Tinker, Tailor, Streamer, Pi.

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slinger
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Re: Tinker, Tailor, Streamer, Pi.

Unread post by slinger »

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Fretless (Wed Feb 03, 2021 5:17 pm)
Amps - NVA P50, AP30, A40, Stanislav Palo Tube Headphone Amp BB 85
Speakers - Monitor Audio Silver RX2
Cables - NVA LS1+LS3, SSC, Gotham S/PDIF, IBRA Optical
Digital - NAD C516BEE, SONY ST-SDB900 DAB TUNER, TEAC UD-H01 DAC
Analogue - Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Esprit SB, Graham Slee Gram Amp 2 Phono
Cans - Grado SR80, ATH-M50X

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Re: Tinker, Tailor, Streamer, Pi.

Unread post by Fretless »

Time for some Nash the Slash .:scared-ghostface:

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savvypaul (Sun Feb 14, 2021 1:23 pm)

Upstairs:
Vinyl
Pro-Ject 1.2 + Grado Sig Jr + Cambridge Alva Duo
DigiVolumio PC + Kiss DP-500 + Sabaj A20d
NVA: P50sa - Cube2 - SSP - LS6+ Sabaj A10a (x2)
Downstairs:
Vinyl
Logic DM101 + Syrinx LE1 + Grado Sig MCX
DigiDenafrips Ares II + Volumio PC + Cambridge CXC
NVA: P50 - BMU+ Aiyima A07 MAX (x2) + Arcam One
HP: HifiBerry Digi+ PRO + Sabaj A10d
Office:
Allo DigiOne SIG + SMSL M300se + Douk G4 (x2)
Mission 760 + Monolith THX AAA 887
Headphones: German Maestro & AudioQuest

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CN211276
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Re: Tinker, Tailor, Streamer, Pi.

Unread post by CN211276 »

https://www.amazon.co.uk/VicTsing-Transmitter-Bluetooth-Colorful-Hands-free-Black/dp/B07SQTXJ18?ref_=ast_sto_dp

Bought one of these and am pleased. CDs ripped to FLAC via an inserted flash drive sound a lot better than from the car CD player. :grin: Won't be getting a lot of use until restrictions are relaxed.

[Edited to fix link - slinger]
Main System
NVA BMU, P90SA/A80s (latest spec), Cube 1s, TIS, TISC(LS7)
Sonore OpticalRendu, Chord Mscaler & Qutest, Sbooster PSs
Network Acoustics Eno, ifi iPurifier3, AQ JB FMJ, Cisco 2940 & 2960
DH Labs ethernet, BNC & USB cables, Farnells cat 8 ethernet cable

Second System
NVA P20/ A20, Cubettes, LS3, SSP, SC
Sonore MicroRendu, Chord Mojo 2 MCRU PSs, AQ Carbon USB cable & JB FMJ

Headphones
Grado SR325e/Chord Mojo, Beyerdynamic Avetho/AQ DF Colbat

RIP Doc

antonio66
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Re: Tinker, Tailor, Streamer, Pi.

Unread post by antonio66 »

DH Labs have a sale on their top usb cable, now only $160 for 1/2m https://silversonic.com/products/digita ... irage-usb/
Fretless can confirm how good this cable really is: :grin:

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Re: Tinker, Tailor, Streamer, Pi.

Unread post by Fretless »

Aaaaarrrggghhhh !!!!!

So cheap ????

Stunning SQ on USB connections with silky liquid smoothness, infinite 3D depth and a punch that would get Tyson reeling.

But seriously - the best USB cable you will ever need.

