I've had a fascinating year with my system.
At the beginning of the year I decided not to do any box upgrades but to focus on improving the "environment" of my existing system.
I ditched the piece of furniture the system sat on and replaced it with 2 custom made racks; added a Hi-Line between the NDX and the NAC 282; added 3 Powerlines; had the NAP 200 serviced; spent a long time dressing cables (what a back breaking chore that is). Each of the changes brought a tangible improvement in SQ, and one has to think that there was also a cumulative improvement of all the changes as well as the individual change.
The final item on my list was a recommendation Mr. Halibut made on another forum to replace the switched PS on the Unitiserve with a Linear PS.
The PS came today and I popped it into the comm closet next to the Unitiserve, plugged it in and left it for an hour to warm up.
The effect on the system is palpable in the extreme .. I find the change really quite remarkable. Everything is so much crisper and richer, I had no idea .. Really quite remarkable, and the accompanying documentation says to expect changes (for the better I hope) for the next week or so ..
Memory is a strange old thing but I'm having a tough time remembering a single one of my changes that had such a profound impact on the sound. But as I said earlier, maybe the synergy of all my tinkering finally kicked in ..
What a wonderful hobby this is:
[Thank you Mr. Halibut .. great tip]
John.
Posted on: 24 August 2015 by hungryhalibut
Excellent! I'll give you another tip - sell the UnitiServe, get a Synology NAS, install Minimserver, trouser the £1,500 and enjoy even better sound quality. Strange, but true.
Posted on: 24 August 2015 by John Willmott
[ Excellent! I'll give you another tip - sell the UnitiServe, get a Synology NAS, install Minimserver, trouser the £1,500 and enjoy even better sound quality. Strange, but true. ]
Thank you for the tip but I have to admit that I rather like the compactness (??) and convenience of the US .. I would have to get quite disenchanted with it to swap it out, I'll stick with it for the foreseeable future I think ..
Posted on: 25 August 2015 by Mike-B
Originally Posted by Wat:
Sin (if they have a UK contact i never found it)
I've used the Synology support system twice, both times I had a response within 2 days.
One acknowledged the problem & its on the list for a future update
The other confirmed (as I suspected) it was a Microsoft problem outside their control.
www dot Synology dot com will send you to the appropriate countries www
UK specific is -
Technical Support Team
Synology UK Ltd,
Unit C, Denbigh West Business Park,
Third Avenue,
Milton Keynes,
MK1 1DH
+44 (0) 1908 274659
Worldwide Support Form
https://account.synology.com/support/support_form.php
Posted on: 25 August 2015 by Mike-B
I think you know the answer to that Tobyjug ............
Ripping into a computer has some downsides compared to a US or VB ripper, but IMO the computor ripping method it has more upsides. Ripping programs such as dBpoweramp enable you to choose you format (.wav or .flac etc) & many other fine tuning to be done in the rip than do the US & VB's . Plus after the rip you can edit whatever else you like to fine tune your metadata.
The US & VB's are a really attractive one stop ripping unit & as such do a great job of making the whole process very simple – provided the metadata (tagging) is loaded correctly & as you want it. If not you will need the computer & dBpoweramp anyway.
The added problem I've read about the US & VB is reliability, you read the stories about US on this forum, that said I have a disabled friend who uses US & thankfully he has no problems. I also know of two people with VB's & both have not been trouble free, one was a disc drive failure, the other was either OS or a HDD.
Posted on: 25 August 2015 by Mike-B
Hi again Wat, to give the full story:
The disc drive failure was a clickclickclick noise from the drive straight out of the new box, obvious it was from the disc drive, but not sure if the drive itself or just something touching the rotating disc. It was returned & replaced very quickly.
The OS or HDD failure was a 2 month old unit, all I know was it showed warning lights & the owner said the HDD was not responding. VB sorted whatever it was.
Posted on: 25 August 2015 by John Willmott
[
......and as its powering in a 'comm Closet"'. plug into a wall socket or a strip that has no other switch PS devices connected along with it. ]
Mr. Jug:
I have put a PowerLine on the new PS (even though the manufacturer of the PS says it is not really required ) and I have it plugged into a rather industrial strength UPS, specifically the battery backup/Surge Protection side of the UPS and not just the Surge Protection side. There is a switched PS device connected to the UPS but only to the Surge Protection side .. I believe the 2 sides of the UPS are isolated from each other ..
Thanks for the input ..
Posted on: 26 August 2015 by 40 below
Hi John
Are you sure the Powerline is better than the standard US cable with the filter? The filter is designed to prevent noise being introduced back into the mains.
inside your new PS you will find a 16v SMPS followed by a linear regulator board, so its NOT a fully linear PS in the traditional sense.....
Posted on: 26 August 2015 by John Willmott
40 below
[
Are you sure the Powerline is better than the standard US cable with the filter? The filter is designed to prevent noise being introduced back into the mains.
inside your new PS you will find a 16v SMPS followed by a linear regulator board, so its NOT a fully linear PS in the traditional sense..... ]
Actually no, I am not sure that the Powerline is better than the standard US cable .. I have automatically put Powerlines on all my PS as a matter of course. You introduced enough doubt that I'll run it with a standard cable for a week or two then switch back and see if I notice any change .. good catch.
Posted on: 16 September 2015 by Huge
Originally Posted by Wat:
...
That's a shame - I guess none of these new wonders is ever going to work as well as the LP12.
...
Or comparing the performance and reliability of a 1980's Skoda Rapide (with its engine control being by mechanical switches) to a 2015 Skoda Fabia (where all the engine control is electronic)...
Oh! hang on, that's the other way round. 
