tja1

Hi All, Interested in purchasing a Bricasti M1 Series II DAC. Prefer later model with upgrades. LMK

WMW, is this card still for sale? I've tried messaging you.

PM sent

Precisely

It is possible that there is some quality difference between cables within a class of cable. I am in the video technology industry and we recommend cat6a for all new premise based installations. I have found quite a bit of variability in USB cables unfortunately. That being said, one high quality USB 2.0 cable vs another is not going to make any difference.

Ah ok, so you have introduced some variability into your test. It sounded like a simple A/B test, which would invariably lead to a high number of false positives.

No one?????? Statistically speaking that seems improbable. Not bashing you, as tend to agree with your premise but I would expect some to get it right given the testing parameters (50/50 chance vs double blind)

Did you ever try the Sbooster? I'm still trying to understand the differences between the LPS-1 and the Sbooster Eco.

I have a QNAP as well. I used the QNQP music app for a while but found it klugy and slow at times Loaded Minimserver w/ BubbleUPNP the other day. While I can't really hear a difference in the quality of.music I find Minimserver/bubble combo much more user friendly and significantly faster + it will provide for gap less playback.

+1 I would add that an explanation of the potential ramifications of the design decisions would be helpful. Help me understand the trade offs and I will buy your product almost every time.

I am undertaking to rebuild my 2.0 audio system. I have recently added Peachtree Nova300 which supports DSD-512 from what I can ascertain. I have also added an sMS-200 NAA into the chain, which added significant quality and depth to the sound. I am now focused on the next portions of the rebuild looking at HQplayer & Roon. All of my media is stored on a QNAP TS251+. I have an older HTPC, which I am going to repurpose for another area of the home. I have been looking at the Kaby Lake NUC's for the new HTPC, but after reading this thread I am concerned that the NUC will have insufficient resources and horsepower to upsample to DSD512. Some questions that are occurring to me: - Can someone respond or direct me to a resource(s) to educate myself such that I can make informed decisions on the following? - Audio files are FLAC, most are 16/44 with quite a few 24/96 in their native form. Is it preferred to store files in FLAC or uncompressed WAV on the NAS drive? Transcoding is a labor intensive process, I would bet it adds a lot of system related noise as well. Is there a definitive answer on this? - I gather from reading this thread that the Kaby Lake i7 NUC (essentially a 2 core ultrabook vs of the i7 - Mini PC Intel® NUC Kit NUC7i7BNH) will have insufficient processing power to upsample my files to DSD512 efficiently? What is the nominal recommended system to achieve this? - As I mentioned above, I added an sMS-200 into the mix. In the (NAS>HTPC>sMS-200>DAC) configuration, what if anything is running / being processed on the sMS-200? I am assuming not much and that Roon & HQplayer are served by the HTPC? Thanks!

Thought I would give an updated review of the system now that it is setup and running for future Nova300 prospects. My (semi) final configuration is as follows: QNAP TS251+ running minimserver + Bubble (for now) > Cat7 > SOtM sMS-200 (w/Sbooster BOTW 12v PS) > usb2.0 > Peachtree Nova300 > Paradigm mains. Background: For years I have been screwing around with modestly capable audio equipment that I have picked second hand on a limited budget, trying to build a system that sounded something close to what I hear when I go into one of the high end audio stores. Unfortunately my feeble attempts at replicating that experience have always come short, leading me to listen music streamed from phone thru a beatbox or the like. It has been a really depressing experience. Last night I added the sMS-200 w/ Sbooster power supply into the mix, set up minimserver on my NAS, scanned and routed everything to the Peachtree, then opened Bubble on my phone chose an 24/96 version of the recently remastered Rumors album and cranked it up. The best way I can describe the experience: DAMN!!!! My house suddenly filled the house with 3 dimensional music that sounded alive. It was like being surrounded by music vs standing in front of it. I could literally hear the very particular sound of Lindsay Buckinghams nails and flesh on strings, and that unique twang he produced. Symbols floated into silence vs ticking away. Stevie Nicks voice was so powerful, simply amazing. This system is F*CKING AWESOME! Thanks to Romaz, Austinpop and others on this forum for helping me to bring this system to life. I'm a very happy man.

I can't speak to the LPS-1 but I can speak to the Teddy Pardo & Sbooster BOTW Eco 12v. Purchased both and tried both of them last night. Neither are burned in, but the Sbooster was my preference from the get go, the music seems to go from 2D to 3D filling the room with all sorts of details I have never heard from my music. Given the immediate impression, I am going to assume the Sbooster will burn in and improve beyond what the TP will offer. I have been reading around the net about power for the sMS-200. While you can power the device with an LPS-1 (@7v) it seems that sMS-200 prefers more power vs less, thus I chose two LPS with 12v output. Hope this helps.

Can you direct me to a site that adequately explains how to install and run minimum server? I cannot figure out how to actually get it running, ie: where is the user interface accessed from? Is it all command line?

This raises an interesting question? - I deployed a NAS because it brought enormous utility to my entertainment eco-system. I can access my content anywhere at anytime on a myriad of devices. It has its drawbacks and is likely introduces degradations that I am forced to make up for upstream, but the utility trumps this. Both the mR and sMS-200 are microcomputers designed for a very specific purpose, operating as the NAA. Unfortunately neither the mR or sMS-200 appear to have sufficient resources to operate as the server, which is unfortunate. I realize both companies make servers, but their servers incorporate storage which I believe is a massive functional mismatch. It seems that the ideal scenario would be an mR or sMS-200 with a lightweight linux based OS, sufficient resources to operate as an audiophile server. The missing component for a complete entertainment system would be video processing allowing them to function as the HTPC (Kodi), eliminating the need for PC/MAC in the mix and all the associated degredation and headaches that come with trying to use them as such. Does anyone build and audiophile grade NUC like this? Mini PC Intel® NUC Kit NUC7i5BNH