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A novel way to massively improve the SQ of computer audio streaming


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Most important: please realize this thread is about bleeding edge experimentation and discovery. No one has The Answer™. If you are not into tweaking, just know that you can have a musically satisfying system without doing any of the nutty things we do here.

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3 minutes ago, BigGuy said:

I too am using the Adnaco S3B 

http://www.adnaco.com/products/s3a/
with a 30 ft glass cable between my PC server and DAC.  USB connection is via the Pangea Ag cable treated with the Swenson shield ground.

 

Sounds like the SOTM tX-USBUltra is a great add-on but put off by the $1k buy-in.

 

Any other things you have tried or are planning?  Thoughts on a IsoRegen, etc., vs the SOTM?

 

 

Roy has checked out of the forum.  He has commented on the ISO Regen and use of it in his system.  Take a look at the index for his posts.

 

One comment about FMCs is that they have their own PSUs and clocks.  Their clocks are often noisy.  You're potentially adding noise on one end to reduce it by using fiber.

 

A more recent effort has been to eliminate as much noise as possible from the PC/server.  If you read what I and a couple others have done, we've used the sCLK-EX, which is a component of the tX-USBultra, to improve the clocks in either our PC, switch or both.

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2 hours ago, acaro said:

A question to those who have the trifecta and the dlink switch. How are you powering the dlink?  Does the sms-500 have enough power to do the trifecta and the dlink? I have the the sms-200 ultra and the sms-500 (thinking about the txUsb), but don't wsnt to buy yet another power supply.

 

You can use the sPS-500 with a y-cable to power both the sMS-200ultra and tX-USBultra.  It will work just fine, but the sound quality will be less than if you powered them separately.

 

 

 

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I just looked at all manuals.  The sms-500 is capable of 5A at 12V.  Both the sms-200ultra and the txUSB ultra can be set to 7V (at 2A each?) and the dlink can be ordered at 7V and is rated 1A.  So....theoretically could you power all 3 with the sms-500 with a custom triple lead cable?  Alternatively, could the dlink be powered with a modified cable from the extra usb port on the sms-200 ultra?  I have remaining outlets on my wall and I'm looking for a creative solution for this.  Thanks

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13 minutes ago, austinpop said:

 

Which version do you have? I think SOtM sells 3 configurations these days. See screenshot:

 

5a14688ab881a_ScreenShot2017-11-21at11_54_40AM.thumb.png.53c296931cdcb7ed2f91a05930ede0db.png

 

 

8 minutes ago, auricgoldfinger said:

 

From the SOtM website: 

 

The tX-USBultra requires 6.5 ~ 9 voltages. But if your power supply provides over 9V, you can change the standard power requirement to the optional 12.0V, and then you can use above 9V ~ 12V power to tX-USBultra.

 

Refer back to my post about breaking out the tX-USBultra.  The sCLK-EX controls the voltage and you can manually change that yourself with dip switches.  SOtM can do that for you, but if you're comfortable opening it up you can do it yourself.  It's pretty easy really.  The jumper chart I provided in that post comes from the sCLK-EX instruction manual downloadable from their site.  If you haven't read that manual yet, it's very helpful.  There are two different board releases.

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1 minute ago, Johnseye said:

 

 

Refer back to my post about breaking out the tX-USBultra.  The sCLK-EX controls the voltage and you can manually change that yourself with dip switches.  SOtM can do that for you, but if you're comfortable opening it up you can do it yourself.  It's pretty easy really.  The jumper chart I provided in that post comes from the sCLK-EX instruction manual downloadable from their site.  If you haven't read that manual yet, it's very helpful.  There are two different board releases.

 

Yes, indeed. The latest board supports 3 ranges: 6.5-8.5v, 9v, and 12v.

 

Us old-timers have the older revision, which was 6.5-9v, and 12v. Why, in my day, we only had 2 voltage ranges. And we LOVED it! :D 

 

Not sure how many of you are old enough to remember Dana Carvey's Grumpy Old Man on SNL: http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/weekend-update-segment---grumpy-old-man/n9887?snl=1

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3 hours ago, Johnseye said:

 

 

Refer back to my post about breaking out the tX-USBultra.  The sCLK-EX controls the voltage and you can manually change that yourself with dip switches.  SOtM can do that for you, but if you're comfortable opening it up you can do it yourself.  It's pretty easy really.  The jumper chart I provided in that post comes from the sCLK-EX instruction manual downloadable from their site.  If you haven't read that manual yet, it's very helpful.  There are two different board releases.

 

3 hours ago, austinpop said:

 

Yes, indeed. The latest board supports 3 ranges: 6.5-8.5v, 9v, and 12v.

 

Us old-timers have the older revision, which was 6.5-9v, and 12v. Why, in my day, we only had 2 voltage ranges. And we LOVED it! :D 

 

Not sure how many of you are old enough to remember Dana Carvey's Grumpy Old Man on SNL: http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/weekend-update-segment---grumpy-old-man/n9887?snl=1

 

I said dip switches...I meant jumpers.  Here's the picture of how to change the voltage.  It looks like both boards have 3 voltage options.  Either way you can toggle between them to power it by a variety of power supplies.

