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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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8 hours ago, vortecjr said:

people reading this should know that if they use a Supermicro board for a Roon server that it will be short on performance. Roon recommends:

  • Intel Core i3, Ivy Bridge+
  • 4GB RAM
  • SSD boot drive
  • 1440 x 900 Resolution

I can tell you from speaking with Andrew that he recommends an i5 at minimum and prefers an i7. The difference being that you want an i7 with a large music collection and with DSP. His i7 is only 11 watts so nothing to obsess over regarding noise. Professional use could mean better parts or longer runs, or any number of things.

 

As for the noisy DC-DC converter there is no free lunch you now have those right on the board. And if you use the 4 pin power source input and an ATX power source you will have 2x the number of noisy DC-DC converter:) 

 

Also, you said that the tX-USBexp does not draw current form the motherboard. You might want to double check this with SOtM. I asked them about this a long time ago, but I can't remember with certainty what they said. 

The Zenith SE is using this board both for server / player  and is running Roon According to several reviews their owners have excellent results from sq perspective. 

As long as you don't do heavy DSD over sampling (128,256 ). The super micro board has no problem. There is an indicator of CPU usage in roon which shows you how intensive is your CPU usage. 

 

Whatever the powering method ATX or 4 pins you are faced with DC-DC converter unless you have an excellent  linear ATX psu ...which are very expensive and hard to find .

With the 4 pins and a very good 12v psu , you have a very good solution as the dc-dc converter on the board are perfectly sized for the function they should power , additionally you can stop in the bios most of the unused hardware. 

With ATX you have to go through the very noisy pico psu. 

 

Romaz i think has done a test with an other asrock board who could be powered either from 4 pin or ATX and they have found the 4 pin to be always superior in term of sq. 

 

As for the txUSB exp pcie card , it has its own dedicated psu. Sotm recommend as a safety to also power it with the internal flat 4 pin connector found in pc's. 

This is a safety measure to protect the card who could get damaged if the computer is running and the card has no power. 

Since i have found this to be sonically inferior , I am using only the external power. 

 

PCserver Supermicro X11SAA under Daphile  ,Jcat pcie net card ,Etherregen,e-red dock endpoint,powered by LPS 1.2 , SPS 500 , Sean Jacobs level 3 psu,  DAC Audiomat Maestro 3, Nagra Classic Amp , Hattor passive preamplifier , Martin Logan montis

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20 minutes ago, JohnSwenson said:

As a side point to all this I am just starting some fundamental research into how phase noise from clocks in different parts of a system interact and move around a system. The ultimate goal is to figure out how to prevent any of this from getting into a DAC, which make all of this irrelevant. At this point I don't know how long any of this will take, but that is where I am headed.

 

That is great to hear!

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28 minutes ago, JohnSwenson said:

Some comments on distribution of clocks.

John, do your comments apply equally to something like the Mutec Ref 10 output going into an sCLK-EX card, or is that a different situation than the sCLK-EX output going into an SOtM clock connect PCB that replaces a motherboard clock?

Pareto Audio AMD 7700 Server --> Berkeley Alpha USB --> Jeff Rowland Aeris --> Jeff Rowland 625 S2 --> Focal Utopia 3 Diablos with 2 x Focal Electra SW 1000 BE subs

 

i7-6700K/Windows 10  --> EVGA Nu Audio Card --> Focal CMS50's 

Link to comment
47 minutes ago, JohnSwenson said:

The type of single board you are talking about does not have to be terribly expensive. Clock synthesizer chip, decent oscillator (something like a 575 is probably all you need for most parts of the chain) and a pair of 3042 regulators is all you need.

John, isn't this the design of the power and clock circuits in the ISO Regen?

Pareto Audio aka nuckleheadaudio

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21 hours ago, jean-michel6 said:

Also from other forums , I read several time that Intel and Supermicro boards designed mainly for professional world usually have better sq , may be better components ?

