Print Page - PC electrical isolation from DAC

At last, with Paul's help, there is enough information to start to post comments on the Adnaco fibre system which provides total electrical isolation of the PC from the DAC.

General observation is that the system is extremely promising I think many of us will be seeing much more of it going forwards. Impact on sound is significant and it opens up interesting opertunities to place the pc hundreds of feet from the music system, which with Peters remote control system means the pc can be placed out of the listening room on a separate mains ring to remove the SMPS feed back into DAC and amps.

First the Adnaco systems

I have looked at two systems:

The first is a Remote USB optical fibre extension system.
Details at http://www.adnaco.com/products/s3a/

The second a remote PCIE host card also connected by optical fibre to the PC. Details at http://www.adnaco.com/products/s1a/

Both could be made to work with my 2011 cpu ASUS based pc. However the remote PCIe host system would only work with a USB 2 card fitted, it was VERY hard to install in my PC end to end in order to get it to work with remote USB cards and my NOS1. In the end I could not get it to work with USB 3 cards only USB 2. This is possibly down to my motherboard and 2011 CPU using a high proportion of system resources (DAM, interrupts etc) so this system may work for other people but it was not the solution for me and with the remote Adnaco USB 3 system working so well attention was very soon focused on that Adnaco system.

So the Adnaco USB 3 system.

Note that these comments relate to the sound when properly setup (more later). The effect on sound quality can be quite disorientating at first, somehow everything is the same but you just do not recognise the sound at first. After some time listening you realise that EVERYTHING is just slightly better than before. Detail levels go up, hash disappears music is more REAL.

I will not go much further with respect to sound quality now. During the testing Paul come over to mine to take a listen. Whilst he was here he helped to pinpointed a bery serious problem with my system which frankly prevents absolute assessment of the Adnaco system in my system (now fixed after 7 months of trying so many, many thanks to Paul and Peter in this respect). Paul has however borrowed the USB system for a week to try in his system and it is after trading mails on its performance that confidence is high enough now to post about the system. I think Paul hopefully plans to post some more detailed thoughts on the ststem.

Regarding setting up the USB 3 remote system.

First point is that the small SMTP supply that comes with the system will get things going very quickly but to a great performance the Adnaco has to have a high quality 5v linear supply. Also important if it can be done (in the case of the NOS1 at least) is closely coupling the Adnaco into the NOS1 signal earth, and shielding the USB shield to PE. It is also possible in this way to completely iliminate the use of the external USB lead when using it with a NOS1 (by direct connection into the internal NOS1 USB lead) which helps a little to reduce some edges in the sound. Overall it appears best to try to treat the remorte USB system electricly as a part of the DAC it is feeding not as a remote external interface. As a remote system it works well say 70% of the benefit but implemented within the NOS1 with a linear supply more is available. I am sure that Peter could sweat more from the system with proper tools rather than the trial and error subjective approach used here.

So an exciting development and more to come on this I am sure.

Nick.

Ps I would like to thank Mark at Item Audio for the kind loan of the two different Adnaco systems that I have been trying. Mark is defiantly one of these very rare hifi dealers that are genuinely passionate about pc audio. I have no ties with Item Audio and have paied full retail price for the USB system that I have kept to become part of my system.

Hi Nick,

Very interesting experiment indeed!

I have read about someone using Adnaco S1A PCI/PCIe extender with SoTM USB2 card to create a 'clean room' environment for SoTM output to DAC. But have never heard of using S1A to isolate USB3 host controller. Based on your experiment, the R1USB30 approach is obviously more promising. From power supply standpoint, the outboard R1USB30 requires simple 5v input whereas R1BP1A PCI/PCIe extender board requires 24pin ATX input. I think it is easier to build 5v clean power for S1A.

Couple of questions:

1. Did you try feeding R1USB30 with battery power?

2. How can you estimate the other 30% of performance improvement by eliminating the external USB connection? If that 30% improvement is proven and the 100% is so significant that Peter adopts this tweak, then we will end up sending NOS1 back to Netherlands again ?

3. Do you think it will work with LGA 1366?

4. You may like to borrow the upcoming Item linear ATX psu for testing and share the findings.

Looking forward to learning more about the sound quality improvement over onboard USB3 card approach.

Thanks for your experiments.
Best regards,
Praphan

Parphan hi,

The R1BP1A board can very easily be run from just a 3.3v linear supply with a 5v supply if needed, so there no need to use an ATX PSU. I used an ATX for my test install but as I mentioned is was very hard to configure and I could not get a USB 3 card to install.

In LGA 1366 sould be fine, Paul uses one I think and has the system set up right now.

