I do that occasionally (generally after a show when visitors poke their USB sticks into the server) - turn the firewall, etc. on and update Windows, do a major virus/malware scan.
You're most welcome.
Gary’s stupid good music *server*
- Thread starter mep
- Start date
I do that occasionally (generally after a show when visitors poke their USB sticks into the server) - turn the firewall, etc. on and update Windows, do a major virus/malware scan.
You're most welcome.
Drank Gary's Coolaid over the weekend and it was good. 
Few things I did differently while maintaining the core concept of Gary's latest music server configuration and found out...
Good: I replaced Toshiba supplied Win7 Home Premium OS to Win 7 professional OEM ($100). In the process, the laptop is leaner from neither having all Toshiba supplied drivers and "Home" applications, nor custom drivers already installed - instead, started from a clean sheet and utilized only simple standard drivers supplied by MS including display driver. Thus, the back up file size from the original Toshiba configuration was ~25GB whereas it is 16.5GB now.
I also did the SSD upgrade with Crucial RealSSD 128 GB (should have gone for 256GB size with just $100 more...) in agreeing and believing removal of all mechanical vibration of all kinds is good.
Bad: With this particular SSD model, switching from IDE to AHIC in the BIOS setting for better HD performance was a disaster. As long as I kept the BIOS to AHIC, the new SSD would not let me restore the Toshiba hard drive image...even after trying everything possible. So, if you are considering upgrading to a SSD from Toshiba mechanical hard drive, stick with the model Gary had suggested. The only way I could get the Crucial RealSSD 128 GB SSD to work was to reformat the SS drive with new Win7 OS DVD. Crucial had published new firmware upgrade but it was too much trouble to create the boot DVD with the ISO files, etc...
Like everyone had already said, Gary could have kept it all to himself but foolishly chose to share it. What a wonderful world we live in! Thanks Gary.
Few things I did differently while maintaining the core concept of Gary's latest music server configuration and found out...
Good: I replaced Toshiba supplied Win7 Home Premium OS to Win 7 professional OEM ($100). In the process, the laptop is leaner from neither having all Toshiba supplied drivers and "Home" applications, nor custom drivers already installed - instead, started from a clean sheet and utilized only simple standard drivers supplied by MS including display driver. Thus, the back up file size from the original Toshiba configuration was ~25GB whereas it is 16.5GB now.
I also did the SSD upgrade with Crucial RealSSD 128 GB (should have gone for 256GB size with just $100 more...) in agreeing and believing removal of all mechanical vibration of all kinds is good.
Bad: With this particular SSD model, switching from IDE to AHIC in the BIOS setting for better HD performance was a disaster. As long as I kept the BIOS to AHIC, the new SSD would not let me restore the Toshiba hard drive image...even after trying everything possible. So, if you are considering upgrading to a SSD from Toshiba mechanical hard drive, stick with the model Gary had suggested. The only way I could get the Crucial RealSSD 128 GB SSD to work was to reformat the SS drive with new Win7 OS DVD. Crucial had published new firmware upgrade but it was too much trouble to create the boot DVD with the ISO files, etc...
Like everyone had already said, Gary could have kept it all to himself but foolishly chose to share it. What a wonderful world we live in! Thanks Gary.
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Drank Gary's Coolaid over the weekend and it was good.
Like everyone had already said, Gary could have kept it all to himself but foolishly chose to share it. What a wonderful world we live in! Thanks Gary.
That’s why I have been trying to tell everyone far and wide about how good I think this server is. Granted, I have never owned the super high-priced digital spread like the Scarlatti or Fettuccini Alfredo, so my comparison is based around standalone CD/SACD players. And really, isn’t the quality of digital once you write it to a hard drive more dependent on the quality of the outboard DAC then anything else?
The trick here with Gary’s server is to minimize the background operations going on and let the CPU loaf along at pulling the data from the hard drive and feeding your choice of software (I use Foobar) and DAC. All I know is that I have never heard digital sound this good in my system.
Like everyone had already said, Gary could have kept it all to himself but foolishly chose to share it. What a wonderful world we live in! Thanks Gary.