 

 

They're also making many server boards for Xeon processors, this particular Micro ATX motherboard caught my attention because all 48 PCI Express lanes are fully utilized

 

https://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/Xeon/C420/X11SRM-VF.cfm

https://www.supermicro.com/manuals/motherboard/C420/MNL-1967.pdf#page=18

hpITGwq.png

 

The cheapest Xeon W-2123 would cost 300 bucks or so

 

https://ark.intel.com/products/125036/Intel-Xeon-W-2123-Processor-8_25M-Cache-3_60-GHz

 

Of course we've gotta use ThrottleStop to lower speed / voltage etc. because of its 120W TDP

 

https://beebom.com/how-use-throttlestop-control-cpu/

https://www.techpowerup.com/download/techpowerup-throttlestop/

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/the-throttlestop-guide.531329/

https://www.notebookcheck.net/How-to-Lower-Temperatures-Stop-Throttling-and-Increase-Battery-Life-The-ThrottleStop-Guide-2017.213140.0.html

 


 

What is OCuLink?

http://blog.fosketts.net/2017/06/22/what-is-oculink/

 

OCuLink (just ignore their typo) also seemed to be mighty interesting to me since they're directly connected to the CPU. That means we should be able to get one of these cables from Supermicro

 

http://store.supermicro.com/55cm-oculink-sff-8639-u2-cbl-sast-0956.html

http://store.supermicro.com/75cm-oculink-sff-8639-cbl-sast-1011.html

vYm3Ml6.jpg kQ6RKON.jpg

Then convert each OCuLink into PCI Express x4 slot that's far away from the motherboard

 

http://www.microsatacables.com/u2-sff8639-to-pcie-4-lane-adapter-sff-993-u2-4l

Jhnyfgd.png mE3t830.jpg

 

Granted they're meant for those storage devices such as PCI Express SSDs in the AIC (Add-in Card) form factor, though stuff like JCAT NET Card FEMTO, SOtM tX-USBexp, or professional sound cards (e.g. Lynx Studio and RME etc.) might also work.

 

If that were no go, maybe we could also take a look at another choice that's going from OCuLink to SFF-8643

 

http://www.cs-electronics.com/product/12g-internal-hd-mini-sas-sff-8643-oculink/

http://www.microsatacables.com/mini-sas-hd-sff-8643-to-pci-e-4-lanes-slot-adapter

67MG00U.jpg MSvXg1d.png

If either combo were working, then we should be able to save ourselves from these troubles that might happen in some cases

 

PCIe Extension Ribbon Side-Effects
http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-1779164/pcie-extension-ribbon-side-effects.html

 

Riser cable for SOtM - defect :-(
https://www.computeraudiophile.com/forums/topic/31499-riser-cable-for-sotm-defect/

 

Question: USB card installations and risers, ribbons etc

https://www.computeraudiophile.com/forums/topic/31662-question-usb-card-installations-and-risers-ribbons-etc/

Link to comment
32 minutes ago, seeteeyou said:

 

 

They're also making many server boards for Xeon processors, this particular Micro ATX motherboard caught my attention because all 48 PCI Express lanes are fully utilized

 

https://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/Xeon/C420/X11SRM-VF.cfm

https://www.supermicro.com/manuals/motherboard/C420/MNL-1967.pdf#page=18

hpITGwq.png

 

The cheapest Xeon W-2123 would cost 300 bucks or so

 

https://ark.intel.com/products/125036/Intel-Xeon-W-2123-Processor-8_25M-Cache-3_60-GHz

 

Of course we've gotta use ThrottleStop to lower speed / voltage etc. because of its 120W TDP

 

https://beebom.com/how-use-throttlestop-control-cpu/

https://www.techpowerup.com/download/techpowerup-throttlestop/

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/the-throttlestop-guide.531329/

https://www.notebookcheck.net/How-to-Lower-Temperatures-Stop-Throttling-and-Increase-Battery-Life-The-ThrottleStop-Guide-2017.213140.0.html

 


 

What is OCuLink?

http://blog.fosketts.net/2017/06/22/what-is-oculink/

 

OCuLink (just ignore their typo) also seemed to be mighty interesting to me since they're directly connected to the CPU. That means we should be able to get one of these cables from Supermicro

 

http://store.supermicro.com/55cm-oculink-sff-8639-u2-cbl-sast-0956.html

http://store.supermicro.com/75cm-oculink-sff-8639-cbl-sast-1011.html

vYm3Ml6.jpg kQ6RKON.jpg

Then convert each OCuLink into PCI Express x4 slot that's far away from the motherboard

 

http://www.microsatacables.com/u2-sff8639-to-pcie-4-lane-adapter-sff-993-u2-4l

Jhnyfgd.png mE3t830.jpg

 

Granted they're meant for those storage devices such as PCI Express SSDs in the AIC (Add-in Card) form factor, though stuff like JCAT NET Card FEMTO, SOtM tX-USBexp, or professional sound cards (e.g. Lynx Studio and RME etc.) might also work.