 

The USB module of the tX-USBultra takes a regulated voltage from the sCLK-EX.  This is described in the sCLK-EX manual.  It can also be powered externally with 9v but would guess you could power it with less.  I haven't tried yet.

 

I've also uploaded a few photos I took of the tX-USBultra USB module.  You can see from the picture that SOtM just took the DC in adapter and plugged it into the USB module.  This allows me to run a DC cable from my sCLK-EX to the tX-USBultra chassis.  I could just as easily run one of those blue and white cables from the sCLK-EX power out plug to the USB module and bypass the DC.  While I haven't yet seen a picture of someone's unmodified tX-USBultra, I suspect that's how it's connected.  The other cable connecting the two boards in the pictures is for the USB out.  Note the SATA power connector as this module is also used as a PC mounted card, or tX-USBhub

 

 

IMG-20171109-WA0005.thumb.jpg.62464790bf3e74d28387f81a48d9314b.jpg

 

20171116_184103.jpg

 

20171116_184144.jpg

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I'm trying to set up a bridged connection on my Lubuntu machine, which runs Roonserver.

 

No problem changing /etc/network/interfaces, as specified below (thanks to @hopkins) albeit with other designations for the bridged ports:

auto lo br0

iface lo inet loopback

iface br0 inet dhcp

bridge_ports eth0 eth1

It works, but only for a short while: after some time my Roonremotes (android) can't connect to Roonserver anymore. Only after rebooting I'ḿ able to connect again to Roon, but (again) only for a short time.

 

Any ideas what's causing this behaviour? Solutions?

 

Thanks for helping out! 

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10 minutes ago, seeteeyou said:

 

Up Squared Board with Celeron N3350 looks quite interesting

 

http://www.up-board.org/upsquared/

 

$145 for 2GB of RAM and $169 for 4GB of RAM respectively

 

https://up-shop.org/up-boards/92-up-squared-celeron-duo-core-2gb-memory32gb-emmc.html

https://up-shop.org/up-boards/94-up-squared-celeron-duo-core-4gb-memory32gb-emmc.html

 

I could count 2 clocks on one side and 1 clock on the other

 

aaeon_upsquared_front.jpgaaeon_upsquared_back.jpg

 

We could actually install two pieces of SOtM tX-USBexp thanks to one M.2 slot and one Mini PCIe slot, of course we'll need an adapter or a riser of some sort

 

http://www.hwtools.net/Adapter/PE4C V3.0.html

http://www.hwtools.net/Adapter/PE4C V4.1.html

 

That's pretty much the only reasonably priced option if we're going after something as small as 85.6 mm × 90 mm for the sake of very short clock cables, it's just somewhat tricky to figure out how to get both SOtM tX-USBexp cards positioned properly because of the constraints on space.

 

The specs claimed 5V @ 4A but we'll have to measure the actual power consumption in order to find out if LPS-1 were any good, of course some of us might consider sPS-500 / Paul Hynes / Vinnie Rossi MINI PURE-DC-4EVR etc. so that might not be such a big deal

 

http://www.up-board.org/upsquared/specifications-up2/

Thanks a lot for the links and the detailed reply. 

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I have a question that I hope someone can answer in this thread.

 

I am interested in a pair of Heco Direct Einklang speakers which have a sensitivity of 94dB and impedance of 4-8 ohm http://www.heco-audio.de/en/loudspeakers/by-series/heco-direkt-einklang/heco-direkt-einklang

A 5 watt amp should be sufficient to power the speakers according to a local dealer.

 

320DIREKTEINW_2.thumb.jpg.bfd61fbb7497f814cadd2c01f80df5c3.jpg

 

My question is if it is possible to power the speakers via the headphone outputs of my Brooklyn DAC which is 6watt/500mA according to the specs? 

 

 

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45 minutes ago, Cornan said:

I have a question that I hope someone can answer in this thread.

 

I am interested in a pair of Heco Direct Einklang speakers which have a sensitivity of 94dB and impedance of 4-8 ohm http://www.heco-audio.de/en/loudspeakers/by-series/heco-direkt-einklang/heco-direkt-einklang

A 5 watt amp should be sufficient to power the speakers according to a local dealer.

 

320DIREKTEINW_2.thumb.jpg.bfd61fbb7497f814cadd2c01f80df5c3.jpg

 

My question is if it is possible to power the speakers via the headphone outputs of my Brooklyn DAC which is 6watt/500mA according to the specs? 

 

Well, according to Stereophile the headphone jack has 1 Ohm output impedance so yes, theoretically it can make these speakers loud enough for normal listening levels.

 

Now, weather they will sound any good or not is another matter. Will the little baby headphone output stage really be able to control a large full-range driver? I bet you...absolutely not. You'd need find some impedance and phase curve measurements for it first to be sure. 

