(13-Jun-2014, 13:09)Antoine Wrote: I myself have never used HDMI/infrared so don't miss these a bit. Very nice of Devialet to upgrade the optical input for you!
I didn't use the infra red either but the HDMi for TV sound and SACDs.
Strictly speaking Devialet are not upgrading the optical input but not downgrading it as they normally have to do when going D-Premier > 250! I am extremely grateful nonetheless. I can use my Astell & Kern 240 to stream any type of file they way.
14-Jun-2014, 08:08 (This post was last modified: 14-Jun-2014, 08:22 by Hermanh.)
(13-Jun-2014, 22:14)f1eng Wrote:
(13-Jun-2014, 13:09)Antoine Wrote: I myself have never used HDMI/infrared so don't miss these a bit. Very nice of Devialet to upgrade the optical input for you!
I didn't use the infra red either but the HDMi for TV sound and SACDs.
Strictly speaking Devialet are not upgrading the optical input but not downgrading it as they normally have to do when going D-Premier > 250! I am extremely grateful nonetheless. I can use my Astell & Kern 240 to stream any type of file they way.
Hi Antoine,
Before upgrading your PC components you should check The Paul Pang website. http://ppastudio.blogspot.tw
Every Paul Pang component I installed had a very big effect on the overall sound of my system. The combined effect is astounding.
The "source first" principle is easely demonstrated with an audio pc, so much to improve in this area.
USB sounds better than ethernet or wifi in my setup.
Devialet 440 pro CI, Shunyata Research Sigma S/PDIF RCA link, In-Akustik Referenz LS-4004 Air , B&W 802 Diamond. Aurender N10, SR Sigma AES/EBU 2x Paul Pang OCXO dual switch, SR Sigma Ethernet, Acousense GISO GB Lan Isolator Rega RP8, Rega Apheta 2 SR Denali 6000/S V2, SR Alpha NR PL C19, Naim PL C15 IsoAcoustics Gaia I, Orea Bronze & Indigo
Hi Hermanh, I'm receiving all the new parts tomorrow or the day after, no PPAStudio parts yet although I did look at them earlier and may experiment with some of them in the future. to be honest, the products/website didn't give me a feeling of being 'solid' and 'proven' but of course I could be completely wrong about that.
PS Audio P3, Shunyata ΞTRON Alpha Digital and HC/Furutech power cables, Paul Hynes SR7EHD-MR4, DIY Roon Server & Roon Endpoint running AudioLinux Headless, Phasure Lush^2 USB cable, Audioquest Diamond RJ/E ethernet, Uptone Audio etherREGEN, Mutec MC-3+ USB, Shunyata ΞTRON Anaconda Digital XLR AES/EBU, Devialet Expert 250 Pro CI, Nordost Tyr Reference LS cables, Von Schweikert VR-5 SE Anniversary Edition, Anti-Mode Dual Core 2.0, JL Audio Fathom F112. More detail here.
21-Jun-2014, 13:06 (This post was last modified: 09-Nov-2014, 14:24 by Antoine.)
All components were delivered this week so I built my new HTPC/Devialet music server machine (specs below). It's up&running now and I'll run it using Windows 8.1 Pro for a while to establish some baseline before trying Windows Server 2012 R2. Let the tweaking/experimenting begin!!
The PC is connected to the Devialet using both ethernet and USB. Ethernet (AIR) for music streaming and USB for 'non-critical' applications like Youtube, XBMC (TV series). I already found out that the Devialet needs the ground active in USB to function while I was hoping it didn't so that I wouldn't have to feed the Devialet the "dirty" PC USB power. I guess I could try and use a iFi USB power supply combined with a USB splitter cable to isolate the Devialet more from the PC.
For movies and other surround media the Dolby AC3/DTS decoding is done by the old Tag McLaren surround processor which is fed by an optical cable from this PC. The Devialet amplifies the front channels in pass-through mode and the rears are amplified by a Lyngdorf SDA2175 power amplifier.
Later I will use the second Intel ethernet NIC to feed the Devialet directly using only one ethernet cable and thus circumventing the use of the switches and additional cabling in my network. Some have said this makes a difference, I guess I'll find out if it really does myself soon.