 

If that were no go, maybe we could also take a look at another choice that's going from OCuLink to SFF-8643

 

http://www.cs-electronics.com/product/12g-internal-hd-mini-sas-sff-8643-oculink/

http://www.microsatacables.com/mini-sas-hd-sff-8643-to-pci-e-4-lanes-slot-adapter

67MG00U.jpg MSvXg1d.png

If either combo were working, then we should be able to save ourselves from these troubles that might happen in some cases

 

PCIe Extension Ribbon Side-Effects
http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-1779164/pcie-extension-ribbon-side-effects.html

 

Riser cable for SOtM - defect :-(
https://www.computeraudiophile.com/forums/topic/31499-riser-cable-for-sotm-defect/

 

Question: USB card installations and risers, ribbons etc

https://www.computeraudiophile.com/forums/topic/31662-question-usb-card-installations-and-risers-ribbons-etc/

Adnaco supports fiber connected remote Pcie slots with independent power. It is tempting to try this with a good USB card.

Pareto Audio aka nuckleheadaudio

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9 minutes ago, lmitche said:

Adnaco supports fiber connected remote Pcie slots with independent power. It is tempting to try this with a good USB card.

 

That's fine for non-audio purposes but even sCLK-EX couldn't "undo" the damage according to @romaz

 

https://www.computeraudiophile.com/forums/topic/30376-a-novel-way-to-massively-improve-the-sq-of-computer-audio-streaming/?page=154&tab=comments#comment-725093

On 10/3/2017 at 6:28 AM, romaz said:

Yes, you're correct. Lee does not like optical solutions due to high jitter.  As it was Lee that personally modified the Adnaco I sent him, he got a chance to listen to it and even with its 3 clocks replaced, he told me he thought it was a step back because It was sounding flat.

 

BTW, Supermicro also made a few ATX motherboards with two M.2 slots that are connected to Xeon processors directly

 

https://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/Xeon/C420/X11SRA-RF.cfm

 

Even 280GB Optane 900P might be a viable choice now since we're talking about roughly $1.33 per GB at the moment

 

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167438

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167439

 

2.5" ones require 12V DC and the Active Write should consume 13W, maybe we could get away with 1.1A provided by 12V LPS-1.2 but I guess that could a stretch?

 

https://ark.intel.com/products/123623/Intel-Optane-SSD-900P-Series-280GB-2_5in-PCIe-x4-20nm-3D-XPoint

https://www.intel.com/content/dam/www/public/us/en/documents/product-briefs/optane-ssd-900p-brief.pdf

 

Hopefully some of us could give that a try and report back afterwards

 

https://www.computeraudiophile.com/forums/topic/34613-optane-ssd-as-boot-drive-sq-nirvana/

Link to comment
1 hour ago, seeteeyou said:

 

 

They're also making many server boards for Xeon processors, this particular Micro ATX motherboard caught my attention because all 48 PCI Express lanes are fully utilized

 

https://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/Xeon/C420/X11SRM-VF.cfm

https://www.supermicro.com/manuals/motherboard/C420/MNL-1967.pdf#page=18

hpITGwq.png

 

The cheapest Xeon W-2123 would cost 300 bucks or so

 

https://ark.intel.com/products/125036/Intel-Xeon-W-2123-Processor-8_25M-Cache-3_60-GHz

 

Of course we've gotta use ThrottleStop to lower speed / voltage etc. because of its 120W TDP

 

https://beebom.com/how-use-throttlestop-control-cpu/

https://www.techpowerup.com/download/techpowerup-throttlestop/

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/the-throttlestop-guide.531329/

https://www.notebookcheck.net/How-to-Lower-Temperatures-Stop-Throttling-and-Increase-Battery-Life-The-ThrottleStop-Guide-2017.213140.0.html

 


 

What is OCuLink?

