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  1. Recently I have ordered a Taiko DC DC-ATX to replace my HDplex 800W DC-ATX to power my i9 9900K and Asus Rog Strix z490 E mobo with 8Tb Samsung 970 EVO nvme on a PCIe card requiring SATA power supply. And I am having problem to power up the 8Tb nvme with the SATA power from the Taiko DC DC ATX. I can power the system up if I use a separate Teradak linear power supply to provide 12v and 5v SATA power supply to the nvme PCIe card. If I use the SATA from Taiko DC DC ATX then it cannot power up. Is it possible that the SATA power supply from the Taiko DC DC ATX is not powerful enough to power 8Tb nvme? Or is my Taiko DC DCATX having problem? I used 16AWG hook up wires to make the SATA cable for the Taiko DC DCATX and I have checked three times that the pins out are correct. I used a local deigned and made LPS with 1000VA transformer with 2 x 19V to power the HDplex 800W and now using one 19v to power the Taiko DC DCATX.
  2. This is a follow up of my earlier post in this thread. Since I have some spare time this weekend I revisited the issue of which is the sweet spot for my R2R DACs Holo May and Terminator plus again. As it is still difficult to gather some friends around I have to do it all by myself. I have given some thoughts on how I should improve from my previous test and I come to the following points. First I must have been over aggressive last time to compare so many bits from 19 all the way to 64 bits because this cannot give a really good AB testing and also with so many comparisons one tends to go into fatigue and affects one's judgement especially when we are doing critical listening on the many aspects of music. So this time I would only compare 20bit with 24 bit. Second I reviewed the criteria as how to judge what is best SQ or the sweet spot. Last time I could have been too obsessed with details and neglected other aspects like the pureness of tone, sense of being involved with music. Probable reasons for my emphasis on details is because it seems to be the most objective thing that one can detect in the critical comparison whereas musicality seems more subjective feeling so that was regarded as a less important feature. That might have led to result that 24bit is preferred without realizing that the resulting music at 24bit is over-analytical and not musical enough. With these in mind I started my assessment again. First piece is a Mozart sonata for violin and piano. The observation that 24 bit has more detail seems to be still true on first listening. There is more low frequency making the piano seems more grand and the violin having more low frequency harmonics. But on more careful listening these low frequency sound is not as good quality as the main body of the violin or piano. The violin tone in 20bit is also more pure and coherent than in the 24bit. There is a tinge of high frequency harshness in 24bit though not serious. The second piece is Beethoven symphony 7. In 24 bit the double bass comes up with better presence though again there is some loss of coherence compared with 20bit. The 20bit sound and image is again more pure and musical. The remaining pieces basically follow the same pattern. So most probably there may be more sound(but not detail) in 24 bit but some of them are not as high quality as in 20 bit. And these might be related to some low level distortions being added to the resultant sound. And as a whole now I would prefer 20bit instead of 24 bit. So the result this time is more in line with prediction by Jussi and ZB. And it is no surprise too that this applies to both the Holo May and Terminator plus. I must say it is not easy at all to find out the sweet spot of the DAC because it is very difficult to determine which one is more accurate. So this is some good experience that helps you understand your DAC more.
  3. It's great to learn from all the experts here about the underlying reason of why the May should sound best at 20 bits. As I have also alluded to in my initial post I keep an open mind as to whether my listening tests are accurate or not. There could be bias because the process is not blinded. Maybe when circumstances allow I can get some friends around and arrange a blinded test and see whether others will come to the same conclusion. Of course the test is designed to find out which bit is going to give the best sound but I must admit that it is not that easy to distinguish true bit to bit conversion from dithered signal. And many a times dithering is going to give a more analog feeling to the resultant sound and becomes more appealing to many. Probably the only one thing for sure is that 32 bits or 64 bit is not going to give you a better SQ in the May probably because of the truncation.
