Taiko Audio SGM Extreme : the Crème de la Crème

[Kingsrule]

Cleaning the Extreme contacts??

After going back and forth (with Emile's help) last week removing and rearranging all the PCIe cards in my Extreme it occurred to me there are many contacts inside. Has anyone pulled and cleaned them? Is it worth doing? And what about all the ram chip contacts? It seems all the card contacts are gold but the computer sockets are not.... DeOxit.ProGold seems like a natural to use

Any thoughts here?

 

[Taiko Audio]

Cleaning the Extreme contacts??

After going back and forth (with Emile's help) last week removing and rearranging all the PCIe cards in my Extreme it occurred to me there are many contacts inside. Has anyone pulled and cleaned them? Is it worth doing? And what about all the ram chip contacts? It seems all the card contacts are gold but the computer sockets are not.... DeOxit.ProGold seems like a natural to use

Any thoughts here?

I did actually do that myself, once, strongly advice against it.

 

[nenon]

Cleaning the Extreme contacts??

After going back and forth (with Emile's help) last week removing and rearranging all the PCIe cards in my Extreme it occurred to me there are many contacts inside. Has anyone pulled and cleaned them? Is it worth doing? And what about all the ram chip contacts? It seems all the card contacts are gold but the computer sockets are not.... DeOxit.ProGold seems like a natural to use

Any thoughts here?

Sounds like a good way to void the Extreme warranty
I've had my share of breaking motherboards, CPUs, RAM, etc. Probably not a good idea to do on the Extreme.

 

[oldmustang]

I did actually do that myself, once, strongly advice to not to.

Well I'm glad to hear even Emile is not immune to occasional fits of audiophilia nervosa.

Two of my mantras used to be, "Anything worth doing is worth overdoing", and "Nothing succeeds like excess".

I'm much more relaxed now!

Steve Z

 

[EuroDriver]

I did actually do that myself, once, strongly advice to not to.

I have done this too in the past with socketed OP Amps, and my strong advice is also to keep the Caig bottle away from any and all contacts inside a computer

Analog interconnects, go ahead ;-)

 

[EuroDriver]

Sounds like a good way to void the Extreme warranty
I've had my share of braking motherboards, CPUs, RAM, etc. Probably not a good idea to do on the Extreme.

Cryoing computer motherboards definitely has an effect, at one extreme completly destroying, and at the other end perhaps sounding better ;-)

Some are some tweaky practices one needs to stay away from to maintain reliability of operation ;-)

 

[jbrrp1]

I did actually do that myself, once, strongly advice against it.

It's funny. I installed my new USB-out card in my Extreme Friday night, and looking over the innards, I had the exact same thought about refreshing the contacts. I have brushed up against IT plenty while running a small business and its network, and there have been several times that removing and re-seating boards seemed to clear up issues on ~6 - 7 year old gear. Especially the RAM boards.

Now, to enhance those contacts with some graphene-based stuff......... Strikes me as waaay too risky.

Oh, and the new USB card is absolutely adding enhanced magic in my unit, like all the others, it seems! (This, even without the JL Sounds XMOS input on my Lampi Pac. Can't wait to get that final piece of the chain addressed, too.)

 

[cmarin]

Perhaps the more advanced livewire power supply is the difference.

If I can make a suggestion (ymmv):

Order a live-wire supply, which Vincent should be able to get to you quickly. When it arrives, you send back the old ps. Best case, it solves your problem and sounds better, 2nd best it doesn't solve the power issue but it improves the performance of the reclocker.

In either case, both you and I send our reclockers on a summer vacation to northern France for the upgrade which has a redesigned fpga and less jitter.

Per email from Vincent today, the upgrade is not yet available nor costed out. The upgrade includes upgrading to the live-wire supply, so those who already have one will have a lower cost upgrade path.

At least in my case, the live power supply didn’t resolve the card circuit protection issue.

 

[totaldac]

At least in my case, the live power supply didn’t resolve the card circuit protection issue.

Yes indeed the live-power alone can't solve that issue.
The reclocker mk2 spec and price and now on http://www.totaldac.com/ web site, and you can even listen to it:

 

[cat6man]

At least in my case, the live power supply didn’t resolve the card circuit protection issue.

yes, as noted above, my "reclocker" was actually a streamer that i only used for re-clocking, hence the 5V mod was already there.

 

[totaldac]

yes, as noted above, my "reclocker" was actually a streamer that i only used for re-clocking, hence the 5V mod was already there.

So the new Taiko USB board works with your d1-streamer used as a reclocker?
If so it confirms that the USB self powered board in the reclocker will work with the Taiko USB board.

 

[Taiko Audio]

So the new Taiko USB board works with your d1-streamer used as a reclocker?
If so it confirms that the USB self powered board in the reclocker will work with the Taiko USB board.

Yes, my reclocker is on its way to you but I’m confident it’s just a “formality” check.

 

[kswanson27]

At least in my case, the live power supply didn’t resolve the card circuit protection issue.

Yes, my reclocker is on its way to you but I’m confident it’s just a “formality” check.

Assuming that's the case we have a good tech in the area. To save time and possible shipping damage would it be possible to have our local tech install the board?

 

[totaldac]

Assuming that's the case we have a good tech in the area. To save time and possible shipping damage would it be possible to have our local tech install the board?

No sorry it is not posible, the main board will also be modified to accept the self powered USB board.

 

[cat6man]

So the new Taiko USB board works with your d1-streamer used as a reclocker?
If so it confirms that the USB self powered board in the reclocker will work with the Taiko USB board.

yes it does, i have had no problems

 

[cat6man]

Assuming that's the case we have a good tech in the area. To save time and possible shipping damage would it be possible to have our local tech install the board?

but you probably also want the new fpga and lower jitter upgrades

 

[cat6man]

Yes, my reclocker is on its way to you but I’m confident it’s just a “formality” check.

@emile
my first thought was that you would be one of the first to be able to report on the improvements of the new fpga and jitter reduction in the re-clocker mk2. however, i guess you can't do a direct comparison since you haven't been able to do the "before" test with the USB card and the old re-clocker?

 

[2ndLiner]

Was that a recording of you @totaldac playing guitar, Vincent? Very lifelike reproduction not to mention soulful execution!

 

[totaldac]

Was that a recording of you @totaldac playing guitar, Vincent? Very lifelike reproduction not to mention soulful execution!

No it is not me playing but it is a recording made in Totaldac auditorium.
All videos of loudspeakers or musicians are here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMsrJl1A6snsuSjfbAH6rZA/videos

Here is the original recording of the guitare track:

 

[Levitator]

Hey guys - does anybody know the Taiko 'help' email to assist with trouble shooting?