OS: Windows 8.1 Professional
Music server software: JRiver Media Center 19
Other media: XBMC 13.1 for now
Remote Control: iPad 3 with JRemote for remote control
24-Jun-2014, 15:24 (This post was last modified: 24-Jun-2014, 15:37 by Antoine.)
There are times I feel like an idiot having this hobby, and today I really feel like an idiot!
I just bought these two cables, Audioquest Vodka RJ/E ethernet (1,5m) and Carbon USB (0,75m).
As a former IT network engineer, especially the ethernet cable makes me wonder if I've lost my mind.
Talking about crazy; I removed the internals of my 12V 150W power supply adapter for the PicoPSU from it's plastic case and built it into the music server machine. There was plenty of room and this way i would get rid of the big brick lying around the set radiating it's RFI/EMI fields freely.
I made an aluminium housing around it (0,5mm plate and aluminium+copper foil) that hopefully will create a Faraday cage to keep most of the RFI/EMI inside. The Streacom case itself is also fully made of metal.
Also I added a big ferrite bead after the original ferrite and gave the cable 6 turns around it to further reduce RFI interference.
Don't worry about galvanic isolation of your Ethernet port. This is done within the devialet anyway.
Yes, I checked and indeed found the TDK IC I posted elsewhere on this forum but nonetheless I will look at it further to see if adding additional isolation could be beneficial. Later I may also experiment with ethernet->optical media converters.
PS Audio P3, Shunyata ΞTRON Alpha Digital and HC/Furutech power cables, Paul Hynes SR7EHD-MR4, DIY Roon Server & Roon Endpoint running AudioLinux Headless, Phasure Lush^2 USB cable, Audioquest Diamond RJ/E ethernet, Uptone Audio etherREGEN, Mutec MC-3+ USB, Shunyata ΞTRON Anaconda Digital XLR AES/EBU, Devialet Expert 250 Pro CI, Nordost Tyr Reference LS cables, Von Schweikert VR-5 SE Anniversary Edition, Anti-Mode Dual Core 2.0, JL Audio Fathom F112. More detail here.
Well I'm a sometimes systems and network engineer and have a CCNE, and I'll back you up on this Antoine! I've heard Audioquest Vodka & Diamond in Guillaume's superb system and they both give improvements, the Diamond in particular but the Vodka noticeable too.
It's funny I don't feel I have the resolution in my own system to confidently tell the difference, but on one that's on a different level to mine it's much more apparent and it's a worthy addition.
I've been meaning to try optical for ages too. I bought a managed switch with 4 SFP ports in a couple of years ago but yet to try it out. Of course it requires a converter on the end the Devialet is on so could be a source of noise. I also tried wireless on the MiND - it's different (should it be?!), and I liked it for a while, then thought it was less musical and went back to ethernet.
I'm seriously impressed Antoine!! The attention to detail is simply fantastic and commendable. I really do believe that every single thing in the chain matters (yes I'm nuts too! ). Some of these tweaks might only give you a tiny improvement but once you add them all up they do make a difference.
Guillaume
Industry disclosure: UK distributor for Shunyata Research
220 PRO, totaldac d1 server with additional external power supply, totaldac d1-seven, Echole PSU for Totaldac, Wilson Audio Sasha 2, Shunyata Research cables, Shunyata Hydra Alpha A10 + DPC-6 v3, Various Entreq ground boxes and cables, Entreq Athena level 3 rack, 2 X SOtM sNH-10G with sCLK-EX + 10MHz Master Clock input + sPS-500 PSU, i5 sonicTransporter w/ 1TB SSD
(24-Jun-2014, 16:36)GuillaumeB Wrote: I'm seriously impressed Antoine!! The attention to detail is simply fantastic and commendable. I really do believe that every single thing in the chain matters (yes I'm nuts too! ). Some of these tweaks might only give you a tiny improvement but once you add them all up they do make a difference.
Guillaume
My friends and I were curious on USB cables, whether they matter. We did understand why linear PSU for the USB cable matters. So we tried to compare several of them.
We tried 2 random stock USB vs. AQ Carbon vs. Furutech GT2 vs. Vertere Acoustics D-fi vs. AQ Coffee. We concluded that the AQ and Furutech were marginally better then the random stock USBs, each of them (including the different stock cables) has different emphasis on tones. Vertere was overall more balanced and much more musical, pretty close to AQ Coffee. AQ Coffee did come up better but at a significantly higher cost.