  4. Hi Ted, Sorry that I did not make it clear in my post. I made several PGGB files using the default setting which is highlighted grey in the Manual (that is natural transparency, transparent presentation and moderate HF noise filter) and then I vary the output bit depth to 19 bit, next one is 20 bit etc up to 24 bits in separate folders. For 19 bits to 24 bits I would use the default adaptive noise shaping. This noise shaping is meant to clean up the frequency repetitions. Then when I feed a 19 bit file to the HQplayer the HQplayer setting is also changed to 19 bits and no filter and no more noise shaping is used in HQplayer. When I make a 32 bit or 64 bit PGGB file I would not use the adaptive noise shaping of PGGB because I need to put the HQplayer setting to 32 bit and also use the LNS15 noise shaping in HQplayer. This is based on the understanding that with 32 bit there will be some manupulation by the DAC anyway so using the PGGB noise shaping may end up in double noise shaping. My statement of I would choose 24 bits simply means that I think 24 bits give the best SQ. And then when I make PGGB files I would use 24 bit and also use adaptive noise shaping of PGGB and then in HQplayer I wouls set it to 24 bit and no filter or noise shaping. I don't do streaming with Tidal or Quobuz because I have got already too many albums so the default setting in HQplayer would be set to 24 bits. I have tried some conversion of DSD to PCM the result is variable. It depends on whether the original DSD file is well recorded or not. We all know that some DSD files are not really good recordings or true high resolution recordings. My intention is to use a similar strategy like Rajiv's jukebox method. This is because I have over 15K albums ripped into 10Tb in my NAS and it is impossible to convert them all to PGGB files as it will end up to almost 200Tb. And it will take 3 years to do it. So I would only pick the ones that I think has high chance to get benefit. But it may be tricky as to how to pick so this will have to be modified along the way.
  5. I am one of the early adopters of PGGB and I can share some of my experience here. And I don't have any financial dealings with PGGB other than a very happy user. I have three DACs( Denafrips Terminator plus, Holo Audio May L2 and Chord Dave with Sean Jacobs DC4) in use on a rotation basis in my 3 different audio systems. Since Chord Dave has been talked about a lot in the earlier posts so I shall focus more on the Terminator+ and the Holo May which are both capable of going to 32fs (PCM 1411/1536). I have in use 3 Linux servers(carrying my buddy's UKAS Debian OS) and also Taiko extreme server(Window10 OS).The Linux servers are loaded with HQplayer embedded and Taiko extreme with HQplayer 4 desktop and also TAS. I have been using HQplayer for more than 10 years and all along I have been favoring DSD over PCM(for its richer timbre and more musical feeling) until recently. In the past year or so using HQplayer DSD256 with ASDM7EC has been my first pick before the change. The change started after I have acquired the T+ and also the Holo May which are both capable of going to 32fs. Initially I have used HQplayer to real-time upsample to 32fs and using LNS15 noise shaping. The most striking change is there are a lot more details being heard. One can hear the details of different members in the orchestra so much so that it seems that one can now look at the leaves of different trees in the forest rather than just seeing the forest as a whole. The degree is so striking and it is so different from what is heard in 16fs. The only drawback is that it seems to be a little too pinpoint and a slight lack of bloom. But the musical sense is there. No doubt. And then comes the PGGB pre-upsampled 32fs files(using default settings) and all of a sudden the details of 32fs becomes so natural and the response of the orchestra is so unanimous yet you can hear the sounds of different members clearly and with good enough timbre. It seems that suddenly you can get to the best of both worlds. And that gave me the signal to go all the way for PCM. Now the PCM may still be a little more forward but the feeling are excellently conveyed. Everything is so fast so lively and so transparent. DSD would seem a little laid back and occasionally lacks liveliness. The road actually is not that straight forward and there are quite some tweaks necessary before one can come to a nice ending. First I must stress that one must do volume matching before you can appreciate the musical feeling of high resolution PCM. Given the quiet background of 32fs one can always turn the volume higher and more details can be heard without feeling sound becoming harsh and too pressing. In general I believe the limit of turning the volume higher is mid range becoming harsh. In 32fs one can tune up the volume by 3dB or so and still not feeling any strain from the sound. That is probably taking advantage of the quiet background. Second point is I believe that at the source level more detail is the chief concern rather than getting a juicy sound. So to me 32fs is the