The Hugo of streaming?

Mr Underhill posted:

 

I would love to listen to some LPSUs before deciding whether blowing £400 on the LPS-1 is a worthwhile lift in performance over the SBooster I am using. One person did give a positive report, but I always wonder how much work they have done in getting the best from what they already have.

 

M

I think I'm that person you refer to, and, yes, I've done 'everything' to my system that needs to be done (separate dedicated circuit for the V1/110, and one for the LPS/Rendu, nas on another, downstream FMC on another, AV Option Tibia plus power cables, and I could go on).

You really need to get over to the CA (computer audiophile) forum and checkout what others are saying about the LPS-1. No A/B ing it against my HDPLEX was necessary. The LPS is really as good as everyone says. I wouldn't go so far as to, say, buy one to just power a switch or an FMC, but it really does transform the rendu. A short 10cm Chinese 'audiophile' DC cable made a nice uptick in sq as well. 

Of course there's nothing crappier than having just bought something and then finding out there's something even better. But so it goes with electronics.... and it's up to you what it's worth. 

Mr Underhill posted:

Tuomo posted:

Hi Mr Underhill,    It would be interesting to know your DAC - line isolator - NAC combination. Maybe line isolator would be worth to try also between my Chord Hugo and Naim NAC282.

My DAC is a Bel Canto 3.5vb, this uses a VBS (Virtual Battery Supply) to isolate the DAC from the mains. I use the balanced outputs to connect to my EAR868PL pre-amp.

Have tried a variety of gizmos I read a post on CA where the chap mentioned he and a friend had both used Line Isolators in similar circumstances to address what I was hearing, sharpness/edge.

I bought an ART via eBay for £30:

http://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/art-dti

I have read about the Jensen transformers that have a good rep, but are balanced only - which is fine for me. I have just bought a Jensen Isomax PB-2XX via eBay to hear whether it will further improve on the ART; I'll post back in due course ....you never know I may have a bargain available! That said, I am going to try it on my phono input, you never know.

M

The DC cable from LPS-1 to mR reintroduced the "punch" in the music and made it sound even more "relaxed" and "controlled".

At this time waiting for FMC's in an attempt to upgrade the sound even further and next step might be a transformer between Hugo DAC and amp (SN or 282).

@M, would like you to share your experience on the Jensen vs ART transformer. I might be lookin for a bargain.

Peter

charlesphoto posted:

The Dac V1 is more than  robust running a micrRendu, but the rendu is picky about power and cabling. Uptown LPS-1 is the best bet. From there it's important the DC power cable between the LPS-1 and rendu be as short and robust as possible. I'm running a six inch custom one from China and at first it was too much bass! but running in nicely now. ..

 

Can you please shed some more light on this? Do you know the size of wire used?

I have a 10 inch DIY one, the equivalent of 17 AWG silver coated copper for each conductor, but I notice the Cardas DC-4  uses  15 AWG,  for 2A?!

I can't leave a link here of course, but if you go to that big auction site and search for "hifi dc cable" it should come up first. I only know what I can see and hear. Under the outer mesh it appears to be a Litz style weave of 14-16AWG wire. It's very stiff, and will stay in whatever orientation you twist it, and the barrel connecters appear very well made and fit neither too tight to too loose. Sounds great and took that last bit of glare and veil off. I'm sure the $140 Cardas cable from Sonore is even better (and Uptone will start offering a custom made $85 one soon), but for the price you can't go wrong with this one. I obviously started something because when I purchased they had three available (I got the first), then those sold out, and now there's ten available. It's really the perfect size as I have the rendu just to the rear and side of the LPS-1. 

^

Thank you - I asked SLK the question.

Let me know what they say. I just bought on a whim without questioning. 

charlesphoto posted:

Mr Underhill posted:

 

I would love to l.......

 

M

I think I'm that person you refer to

 

Hi Charles,

No. I was returning to a number of threads on CA and HeadFi.

M

Bowers posted:

@M, would like you to share your experience on the Jensen vs ART transformer. I might be lookin for a bargain.

Peter

 

Hi Peter,

I found a transformer between my DAC and Pre, using XLRs, had a positive effect. I did not find any difference between the ART and the far more expensive Jensen.

M

charlesphoto posted:

Let me know what they say. I just bought on a whim without questioning. 

Will do - the cable looks like it is nicely done and is well priced. The important thing is that it works well!

The Cardas copper litz wire is cheap enough (15.5 awg. is $3.28/ft ) at partsconnexion. I was planning on trying that out at a later date.

charlesphoto posted:

I obviously started something because when I purchased they had three available (I got the first), then those sold out, and now there's ten available.

