Nadac?

[Geardaddy]

You can be, or you can be even happier to hear just how good PCM can sound through Sabre chips using HQplayer to resample to DSD 256. Free 30 day trial to find out for yourself. If you disagree, you will be the first to my knowledge, and simply uninstall.

The engineer behind the Sabre chip lives a couple doors down from me. I'm quite familiar on how it functions. It was a real eye opener when I realized a large percentage of the magic you hear from DSD is due to the bypassing of the internal SRC/SDM stage of the chip. HQplayer allows you to do this in the best way possible. However there's a chance Emotion has this feature as well, but I have no data on it.

this would make sense simply from a SQ standpoint. Robinson's review of this unit clearly stated that the PCM performance was nowhere near the DSD....why not close the gap.

 

[Blizzard]

this would make sense simply from a SQ standpoint. Robinson's review of this unit clearly stated that the PCM performance was nowhere near the DSD....why not close the gap.

That's actually the case with every DAC that's DSD capable. Even more so for DAC's that allow bypassing of any manipulation inside the chip.

 

[andrew_stenhouse]

Oh btw a quick look last evening showed Roon natively using 9% cpu and HQ using 166% cpu so yup - I think I'm asking the MBA to do a little much.


Thanks Amir.. As you say leave it to the experts. Cost aside, I like a SSD for storage - quiet and fast. Oh I only have 1.5 tb of music of which about 1.2 TB is dsd. That is still ALOT of music.

 

[Blizzard]

Oh btw a quick look last evening showed Roon natively using 9% cpu and HQ using 166% cpu so yup - I think I'm asking the MBA to do a little much.

So direct connection of the Nadac to MBA ( I assume this creates its own network) and control via AE (wirelessly) works fine except for Nadac volume control, which can't locate the Nadac, presumably because it is on another network?

Thanks Amir.. As you say leave it to the experts. Cost aside, I like a SSD for storage - quiet and fast. Oh I only have 1.5 tb of music of which about 1.2 TB is dsd. That is still ALOT of music.

Without playing with it myself I'm not sure what's going on. I would have to read the manual. The switch they recommended isn't wireless, so wireless communication to control the NADAC via mobile app, would require wireless communication with the system from wifi located somewhere.

 

[andrew_stenhouse]

So gents, just FYI this is my server build parts lists - no doubt over kill, but hey...


Streacom FC5 Alpha Fanless Case
Motherboard Gigabyte H170N-Wifi mini-ITX;
6th Gen Intel Core i7-6700 Processor;
Streacom ZeroFlex 240;
Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 2400MHz ;
Samsung 850 Evo 250Gb M.2 SSD; Samsung 850 Evo 2Tb SSD;
TP Link PCIe GbE Fiber Network Card w/ Open SFP
Windows 10 Pro 64Bit OEM;

All up cost was around A$3k - which was obviously pushed up by the 2 TB SSD storage (About A$1k). As may you say no doubt unnecessary, but I hate noise in my listening room, and like SSD's. All passively cooled.

Looks like this



Get it today, which will be ace.

I just plan on running Roon on it, and will wait for the HQ integration I suspect.

 

[Blizzard]

So gents, just FYI this is my server build parts lists - no doubt over kill, but hey...


Streacom FC5 Alpha Fanless Case
Gigibyte TX Performance;
6th Gen Intel Core i7-6700 Processor;
Streacom ZeroFlex 240;
Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 2400MHz ;
Samsung 850 Evo 250Gb M.2 SSD; Samsung 850 Evo 2Tb SSD;
TP Link PCIe GbE Fiber Network Card w/ Open SFP
Windows 10 Pro 64Bit OEM;

All up cost was around A$3k - which was obviously pushed up by the 2 TB SSD storage (About A$1k). As may you say no doubt unnecessary, but I hate noise in my listening room, and like SSD's. All passively cooled.

Looks like this

View attachment 24232

Get it today, which will be ace.

I just plan on running Roon on it, and will wait for the HQ integration I suspect.

Looks nice! Just make sure to backup your music collection on an external hard drive or NAS. Let us know how the optical setup goes. I just received my optical FMC's yesterday. I'll be experimenting with them later on.

I hope there's an extra PCI-e slot on the motherboard, and case for the NIC?

 

[andrew_stenhouse]

Internal PCIe slot. There is room - just. Also have a FW 800 card so I can use the Mytek. Just have to swap them over.

Yup sure will. The nice thing about the TX mobo is it has two GB ethernet out's - so can play around with both.

Oh yes - lots and lots of back ups. Been there lost that.