key to get more detail. One can always tweak your subsequent components or cables to suit your own taste. Or one can also use the options in PGGB to suit your own taste. But if one do it the other way round I am not so sure that one can get back the detail off your juicy sound. Third point is the concern of the native bit of the DAC. As has been elaborated in earlier posts that many DACs are quoted as 32 bits but actually they function best at 20 bits or so. So I converted several tracks to 32fs but separately with 19bit, 20bit, 21 bit, 22 bit, 23 bit, 24bit, 32bit, 64bit and compare them on the same system and see which bit gives the best for the DAC. For 19bit to 24bit I would use the default noise shaping of PGGB during the conversion but will not use the any noise shaping or filter of HQplayer. This is to avoid the double noise shaping which may degrade the sound. With 32 bit and 64 bit I will not use the default noise shaping of PGGB but use the LNS15 of HQplayer to reduce it to the conversion point of the DAC. Several observations come out from this test. First with increase in the bit from 19bit to 24bit there is progressively more detail coming out. I can hear more details in the piano both in microdetails as well as in timbre and in general a much more detailed and warm bass. The instruments in the lower bits file seems a little thinner than the larger bits ones and also lacking in detail. When it comes to 32 bit and 64 bit with LNS15 noise shaping there is initially a more welcomed warm sound with more sumptuous bass but on more critical listening it seems that it comes with a bit less details. An analogy would be like putting on a loudness button in the early HiFi equipment and the bass and treble are accentuated but the overall detail is downgraded. In both the Terminator+ and Holo May that I have tested I would choose 24 bit as giving the best SQ. This might be surprising to some because from some data it seems that 20 bit is the sweet spot. What I have reported above is my test result and I encourage that more tests be done to validate or refute the results. Fourth point is one must try various sorts of files, classical music, vocals, bands or whatever because the results may vary. Good recordings and bad recordings will also come to different results. If the original recording is good then usually a good outcome is expected after PGGB. The above is my personal experience of the PGGB and YMMV. I must thank ZB again for giving us such a great tool. It is really a game changer and is worth a try for everybody.
  6. I am using original BIOS settings, only updating BIOS to the most recent version. It is adequate for HQplayer upsampling if I connect the Denafrips terminator plus. If i connect it to Holo Audio May then the USB can only output 16 bit in upsampling to 1411/1538 unless you use Jussi's NAA OS when some patch to facilitate USB functionality is done then you can output 24 bit.
  7. Thank you for your suggestion. I think this is a really controversial area. In general I think the twisting of wires is belived to be useful in reducing noise in AC transmission. The improvement in DC is much less significant. Second is we are dealing with 24 wires traversing about 8 inches. If you twist them the resulting wire becoms a cake or a ball and the length of the wire used may have to be doubled or even tripled. The work involved in knitting the 24 wires is not easy. I am not so sure that adding so much metal is a good idea with regards to SQ. Besides cost is also a concern because these wires are not cheap at all, esepcially if some of them use Mundorf gold/silver wires. YMMV.
  8. My experience is more in using Linux system and I am not sure it can work in Mac or not. In my system if one use some filters(for example poly-sinc lp) in 1x filter column sometimes one can succed in outputting PCM 1411 in Holo May. Another way is using an NAA with Jussi's OS can also succed in getting to 1411. And you will have to use the onboard USB port.
  9. Thank you Thank you for your post. I have been using this fanless server for 9 months now. Fortunately I do not have CPU throttling problem. I used it initially for going to DSD 256 ASDM7EC. The temperature may reach 70 to 80 degrees Celsius but no CPU throttling. I am using the 800W HDplex DC ATX unit. In recent months I am changing more to upsampling to PCM 1411 and the temperature is not an issue too.
  10. Maybe you can try setting the HQplayer setting to 16 bit and see.
  11. I like the JCAT USB XE card a lot. Compared with the onboard USB ports the JCAT card is better in that it gives a more beautiful mid and high range. The sound is also more pure. But it most be supplied with a good external Linear Power supply otherwise its effect is only mediocre. And also if you are using HQplayer and going to high oversampling frequency e.g. PCM 1411 with say Holo Audio Spring 2 or May you have to scale down to 16 bit instead of 24 bit. This is because of some USB architecture issue and is common to all PCIe USB cards and not just Jcat alone. Unfortunately I don't have a Jcat femto USB card to compare.
