Building the ideal(ish) Music Server

[JDWest]

Thanks John, that's great. Is it okay if I pop over on Saturday to make the swap?

 

Sure. Bring your server if you feel like trying it over here. 

[AccuTidal]

.....

Edited August 2, 2015 by Chanh

[realysm42]

.....

Well i liked the pictures whike they were up lol.

To report back the second SOtM card worked perfectly well out of the box. It even works perfectly well with Dirac. What is puzzling is when i used the card with the defective power switch at Johns (he supplied power via alternative means) my pc detected it as a discreet component.

With the working card, my pc doesn't see it at all on the playback device list. It must work though as I'm getting sound through it. Any ideas what's going on here?

[TP1]

Well i liked the pictures whike they were up lol.

To report back the second SOtM card worked perfectly well out of the box. It even works perfectly well with Dirac. What is puzzling is when i used the card with the defective power switch at Johns (he supplied power via alternative means) my pc detected it as a discreet component.

With the working card, my pc doesn't see it at all on the playback device list. It must work though as I'm getting sound through it. Any ideas what's going on here?

What software are you using? I know that Windows 7 and Windows Server 2012 need special SOTM drivers to make everything work properly. No such requirements with Linux.

[realysm42]

Windows 10 now, but the same thing happened on 8.1

[TP1]

Windows 10 now, but the same thing happened on 8.1

Try downloading the SOTM drivers and see if all is in order. If not and you suspect the card, an email to Sonore in the U.S. will usually get a speedy response.

[realysm42]

Try downloading the SOTM drivers and see if all is in order. If not and you suspect the card, an email to Sonore in the U.S. will usually get a speedy response.

So do you think its not working prolerly? I'm getting sound out of it...

[TP1]

So do you think its not working prolerly? I'm getting sound out of it...

Personally I wouldn't worry about it if it is working properly. In the instances I had issues there was no sound at all coming from the card.

[realysm42]

Personally I wouldn't worry about it if it is working properly. In the instances I had issues there was no sound at all coming from the card.

Yep, just listened to some hi-res material and its never sounded this... clear. I don't care what the driver selection for Dirac says it's definitely working.

Tasso/Chanh/anyone else, what psu are you using for the mobo? I mean do you plug in a 9v barrel connector into the board or do you use a Pico? I've just purchased a hdplex 250 to replace the Pico, means I'll have to wait a while longer for the paul hynes psu but i think it'll be worth it, the Pico is definitely the weak link in my chain.

[TP1]

Yep, just listened to some hi-res material and its never sounded this... clear. I don't care what the driver selection for Dirac says it's definitely working.

Tasso/Chanh/anyone else, what psu are you using for the mobo? I mean do you plug in a 9v barrel connector into the board or do you use a Pico? I've just purchased a hdplex 250 to replace the Pico, means I'll have to wait a while longer for the paul hynes psu but i think it'll be worth it, the Pico is definitely the weak link in my chain.

 

At the moment i'm using the custom choke-input psu to the 12V input on the mobo.   There is no pico on the board and your feedback on the HD-Plex DC-ATX unit would be interesting.

[realysm42]

At the moment i'm using the custom choke-input psu to the 12V input on the mobo.   There is no pico on the board and your feedback on the HD-Plex DC-ATX unit would be interesting.

Nice.

I'll pop it in prior to my new psu (because new toy) to see what it does for sq and report back when its had a few hours on it.

I guess its good to be scientific and see what improvements individual changes make.

[a.dent]

Yep, just listened to some hi-res material and its never sounded this... clear. I don't care what the driver selection for Dirac says it's definitely working.

Tasso/Chanh/anyone else, what psu are you using for the mobo? I mean do you plug in a 9v barrel connector into the board or do you use a Pico? I've just purchased a hdplex 250 to replace the Pico, means I'll have to wait a while longer for the paul hynes psu but i think it'll be worth it, the Pico is definitely the weak link in my chain.

 

I'm using the HD Plex 12V output but mine is a PCI card not PCIe.