http://blog.fosketts.net/2017/06/22/what-is-oculink/

 

OCuLink (just ignore their typo) also seemed to be mighty interesting to me since they're directly connected to the CPU. That means we should be able to get one of these cables from Supermicro

 

http://store.supermicro.com/55cm-oculink-sff-8639-u2-cbl-sast-0956.html

http://store.supermicro.com/75cm-oculink-sff-8639-cbl-sast-1011.html

vYm3Ml6.jpg kQ6RKON.jpg

Then convert each OCuLink into PCI Express x4 slot that's far away from the motherboard

 

http://www.microsatacables.com/u2-sff8639-to-pcie-4-lane-adapter-sff-993-u2-4l

Jhnyfgd.png mE3t830.jpg

 

Granted they're meant for those storage devices such as PCI Express SSDs in the AIC (Add-in Card) form factor, though stuff like JCAT NET Card FEMTO, SOtM tX-USBexp, or professional sound cards (e.g. Lynx Studio and RME etc.) might also work.

 

If that were no go, maybe we could also take a look at another choice that's going from OCuLink to SFF-8643

 

http://www.cs-electronics.com/product/12g-internal-hd-mini-sas-sff-8643-oculink/

http://www.microsatacables.com/mini-sas-hd-sff-8643-to-pci-e-4-lanes-slot-adapter

67MG00U.jpg MSvXg1d.png

If either combo were working, then we should be able to save ourselves from these troubles that might happen in some cases

 

PCIe Extension Ribbon Side-Effects
http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-1779164/pcie-extension-ribbon-side-effects.html

 

Riser cable for SOtM - defect :-(
https://www.computeraudiophile.com/forums/topic/31499-riser-cable-for-sotm-defect/

 

Question: USB card installations and risers, ribbons etc

https://www.computeraudiophile.com/forums/topic/31662-question-usb-card-installations-and-risers-ribbons-etc/

 

Yup, my riser cable failed.  Thought I'd blown my tx-USBexp somehow.  Fortunately not.  Bought a new super-thin flexi-cable (with traces instead of wires) and it sounded absolutly awful.  Got another case with a low-profile slot so I could drop the card right onto the motherboard.

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7 hours ago, jean-michel6 said:

...........

As for the txUSB exp pcie card , it has its own dedicated psu. Sotm recommend as a safety to also power it with the internal flat 4 pin connector found in pc's. 

This is a safety measure to protect the card who could get damaged if the computer is running and the card has no power. 

Since i have found this to be sonically inferior , I am using only the external power. 

 

Hi @jean-michel6

 

I also want to feed my tx-USBexp card with an external psu but I will have to open up my SOtM server to disconnect the tx-USBexp cards internal  supply as you have done.  This may invalidate my warranty doing this so do you recall if the SQ was markedly better when you disconnected the internal supply of the tx-USBexp card?

 

Thanks

Link to comment
3 hours ago, seeteeyou said:

 

 

They're also making many server boards for Xeon processors, this particular Micro ATX motherboard caught my attention because all 48 PCI Express lanes are fully utilized

 

https://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/Xeon/C420/X11SRM-VF.cfm

https://www.supermicro.com/manuals/motherboard/C420/MNL-1967.pdf#page=18

hpITGwq.png

 

The cheapest Xeon W-2123 would cost 300 bucks or so

 

https://ark.intel.com/products/125036/Intel-Xeon-W-2123-Processor-8_25M-Cache-3_60-GHz

 

Of course we've gotta use ThrottleStop to lower speed / voltage etc. because of its 120W TDP

 

https://beebom.com/how-use-throttlestop-control-cpu/

https://www.techpowerup.com/download/techpowerup-throttlestop/

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/the-throttlestop-guide.531329/

https://www.notebookcheck.net/How-to-Lower-Temperatures-Stop-Throttling-and-Increase-Battery-Life-The-ThrottleStop-Guide-2017.213140.0.html

 


 

What is OCuLink?

http://blog.fosketts.net/2017/06/22/what-is-oculink/

 

OCuLink (just ignore their typo) also seemed to be mighty interesting to me since they're directly connected to the CPU. That means we should be able to get one of these cables from Supermicro