  12. Thanks for all the info Miska. That explains why I can only get 16 bit to function because I was using a Jcat USB XE card in my NAA computer. I have now tried to use the motherboard's USB ports and yes it can now play 24 bit 1411. But to use the USB card or not probably needs further evaluation as there are PROS and CONS of using it. But one further question is I can't understand why with the Taiko extreme using the onboard USB ports and the Windows HQplayer desktop with or without NAA there are some cracked high frequency sound with PCM 1411 (20bit or 16 bit) in Holo May. Is that also something technical or something related to the driver or anything else since this is not likely to be customized kernel issue? And it is persistent in all recordings. What I can't understand is with the same settings there is no problem with T+ but there is problem with May? And the sound of May is quite normal without high frequency cracks when played with Linux server. Thanks.
  13. Hi Matt, It was purely a coincidence that one day before this post I have upgraded my L2 Holo Spring to L2 Holo May. As outlined in the posts in the other threads I have growing interests in playing PCM 1411 in my Denafrips Terminator Plus and it is quite natural to make a comparison with the other R2R DAC that can also play PCM 1411 i.e. Holo May(also the Spring2). I have been quite surprised that in the 10 months or so since the May was out there was not much talks about how its high sampling rate PCM sounded. And I finally understand why as it is not an easy job to play PCM1411 in Holo May. I have been using HQplayer(Taiko extreme Windows) and also HQP embedded(Linux system)to upsample to PCM1411 and I used to set it to 24 bits as T+ is a 26 bit DAC and there is no problem playing PCM1411 with T+. When I changed to May it returns some clearly distorted sound. The sound is normal if I play 705.6 but once I set to 1411 it returns some distorted sound. I tried setting it to 20 bits but sound is still distorted and finally I read through the threads here in AS and realized that Miska has illustrated that one has to turn it down to 16 bits before one can play PCM1411. And that is not the end of the story because if I use the Taiko extreme (set to 16 bits)to play PCM 1411 there is cracked high frequency sound but there is no such sound if I use Linux HQPe. We all know that there is a Windows Thesycon driver that comes with Holo but no Linux driver(usual practice). What's intriguing is that why with the Thesycon driver that comes with T+ there is no problem playing 24 bit 1411 with T+ but with the Thesycon driver that comes with May it can't even play PCM 1411 at 16bit in May? So is it a driver problem or is it the capability of the DAC ? I still don't have an answer. But it seems it is a real pity that May cannot play PCM 1411 smoothly because when successfully played it gives an excellent sound as I shall briefly outline my impression below. Although both T+ and May are R2R DAC the character of the two can be said to be totally different and I am only focusing on PCM1411. T+ gives a very transparent and detailed yet very natural sound. You can imagine its like you are amongst the musicians in the orchestra. You can literally hear 80 or so musicians making music together while in May you are hearing a very smooth sound with a group of violins or cellos playing in tutti. The phrasing is well displayed in both DACs but the T+ tends to give you a "let the music speak by itself" feeling while the phrasing from May is more emotional or a little more exaggerated than the real thing. The brass and woodwinds are obviously more rich in timbre in May than in T+ but surprisingly you can definitely hear more details with T+ because there is some really excellent inner clarity. It clearly represents two vastly different philosophy of sound and there is no right or wrong and both can achieve an excellent outcome although at this juncture I would say I prefer T+ to May. This is clearly an early impression of May since it is only sounding for little more than 2 weeks. I am sure it will further improve and hope that I can solve the problem of playing it smoothly in PCM high sampling rates. I am not commercially associated with both DACs. YMMV.
  14. This is too difficult for me because I have not tried converting DSD64 to PCM 1411.2. I can only say is for 44.1 files upsampling I would probably prefer the sound of PCM1411.2 than DSD256 EC modulators. And if that's the case then most likely DSD64 files may come to the same result. But I must reiterate that PCM 1411.2 is a new experience and I cannot confidently say that everyone will like it. You really have to listen to it first before making decision.
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