ANy news on ETA for the Roon HQ Player integration?

 

[Blizzard]

Internal PCIe slot. There is room - just. Also have a FW 800 card so I can use the Mytek. Just have to swap them over.

Yup sure will. The nice thing about the TX mobo is it has two GB ethernet out's - so can play around with both.

Oh yes - lots and lots of back ups. Been there lost that.

ANy news on ETA for the Roon HQ Player integration?

Excellent!

All I know is what's on here:

https://community.roonlabs.com/t/hq-player-integration/1656/176

 

[lateboomer]

Hi Andrew,

Could you be more specific what mobo model you are using for your pc built? I searched Google for TX performance but it turned out so many results. I am considering pc built also, which I am looking at Paul Pang's Asus mobo which has OCXO clock upgrade. I don't understand how do you passively cool the i7, could you elaborate more? And is the whole pc power supply come from Streacom ZeroFlex 240?

 

[Blizzard]

Hi Andrew,

Could you be more specific what mobo model you are using for your pc built? I searched Google for TX performance but it turned out so many results. I am considering pc built also, which I am looking at Paul Pang's Asus mobo which has OCXO clock upgrade. I don't understand how do you passively cool the i7, could you elaborate more? And is the whole pc power supply come from Streacom ZeroFlex 240?

Hi Lateboomer,

I hate to say it but when used with Ravenna, or my streamer and optical isolation, none of Paul Pang's server upgrades will have any effect. I'm testing this optical isolation system tonight with LPS powering the DAC side FMC, and I hear absolutely no difference when using any of my computers as the server. They all sound drastically different when connected direct to my DAC's. I'd save your money for the optical isolation and low noise supplies for streamer, and streamer side FMC.

 

[andrew_stenhouse]

Hi Andrew,

Could you be more specific what mobo model you are using for your pc built? I searched Google for TX performance but it turned out so many results. I am considering pc built also, which I am looking at Paul Pang's Asus mobo which has OCXO clock upgrade. I don't understand how do you passively cool the i7, could you elaborate more? And is the whole pc power supply come from Streacom ZeroFlex 240?

Sure thing - Technical Details

Motherboard Gigabyte H170N-Wifi mini-ITX : http://www.gigabyte.com.au/products/product-page.aspx?pid=5552#ov
Processor Intel® 6th Generation Core™ or Pentium™ processor
Memory 2x DDR4 DIMM sockets supporting up to 32 GB of system memory
Graphics Integrated Intel® High Definition graphics (4k)
1x DVI-D Output max resolution 1920x1200@60Hz
2x HDMI Output 4096x2160@24Hz / 2560x1600@60Hz
Support for up to 3 displays at the same time
Audio Integrated Realtek High Definition Audio
2/4/5.1/7.1 channel surround sound
1x Optical S/PDIF Out + 5x audio jacks
Realtek ALC1150 codec
Networking 2x Intel Gigabit LAN chip (10/100/1000 Mbit)
1x WiFi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac adapter
Support for 11ac wireless standard and up to 867 Mbps data rate
Bluetooth 4.0, 3.0+HS, 2.1+EDR
USB 2 2x internal
USB 3/2 4x via rear panel + 2x via chassis side (left/right)
USB Type C 1 x USB Type-C™ port on the back panel, with USB 3.0 support
SATA 6x SATA 6 Gb/s
M.2 1x M.2 via motherboard
SATA Express 2x SATA Express
Expansion 1x PCIe 16x Slot (x16)

Yes, Zeroflex 240 powers the lot - its rated to 240w and I doubt even going full tilt I'd use more than 150 w.

The case I'm using comes with a heat pipe system that ports to the case - which is one giant heatsink.

I echo what Blizzard said: I am sure there is no necessity to spend the money I did. I am sure, with optical isolation, there will be absolutely no difference in performance between computers. I just put this together as I wanted it to be used for a number of different potential purposes - firewire, usb and ethernet and perhaps as a media server as well. I wanted fast performance and a dead silent server/player as mine lives in the listening room. I am sure a $500 jobbie would be fine provided you have fiber to the dac. Unless the part count somehow affects the SQ from eg Roon - and that is a place I am not going

 

[lateboomer]

They all sound drastically different when connected direct to my DAC's. I'd save your money for the optical isolation and low noise supplies for streamer, and streamer side FMC.

