VoicesInMyHead

Nice! Then I just need to upgrade... 😀

This is still early and I'm not sure I will even trust my own thoughts at this point so take it for what it is, but with my N20 over SPDIF I found the sound quality difference to not be so subtle at all, but maybe slightly more so over USB. I agree with how you describe the differences, but would actually stretch it to that Roon to me sounds muffled and flat in comparison. I maybe need to do more testing, but to me this is almost unlistenable and it leaves me in a quite awkward situation where I feel disappointed and uncertain of what to do. The thing is that I like Roon and I bought an Aurender mainly because I knew it was coming (I know, not the smartest move). The feeling of running Roon again was great and such a relief, but... in the end it comes down to the sound quality and what you can live with. Kudos to Aurender of course for sounding great, but at the same time I've been using Roon on and off together with other software like Euphony Stylus, JPLAY, HQPlayer, Innuos Sense etc on different hardware and platforms which leaves me a bit puzzled. I've heard Roon sound great. While the edge has more or less always been to the "other" manufacturers advantage, it's been more subtle where I could easily live with Roon. It was expected that Aurender would sound better, but not this much. Maybe it's the OCXO clocked SPDIF increasing the gap somehow as I've only used high quality USB cards and re-clockers before, I don't know. 🤷‍♂️ I'm still hoping for things to improve, that Critical Listening Mode will work also for Roon, and then Roon is known for being a bit inconsistent in sound quality between different versions, hopefully it can get better somehow.

I’m about 200+ hours in on my N20 and very happy with it. I’ve also been thinking about adding SSD storage and if so which SSD to go for, like the Data Center models also mentioned above for example, BUT as I’m also coming from a “puritan” way of thinking with a DIY build where all of this was “forbidden”, I can’t help having some concerns about adding noisy SATA devices inside the Aurender. At the same time my previous tests have been favourable for local playback from clean externally powered internal M.2 NVMe storage compared to the same files streaming from a NAS, but that is not an option for the N20. Last night I was however thinking that with the recent development and raised bars of switches and ethernet filters, playback from streaming services in general sounds better than ever and most likely streaming from a NAS will as well! Then there’s the classic discussion if old spinning hard disks actually sound better or worse than SSD and if this affects also the NAS. Then I remembered seeing that Asustor Flashstor 6 which is a pure NVMe storage based NAS which looks very interesting. Perhaps this could be one of the "least bad" solutions of all noise pollutioners out there? 🤷‍♂️ Sometimes I’m thinking it would be nice to just get rid of all those files and go all in on streaming services, but then there’s always this and that album that’s missing. And sometimes I’m thinking maybe I shouldn’t complicate things and just go with the flow and add that SSD which is what the manufacturer intended. But it is indeed tough to argue with the constant voices in your head… 😉

View Classified Sean Jacobs Unregulated ARC6 PSU with Taiko Audio DC DC-ATX I’m selling my DIY project in pieces (and in fact my entire digital setup with everything around it). I’ve been super happy with it and it’s been one of the most interesting journeys I’ve ever done, I’ve learned so much along the way from all of you and the reward has been amazing for every step towards better sound. I would never wish to have all of this this undone, but the time has come for me to aim higher than what I’m capable of achieving on my own. Both the Taiko converter and the Sean Jacobs PSU were essential to this project, nothing else had such a significant impact and improvement of sound quality. I would say this is the foundation to great sound. Sean Jacobs Unregulated ARC6: -Silver front (easily replaceable to black) -Mounted IsoAcoustic feet (€200 value) -Synergistic Research Purple fuse (optional, €200 value) -DC cable Neotech 16AWG 4-pin GX16 → 6-pin DC Input -Bought new by me in October 2021 Taiko Audio DC DC-ATX: -Bought new by me in September 2021 Buy both together: €3000 Buy ONLY Sean Jacobs PSU: €2200 (PSU €2500, IsoAcoustic +€200, SR Purple +€200 = €2900 NEW) Buy ONLY Taiko converter: €1100 (€1542 NEW including shipping & VAT) Feel free to drop me a message if you have any questions. Shipping (or pickup) from Sweden. Seller VoicesInMyHead Date 05/17/23 Price Category Power Supplies / Power Products  