 

http://store.supermicro.com/55cm-oculink-sff-8639-u2-cbl-sast-0956.html

http://store.supermicro.com/75cm-oculink-sff-8639-cbl-sast-1011.html

vYm3Ml6.jpg kQ6RKON.jpg

Then convert each OCuLink into PCI Express x4 slot that's far away from the motherboard

 

http://www.microsatacables.com/u2-sff8639-to-pcie-4-lane-adapter-sff-993-u2-4l

Jhnyfgd.png mE3t830.jpg

 

Granted they're meant for those storage devices such as PCI Express SSDs in the AIC (Add-in Card) form factor, though stuff like JCAT NET Card FEMTO, SOtM tX-USBexp, or professional sound cards (e.g. Lynx Studio and RME etc.) might also work.

 

If that were no go, maybe we could also take a look at another choice that's going from OCuLink to SFF-8643

 

http://www.cs-electronics.com/product/12g-internal-hd-mini-sas-sff-8643-oculink/

http://www.microsatacables.com/mini-sas-hd-sff-8643-to-pci-e-4-lanes-slot-adapter

67MG00U.jpg MSvXg1d.png

If either combo were working, then we should be able to save ourselves from these troubles that might happen in some cases

 

PCIe Extension Ribbon Side-Effects
http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-1779164/pcie-extension-ribbon-side-effects.html

 

Riser cable for SOtM - defect :-(
https://www.computeraudiophile.com/forums/topic/31499-riser-cable-for-sotm-defect/

 

Question: USB card installations and risers, ribbons etc

https://www.computeraudiophile.com/forums/topic/31662-question-usb-card-installations-and-risers-ribbons-etc/

Thank's for sharing all the good info. You are an encyclopedia about computer audio ?.

PCserver Supermicro X11SAA under Daphile  ,Jcat pcie net card ,Etherregen,e-red dock endpoint,powered by LPS 1.2 , SPS 500 , Sean Jacobs level 3 psu,  DAC Audiomat Maestro 3, Nagra Classic Amp , Hattor passive preamplifier , Martin Logan montis

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46 minutes ago, tims said:

Hi @jean-michel6

 

I also want to feed my tx-USBexp card with an external psu but I will have to open up my SOtM server to disconnect the tx-USBexp cards internal  supply as you have done.  This may invalidate my warranty doing this so do you recall if the SQ was markedly better when you disconnected the internal supply of the tx-USBexp card?

 

Thanks

Hi Tims 

 

Yes the sq gain is significant if you already have a resolving system. 

I have two friends who did the same and experienced a nice sq boost. 

The sotm pcie card requires 6,5 to 9 volts external supply and if you do not use the USB 5 volt , 1A or less is fine. 

However you MUST follow this powering sequence :

- start : power to sotm pcie then power on to mobo

- stop : power off mobo then power off the sotm pcie 

 

Me and my friends have been running like that for months with no issue. 

PCserver Supermicro X11SAA under Daphile  ,Jcat pcie net card ,Etherregen,e-red dock endpoint,powered by LPS 1.2 , SPS 500 , Sean Jacobs level 3 psu,  DAC Audiomat Maestro 3, Nagra Classic Amp , Hattor passive preamplifier , Martin Logan montis

Link to comment
1 hour ago, jean-michel6 said:

Hi Tims 

 

Yes the sq gain is significant if you already have a resolving system. 

I have two friends who did the same and experienced a nice sq boost. 

The sotm pcie card requires 6,5 to 9 volts external supply and if you do not use the USB 5 volt , 1A or less is fine. 

However you MUST follow this powering sequence :

- start : power to sotm pcie then power on to mobo

- stop : power off mobo then power off the sotm pcie 

 

Me and my friends have been running like that for months with no issue. 

Great, thanks for the information. 

I have a PH SR7 on order that will eventually supply the mobo and the txUSB with separate feeds.   I wonder if I disconnect the internal supply from the txUSB (as you have done) and power up/power down the SR7 to turn the server on and off that should be OK?

I will talk to May from sotm about it.

 

 

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12 hours ago, jean-michel6 said:

The Zenith SE is using this board both for server / player  and is running Roon According to several reviews their owners have excellent results from sq perspective. 

As long as you don't do heavy DSD over sampling (128,256 ). The super micro board has no problem. There is an indicator of CPU usage in roon which shows you how intensive is your CPU usage. 