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1 hour ago, seeteeyou said:

 

Up Squared Board with Celeron N3350 looks quite interesting

 

http://www.up-board.org/upsquared/

 

$145 for 2GB of RAM and $169 for 4GB of RAM respectively

 

https://up-shop.org/up-boards/92-up-squared-celeron-duo-core-2gb-memory32gb-emmc.html

https://up-shop.org/up-boards/94-up-squared-celeron-duo-core-4gb-memory32gb-emmc.html

 

I could count 2 clocks on one side and 1 clock on the other

 

aaeon_upsquared_front.jpgaaeon_upsquared_back.jpg

 

We could actually install two pieces of SOtM tX-USBexp thanks to one M.2 slot and one Mini PCIe slot, of course we'll need an adapter or a riser of some sort

 

http://www.hwtools.net/Adapter/PE4C V3.0.html

http://www.hwtools.net/Adapter/PE4C V4.1.html

 

That's pretty much the only reasonably priced option if we're going after something as small as 85.6 mm × 90 mm for the sake of very short clock cables, it's just somewhat tricky to figure out how to get both SOtM tX-USBexp cards positioned properly because of the constraints on space.

 

The specs claimed 5V @ 4A but we'll have to measure the actual power consumption in order to find out if LPS-1 were any good, of course some of us might consider sPS-500 / Paul Hynes / Vinnie Rossi MINI PURE-DC-4EVR etc. so that might not be such a big deal

 

http://www.up-board.org/upsquared/specifications-up2/

Very nice, they even make a chassis for it, all aluminum, easily modified for external PCIe card or cards.  Reasonable priced.  I like it.

 

https://up-shop.org/up-peripherals/142-up-squared-fanless-chassis-with-vesa-mounting-plate.html

 

(JRiver) Jetway barebones NUC (mod 3 sCLK-EX, Cybershaft OP 14)  (PH SR7) => mini pcie adapter to PCIe 1X => tXUSBexp PCIe card (mod sCLK-EX) (PH SR7) => (USPCB) Chord DAVE => Omega Super 8XRS/REL t5i  (All powered thru Topaz Isolation Transformer)

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36 minutes ago, GUTB said:

 

Well, according to Stereophile the headphone jack has 1 Ohm output impedance so yes, theoretically it can make these speakers loud enough for normal listening levels.

 

Now, weather they will sound any good or not is another matter. Will the little baby headphone output stage really be able to control a large full-range driver? I bet you...absolutely not. You'd need find some impedance and phase curve measurements for it first to be sure. 

 

Thanks, I will see what I can find out about it! ?

 

 

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41 minutes ago, Cornan said:

 

Why not? ? Any suggestion of a great 2 x >5 watt tube amp?

I've got 2 class A, 6W SET monoblocks, to heavy to ship though.

I would expect the headphone amp to run out of steam, not a good idea as it may clip, don't forget all an amp is doing is modulating the power supply... so headphone amps don't need much grunt to drive headphones, speakers its a different story and even though its rated at 6W, driving headphones takes fractions of a watt.

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32 minutes ago, marce said:

I've got 2 class A, 6W SET monoblocks, to heavy to ship though.

I would expect the headphone amp to run out of steam, not a good idea as it may clip, don't forget all an amp is doing is modulating the power supply... so headphone amps don't need much grunt to drive headphones, speakers its a different story and even though its rated at 6W, driving headphones takes fractions of a watt.

 

Thanks marce! ? I have started to look around for suitable tube mono amps or mono amps on the second hand market, but at the same time the whole point with the Heco Direct Einklang speakers fails when the idea to power it from the headphone  amps fails. I will probably start looking for active speakers (other than my current Monkey Banana Turbo 5) as well.

 

 

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I use mine with some open baffle, 2X 15" woofers per side some true audiophile Fostex 208s and Fostex super tweaters, this is my Audiophile system:D not neutral, not totally true reproduction, but fun, we have some small near field monitors that myself and the daughter do when we are playing music, this is why I want some ATC's in my life), my old system is an Audiolab and some KEF 104/2's that I have had since late 1990's. I also have an eclectic mix of bits from over the years in boxes in the loft including TEAC tape decks, about 3 or 4 old DACS (Marantz, Omega an ancient Kenwood that sounds very smooth and enjoyable.) So while I am a cold hearted villain, I do play with stuff and listen, I do it for fun though and don't cliam I am creating true fidelity, because I am not. Over the years I have loved playing with speakers as they give the BIGGEST subjective change, I have tried, transmission line, open baffle, sealed boxes, open baffle, bass relex, the KEFS, even tried Wharfedales Loud panels, what I find is that the different representation a new set of speakers gives, allows you to hear a track slightly differently, it may not be an improvement (only measurements and testing to a known neutral reference would tell) but you hear your music collection a bit different and can enjoy aspects of the music that were not as prominent before... I perceive differences I just don't think they are night and day, nor do I get hung up over ineffable hearing, I'm too busy enjoying the music.:D

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