View Classified LampizatOr Baltic 3 (shipping included, NEW price!) The “sweet spot” among LampizatOr DAC's when it comes to price vs performance. Silver front with blue LED ring button Upgraded with Neutrik RCA connectors at factory PCM384kHz, DSD512 Inputs: USB, AES/EBU, S/PDIF, TOSLINK Analog outputs: RCA/XLR Manufactured in December 2020 Included tubes: 1 x Brimar 5z4gy or 5u4g (or GEC U52 +400 EUR) 2 x Psvane 6sn7 2 x Siemens e80cc Price: 4500 4300 EUR includes shipping in original box from Sweden! Seller VoicesInMyHead Date 01/03/23 Price Category Digital to Analog Converters  

in short, yes! it took a while before I appreciated it though, and I had doubts if I had done the right thing for a couple of days. I also upgraded the fuse to a SR Purple and I got the new Sablon Evo USB cables on both sides of the Phoenix. There you can talk about improvement btw, the new Sablon Evo cable is in one word amazing! Highly recommended. it probably depends on a lot of things though, like PSU's, cables etc, and cost vs performance the JCAT card is tough to beat considering the Phoenix cost quite a lot more. The below post goes a bit more into detail about the differences.

difficult to say, I only had the DC3 with Taiko for a short period and I don't think the Taiko even was properly burned-in during the time and the PSU's are also growing on your over time, but after a while I felt things were definitely on a much higher level than before, and the Taiko and Unregulated had a great cumulative effect together. I have no regrets going down that path!

I was using the DC3 with the Taiko convertor for a short period while waiting for the Unregulated to arrive, but the plan was already from the beginning to upgrade from HDPLEX DC-ATX to Taiko and also go with the Unregulated for it. I believe that's the right thing, the Unregulated could have been adjusted to work with the HDPLEX at lesser voltage, but I'm glad Nenon convinced me to go for the Taiko/Unregulated combo and its sweet spot to get the best of two worlds. If I had stayed with the HDPLEX I would probably also have sticked with the DC3 to power it. Balance in a system is a good thing. My plan was also to modify the DC3 for dual 5V, or actually sell it and buy a new one with this configuration. But then I decided to move in another direction and sold off my JCAT USB XE card in favour of an external Innuos PhoenixUSB.

I've had this in my system for a couple of months now, replacing a DC3, together with the Taiko Audio DC-ATX convertor. It's not a cheap PSU by any means and of course it was tempting to build a V2 or V3 on my own, but thinking it through I felt it wasn't for me, better leave the PSU building to people who actually knows what they're doing. 😊 I haven't really done comparisons with different PSU's though, all I can say is that my system sounds amazing and it feels like a good match with the Taiko convertor. It was a good uptick in SQ going from the DC3, which was already very good. Building my own server (more or less copying what Nenon did in his thread) has been nothing but a revelation and I believe good power is a big key to the result. My DC3 is 19V & 5V and was very practical and convenient to also power a JCAT card for example. At the moment I've actually removed it from the system (I'm selling it if anyone is interested) and is taking 5V for the JCAT NET XE card from the Taiko convertor. One box less, still sound fabulous powered only by the Unregulated!

The HDPLEX website has been updated with images and specs for the new H5v3 if you haven't seen it. Pre-order is also open as mentioned above.