Upstairs:
Vinyl
Pro-Ject 1.2 + Grado Sig Jr + Cambridge Alva Duo
DigiVolumio PC + Kiss DP-500 + Sabaj A20d
NVA: P50sa - Cube2 - SSP - LS6+ Sabaj A10a (x2)
Downstairs:
Vinyl
Logic DM101 + Syrinx LE1 + Grado Sig MCX
DigiDenafrips Ares II + Volumio PC + Cambridge CXC
NVA: P50 - BMU+ Aiyima A07 MAX (x2) + Arcam One
HP: HifiBerry Digi+ PRO + Sabaj A10d
Office:
Allo DigiOne SIG + SMSL M300se + Douk G4 (x2)
Mission 760 + Monolith THX AAA 887
Headphones: German Maestro & AudioQuest

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Lindsayt
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Re: Tinker, Tailor, Streamer, Pi.

Unread post by Lindsayt »

Fretless wrote: Wed Feb 03, 2021 1:04 pm Return of Frankenstein

So the ex-hospital E-Medic PC is back from the repair shop and what did they find? That the large outboard switching PSU was fried, which is why nothing was working. The Lockdown being what it is, a replacement unit was impossible to acquire and so an improvised solution was conceived - a standard PC internal power-supply that they had in stock could be piggy-backed onto the E-Medic's outer casing and that should fix the problem.

Image

So here it is, pretty it ain't but it has an appealing DIY look to it which means that the average high-end audiophile will break out in a fit of hysterical laughter ....
... until he hears it. :mrgreen:

But this story isn't completely over. Having been told that this was a transformer rather than a switching PSU I plugged it into the BMU and sat back, curious to see what the result would be. Well, it sounded okay, slightly fuller and richer than the Tinkerboard that has been in use for the last few days - but the usual magic was missing. Hmmm.

So I tried shifting the power lead to a non-BMU socket and then the sound blossomed into the full majestic dynamism and detail this converted desktop can display, in fact it might even be sounding slightly better than before. A winner!

Happy with things back into proper operating status I had another thought: the BMU isn't suitable for everything and my eyes strayed to the seldom-used Cambridge CXC CD Transport. Time for an experiment comparing the electrons from the BMU to those from an ordinary domestic socket. And whaddayaknow, it sounded better on non-BMU electrickery. Not a lot, but noticeably fuller and better defined. The TeraDak DAC was next for the same test. This has a chunky, second-box LPSU and that did respond favourably to the BMU, with the DAC being more refined and comfortable.

The moral of this tale is don't just plug anything into a BMU expecting it to automatically sound better - it might not.

One possible drawback with the new PC PSU might be ventilation noise as there is a motorised fan in it - although this only comes on when the power-supply starts to run hot. Hasn't kicked in yet, so we'll see what happens when it does.

Another side-effect of this temporary shuffling of equipment is that other installations have now received a new configuration and a completely new headphone setup has been realised.

More another time. Got to listen to some music. :music-listening:
For a fanless PC power supply you could try something like a Seasonic Prime Fanless power supply. They cost about £160 new. Which is pricey for a PC power supply, but they come with a 12 year warranty.

If you did go down this route you may be looking at a larger PC case. PC cases are cheap as chips on eBay. Like from 99 pence, used.

And when they said the outboard power supply was fried, surely they didn't mean all of it? Chances are it just needs caps / resistors replaced. But being PC repairers they wouldn't have a clue how to do this and would only be able to replace whole units.

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Re: Tinker, Tailor, Streamer, Pi.

Unread post by Fretless »

So far the PSU fan has not activated. The PC is only running dedicated audio processing - so the CPU is hardly having to work at all.

The fanless PC design has integral cooling heatsinks as side panels so a different casing isn't really a possibility.

Not sure what is wrong with the original outboard power supply, it is a large sealed unit. But I might cut a hole in the PC top plate for the wiring and fix the replacement supply on top with double-sided tape.

Upstairs:
Vinyl
Pro-Ject 1.2 + Grado Sig Jr + Cambridge Alva Duo
DigiVolumio PC + Kiss DP-500 + Sabaj A20d
NVA: P50sa - Cube2 - SSP - LS6+ Sabaj A10a (x2)
Downstairs:
Vinyl
Logic DM101 + Syrinx LE1 + Grado Sig MCX
DigiDenafrips Ares II + Volumio PC + Cambridge CXC
NVA: P50 - BMU+ Aiyima A07 MAX (x2) + Arcam One
HP: HifiBerry Digi+ PRO + Sabaj A10d
Office:
Allo DigiOne SIG + SMSL M300se + Douk G4 (x2)
Mission 760 + Monolith THX AAA 887
Headphones: German Maestro & AudioQuest

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Lindsayt
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Re: Tinker, Tailor, Streamer, Pi.