The percentages were intended to indicate the proportion of the benefit from using the R1USB30A card is accessible using it's own SMPS vs using a good linear supply. The change in sound quality in absolute terms is very good but right now Paul is perhaps best placed to offer information as my system was not on top form when I tried the card out.

I did not try battery power just a good quality linear supply. The [EDIT R1USB30A remote] card needs 500ma so any battery would need to be both a fast low noise power source and be able to supply this kind of draw for hours.

The item linear pc supply sounds interesting but in my final config I plan to have the pc in a separate room powered by a separate mains phase withint he house so any benefit from the linear supply would be internal to the pc not via any lowering of noise transmision via USB or mains transmitted smtp noise into the DAC. These two issues will already will have been addressed by this setup. It would still be very interesting to try the linear atx supply, I suspect even in such a setup may well help music quality.

Best regards,

Nick.

Has someone noted if it was more difficult to get a silent CPU core for music with the Adnaco S3B ?

Since I added the S3B, I can't get any core to be quiet, whichever core scheme I choose. I have 2 different pictures of my 2 cores, one without the S3B (with a quiet core), one with (no quiet core).

I also have encountered BSODs with this, whatever speed I select (there are dipswitches) between 5 GT/s and 2.5GT/s (Giga-Transfers per second).

I have a few pics included to show these results...

By the way, I only have a 2.6GHZ Intel CPU with 2 cores, 8GB of DDR 3 10600 RAM, in a Lenovo ThinkCentre Edge 71, very ordinary and cheap mobo (soundcard and video card all integrated), SPSU 180 watts, Noctua CPU fan at 800 rpm with a SOTM fan filter... (see sig).

Not sure what to make of this, but with the BSODs that I have encountered, plus the "pulse" that you can see (whatever scheme I try), I am not sure that this is a good addition ?

Alain

Hey Alain ... we could wait for you to turn up with this eh ?
Well, you can't say I didn't try to let hold you back from this. :) (a couple of xxx emails)

Anyway, now you have it, it is good that you do. And in general (for others) : I expect quite some problems with this, while it is not said they can't be overcome. So ...

Alain, while I was working on a similar solution (I had to give up upon), Nick obtained this (and the PCIe solution) which I only learned when it was on his doorstep (and which was after our emails). So, what happens now is that both Nick and Paul, and later me myself will try to squeeze out what's there to squeeze out. I am a bit sceptical, but this is theory only thus far.

It is to be noted that "we NOS1 users" can only look at it from that perspective, and the NOS1 is fairly different to this USB regard. I mean, it allows settings your device probably isn't able to. So whatever comes from it, it will be a NOS1 view. But this is why it's comfortable you now have one ...

All right. Those spikes you see are from the Driver. Or let's say the Driver communicating with the OS (better : transferring). You will be able to influence it with the Clock Resolution for sure, and possibly with the Device Buffer Size and Q1 (the product of both counts); I'm fairly sure that NOS1 users can use the latter two to influence; in your case maybe.

Those spikes are pretty severe of course, and it is not a good sign. For Nick/Paul : it is this what I told you about regarding more noise, more draw and which may act as a smoothening factor (ehm, as a negative). May may may and all theory.

About the BSODs, look here for a start : http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-system/help-need-to-diagnose-bsod-bccode-10d/23cd3e5c-a68a-4847-b5bc-8a610fd45f36?tab=MoreHelp
Does that look complicated ? sure it does. I don't think there's a real clue in there, except for that it is a good thing to update all your mobo drivers to the latest version now (something I would be reluctant about when all is running fine, actually).

From what I see in that little thread, I'd try it with Minimized OS and especially the LAN shut off. So, it looks like it is "network" related, possibly especially WiFi. Otoh, it looks like the 10d error is very generic and it may take a few hours of Googling before you can draw conclusions. Anyway, look for
bbccode 10d
without quotes to get a nice list.

I can tell you (but Nick can do that better) that the other Fibre solution from Adnaco gave all sorts of problems on the NOS1 as well, and it was not to overcome and it was returned. If this is the same for the USB solution for non NOS1 applications, it doesn't look good at all. I don't know whether Nick sought help with Adnaco, but if he did it would be interesting to know how they responded. Maybe not the real contents, but the "how" in "feeling".

I don't know more at this moment.
Peter

Alain hi,

I had a look at the S1A interface which looks similar to the S1B you have.

I had a difficult time getting the interface to install at Bios and Windows 7 device manager level. When I had overcome these problems I found that I could only install USB2 cards successfully, USB 3 cards could be seen by Windows Device Manager but would not work.

With USB 2 cards the system would play correctly with the NOS although I only tried this for a relatively short periods. I think there may have been a latency issue as I was getting occasional clicks in the music.

