lmitche

This is a quick note to say thanks to Piero for the V4 kernel upgrade option. Running Audiolinux on Ryzen 7 series ZEN4 machines with the V4 kernel brings a immediate sound quality upgrade, with increased image density first noticed in the deep bass range but across the spectrum. If you have a ZEN4 machine this upgrade is highly recommended. Thanks again Piero for making this happen.

Hi Iving, 1) Thanks for your response. I am delighted with the SQ of the Solarflare 8xxx NIC here with SMF. Adding a 40mm Noctua fan took care of the heat issue and doesn't degrade SQ with external power. Running on Linux, there are no drivers to install either. Nevertheless, I'll compare with the Startech SFP+ NIC and report when done. 2) Yes, copper does not isolate, so I am testing with two serially connected fiber switches, the second with fiber to the first, and the server connected to the second via a copper 30 awg passive DAC cable. I'll give it a few weeks to breakin.

Two questions: 1) There is no mention of Solarflare 10G fiber nics in any recent posts. Have people tested these? Were they eliminated for some reason? 2) While I see active AOC cables, there is no mention of passive DAC cables being mentioned. Just curious why they are missing. Thanks

Nice Jud, what are you using to power the FIBBR USB cable? Brings me back to the Corning cable days,

That is a different supply. Look here instead: HDPLEX 500W HiFi DC-ATX Converter. The 500 watt DCATX requires an external AC to DC power supply in the range of 12 to 48 volts. Here is a relatively inexpensive SMSPS that when paired sounds great until a more expensive linear power supply can be acquired. Dell 7.4 mm barrel 330 W GaN SFF AC Adapter with 1 meter Power Cord - North America | Dell USA If you want a small All-In One unit, or a starter supply, the 500 watt GaN is the way to go, but the SQ is unlikely to be as good as the 500 watt DCATX.

Hi Lebouwsky, Yes. On my server the upgrade from the 400 watt to the new 500 Hdplex DCATX was well worth it. Nevertheless, as always, YMMV. Larry

Hi flkin, Every build is different as there is a large variety of configurations available and parts supply and pricing varies over time, so it is not possible to quote price ranges. If you are interested in learning more, please contact us via the website. All the best, Larry

Hi Taipan254, I am happy to answer questions. Generally, standalone Roon is the music player used here. Occasionally, Roon is used to drive Hqplayer embedded. Of course, Audiolinux supports many different players, any of which can be used on my server. Roon is by far the most robust, and sounds terrific. My server uses one or more fiber attached Adnaco USB 3 endpoints to drive my DAC(s). This same technology is most often used for network connections as well, although experiments with fiber NICs are underway.

Some of you may be interested in my new post in the Novel thread.

People say bad things come in threes. Sometimes good things come in threes as well. This fall, three long anticipated technology upgrades became available: Audiolinux support for custom kernels was extended to include ZEN4 specific builds Next generation PCIE5 NVME drives capable of write speeds of 9,500 MB/s and 1400K, Teamgroup Z5 is used here New 500 watt DC-ATX power supply from Hdplex replacing the prior 400 watt model On my AMD ZEN4 build, individually each of these upgrades bring significant sound quality enhancement with improved transparency and a lower noise floor. Support for the ZEN4 micro-architecture on Audiolinux reduces CPU power consumption over the default kernel by 10% as measured by turbostat. Likewise, the reduced volatility of current demand is audible. The faster service times associated with the PCIE5 NVME drive reduces the length of time for the frequent and bursty write operations from music players during playback by a factor of three over PCIE3 drives. This shortens the noise window from these operations and is audible. The new HDPLEX 500W HiFi DC-ATX brings an immediately noticeable drop in the noise floor with SQ that further improves over the next 48 hour period as it opens up. It also accommodates power sources in a wider voltage range of 12V-48VDC enabling use with the unregulated power supplies favored by so many here. In combination these components move sound quality to a new level revealing new details and clarity across musical genres. Highly recommended!

My point was merely that I have no experience with B650E motherboards. I expect any B650 motherboard will run 4 pieces of DDR5 at 6000mhz. My only other experience is with X670E motherboards which failed to run at 6000mhz.

I have zero experience with a B650E-E motherboard. Nevertheless, once booted, power draw rarely exceeds 40 watts during music playback unless you are upsampling with Hqplayer,.

@nenon To be clear, my experiment here was to find the best relatively inexpensive (<$200) power supply for someone starting from scratch. For some people, budgets mean that the cost of investing in a new music server will take some compromise. Rather than compromise on the server sound quality (SQ), many people prefer an inexpensive power supply to start. The goal is to purchase a music server that will later scale up in SQ once the funds for a better power supply are available. Within this context, the Hdplex 500W GaN AIO(All-In-One) ATX Power Supply offers the best sounding low-cost solution tested here. My prior solution was OK, but no where near the musical performance possible with the new Hdplex AIO supply, As to your question about my experience with the Taiko DX-ATX and ULPS. After much effort, including a ULPS rebuild, the AMD Ryzen 7000 builds will not boot with the Taiko supply powered with an ULPS. I do not know why. Intel builds boot with the Taiko/ULPS pair and sound better than any other power solution tested on Intel servers. AMD Ryzen 7000 builds will boot with an 800 watt Hdplex DC-ATX/ULPS and beats the SQ of the Intel servers with the Taiko/ULPS. Unfortunately, there is no way to listen to the Taiko/ULPS pair and the AMD server. If you know someone with a well burnt in Taiko DC-ATX/ULPS pair that can lend one, I will be happy to try again.

OK, so the Hdplex 500W GaN AIO(All-In-One) ATX Power Supply break-in period is complete. After several long listening tests, as a starting point power supply for a new build, this solution is the best that I have found. The blackground, imaging and spectral range all compare favorably to my Hdplex 300 watt supply powering a Hdplex 400 watt DC-ATX. Best yet the music is truly enjoyable with great pace and rhythm. The only thing missing is a level of harmonic detail (AKA warmth) that adds a sense of cohesion and flow to the music, (some would say a liquid sound), delivered by the linear power supply. Nevertheless, this is the best sounding SMPS ATX power supply ever heard here, and there have been dozens of others.

Did you look at the Reddit posts that were shared above? Others have found the bios parameters that fix the long post issue and 4 stick problems.