLS switch as the last hop before the NUC. Then I will remove the switch and power the FMC with the LPS 1.2 to see how that sounds. Finally drop back to ethernet only. ------- After all that I will decide about trying the direct fiber to the NUC. I am considering building a fanless Xeon server that will have one or two SFP ports to isolate the server from the rest of the network without additional switching or wireless. As a final note the FMC devices are network switch gear and I am sure that they introduce some sort of noise. Much to consider here.
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- audio linux
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Apple Mac Mini "Core i7" 2.3 Quad-Core (Late 2012) w/16GB of RAM + Uptone Audio MMK DC Fan Controller (Installed by Uptone Audio) Includes Mac OS X El Capitan (Optimized) on a 32GB Toshiba SDHC Card with HQPlayer playback software installed. Mac OS X is configured with bridged networking. It's plug n play with this configuration. The internal 500 GB SSD Drive also includes Windows 10 on a partition that I ran optimized with Process Lasso and Fidelizer - also configured with bridge networking. It's plug n play with this configuration too. This Mac Mini can also run Audio Linux (AL) booted to RAM. I have only booted AL to RAM once for testing, but have not listened to it. Alex Crespi of Uptone Audio runs his Mac Mini using Audio Linux in this way and he has stated that he is very pleased with it. Before discovering Audio Linux, I experimented a lot with different operating systems and settled on an optimized version of OS X El Capitan booted from an SD Card, then un-mounting the internal SSD. I used this to run HQPlayer as an NAA and I ran Roon Server on my sonicTransporter. This machine is powerful enough to run Roon alone or HQPlayer in a distributed setup as I did. There are A LOT of different configuration options to choose from using this Mac Mini. It can be configured as a Roon Server, Roon Endpoint, NAA, etc. I bought this Mac Mini from Frys and shipped it to Uptone Audio to install their Mac Mini DC-Conversion/Linear Fan Controller Kit (MMK). Power Supply is not included. I ran mine with my Paul Hynes SR5 linear PSU. Here's what's included: Mac Mini with original box 500 GB Internal SSD 16 GB of OWC RAM Toshiba Exceria Pro 32 GB SDHC Apple Thunderbolt to Gigabit Ethernet Adapter CompuLab Display Emulator (fit-Headless) Edimax Wi-Fi USB Adapter I will let it go for $1,200.00 - Reduced to $995 OBO. Free Shipping in the continental US and Buyer pays PayPal fee of 2.9%.
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- mac mini
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