The USB 3 problems and possible latency issues meant that I quite quickly focused on the R1USB30B (USB fibre system) which is what Paul and I have been looking at.

I didn’t look at the CPU load for this USB card or the S1B stsems but we should be able to do this for the R1USB30B, its an interesting finding.

One interesting point is that there may have been an issue regards PCIe spread spectrum incompatibility for the R1USB30A (the older NEC chipset USB fibre card). This was explained in a PDF document now removed from the Adnaco site. It might be a good idea to try to disable spread spectrum on your PCIe if you can do this in your bios. No evidence that this is the issue but just in case.

Regards,

Nick.

Hi Peter,

What email are you talking about ;) What day is it ? What planet ? ;)

At least I did not acquire it for the reasons that I mentionned (I hope you will believe me)...

Yes I thought that the driver was doing something and true, it differs depending on what resolution. Strangely enough, from .5ms to 10ms, the spikes keep growing from one resolution to the nextr (the picture was taken at 10ms for the sake of the example), then at 15ms it goes down (looks as if it was at .5ms)... I will show more of this with my next post. I also played with Q1 but I was less sure about the differences. Anyway, I will show more pics about the CPU with different adjustements.

I will also check about the Bios updates. I would be surprised that it changes something, because the PC is quite recent, but who knows...

I will also write to Support at Adnaco, just to see what they have to say about this...

Will come back as soon as possible.

If in the meantime, someone has questions, suggestions, or music to make me feel better about this last expense... ;)

Thanks :)

Alain

Hi Nick,

Thanks for the info. I will check with the Bios update, just to see if I can squeeze out something. I do update the BIOS from time to time when a PC gets older, but I had this one only 3 months ago. In fact, I would have liked to have a more powerful PC for my music (and I eventually will), but well, this one arrived "by accident" and I finally took it to replace my aging laptop...

When we see the video of the S3B on YouTube, the model shown has 3 outputs on the receiver side and it seems to be USB2 instead of USB3 (is it what you mean ?).

And... Like a man that doen't ask for directions ;) I did not check for the necessity to have a driver for this, but finally checked further and executed the installation program...

I must admit that I was already happy with the results I get from my sound system, but this hobby... Well, I know you know :)

I will investigate as far as I can and will report back :)

Regards,

Alain

Hi Peter,

I have always been a stubborn kind of guy and I guess you were able to see this. I (too often) tend to obliterate a certain degree of caution and "try" new things... When it turns out fine as you mention, I can feel so enthusiastic :)

I will try to update the Bios (if possible) just to see, but I doubt it will change a thing about the "pumping" of the CPU core. I would have liked to ask the driver to switch to the first core instead of the "music" one from my chosen scheme (in my case, it is Scheme 2), but I guess that this is not possible with a driver... More than this, this driver is in the link...

Unless I am wrong, I think that the Audiophilleo 2 is async USB ?

Regards,

Alain
P.S.: When I look at all I have bought for the last 2 years regarding audio, I hate myself for not putting money aside for the NOS1. It's as simple as that... :(

Alain,

Before I implied a misunderstanding ...
My no means any BIOS update will change that driver behavior. Any driver update won't either. Ok, but one : that from Adnaco (but forget about that, because they won't even know it's there like this, and otherwise why would they care (there's nothing wrong about it. -> Look at a Weiss driver haha)).

Drivers tend to sit in the last core, but with Hyperthreading active (not your case) it will be the one but last. All logic (to me), and no way to change it (I could for the NOS1, but there's no point and it will only make XXHighEnd less compatible with e.g. your device).

No need to worry about not being a NOS1 owner. Look at what cars we drive. If they start at all, they go too fast, stop their engine in the middle of nowhere, have no rooftop in the UK (that's a fault to begin with) or otherwise you will be a shrink and if *that* is not the case you will be ending up at one. There are just many ways to spend money I guess.
Okay okay ...

Life is wonderful ? for sure when your posts are not as long as your emails - and they aren't. So, good. Haha.

I don't remember anymore, but I think indeed it is so that when two cores are available, XXHighEnd (or XXEngine3.exe actually) will put itself in the second core (depending on the Appointment Scheme - but never in the first alone). This was made when I didn't know about the driver behavior. So, without me changing that (which is a dangerous thing, already for all those people who found their best SQ setting regarding this), the solution is a 4 or more core processor. So, that will let stay Engine3 in the second, while the driver wil be further down the line (3rd for 4-core, 5th for 6 core, etc.).
But the solution looks a bit heavy to me.
Anyway, forget about Adnaco changing this because it is a deep down (OS) thing, and most probably they didn't make the driver themselves anyway plus that it will be long ago if they already did something about it. This means : hireing a programmer with the knowledge plus a few months to read into the stuff. So, no.