 

Sounds great but unfortunately the CD still sounds a little bit better.

 

I'll probably have to try a better PSU.

[realysm42]

Are hdplex psus cheap and cheerful in the grand scheme of things?

[MarcusHix]

Happy with mine....received it 2 weeks ago.

 

Using it to power my Mac Mini Uptone DC-Conversion/Linear Fan Controller Kit (MMK) (12V) with USB Regen (7.5V) to arrive shortly...

 

[a.dent]

Are hdplex psus cheap and cheerful in the grand scheme of things?

 

No mine seems to be great. I love it and great value for money

 

I was just thinking about Chan's and Tasso's choked power supplies when I mentioned upgrading.

[Andrew S.]

Hi Andrew

I'm having some dramas getting a system loaded on my internal HDD (will try from a CD later) but have been playing around with Daphile booting from a USB stick. 

 

Its nice enough but lacks the transparency  of mpd, as I recall that. I am interested in Vortexbox, for obvious reasons. I'll also load up Audiophile Linux (Mpd) when I get a chance.

 

Interestingly, at least to me, I mapped a NAS and A/Bed the same track played back streamed from the NAS and loaded locally on the same USB thumb drive with Daphile & also in RAM. There was a marked loss of quality streaming from the NAS. It was really a big difference. Which surprised me. I didn't think the streaming over the Ethernet would make that big a difference, but it certainly did. 

 

My SOtM PCI card hasn't arrived yet (seems to be taking the scenic way to get here), but I have been using a SOtM tX-USBhub (internal), which relies on a USB hub only. I'll A/B it to standard USB out shortly and see if I can hear much of a difference. Mind you. My system is pretty budget these days, so perhaps its all a little wasted. 

 

All powered by the HD Plex LPS, which seems to do the job. 

[a.dent]

Hi Andrew

 

If you try to load your OS on to your existing internal HDD you will lose all your existing data (music)!!!! 

 

You should be able to load to the HDD from Settings/System Firmware/New Installation and chose the HDD.

 

I've got Daphile running from an SD card in a Cfast adapter into the Cfast slot on the mobo. Vortexbox is on a Cfast card.

 

To me they sound the same as the USB stick.

 

I prefer Vortexbox to Daphile. It seems smoother and more organic than Daphile. I'll have to give MPD a try.

 

Cheers

 

Andrew

 

PS. Tasso and Chanh, how's the PSU development going?

[AccuTidal]

Hi Andrew and Andy,

Many thanks for your feedbacks wrt the NAS vs local storage! I have been trying to convey the similar findings wrt network vs local for yearss, and the rest of the World's Tech thought I was crazy! Same goes with HDD vs SSD. [emoji12]

Anyway, Tasso and I are currently working on a power-station for his Server. We plan to use a 300 to 500VA for full wave bridge rectifier with snubber for every diode and direct to a massive Choke input/filter. This PS is conservatively outputting 30-50A per 12VDC. Not sure if larger scale would bring the sonic benefits. One got to try to find out?! We might never never know if we never never go?!?

Chanh.

[TP1]

Are hdplex psus cheap and cheerful in the grand scheme of things?

 

It is very good for the price. The PPA power supply was no better and has less  flexibility. Teradak  seem to use less quality components so all in all HD-Plex  is good buying. And having all  voltages at your disposal is very handy for a number of applications.

 

In terms of the preferred "off the Shelf"  solution, I think this  one  below from Uptone audio will be very hard to beat and would perform better than HD-Plex.  It uses  Schotky diodes, and  choke input which we have discovered  makes a big difference with digital audio.  It seems more thought has gone into the design of that unit for digital applications.

 

http://uptoneaudio.com/products/js-2-linear-power-supply

Edited August 15, 2015 by Tasso

[Guest myrantz]

I've got Daphile running from an SD card in a Cfast adapter into the Cfast slot on the mobo. Vortexbox is on a Cfast card.