Unread post by Lindsayt »

Fretless wrote: Sun Feb 14, 2021 2:46 pm So far the PSU fan has not activated. The PC is only running dedicated audio processing - so the CPU is hardly having to work at all.

The fanless PC design has integral cooling heatsinks as side panels so a different casing isn't really a possibility.

Not sure what is wrong with the original outboard power supply, it is a large sealed unit. But I might cut a hole in the PC top plate for the wiring and fix the replacement supply on top with double-sided tape.
That is - probably - complete bullshit that the heatsinks are important and that another casing isn't a possibility.

A larger casing would have more room inside it and therefore better cooling from that point of view.
And a larger casing may well have ventilation holes that would aid the cooling - depending on what you bought for your 99 pence.
And you're not running anything at high power in there anyway.

My biggest 3 factors in deciding what desktop PC case to buy are:
1 is it big enough to hold everything?
2 cost
3 does it look undesirable to burglars? The scruffier and more old fashioned and worthless it looks, the better.
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slinger (Sun Feb 14, 2021 4:59 pm)

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CN211276
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Re: Tinker, Tailor, Streamer, Pi.

Unread post by CN211276 »

Fretless wrote: Sun Feb 14, 2021 2:08 pm Aaaaarrrggghhhh !!!!!

So cheap ????

Stunning SQ on USB connections with silky liquid smoothness, infinite 3D depth and a punch that would get Tyson reeling.

But seriously - the best USB cable you will ever need.
I can second this. Found it an improvement on AQ Carbon which is a very good cable. Also use DH Labs BNC cable.
Main System
NVA BMU, P90SA/A80s (latest spec), Cube 1s, TIS, TISC(LS7)
Sonore OpticalRendu, Chord Mscaler & Qutest, Sbooster PSs
Network Acoustics Eno, ifi iPurifier3, AQ JB FMJ, Cisco 2940 & 2960
DH Labs ethernet, BNC & USB cables, Farnells cat 8 ethernet cable

Second System
NVA P20/ A20, Cubettes, LS3, SSP, SC
Sonore MicroRendu, Chord Mojo 2 MCRU PSs, AQ Carbon USB cable & JB FMJ

Headphones
Grado SR325e/Chord Mojo, Beyerdynamic Avetho/AQ DF Colbat

RIP Doc

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slinger
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Re: Tinker, Tailor, Streamer, Pi.

Unread post by slinger »

Lindsayt wrote: Sun Feb 14, 2021 3:10 pm
My biggest 3 factors in deciding what desktop PC case to buy are:
1 is it big enough to hold everything?
2 cost
3 does it look undesirable to burglars? The scruffier and more old fashioned and worthless it looks, the better.
Dammit! I knew I'd missed something.

1. It's plenty big enough and takes 5 fans, (or four fans and a liquid CPU cooler in my config) 3x4Tb drives and a couple of SSDs
2. It was a decent price, I sourced it from Amazon.de
3. Maybe it's too pretty though It will have LED fans and some lights inside in a vain attempt to convince my grandchildren that their 67-year-old grandpa is still cool. :lol:
Amps - NVA P50, AP30, A40, Stanislav Palo Tube Headphone Amp BB 85
Speakers - Monitor Audio Silver RX2
Cables - NVA LS1+LS3, SSC, Gotham S/PDIF, IBRA Optical
Digital - NAD C516BEE, SONY ST-SDB900 DAB TUNER, TEAC UD-H01 DAC
Analogue - Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Esprit SB, Graham Slee Gram Amp 2 Phono
Cans - Grado SR80, ATH-M50X

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