mattpitts74

Thanks guys for the interesting suggestions, I think the schiit is out of my budget, but the Khadas looks interesting. sounds like you'd rate that over the modi 3? I'm also considering adding the DIGIONE SIGNATURE board, as I hear many people rate the output from that over the usb output?

Hi Guys, I have a ALLO USBRIDGE SIGNATURE which I have been using connected to a NAD D2030 which has a built in DAC. however this has now stopped working, so I'm looking for a stand alone DAC with usb input to pair with the Allo. My budget is a max of $500. Any suggestions much apprecaited. I was considering the Shiit modi 3 or maybe Dragonfly??

In the last few months I have built a topagna following the recipe here on CA. my only alterations are with a bigger case and the addition of a PPA usb card. I have recently noticed that there is quite a lot of electrical hum coming from the computer if I put my ear to the case :-( i was wondering if anyone could make any recommendations as to how I might go about fixing this?

I'm reading with great interest your experience with the udoo board, I currently have a raspberry pi, running volumio with a cheap standard mobile phone power supply, I was wondering about linear power supplies and now wondering about how much better the sound is from the udoo. Is it possible to install volumio directly onto the udoo without any tweaking? I also wonder how it compares to the beagle?? Lasker could you make some recommendations for linear power supplies suitable for the udoo or raspberry pi, thanks

I also have the NAD d3020, but I haven't tried connecting directly to my synolgy yet, I will give it a go and report back.

Hi All I'm looking for an alternative case for my CAPS server, I know that many people use these cases. I have done a standard CAPS build based around the Intel DN2800MT, but planning for future upgrades and space thought the Streacom FC8 EVO would be a good option. I assume there are not problems using the DN2800MT in this case? I also have a PPA usb card and wanted to check the card will be ok in this case? I also assume there is plenty of room for the sata filter in there too. I would be very grateful to hear from anyone using the case for i take the plunge and order one?

Does anyone have any experience of using any of the the TeraDak linear power supplies? They seem to make quite a large number and I was wondering if something like this would suitable for the CAPS server? http://www.teradak.com/products/75.html

Many thanks Astromo, I have it sorted now, there is a preference in RDT, which worked for me, thanks to posting the question elsewhere for me :-)

I have been reading through this thread, which is very interesting, but I think the DIY approaches suggested here may be alittle beyond me. I have recently build a CAPS Lagoon based on the spec's Chris uses. I'm now looking for a better power supply and wondering if something like this battery would be suitable KingRex Sealed Lead Acid Battery as a cheaper alternative to the Red Wine battery. Also wondering what other relatively budget exteral linear PSU options people have used and make a difference to SQ? I can see that this can be potentially extremely expensive and is it really worth the extra costs? Any recommendations would be great.

Thanks for you suggestions. I will check the drivers in the morning. I'm connected to the dac by usb directly from the motherboard. Im afraid aid I don't really understand the grounding issues. How would I know if my gear grounded or ungrounded. I have high quality audio usb cable from chord. So I assume that won't be the problem.

I have been getting some great advice here and its a real pleasure to see a forum that is generally really helpful and polite compared to other on the net. I have just build a caps v3 server based Chris's design exactly, its the topanga with the samsung sata drive instead of the msata and I'm waiting for the PPA usb card to arrive. I'm also just using the cheap external power supply as described by Chris. I have tweaked Windows 7 Pro running with j river, connected to a NAD D 3020 hybrid Amp/DACNAD D 3020 review from the experts at whathifi.com My music is sitting on a synology which is all hardwired through my router, It sounds OK to me, but I'm no expert yet :-) but slowly getting there. One thing i have noticed though is when I start the system I'm getting a kind of electrical static notice coming through the speakers for maybe 5 seconds and then it stops. I was wondering what this could be?? Is it: The PSU? The cheap and excessively long sata cables that came with the motherboard that I've used I'm not sure what other sources of EMI there would be in this type of setup? I was also wondering if I would have been better using the msata drive, I assume this must cut down EMI as there are less cables? Any thoughts from people with more knowledge than me are much appreciated, as I'm such a NOOB to this

I'm hoping someone can help me with getting my setup working correctly. I have j river running on a headless CAPS v3 server, with windows 7 pro. I 'm using microsoft remote desktop to access j river which works really well. The problem is when i have restarted the server remotely and log back in the DAC seems to have disappeared and all i get is a remote sound source in the window sound preferences. So when I go back into jriver options its not there either, so when I just tried the audio ended up coming out of the computer I'm using for remote access instead of going through the DAC. I'm sure its something simple, I just don't know my way around this setup very well. Any advice would be very much appreciated. thanks Matt

I have been getting some great advice here and its a real pleasure to see a forum that is generally really helpful and polite compared to other on the net. I have just build a caps v3 server based Chris's design exactly, its the topanga with the samsung sata drive instead of the msata and I'm waiting for the PPA usb card to arrive. I'm also just using the cheap external power supply as described by Chris. I have tweaked Windows 7 Pro running with j river, connected to a NAD D 3020 hybrid Amp/DAC NAD D 3020 review from the experts at whathifi.com My music is sitting on a synology which is all hardwired through my router, It sounds OK to me, but I'm no expert yet :-) but slowly getting there. One thing i have noticed though is when I start the system I'm getting a kind of electrical static notice coming through the speakers for maybe 5 seconds and then it stops. I was wondering what this could be?? Is it: The PSU? The cheap and excessively long sata cables that came with the motherboard that I've used I'm not sure what other sources of EMI there would be in this type of setup? I was also wondering if I would have been better using the msata drive, I asmmue this must cut down EMI as there are less cables? Any thoughts from people with more knowledge than me are much appreciated.

I also have a question about sata cable, I have just build a CAPS v3 server based on Chris's design and was wondering about how much difference these really expensive sata cables make?? All my music is on a NAS, so I kinda assume upgrading the sata cable would make little difference is that correct? Thanks in advance