I'm pretty sure I got the second or third :-)) My LPS-1 is due to arrive any day, so I'll soon be able to test the whole setup.

Like [@mention:31133010790685645] my hi-fi components are on a dedicated circuit and the 'computer' stuff on another. Network is full stack Cisco Meraki with Fiber back hauling of the managed switches. 

Roon>microRendu>DAC-V1>NAP 250DR 

Brilliant posted:

charlesphoto posted:

The Dac V1 is more than  robust running a micrRendu, but the rendu is picky about power and cabling. Uptown LPS-1 is the best bet. From there it's important the DC power cable between the LPS-1 and rendu be as short and robust as possible. I'm running a six inch custom one from China and at first it was too much bass! but running in nicely now. ..

 

Can you please shed some more light on this? Do you know the size of wire used?

I have a 10 inch DIY one, the equivalent of 17 AWG silver coated copper for each conductor, but I notice the Cardas DC-4  uses  15 AWG,  for 2A?!

Brilliant posted:

charlesphoto posted:

Let me know what they say. I just bought on a whim without questioning. 

Will do - the cable looks like it is nicely done and is well priced. The important thing is that it works well!

The Cardas copper litz wire is cheap enough (15.5 awg. is $3.28/ft ) at partsconnexion. I was planning on trying that out at a later date.

22 AWG according to the seller, but it does look bigger than that in his picture. I am not confident that he himself is sure, as he seems to me to be a re-seller, based on the number of times I asked and his responses!

GregW posted:

My LPS-1 is due to arrive any day, so I'll soon be able to test the whole setup.

 

Greg,

Do you use FMCs?

I ask as it is possible to run more than one device off the LPS-1 and I have read of good results when powering the 'inner' FMC from an LPS-1.

Have you read any threads on Network Isolation? The LPS-1 acts as a loop break and can have an effect in addition to 'merely' feeding high quality DC. Some good posts by John Swenson.

M

I've tried running both the rendu and the upstream FMC (one closest to the rendu) with the LPS-1 and found it not quite as good as running both on separate power supplies (the FMC with an HDPLEX in my case). I think this was possibly in large part due to the cheap quality of the dc Y cable vs the higher quality cable being used from just the rendu to LPS-1. But YMMV and it would be worth a try (y cables can be found cheap). 

Brilliant posted:

charlesphoto posted:

The Dac V1 is more than  robust running a micrRendu, but the rendu is picky about power and cabling. Uptown LPS-1 is the best bet. From there it's important the DC power cable between the LPS-1 and rendu be as short and robust as possible. I'm running a six inch custom one from China and at first it was too much bass! but running in nicely now. ..

 

Can you please shed some more light on this? Do you know the size of wire used?

I have a 10 inch DIY one, the equivalent of 17 AWG silver coated copper for each conductor, but I notice the Cardas DC-4  uses  15 AWG,  for 2A?!

I made a DIY cable  from the 15.5 AWG Cardas copper litz wire and have been listening. Its good, better than the supplied LPS-1 cable. However the DIY silver plated one is  better- the music has such ease of flow and just feels 'liberated from the electronics'. If anyone is interested in what it is : the MIL-W-16878D Type E (19/32 SPC) and using 2x20 AWG for each conductor. This super wire is often available on the big auction sites at affordable prices (free tip - the 24 AWG 19/36 SPC for interconnects, MIL-W-16878/4)

[@mention:1566878603990222] I'm not using FMCs. I had seen some of the commentary regarding extending the use of the LPS-1. Looks promising.

My network is structured with a core switch to which three additional switches are connected/backhauled via fiber. A fourth in my media cabinet is connected to the core switch over Cat 6 and is powered from the core switch with Power Over Ethernet. 

Additional I should say I am very happy with my microRendu/LPS-1 combination. It makes a noticeable improvement over the iFi unit I was using before.

Excellent information Brilliant. I have tried something similar with RaspberryPi instead of microRendu, but used a router in ethernet.

Do you think Anker USB/Ethernet 2 device is better than using a router in ethernet? I understand your system is more simple.

Is there some specific reason to use USB card in your PC with a separate LPS? Is it possible that disturbances would go through ethernet until DAC-V1 if normal USB ports of the computer is used?

Tuomo posted:

Excellent information Brilliant. I have tried something similar with RaspberryPi instead of microRendu, but used a router in ethernet.

