Journeys end...?

[Gazjam]

Thanks Tim Yes, I've used a tablet with jriver for some time now; I absolutely love it, makes life so much easier!

Ta for the input Nick, if you were in my shoes what would you do? Sending the DAC back to trim some of the output voltage sounds like a smart idea.

Gas, did you select 32 bit over the auto bitrate setting? If so, which one dude? Might have a go myself.

Hi Martin,

In Jriver options: DSP and Output format, under bitdepth I selected 32bit integer mode.
I wouldn't advise it though unless your Dac can do native 32bit, potentially sound worse!

[lurcher]

In Jriver options: DSP and Output format, under bitdepth I selected 32bit integer mode.
I wouldn't advise it though unless your Dac can do native 32bit, potentially sound worse!

But in this case, what matters is if the DAC has a analog output that can resolve a -150dB sine wave, all the "32 bit DAC" I have seen have a S/N ratio that looks close enough to be a 24 bit dac (-126dB), without that, attenuating in the digital domain is not a free lunch.

[realysm42]

Hi Nick,

If you could send me some to try that would be really helpful; i'll pm you my address.

I bought a pair of Goldenjacks -20db xlr attenuators and they make an awful hum when either plugged into the dac or the power amp, so they're useless, have you any idea why this might be?

Cheers Gaz, I'll have a look/listen

[Andrei]

Martin
I believe the best source* on the planet today is a well fettled PC. Hi-res (not BS up-scaled files), and the 3+GHz processor (what 'streamer' has that?), plus heaps of other tweaks that are not especially difficult or expensive means you can have a source virtually second to none. With that in mind would you mind giving us a masterclass and list your components in your PC source?

• Case
• Motherboard
• Ram
• Chip
• Chip fan
• Case fans
• Power supply
• Mouse - Keyboard
• Monitor / Screen
• Video card?
• Sound Card?
• Optical Drive
• Others eg dynamat

Regards, Andrei

* I have not heard uber-dollar sources such as dcs

[realysm42]

Sure thing Andrei, I'll look it up for you and get it posted.

Tbh, I've not delved too much into high res downloads, a lot of what I listen to is redbook (ripped losslessly in .ape) and am amazed how much good sound you can get from it.

DSD is something I will be exploring though!

[realysm42]

Here you go Andrei:

Streacom fc5 case (without optical drive)
Amd sempron 2 cores @2.5ghz
Gigabyte mini atx mobo am3
MCRU linear PSU in matching case
Geil ddr3 8gb @ 1333mhz cas 9-9-9-24 (1t)
2x ssd, one for os and one for storage with sata noise filters on each
Os is w8 64

Re your comment about processor power, I deliberately kept it low with few cores. Reason being I want it will behaved; in the case of music server, less is more (as long as you've got the power to run the Os and process files).

I might get my mate to declock it as well.

I agree with the fine source thing, I'm gob smacked at the lovely noises is capable of making! Especially with the massively upgraded psu. If your DAC takes power from the USB of your PC, the ifi is an absolute must, it was a huge clean up in terms of sound quality again.

Ethos with the PC build was simple:

No moving parts
The best quality power I can afford to get

As posted earlier, if you're going to keep your music 'in' the PC, make sure its ssd!

And if your going to buy an ssd, hold out as it sounds like Samsung are going to change the game soon:

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/...a-single-chip/

Hope that helps!

[Andrei]

Here you go Andrei:

Streacom fc5 case (without optical drive)
Amd sempron 2 cores @2.5ghz
Gigabyte mini atx mobo am3
MCRU linear PSU in matching case
Geil ddr3 8gb @ 1333mhz cas 9-9-9-24 (1t)
2x ssd, one for os and one for storage with sata noise filters on each
Os is w8 64

Re your comment about processor power, I deliberately kept it low with few cores. Reason being I want it will behaved; in the case of music server, less is more (as long as you've got the power to run the Os and process files).

I might get my mate to declock it as well.

I agree with the fine source thing, I'm gob smacked at the lovely noises is capable of making! Especially with the massively upgraded psu. If your DAC takes power from the USB of your PC, the ifi is an absolute must, it was a huge clean up in terms of sound quality again.
Ethos with the PC build was simple:
No moving parts
The best quality power I can afford to get
As posted earlier, if you're going to keep your music 'in' the PC, make sure its ssd!
And if your going to buy an ssd, hold out as it sounds like Samsung are going to change the game soon:
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/...a-single-chip/

Hope that helps!