Thanks Gary. I've been reading through the articles and appreciate all the great tips. Thanks for sharing
Joe
EMU 0404 USB auto negotiate native sample rate
I just saw this. Have you seen:
http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums//lofiversion/index.php/t62147-50.html
I know you have probably move on to different DAC. I have used EMU 0404 on Windows 7, 64 bit, with automatic changes with various players. I do need to STOP (not PAUSE) the player, if I want say play a YouTube video, so the driver is freed and can auto negotiate the new sample rate.
If you have abandoned you EMU 0404 USB and want to sell it please let me know.
I just saw this. Have you seen:
http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums//lofiversion/index.php/t62147-50.html
I know you have probably move on to different DAC. I have used EMU 0404 on Windows 7, 64 bit, with automatic changes with various players. I do need to STOP (not PAUSE) the player, if I want say play a YouTube video, so the driver is freed and can auto negotiate the new sample rate.
If you have abandoned you EMU 0404 USB and want to sell it please let me know.
Whose-I still have the 0404 as the Mytek DAC I want is still on back order. The 0404 has to be one of the overlooked gems in the market place and was ahead of its time for being able to play 24/192 files over USB which some DACs still can't do to this day.
+1
And, it has a pretty decent ADC built-in as well. One real cheap upgrade to the 0404 is to buy a linear power supply instead of the switched-mode wall wart that comes with it. It'll sound smoother and less fatiguing. I bought mine off eBay for less than $10 - a wall-wart that weighs almost a pound!
Sources for linear power supply for EMU 0404 USB
garylkoh, thanks for your response. I had previously read about switching to a linear power supply. I think maybe on computeraudiophile. Can't access that now. I think the poster specified a URL for a model sold on PartsExpress that he used successfully. But I think he had to make his own connector for the EMU 0404 USB. Do you have any suggestions for where to purchase a linear power supply, hopefully without having to fabricate my own connector? Or failing that, directions for such fabrication. I am old enough to know how to solder. That's pretty old - lol.
The version of my EMU 0404 USB was probably an updated version, since I was initially unhappy with the way the Main Output level knob tracked volume. EMU, aka Creative, replaced the whole unit (including wall wart) with one that reflected engineeering changes. Even the wall wart was different. If necessary, I can dig behind all the wiring and get what is written on the wall wart I use now.
Lastly, do we have any 'objective' testing that quantitatively shows the 'improvements' and under what conditions this is audible. I enjoy the sound I hear now, and is some respects that is the ultimate test!
Thanks for your efforts, especially recommendations for an audio server setup. My thinking is that the world has come full circle. Computers hardware benefits from 'sharing'. But that can cause audio anomalies, since most OS cannot guarantee that a time sensitive audio thread will not be interrupted by Bill Gates', or other vendors, greatest needs. BUT hardware costs keep coming down. Even Microsoft has announced a 4x4 inch board with i3/i5 USB etc to compete with the $30 Raspberry Pi. I believe there is an opportunity to use dedicated single threaded computers for time critical audio playback. I know that the JRivers of the world will claim that the 'turtle speed of audio needs' NEVER competes with multi-threaded multi-applications of a 3GHz computer. But anyone who has seen the hour glass knows that is a lie. It is very hard to even track all the things a modern computer is doing with such its complex interrupt structure. Dedicated application hardware at less than $100 is IMHO the way to go. Perhaps one 'Task Manager' board which issues 'start a particular application command', with parameters of what to play, may very well become the new architecture. Even that centralized command structure may become an unneeded complication, as the audio-computer and needed storage is built inside the audio volume knob!
garylkoh, thanks for your response. I had previously read about switching to a linear power supply. I think maybe on computeraudiophile. Can't access that now. I think the poster specified a URL for a model sold on PartsExpress that he used successfully. But I think he had to make his own connector for the EMU 0404 USB. Do you have any suggestions for where to purchase a linear power supply, hopefully without having to fabricate my own connector? Or failing that, directions for such fabrication. I am old enough to know how to solder. That's pretty old - lol.
