Sound Galleries Music Server

[EuroDriver]

Pink Faun of Holland and Sound Galleries of Monaco are partnering in the development and production of High End Music Servers

 

The announcement is here Musical Realism at Sound Galleries Monaco

 

Over the last two months, I have had the pleasure of working closely with Pink Faun and the first product is a very well functioning OCXO module for replacing the clock on PC motherboards. The time it took from first conversation, to a working breadboard, to a fully working SMD PCB was less than 8 weeks. The functionality of the module demonstrates the depth and creativity of Pink Faun's digital skills.

 

The mantra that drives this project is the relentless pursuit of musical realism

[EuroDriver]

Here is some eye candy

 

Here is a photo of the bread board prototype Pink Faun clock module

 

and here is a photo of the PCB prototype sitting on my pink notebook which I use at my meetings with Pink Faun

 

[edbk]

How often do you see 2*4700uF clc filter/supply storage on a clock board? I love Pink Fauns way to overengineer powersupplies ?

[EuroDriver]

How often do you see 2*4700uF clc filter/supply storage on a clock board? I love Pink Fauns way to overengineer powersupplies 

 

Hey, Pink Faun know that Sound Galleries demand the best !

 

The Sound Galleries music server will have quite a bit gear sourced from Taiko Audio, another Dutch High End outfit. It means the server has become some what Double Dutch, but it sure sounds good.

 

Here is an example of a Taiko transformer. It is produced in the same factory where Lampizator has its transformers made, and we all know how demanding Lampi is about parts ;-)

 

[kilroy]

Whats's a rig like this go for, more or less?

[Jud]

Whats's a rig like this go for, more or less?

 

More!

[EuroDriver]

Whats's a rig like this go for, more or less?

 

Sound Galleries is still working on the numbers. The heavy iron and premium parts and modules don't come cheap, but we are finding that we can hear the difference when we use the better parts. The server with its close to final spec is sounding so much better than the PC which we were so happy with in Munich, it's embarrassing. We keep upgrading the various LPS's and find that it sounds better and better. A lot of attention and testing has been done on the RAM. We were pretty surprised at the sonic differences we could hear comparing different RAMs. The winner in our RAM bake off was a stick of custom clad DDR3 RAM from Taiko Audio.

edbk had a wonderful sounding dual PC setup running HQ Player on WS2012 with AO and using JPlay on the audio PC all powered by excellent LPS's. The single PC Sound Galleries music server has now bested that system in two major ways. The noise floor is noticeably lower allowing more low detail to come through and the sound has a pristine live quality which we have been finding is pretty addictive.

 

The DAC's which Sound Galleries music server has been tested with include the Antelope Zodiac Platinum, Lampi B7, Exa E22 and Accuphase DC-37. We will be testing it next week with the Nagra HD. Our experience is, the better the DAC the more we can hear the difference between the Sound Galleries music server, and CAP's like PC's

 

 

Bundled with software, we are doing our best to keep it south of $ 10 k

[EuroDriver]

A bit more eye candy. Different OCXO connected to a different mobo

 

Sound testing next week :-)

[zerung]

Thank you for sharing this Eurodriver.

Good to note you are doing all the right thing from external clock, beefed up LPS,etc...which ironically makes the production cost high and better sonic machine - but pushes the price away from many potential buyers with limited budget. Perhaps you could look to sell the design and the components instead of the full server to let people gain from your clear winning formula.

[EuroDriver]

Thank you for sharing this Eurodriver.

Good to note you are doing all the right thing from external clock, beefed up LPS,etc...which ironically makes the production cost high and better sonic machine - but pushes the price away from many potential buyers with limited budget. Perhaps you could look to sell the design and the components instead of the full server to let people gain from your clear winning formula.

 

Down the road we will be seeking ways to make the results we have been able to achieve more accessible to the DIY community, but first the not unsubstantial development costs have to be recovered. Hi Fi is a small niche, computer audio an even smaller niche, and high end computer audio even smaller.

[matthias]

Eurodriver,

nice work, congratulations.

Next weekend there is the X-fi Audio Show, AFAIK the biggest audio show in the Netherlands. Pink Faun is one of the exhibitors:

Pink Faun • X-fi Audioshow 2015

Do you have plans to show the SG Music Server in the Pink Faun room?