Blizzard,

That is what I like about you. You stick you neck out and point out the elephant in the room. In that case, I might go for pre-built pc like i7 4th gen Lenovo (H30-50) as such:

http://shopap.lenovo.com/my/en/desktops/lenovo/h-series/h30-50/

Anyway, I really despise noisy cpu fan and I like the idea of heatpipes pointed by Andrew. I wonder how I could get heatpipes component separately and re-mount the whole mobo to Chinese made aluminium amp casing. You guys have any suggestion for separate heatpipes cooling?

What do you think about upgrading the clock in the streamer instead of at the music server? I read in CA forum some guys are going that path, but don't hear any listening impression yet.

 

[Blizzard]

Blizzard,

That is what I like about you. You stick you neck out and point out the elephant in the room. In that case, I might go for pre-built pc like i7 4th gen Lenovo (H30-50) as such:

http://shopap.lenovo.com/my/en/desktops/lenovo/h-series/h30-50/

Anyway, I really despise noisy cpu fan and I like the idea of heatpipes pointed by Andrew. I wonder how I could get heatpipes component separately and re-mount the whole mobo to Chinese made aluminium amp casing. You guys have any suggestion for separate heatpipes cooling?

What do you think about upgrading the clock in the streamer instead of at the music server? I read in CA forum some guys are going that path, but don't hear any listening impression yet.

Yeah fanless has advantages. This cheap HP tower I have is almost dead silent even with fans. Most modern desktop PC's have large diameter fans that are very quiet, as they spin at low RPM. You can always place in another room and run the fibre through the wall as well. If I can buy a desktop for $500 that does the job, I can upgrade it with something new every 2 years for 12 years for the price of a single $3000 PC that will be a paperweight in 3 years anyways. That's the way I see it now. Too many fancy obsolete media PC's piled up in my garage for me.


I'll answer your last question on my streamer thread as that's where it belongs.

 

[andrew_stenhouse]

Yeah fanless has advantages. This cheap HP tower I have is almost dead silent even with fans. Most modern desktop PC's have large diameter fans that are very quiet, as they spin at low RPM. You can always place in another room and run the fibre through the wall as well. If I can buy a desktop for $500 that does the job, I can upgrade it with something new every 2 years for 12 years for the price of a single $3000 PC that will be a paperweight in 3 years anyways. That's the way I see it now. Too many fancy obsolete media PC's piled up in my garage for me.


I'll answer your last question on my streamer thread as that's where it belongs.

Now you see, there is a sensible man. On the other hand, to be a proper audiophile, you need at least one expensive black case filled with soon to be obsolete parts that you can show off to your audio friends. Its a prerequisite for entry to the club.

BTW feel free to answer here if you like Mike - OT doesn't worry me a jot. I'm not precious about my threads. Well I am, but not about this.

Watching Bargain Hunt atm. I'm addicted.

 

[NorthStar]

Another lovely avatar Mike; good for the spirit, good for the heart of all men and women and children on planet Earth.

Happy Christmas Holidays to you and all yours.

 

[Blizzard]

Another lovely avatar Mike; good for the spirit, good for the heart of all men and women and children on planet Earth.

Happy Christmas Holidays to you and all yours.

Thank you It was taken in Tofino at the Pacific Sands resort. We spent 4 days in one of their 2 bed beach houses last summer. Beautiful spot and highly recommended! Same to you!

http://www.pacificsands.com/

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Thank you It was taken in Tofino at the Pacific Sands resort. We spent 4 days in one of their 2 bed beach houses last summer. Beautiful spot and highly recommended! Same to you!

http://www.pacificsands.com/

been Salmon fishing at Tofino a few times, a float plane ride from Seattle.

lovely spot. great fishing and big time surfing too.

 

[NorthStar]

Thank you It was taken in Tofino at the Pacific Sands resort. We spent 4 days in one of their 2 bed beach houses last summer. Beautiful spot and highly recommended! Same to you!

http://www.pacificsands.com/

I have been to Tofino few times in the past. ...Great beaches and paradise, Long Beach. I just invited an old friend (female) not too long ago to visit the Tofino area, but it's a long way from Riviere du Loup, Quebec.

Anyway, that avatar is beautiful with that sunset on the Pacific Ocean of Tofino's resort. Thx for sharing its origin.

 

[Blizzard]

Yes it's a wonderful place on our planet They say the freshest air in the world! Very rejuvenating!

 

[dallasjustice]

Thank you It was taken in Tofino at the Pacific Sands resort. We spent 4 days in one of their 2 bed beach houses last summer. Beautiful spot and highly recommended! Same to you!

http://www.pacificsands.com/

We did our honeymoon at the Wickaninnish Inn in Tofino ten years ago. It's one of the most beautiful places on earth. I wish we could have stayed longer.