 

Whatever the powering method ATX or 4 pins you are faced with DC-DC converter unless you have an excellent  linear ATX psu ...which are very expensive and hard to find .

With the 4 pins and a very good 12v psu , you have a very good solution as the dc-dc converter on the board are perfectly sized for the function they should power , additionally you can stop in the bios most of the unused hardware. 

With ATX you have to go through the very noisy pico psu. 

 

Romaz i think has done a test with an other asrock board who could be powered either from 4 pin or ATX and they have found the 4 pin to be always superior in term of sq. 

 

As for the txUSB exp pcie card , it has its own dedicated psu. Sotm recommend as a safety to also power it with the internal flat 4 pin connector found in pc's. 

This is a safety measure to protect the card who could get damaged if the computer is running and the card has no power. 

Since i have found this to be sonically inferior , I am using only the external power. 

 

I’ll ask Roon and Andrew to comment and report back.

 

Your assuming the on board Dc to DC converters are better than the ATX source. Why assume when there are solutions with on board liner regulation. 

 

Not it sure how many boards can use a dual source you have to check the manual to be sure the 4 pin connector is not for the processor. Regardless you will have common grounds. 

 

No one ever powers both on the card. 

Link to comment
8 hours ago, seeteeyou said:

 

That's fine for non-audio purposes but even sCLK-EX couldn't "undo" the damage according to @romaz

 

https://www.computeraudiophile.com/forums/topic/30376-a-novel-way-to-massively-improve-the-sq-of-computer-audio-streaming/?page=154&tab=comments#comment-725093

 

BTW, Supermicro also made a few ATX motherboards with two M.2 slots that are connected to Xeon processors directly

 

https://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/Xeon/C420/X11SRA-RF.cfm

 

Even 280GB Optane 900P might be a viable choice now since we're talking about roughly $1.33 per GB at the moment

 

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167438

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167439

 

2.5" ones require 12V DC and the Active Write should consume 13W, maybe we could get away with 1.1A provided by 12V LPS-1.2 but I guess that could a stretch?

 

https://ark.intel.com/products/123623/Intel-Optane-SSD-900P-Series-280GB-2_5in-PCIe-x4-20nm-3D-XPoint

https://www.intel.com/content/dam/www/public/us/en/documents/product-briefs/optane-ssd-900p-brief.pdf

 

Hopefully some of us could give that a try and report back afterwards

 

https://www.computeraudiophile.com/forums/topic/34613-optane-ssd-as-boot-drive-sq-nirvana/

Roy's Adnaco research was done with the USB solution not the PCie solution.

 

Yes, there are even some z270 and z370 boards with direct to cpu m.2 slots.

 

I bought a 32 gb Optane m.2 SSD this weekend for $56. It's the perfect boot drive for Windows. This is my second 32gb Optane drive. See the Optane thread for details.

Pareto Audio aka nuckleheadaudio

Link to comment
7 hours ago, tims said:

Hi @jean-michel6

 

I also want to feed my tx-USBexp card with an external psu but I will have to open up my SOtM server to disconnect the tx-USBexp cards internal  supply as you have done.  This may invalidate my warranty doing this so do you recall if the SQ was markedly better when you disconnected the internal supply of the tx-USBexp card?

 

Thanks

 

This shouldn't invalidate your warranty.  Check with May at SOtM.  Let me know if you need any help.

Link to comment
5 hours ago, tims said:

Great, thanks for the information. 

I have a PH SR7 on order that will eventually supply the mobo and the txUSB with separate feeds.   I wonder if I disconnect the internal supply from the txUSB (as you have done) and power up/power down the SR7 to turn the server on and off that should be OK?

I will talk to May from sotm about it.

 

 

 

I use and SR7 to power my motherboard and tX-USB-exp.  Leaving the SR7 on and powering from the PC's power will keep continuous power to the tX-USBexp.  Even if you shut off the SR7 it will power both down simultaneously just as it would if the tX-USBexp were internally connected.  I've had no issues whatsoever.

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4 hours ago, vortecjr said:

I’ll ask Roon and Andrew to comment and report back.

 

Your assuming the on board Dc to DC converters are better than the ATX source. Why assume when there are solutions with on board liner regulation. 