 

KR Matt

[Adyc]

Sound Galleries Music Server is built around PCM to DSD conversion software to deliver DSD128, DSD256, and DSD512

 

Is the software HQPlayer?

[jabbr]

A bit more eye candy. Different OCXO connected to a different mobo

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]20957[/ATTACH]

Sound testing next week :-)

 

You are certainly on the right track ... I've been experimenting with similar ideas but as a hobbyist and without the excellent resources you are directing at this project.

 

The technical requirements to get all this working should not be underestimated. I think several very smart and knowledgeable folks on this forum will attest to the difficulties of trying to piecemeal these projects together.

 

There is clearly a business in assembling such a product using state of the art components.

 

I'm assuming your server will have a fiber NIC

[EuroDriver]

Eurodriver,

nice work, congratulations.

Next weekend there is the X-fi Audio Show, AFAIK the biggest audio show in the Netherlands. Pink Faun is one of the exhibitors:

Pink Faun • X-fi Audioshow 2015

Do you have plans to show the SG Music Server in the Pink Faun room?

 

KR Matt

 

Hi KR Matt,

 

The SG Music Sever wont be in the Pink Faun room at X-fi.

 

There is one fully working prototype which is going to be running at the Monaco Yacht Show this week. It's a 2 box configuration, with a Ferrari Red PC case with one inboard and two outboard power supplies.

 

At the Monaco Yacht Show, the Red is going to be feeding a ExaSound E22 which will be feeding Klangwerk Ella active speakers. The Ferrari red case caught the eye of a yacht interior designer, as well as the sound coming from the combination with the Ella's which then resulted in an invitation to display at the show. In contrast to the ticket price for X-Fi of Euro 8.50 and Free Entrance at the Bonn show, the entrance ticket to the Monaco Yacht Show is just Euro 150 ! At the present time there are no production plans for the Red, but if a yacht owner asks, we won't say no ;-)

 

 

The first Pink Faun Chassis SG music server is under construction at Pink Faun should be ready for me to pick up this Friday for testing and preparation for the Bonn show the following weekend. It's going to look like this but with a different face plate

 

After Bonn, the SG music server will be at the Pink Faun Streaming days event in Rhenen, Holland on October 8 - 10

[EuroDriver]

Sound Galleries Music Server is built around PCM to DSD conversion software to deliver DSD128, DSD256, and DSD512

 

Is the software HQPlayer?

 

The media front ends for the Sound Galleries music server which will use HQ Player as the conversion engine will be

- iTunes on MAC OS

- Kodi on Windows & Mac OS

- Qobuz and Tidal on Kodi

 

Roon lifetime is also going to be bundled with the Sound Galleries music server, but the PCM to DSD converter will be foo-asio. We have been told to expect Roon integrated with HQ player at the end of this year - we are very excited

[EuroDriver]

You are certainly on the right track ... I've been experimenting with similar ideas but as a hobbyist and without the excellent resources you are directing at this project.

 

The technical requirements to get all this working should not be underestimated. I think several very smart and knowledgeable folks on this forum will attest to the difficulties of trying to piecemeal these projects together.

 

There is clearly a business in assembling such a product using state of the art components.

 

I'm assuming your server will have a fiber NIC

 

We appreciate your affirmation that we are on the right track. Multi sourcing of components certainly makes managing the project much more challenging, but the mantra of musical realism first, allows us to take a deep breath and continue along this complex path.

 

Fiber Media Converter with LPS will definitely be recommended, but a Fibre NIC might not be included as there may well be customers who already have a fibre network of a different spec from what we might build in.

[zerung]

Eurodriver

What processer have you gone for (I7 or Zeon)?

Thanks

[EuroDriver]

Eurodriver

What processer have you gone for (I7 or Zeon)?

Thanks

 

Hi zerung,

 

Rather than have the spec of the music server dribble out over a number of days, we will be releasing details on October 2nd which will include the processor family used

[EuroDriver]

The Sound Galleries Music Server is still getting better :-) We have been trying out different linear power supplies, and discovering even better sounding combinations.

