Lazenby

Quest, thank you for sharing. I was certain a PurePower regenerator and connecting to the DAC via toslink would completely isolate a noisy PC from the DAC and rest of system. But you say the power cord of the PC still makes a difference. Not what I want to hear but I accept your experience as being more valuable than my hunches and assumptions. Ron

"Btw what's odd is even when using optical, you can still hear the difference if, for example, you change the PC's power cord. So galvanic isolation is not everything..." Quest, I would contend that it is everything, and that your finding only underscores this. While optical takes care of one connection between PC and DAC, the other connection, namely the mains, needs to be also addressed. Are you using any mains filtering devices in your system? Ron

"I find the Chord QBD76 to be relatively sensitive to the PC and usb cable" Quest, have you tried the optical/toslink connection? My perception of the QBD76 is that with the buffer one does not need to worry about the jitter associated with toslink yet you get the benefits of complete isolation from the PC, and no RFI/EMI "creeping in" via the cable. As an aside, I have read reports (I believe Eloise has mentioned it too) of 192/24 achieved over the toslink connection in some setups (dependent on the soundcard I would imagine). Ron

I think its safe to assume that the buffer would mean the same end result, namely vanishingly low levels of jitter. Ron

BTW, there is nothing stopping you from using the PK100 internal DAC for playback of 192k files, and your existing DAC connected to the PK100, for playback of files whose sample rates are at 96k and below. One file player (PK100), two sources (PK100 internal dac and T&A external dac) connected to your amp, assuming you are using a pre amp or integrated amp that lets you switch between them.<br />

Cosmoliu, in order to playback 24/192 files, you simply need a source that can play those files (which includes all current software players, and the hardware solution that the PK100 is), a DAC to that handles 24/192 over the the connection which you intend to use (in this case electrical spdif). I only add this last bit since some DACs will only accept 24/192 over spdif, and not for instance over USB. Another, albeit rare, example is the Chord QBD76 only accepting sample rates over 96k via optical spdif or via DUAL electrical spfif / AES. In other words, there is no "type" of connection or source player that will allow a DAC that accepts a maximum sample rate of 96k to play back files at higher sample rates, other than a source that down-samples the files during real time playback (e.g., from 192 to 96 or 48, 44), of which some software players can if you so choose (e.g., HQ player).<br /> <br /> You could always use such a software player to do so during playback, or use software to down-sample copies of files to the highest sample rate that your DAC accepts prior to playing them back (of course in either case you would not be getting the benefits of the higher sampling rate).<br /> <br /> All of the above is in the context of using a PC (e.g., windows or mac osx) and software (e.g., jriver, HQplayer, foobar, Amarra, etc,) or the PK100, via DIGITAL out to your current dac that appears to accept up to 96k and no higher.<br /> <br /> Note that the Auraliti PK100 may also be used as a standalone file player/dac, as its internal sound card not only has a digital out, but also an internal DAC and therefore analogue output. Connecting the PK100 via analogue out to your amp would allow you to playback 24/192 files in all their high-res glory. You could, at a later date, acquire a DAC that does handle rates over 96k, and connect the PK100 to that DAC via spdif. So the PK100 is rather flexible in this way.<br /> <br /> Ron

Sorry Vade, not with it this morning. I was meant to reply to the OP, but missed the main jist of the thread anyway. Just ignore my last post Nice review of the PK100 BTW.

Vade, the PK100 contains a PCI soundcard (ESI Juli@) that: a) Provides the digital data to an external dac, as per Chris's review. b) Performs the DAC conversion and outputs the analogue signal to an amplifier. The soundcard may be powered by the PCI bus. If so, it may be the case that the PCI bus is powered by its own dedicated PSU module. Alternatively, Auraliti may have chosen to power the soundcard via its own dedicated PSU directly, and not by the PCI bus. If the long term goal is to use an external dac, then I would not be overly concerned about the D-A conversion done by the soundcard, nor by how it is powered. Ron

Hi Kel, AFAIK the recommendation of 300mm distance still applies. Another suggestion is to run the cat5 in steel conduit. The best place to get this sort of question answered is: http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum/9 An indispensable resource and an Australian internet national treasure if there ever was one. Good luck. Ron.