Do you think Anker USB/Ethernet 2 device is better than using a router in ethernet? I understand your system is more simple.

I initially had the router/switch ethernet arrangement to the mR. This was improved upon by inserting an optical fibre isolation loop using FMCs. The above arrangement betters that still. All this courtesy of the folks at computeraudiophile(.)com

Is there some specific reason to use USB card in your PC with a separate LPS? Is it possible that disturbances would go through ethernet until DAC-V1 if normal USB ports of the computer is used?

Yes -  I have an older Gigabyte motherboard (GA-G41-...) This particular USB card does not use the PCI-E power. It is intended to be powered with the cleaner external power than the mobo supplies. Its design and benefits can be found on his website. In this particular usage I find that it improves on the mobo USB (easily noticeable in the higher frequencies in the above setup)

Note: When the V1 is plugged directly into this card the lowest frequecies sound a bit  rolled off compared to the mobo USB (not sure why), so I never use it that way!

Some newer Gigabyte boards apparently have cleaner USB power and some have ports that the 5V can be turned off. The underlying idea in the above setup is to reduce noise reaching the DAC.

(edited)

GregW posted:

[@mention:1566878603990222] I'm not using FMCs. I had seen some of the commentary regarding extending the use of the LPS-1. Looks promising.

My network is structured with a core switch to which three additional switches are connected/backhauled via fiber. A fourth in my media cabinet is connected to the core switch over Cat 6 and is powered from the core switch with Power Over Ethernet. 

Additional I should say I am very happy with my microRendu/LPS-1 combination. It makes a noticeable improvement over the iFi unit I was using before.

Hi Greg,

Where do you host your files?

M

Just installed a Raspberry Pi 3 with piCorePlayer. Attached my StarTech 4 USB extender. Disabled Squeezelite and installed & enabled LMS.

This is in place of using my Synology 1812+. I think it is probably an improvement, despite a reduction in RAM, 3GB vs 1GB; more CPU grunt of course.

Got an IFI 5V PSU en-route, before I decide whether to get a LPSU.

I will report back on whether I think this is a worthwhile gain in due course.

M

Personally I found computing power on the server to have a profound impact in the sound.  I had been using a ReadyNAS Duo (Arm processor), then a custom built intel Atom processor.  Never thought streaming from these sounded very good.  I built a i5 Quad Core Vortexbox and it sounds better than the others.  Also more Ram (8G) on the new server.

Hi B,

I am in full agreement. Unfortunately you can't increase the RAM on a RP.

I also played with an old Dell laptop for a couple of weeks, 2GB RAM + Celeron. Not as good as the RP3, but I listened to Foobar2k with SOX - first time I have use upsampling and actually enjoyed what it did.

I will be looking at a NUC of some sort in due course ......or a Uniticore.

M

Brubacca posted:

Personally I found computing power on the server to have a profound impact in the sound.  I had been using a ReadyNAS Duo (Arm processor), then a custom built intel Atom processor.  Never thought streaming from these sounded very good.  I built a i5 Quad Core Vortexbox and it sounds better than the others.  Also more Ram (8G) on the new server.

Curious if you had a linear power supply on the Atom? I have one on my older micro Vortexbox (that has an Atom cpu in it) and it seemed to make a subtle difference, but now I have so many tweaks after it ( switch with ups, FMC's with same, microrendu with LPS-1 etc) that I'm trying to figure if a different server will make any sound difference. 

I never had a linear psu on my atom server.  I had actually ordered one to try from a company called Welbourne Labs.  Lets just say that didn't go well.  I never got the psu and my credit card refunded my money.  

Also, I wasn't putting the RP3 dow .  With its optimized OS I'm sure it is a great product.  I have wanted to order one to play with several times.  I am wondering if I could use a RP3 with a small touchscreen as a control point for minimserver/MicroRendu  

Brubacca posted:

I never had a linear psu on my atom server.  I had actually ordered one to try from a company called Welbourne Labs.  Lets just say that didn't go well.  I never got the psu and my credit card refunded my money.  

I had a Welbourne Labs PSU quite a few years back for my Squeezebox. I built it from a kit which was pretty decent. Took an age to arrive but did arrive in the end. I did buy another one a few years later to power a Mac Mini. Never turned up and good old MBNA sorted it all out with a refund. Shame as they actually did some decent kit 

Ha! Those crooks got me too a few years back. Strung me along until I couldn't get a refund from my CC company. Now just using an 'el cheap' from China with an R-core that seems to work just fine. Unbelievable that people can sleep at night having ripped others off like that....