 

Not it sure how many boards can use a dual source you have to check the manual to be sure the 4 pin connector is not for the processor. Regardless you will have common grounds. 

 

No one ever powers both on the card. 

I am listening right now , SQ  and emotion is ??

PCserver Supermicro X11SAA under Daphile  ,Jcat pcie net card ,Etherregen,e-red dock endpoint,powered by LPS 1.2 , SPS 500 , Sean Jacobs level 3 psu,  DAC Audiomat Maestro 3, Nagra Classic Amp , Hattor passive preamplifier , Martin Logan montis

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8 hours ago, tims said:

Great, thanks for the information. 

I have a PH SR7 on order that will eventually supply the mobo and the txUSB with separate feeds.   I wonder if I disconnect the internal supply from the txUSB (as you have done) and power up/power down the SR7 to turn the server on and off that should be OK?

I will talk to May from sotm about it.

 

 

I think it should be ok but it is better to ask May. 

 

I have written in the past to them and they do not recommend to disconnect the internal power supply because it is a safety. 

However using only the external power and the right sequence of powering and shutdown is fine with a nice sq boost. 

PCserver Supermicro X11SAA under Daphile  ,Jcat pcie net card ,Etherregen,e-red dock endpoint,powered by LPS 1.2 , SPS 500 , Sean Jacobs level 3 psu,  DAC Audiomat Maestro 3, Nagra Classic Amp , Hattor passive preamplifier , Martin Logan montis

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A little back to the beginning of this thread:

 

-> Mac Wifi to ethernet network bridge

 

Is there a way to make SOTM sMS200 ultra visible on the ethernet with a proper IP address while being directly connected to a Mac Mini which is only connected through Wifi?

 

Why?

 

OSX self assigns an IP address to SOTM when "internet sharing" is on. Of course this is a feature as OSX then acts as its own DHCP server. That is bad because the SOTM GUI cannot directly be found (only with a trick) but moreover HQ Player doesn't find the HQP end point on SOTM as it seems to be on a different network.

 

So, the Mac should receive 2 IPs from the router, one for itself and one for the directly connected SOTM.

 

Yes, I could go Thunderbolt to Ethernet bridge but I am interested in this solution in particular:

 

Mac on Wifi with an ethernet connection to SOTM.

 

Any progress on this or people who have gotten that implemented?

 

Best

Chris

 

 

 

 

Software > Roon Server & HQ Player4 on Windows 2019/AO & MacMini MMK (plus Audirvana 3.5)  > Netgear GS105EV2 > Meicord Opal > Naim NDX 2 > Naim SN2 + Lyngdorf CD-2 + Rega RP8/Aria >  > Harbeth SHL5 plus

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19 hours ago, lmitche said:

John, isn't this the design of the power and clock circuits in the ISO Regen?

The ISO REGEN does not have a clock synthesizer chip. The hub chip is directly connected to the output of the 575. Custom 575 chips are used which have the correct frequency for the hub chip. There are 5 LT3042 regulators powering different circuits.

 

John S.

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3 minutes ago, JohnSwenson said:

The ISO REGEN does not have a clock synthesizer chip. The hub chip is directly connected to the output of the 575. Custom 575 chips are used which have the correct frequency for the hub chip. There are 5 LT3042 regulators powering different circuits.

 

John S.

John, Got it! Thanks, Larry

Pareto Audio aka nuckleheadaudio

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19 hours ago, rickca said:

John, do your comments apply equally to something like the Mutec Ref 10 output going into an sCLK-EX card, or is that a different situation than the sCLK-EX output going into an SOtM clock connect PCB that replaces a motherboard clock?

I don't know what SoTM does in any of these situations. The Ref10 has clock output of the appropriate impedance (some 50 some 75) so they will drive a coax properly. The ref inputs on the clock synthesizer chips are designed for low voltage, so they can handle reduces signal amplitude from the properly terminated source. I presume the ref input on the SoTM board has the proper termination resistor for the connector being used.

 

I have no idea what is on the clock interface board, but it is probably some form of termination and maybe a conversion chip. I presume they did it right so it will work driving standard CMOS inputs.

 

I was writing the post to people that want to do their own clock distribution scheme to let them know it is not so simple to do it right.

 

John S.

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