Hi Kel, I am trying to recall the CEDIA (Australian) standards in regards to installing cat5. From memory, you want cat5 a foot or more away from AC wiring and if it needs to cross over AC wire, it should be run perpendicular (90deg). If the AC wire is in conduit, run the cat5 outside of the conduit. What would I do? If I was in your shoes it all depends on how much cat5 needs to be run. If you are only networking a couple of rooms, and you don't mind spending the time, give a try. If you see transmission issues (e.g., drops in speed) then you go to plan B. The cost is time and cheap cat5 cable. You home is relatively new and you *should* see good results with ethernet over power. You could ask a local retailer if you can return a powerline kit if it does not meet your requirements, and test the performance and any affects of noise without risk. Centrecom and MSY may be worth a try. I can't recall what product seemed best after an exhaustive search some months back. Netgear, d-link and Netcomm powerline products are readily available in Melbourne (not sure where you are in Oz), and it was one of those. This link is a decent read: http://www.anandtech.com/show/3860/powerline-networking-with-the-western-digital-livewire The biggest concern with ethernet over power is reliability. If an adaptor goes faulty good by network in that location until it is replaced... As the last poster suggested, wireless may be the most painless solution (at the cost of airborne RFI , though you may have your reasons for not running a wireless setup. Ron

Hi Kel, I looked into this topic not long ago, and the speed of network over power is dependent on the quality/age of wiring of the home, with newish homes usually providing better results. If you can run cat5 you are perhaps best off doing so for the reason Eloise mentions. If you have a specific need to run your network over power, let me know and I will give some specific recommendations regarding what products to use. Ron

"So I sprung for the QB-9 and... Well... Compared to the 840C there is no comparison. In my system it's scarey good. I was concerned about spending that much but not anymore." Hi Jeff, Great to hear you found what you were after. From mulling a $200 v-link to a $2.5k QB-9, you are an all or nothing kinda guy!?! Would be interested to hear if you see any performance increases with tweaks to the PC hardware and/or software over the coming months. Cheers, Ron PS. Now let the rest of us get back to savaging one another over which usb to spdif converter is better...

Bones, I am fairly sure the PK100 can be special ordered with AES on the output. I suggest emailing them direct if this is of interest to you.<br /> <br /> From what I understand Sooloos Control 15 (inc touchscreen) starts at $7.5k.

<i>No NAS playback is a big flaw for such a device.</i><br /> <br /> Yes and no. Connection to a NAS is possible, but not any NAS will work. A purpose built NAS from Auraliti is(still?) on the way. <br /> <br /> I'll paste this response by Demian Martin from an older thread:<br /> <br /> "I'm happy to pass the details on making a server work with the auraliti players. I have a server 95% done (which I'm reminded repeatedly is 100% unfinished).<br /> <br /> To get a server working with the auraliti players it must support the following:<br /> 1) zeroconfig (aka Bonjour). This is the technology we use to get the boxes to find each other on the network.<br /> 2) nfs (network file system) is how the boxes communicate. Its a Unix technology well supported on all unix platforms (linux, Sun, OSX) but poorly supported on windows. It works really well for what we are doing.<br /> <br /> If those are both supported then the settings become important- the server's host name must be correct and the content directories must be exported. We have details on these settings somewhere and I can pass them to interested parties after I dig them up. I don't want to make a mistake here since the consequences will be lingering.<br /> <br /> I have looked at a number of commercial nas boxes for details but many are not clear on whether these are supported or if they can take specific settings."<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <i>I can't see why this would be better or even as good as a similarly priced Mac mini with the same external HD attached.</i><br /> <br /> From what I have read, a Mac mini is a noisy beast (in an electrical/RFI sense) compared to the Auraliti, and there are anecdotal reports that mpd running in the Auraliti hardware is preferable to itunes/Amarra etc.<br /> <br /> Ron

Forgot to add a (temporary?) downside:<br /> <br /> 3. The user interface options for the PK100, as far as I am aware (and I have looked far and wide), do not lend themselves well to touchscreens, relative to a windows 7 / j river build (e.g., CAPS server), which seems a visual and tactile delight to use. It seems this is the case for two reasons: a) I have not come across a CURRENT mpd client that is designed with touchscreens in mind. b) Affordable touchscreens, like the Dell ST2220T, have no linux drivers. We may see these things change, given the open source nature of mpd... <br /> <br /> Ron