The Delock? How you find it? is it worth buying? I've been eyeing that for months but not sure how good it is really in the whole scheme of things compared to just getting a SSD...

[JDWest]

Chanh & Tasso,

I understand your test server for the PSU build has an old style SOtM PCI card with only the internal 12V input.  My guess is that separate PSUs for SOtM card and mobo will be best (even if mobo has an excellent PSU).  Not sure how many choke-input PSUs you have built but hope your tests will reveal the relative importance of using "extra-high quality PSUs" for SOtM card vs mobo; and also whether any benefit of the mega-amp version applies to both.

 

Put another way, I envisage a system with separate linear PSUs for mobo, SOtM, DAC/uptone Regen and perhaps SSD.  Wondering where to stick the biggest or best PSUs...no rude answers please 

 

Appreciate your endeavours,

 

JD

[a.dent]

The Delock? How you find it? is it worth buying? I've been eyeing that for months but not sure how good it is really in the whole scheme of things compared to just getting a SSD...

Yes the Delock.

I have no way of telling if it is good or not but it works perfectly so far. Way cheaper than buying a real CFast card but would obviously be a lot slower depending on what type of SD card you use. I'm just using a cheap 16gb card from the supermarket. It's certainly seamless with Daphile.

[a.dent]

Chanh & Tasso,

I understand your test server for the PSU build has an old style SOtM PCI card with only the internal 12V input.  My guess is that separate PSUs for SOtM card and mobo will be best (even if mobo has an excellent PSU).  Not sure how many choke-input PSUs you have built but hope your tests will reveal the relative importance of using "extra-high quality PSUs" for SOtM card vs mobo; and also whether any benefit of the mega-amp version applies to both.

 

Put another way, I envisage a system with separate linear PSUs for mobo, SOtM, DAC/uptone Regen and perhaps SSD.  Wondering where to stick the biggest or best PSUs...no rude answers please 

 

Appreciate your endeavours,

 

JD

Hey JD,

The SOTM PCI card is powered from one of the 12v outputs of the HDPlex PSU. So separate supplies for USB card, MOBO and (on it's way) Regen all from HD Plex.

I guess the next step is to use the last power output for the SSD. Maybe next week!

If you have the PCIe card you can use the 9v output from the HD Plex.

[alcarp]

If you play from memory does it matter if the track is fed from a NAS or is stored on an internal SSD?

If so, why?

[AccuTidal]

Chanh & Tasso,

I understand your test server for the PSU build has an old style SOtM PCI card with only the internal 12V input.

.....

Appreciate your endeavours,

JD

Hi John,

To date, I have few choke input LPSUs with variation output DC voltage. In other word, my ps can be a 5VDC, 7.5VDC, 9V, 12V to 19VDC. It is just a matter of ajusting the variable regulator's resistor. Very versatile! Currently, it can output upto 20A @12VDC, and yet still not satisfying Tasso!!! The thing with Tasso is, if an Engineer's specifications are at cost no objective, his build must conservatively be couple levels above that requirements. Fortunately, he is supplying majority of the parts!

At the moment, Tasso is using that 20A LPSU while we are building his overkill one. Your are welcome to loan it to try it out at your place to provide you a realistic appreciation where others' LPSU stands? It is perfectly safe with fuse protection should any misfortune event happens. Alternatively, you can loan my smaller version 10A @ 12VDC, this does not have any protection in place.

Also note, and perhaps @@Tasso and @ can chime in, we conducted many practical listening tests with the my original choke 10A LPSU against HD-Plex and Paul Pang PS. We have had my choke ps powering both mainboard and Sotm card, which sounded best. Well to my ears that is. Other combinations as such, Paul Pang power mainboard and HP-Plex power the Sotm card, and vice versa, performed somewhat poorer. We than also conducted, each of the two ps above together with my choke ps, found better dynamic and better bass when using my choke input power the mainboard. However, it was a clear winner when we just have choke input LPSU powering both, Sotm and mainboard.

Happy to be proven wrong here!

Chanh.