 

One aspect we tested this past weekend was native DSD 64 upsampled to DSD 256 using ASDM7. I have not tried this for quite a while. Back in January 2015, when I first got WS 2012 + AO running with HQ Player I found the gap in SQ between PCM converted to DSD 256 and DSD 64 converted to DSD 256 had dramatically narrowed.

 

Now we find with the OCXO, DSD 64 upsampled to DSD 256 has very noticeably got even better. More texture to the timbre, its subtle but easily identifiable.

 

At Munich High End, we did not play any DSD tracks, at the Bonn show we will. I am very pleased with this development, because all of the time and effort that Jared Sacks, Cookie Marenco, and others put in to recording in DSD, is now paying off in spades.

[EuroDriver]

Getting a good sound at the Bonn show was pretty challenging as the set time was pretty short. However we did succeed, and many visitors told us that we had the best sound at the show. Particularly gratifying was that quite a few employees at big audio manufacturers came by to listen and told us that they thought the sound was really good. Uli Bruggerman dropped by and listened to a Minnesota Orchestra, Saint Saens Danse Macabre, track and felt the system was doing a good job, given we had no room correction running ;-)

 

I said that we would release the specs of the Music Server last Friday, but we have come up with new components last week that raise the bar again in sound quality, so we are holding off. No point in rushing the Music Server to market when we are still discovering very worthwhile upgrades.

 

Unfortunately I did not get to play the DSD tracks I purchased for the show as there was a hiccup in the website download server !

[bucodu]

I said that we would release the specs of the Music Server last Friday, but we have come up with new components last week that raise the bar again in sound quality, so we are holding off. No point in rushing the Music Server to market when we are still discovering very worthwhile upgrades.

!

 

it's very interesting!

 

seem like you are going to build absolutely best server on planet ))) i hope you will!

 

at least 3 years ago i can't believe that for example ram chips do different sound. bios settings too, and even changing clocks for CPU make difference. but now nearly everybody know )

 

with this new findings like usb hotrodding, fiber networks, even network switchers on LPS,DSD, AO on WS2012, HQPlayer and other great software mods, ram importance in server etc

 

we really need some team with both ears (!) and knowledge and passion to make everything at once on a highest standarts.

 

one interesting detail:

 

may be you can even get rid of DC-DC power switchers on mobo?

to produce for example constant Vcore directly from LPS and disable any overcklock/underclock features for stabilty.

 

and there are some other power switchers on mobo may be too. for so carefuly chosen DDR chips for example.

 

and some things on fighting with EMI/RFI. and may be PCB quality by itself that is different in industrial and consumer grade mobos. may be you can compare and find something here too. or may be you already done this?

 

with audiophile clock and even direct clean power for every part of PC may be it will be another planet in terms of sound?

 

i hope sometime there will be really carefuly selected audio grade computer components available.

mobos, ram,supplies, clocks and everything.

 

so tempting...

[EuroDriver]

 

we really need some team with both ears (!) and knowledge and passion to make everything at once on a highest standarts.

 

one interesting detail:

 

may be you can even get rid of DC-DC power switchers on mobo?

to produce for example constant Vcore directly from LPS and disable any overcklock/underclock features for stabilty.

 

and there are some other power switchers on mobo may be too. for so carefuly chosen DDR chips for example.

 

and some things on fighting with EMI/RFI. and may be PCB quality by itself that is different in industrial and consumer grade mobos. may be you can compare and find something here too. or may be you already done this?

 

with audiophile clock and even direct clean power for every part of PC may be it will be another planet in terms of sound?

 

i hope sometime there will be really carefuly selected audio grade computer components available.

mobos, ram,supplies, clocks and everything.

 

so tempting...

 

Hi bucodu,

 

We have a team with ears, knowledge and passion. May be too much, because we can't stop making changes and raising the sound quality ceiling.

 

Unfortunately some unobtainium is a now key ingredient, and we have to kick our heels waiting for the part to be manufactured.

 

So in the meantime, we have a graphic designer working on the face plate

[EuroDriver]

Here is the face plate design that has been selected

 

 

 

[EdmontonCanuck]

Here is the face plate design that has been selected

 

 

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]21505[/ATTACH]

 

 

Very nice! I like it! Am looking forward to hearing the specs on the machine, and of course, you're very generous offer of a deep discount for your Canadian cousin

[zerung]

Aesthetically very nice....