Thanks for that Martin
I went for a factory underclocked CPU; the 3.1GHz Intel i7-3770S. In i7s come in standard speeds, overclocked and this underclocked "s" version. I deliberately went for the underclocked CPU because it would draw less power, & therefore require less cooling. I have tweaked most things but the CPU is running with a stock Intel fan would you believe! I had intended to put a Scythe or Zalman fan (I'm a fan of those fans) but the CPU never heats up as the load is so light - never hits 1%. The CPU cost a couple of hundy more but I have been numbed into Hi-Fi pricing so it still cost less than some interconnects!

Did you install via USB? - I see no optical. I installed by DVD then disabled the optical drive.

I went the Hard Drive route. To be pure SSD is obviously the way to go, but ... (1) Space; a 2 Terrabyte drive is kind of needed. I have have 400 gb of Flac, and about the same of movies and music videos, the library is expanding with new rips and hi-res downloads. (2) Also I load the files to memory before playing so that partially ameliorates the problem, (3) The Drive I have is silent and suspended with silicon, (4) I have a noise filter between the drive and the SATA connector. It did cross my mind to put the OS on an SSD and have the spinning drive for storage, but then I thought I want to keep this beast as simple as possible with as low a power draw as possible and stick to one drive. How big are your SSDs?

I will do a bit of research on my DAC as to whether it relies on the USB connector for its power. I am impressed with ifi at the moment as the ifi phono stage was a pretty decent upgrade over the Pro-ject I previously had.

You may wish to consider faster ram. On the plus side it is still cheap - up to a point, uber-fast ram will attract a price premium. The other side is that you may have the same issue I had; namely finding ram that would fit in the enclosed space.

I am also running W8 64, I find it boots faster than I can say "I don't like apples".

I not at a final destination yet, rather something of a pause. There are minor tweaks on my source, my DAC needs upgrading to take DSD. I prefer Valves to SS but to improve on my amp would take megabucks. I have a couple of pure silver interconnects and to have silver all round would be an improvement. But I do know your feeling about a satisfaction when you really forget your gear and take quite an intense pleasure in all the musical elements that envelop you.

Andrei

[realysm42]

You might want to look at getting a passive cooling solution if possible, especially as your cpu doesn't seem to be breaking a sweat. Less noise and less 'noise'. Can't be bad!

I think anything whirring about/moving inside of the case can't be good for SQ due to vibrations and EMI being generated (I don't know this for sure, but it's the purist's way).

I'm happy with the RAM that I have for now, it never feels the strain or is fully used, so again, having less (read: the least amount possible to runb the OS and get tasks done without flatering) is more for me.

I don't have a huge music collection stored digitally, I've currently got about 150 GB of high compression .APE.

I do however have about 800 cds/tapes of drum and bass from my yoof, that I plan on ripping at some point (pretty daunting task really) so will definitely need to up my storage.

Yes, all of my music is ripped via a usb powered removable drive and this is how I did the install of OS.

My OS drive is 40 GB and my music storage drive is (currently) 250GB.

I've tried one of those Ifi Gemini cables, for the output of the Ifi usb. They are very nicely made and allow the music to breathe a tad more freely.

[realysm42]

Nice job Martin and your evolution has been quite something, is there anything left there from your original system?

Sorry Tim, only just saw this.

The only thing that's left from the original system really are my speaker cables.

Everything else has been upgraded or gotten rid of. For example, I had some Townshend super tweeters and I just never got on with them, so off they went!

[Gazjam]

Martin
I believe the best source* on the planet today is a well fettled PC. Hi-res (not BS up-scaled files), and the 3+GHz processor (what 'streamer' has that?), plus heaps of other tweaks that are not especially difficult or expensive means you can have a source virtually second to none. With that in mind would you mind giving us a masterclass and list your components in your PC source?

• Case
• Motherboard
• Ram
• Chip
• Chip fan
• Case fans
• Power supply
• Mouse - Keyboard
• Monitor / Screen
• Video card?
• Sound Card?
• Optical Drive
• Others eg dynamat

Regards, Andrei

* I have not heard uber-dollar sources such as dcs

wot he said...