The version of my EMU 0404 USB was probably an updated version, since I was initially unhappy with the way the Main Output level knob tracked volume. EMU, aka Creative, replaced the whole unit (including wall wart) with one that reflected engineeering changes. Even the wall wart was different. If necessary, I can dig behind all the wiring and get what is written on the wall wart I use now.
Lastly, do we have any 'objective' testing that quantitatively shows the 'improvements' and under what conditions this is audible. I enjoy the sound I hear now, and is some respects that is the ultimate test!
Thanks for your efforts, especially recommendations for an audio server setup. My thinking is that the world has come full circle. Computers hardware benefits from 'sharing'. But that can cause audio anomalies, since most OS cannot guarantee that a time sensitive audio thread will not be interrupted by Bill Gates', or other vendors, greatest needs. BUT hardware costs keep coming down. Even Microsoft has announced a 4x4 inch board with i3/i5 USB etc to compete with the $30 Raspberry Pi. I believe there is an opportunity to use dedicated single threaded computers for time critical audio playback. I know that the JRivers of the world will claim that the 'turtle speed of audio needs' NEVER competes with multi-threaded multi-applications of a 3GHz computer. But anyone who has seen the hour glass knows that is a lie. It is very hard to even track all the things a modern computer is doing with such its complex interrupt structure. Dedicated application hardware at less than $100 is IMHO the way to go. Perhaps one 'Task Manager' board which issues 'start a particular application command', with parameters of what to play, may very well become the new architecture. Even that centralized command structure may become an unneeded complication, as the audio-computer and needed storage is built inside the audio volume knob!
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@whose, I bought the adapter from eBay some time ago. Just do a search on "transformer DC adapter". They mostly come with multiple tips, and one of them will fit the 0404. Here's an example of one from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/VCT-VX-79NP-M...048764&sr=8-2&keywords=transformer+dc+adapter
I don't know how good it is, but it should work. For the 0404, you need 5V - best to check it out with a multimeter before you plug it into though.
There are no objective testing that quantitatively show any improvement in using the linear power supply. I thought that it sounded richer and more dynamic with the power supply. Since you know how to solder, I also added a 1000uF 35V electrolytic capacitor to the power jack inside of the 0404 and that seemed to help too. Both mods were under $20 - so I didn't bother to convene an A/B blind test panel.
I don't know how good it is, but it should work. For the 0404, you need 5V - best to check it out with a multimeter before you plug it into though.
There are no objective testing that quantitatively show any improvement in using the linear power supply. I thought that it sounded richer and more dynamic with the power supply. Since you know how to solder, I also added a 1000uF 35V electrolytic capacitor to the power jack inside of the 0404 and that seemed to help too. Both mods were under $20 - so I didn't bother to convene an A/B blind test panel.
Any gut feeling as to which is better?
Thanks for the info
>"... I don't know how good it is, but it should work ..."
Some of the Amazon review are scary in terms of heat and quality.
I found the link to the one that was previously recommended by someone using the EMU 0404 USB. I don't think it comes with tip for EMU 0404, but I could fabricate this.
http://www.jameco.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10001_10001_689661_-1
Any gut feeling as to which is better?
Thanks for the info
>"... I don't know how good it is, but it should work ..."
Some of the Amazon review are scary in terms of heat and quality.
I found the link to the one that was previously recommended by someone using the EMU 0404 USB. I don't think it comes with tip for EMU 0404, but I could fabricate this.
http://www.jameco.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10001_10001_689661_-1
Any gut feeling as to which is better?
@whose, transformer/linear supplies will overheat if under-rated. The jameco and the one I listed is rated at 1A. If you use it to draw continuously at 1A, it WILL overheat. The way these guys (marketing again) specify these things is that they say that you have to overate by 5x. This means that if you have a 1A device, you should buy a 5A power supply because of the power-on surge. Actually, it really means that the 5A supply can only supply 1A continuously.
The 0404 draws less than 0.3A continuously, so a 1A linear will work. It will get warm, but not get hot. You can also find a 2A power supply or a 5A power supply for it.
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