Well, I couldn't resist buying this NVME disk after all positive comments here so I'll fall in line and report my experience as well. I guess the frustration I had recently trying to install Windows 10 LTSC on my Intel Optane kind of helped my decision, long story short it of course wasn't the Optane's fault though. Turns out being a Mac user with no Windows in my life and then trying to install Windows is a real pain(!). Anyway, that is another story. The real reason for being convinced into buying was all the posts in this thread. Shipping with DHL Express was very fast which is always a good thing as getting new audio toys is like being a 5 year old kid on Christmas again, who has patience to wait?! It seems like I'm never getting too old for this. Unfortunately the shipping notice ended up in my spam folder so it actually arrived as a complete surprise. Packaging was also very good with lot's of cute pink bubble plastic, in fact so much that I almost wondered if there was anything else in the box for a second. 🤔 My main concern before purchasing was my ITX build in a H3 case, it's getting crowded with 2 JCAT cards, using an M.2 adapter for one of them and both M.2 connectors are located very close and just beneath the heat pipes to the CPU on the Asus z490-i motherboard. It looked like it was just about going to work though, even if it might be less than perfect having it that close to the CPU for heat purposes. I can just forget to install a heatsink for the NVME as it is right now though. Anyway, I thought if it doesn't work it will just give me another reason to get that H5 case and a full size ATX motherboard instead. ☺️ As the M.2 connectors are located on top of each others I couldn't close the lid when the DC cable was inserted, as a temporary solution I've got a simple right angle adapter until I decide what to do. I'm currently only using it for OS storage (Windows 10 LTSC), no music files. People would probably call us crazy for thinking that a hard drive impacts sound, but as we're constantly learning more or less everything in the digital domain seems to have an impact, some bigger than others. Even if the hard drive in itself is perhaps not making things sound different, the noise and disturbances it might cause for other components could very well be enough, that's at least my thinking regarding this. I don't claim to understand the why and how, I'm fine with accepting that everything indeed matters. I don't think I need to reiterate about what's already been said and explaining what I'm hearing in words is not my strong side, let me just summarize it with that soundwise I wasn't sure what to expect, especially coming from an already good Intel Optane option, but I think it has actually been a profound improvement, especially when using a dedicated 5V PSU to power it. My only concern now is that I need to look over my PSU situation as I'm not super happy about having 3 separate PSU's to power my server. As for this NVME disk, I'm having no regrets at all. 😊

And that's exactly my plan... 😊 (ps. just noticed I used the wrong url for the image in my post and as it's not possible to edit posts... no image)

I just want to start by saying that I've been reading this thread from beginning to end with great pleasure, I've learned so much in the last year. I really couldn't believe that I would get back into DIY again, but this time it's been more fun and rewarding than ever before, mainly thanks to everyone here! 😊 OK, I get that I'm a bit late to the praising choir, I was on the preorder list for the Taiko Audio DC-ATX earlier this summer but when it finally became available I started hesitating for a whole bunch of reasons. Last week @Nenon convinced me to just go for it and I realized that maybe it was time to give in. I received it today and at first when I got it in my hand I almost dropped it, I was a bit shocked about the weight. Not what I expected, but the build quality of this thing feels amazing! I've been listening for a few hours now with the Taiko installed and driven by my Sean Jacobs DC3. I'm expecting it to improve even more with further burn-in, but It's already such a profound upgrade that I almost want to slap myself for not doing this earlier. Everything is simply better with the Taiko. I've read some posts lately from people who seemed to be in a similar situation like me and are still "thinking" about it, that's why I wanted to share my feelings about it. As always YMMV, but partnered with a great PSU I don't see how you can go wrong with the Taiko. I can't wait to see what further MB, CPU and PSU upgrades will result in, but the Taiko Audio DC-ATX feels like a good foundation to fully take advantage of it.

View Classified Sean Jacobs DC3 dual rail LPS *NEW PRICE* Sean Jacobs DC3 LPS with dual outputs, internal Neotech wiring, grounding post, silver front, original box etc. - 19V High Current Boost Module (up to 5A) - 5V Extra separately-regulated output 2 DC cables are included (1m each, Neotech wiring), one with GX16-3 connector and one with 5.5/2.1mm connector. The unit was built and delivered by end of April, 2021. Shipping from Sweden to anywhere in Europe (EU) included in price. Price: 2250 1500 EUR. Seller VoicesInMyHead Date 09/02/21 Price 1,550.00 USD Category Power Supplies / Power Products  

I used Roon + StylusEP at the time. My previous experience in using Roon vs Roon + StylusEP was that this difference was much smaller than moving from Roon + StylusEP to just Stylus.