Life stays wonderful though.
Peter

Nah, I don't think that will show a different result in something which happens in one core anyway. The point is that we don't know what Paul thinks is normal. It could show the same as you showed Alain. But it can't be as easy as it looks (from Paul's post) anyway, because there is no way that any two settings show the same for what Paul calls "normal USB". What he could be saying though is that no matter what setting, they differ amongst eachother all right, but he sees no difference with normal USB and the Adnaco.

When the latter is true, it should be so that you must be able to see differences between settings, which you say you don't (and which is hard to believe to begin with). BUT :

What I forgot about is the "physical" buffer length setting in the driver. Which driver ? well, like the one from the NOS1. So, *that* one encourages for the most visible behavior changes, while you, Alain, probably are not able to set anything at all regarding this part.

So I think I have nailed it down; The AudioPhilleo will obviously carry "one" buffer setting and that interacts with the Adnaco in one of these ways of which many exist (with some effort I could see a Picasso in the CPU graph at trying all the combinations). So what you lack is one of these parameters to tune this for the better (FWIW of course !).

Remember, that's what I think and nothing more than that.
Peter

Hi Peter,

Thanks for the precisions. I forgot to say that with 15ms resolution, the graphs does not show the same. Instead of "peaks" or "bursts", if shows a lower "noise", but with not so steady peaks. If I can give an image of this: it would show continuous variations within 2-12% - same as .5ms... Nothing steady as those peaks at 1, 5, 10ms resolution...

My concern is actually the BSODs that keep on happening... I wrote to Adnaco about this and they sent me the previous driver (1.12.18) to compare results with the version I got with the S3B (1.12.24)... Same behavior. I wonder if it is not a problem with my S3B alone... But as you also mention, it could be related to a buffer management from the Audiophilleo - at this point, I don't feel knowledgeable at all...

I will wait and see what Adnaco will say about this (BSODs), but I would also like to see some pics from people who can post here with "Without Adnaco" and "With Adnaco".

I know it will sound futile, but the pics I posted were taken while music was playing...

Regards,

Alain

Hi Guys:

Nick was a most welcome guest here on Saturday and we had a really great day playing with our toys (actually we got diverted listening to music but anyway that is another story we did get back to business eventually). I had made up my mind during the week before but it was good to get Nicks view. On Saturday the result was clear and both Nick and I were in agreement : Fibre USB3 does not sound as good as normal copper USB3 in my system. With Fibre the sound has more edge to it and loses bass definition and warmth. Just the sort of sound I might associate with jitter (on asynch?) but who knows. Maybe jitter is introduced in the conversion but a total guess of course.

To start with when I first installed the fibre extender Peter's random setting generator set Q1=1 without me knowing. Some very odd things happened which did strange things when the very first comparison was made but as Q1=1 is all wrong I forgot all about it and made the comparison with my normal settings shown in the signature below.

The test was with 10m fibre - some say that if the length of fibre is short things improve - it will be interesting to try that just to find out if light transmission does have an effect (not sure how it can though!). It does not seem likely but it will be interesting to try. It looks as though I will not be using fibre any time in the near future.

Actually this result is a big disappointment as I would have liked to get my PC out of the living room.

So the question is does electrically isolating the PC make an improvement? well if conversion to/from light was perfect maybe I could answer that but I cannot. I just got the feeling that even if we could make significant improvements to the fibre link that its performance might approach that of the copper USB link but it is difficult to imagine that it could significantly improve it. So could it be that provided our overall grounding arrangements are good that the electrical link to the PC might not be a problem.

The electronic ground in my amps is not connected to PE it is just connected to the electronic ground of NOS1 which in turn is not connected to PE but is connected to the ground of the USB cable which in turn is connected (possibly) to PE in the PC. Maybe as it turns out that is not such a bad thing after all. But if your electronic ground is connected to PE anywhere else AND via the USB link to the PC then that could of course change the results. Just a thought.

By the way I need to say that the switched mode power supply that comes with the ADNACO extender is very very bad the sound quality using it is truly bad. I used a beefy linear regulated supply for the fibre receiver card which draws a hefty current. Sound quality with the regulated supply was much better and overall not that much worse than copper - but certainly not good enough for me.

Paul

Paul Peter hi,

My visit to Pauls on Saturday was a great day, we had a fun time listening and trying things out and I was made to feel exceptionally welcome. This and the quality of the music being played resulting in my completely losing track of time :)

I agree with Paul's description of the Anadco. It puts in a good performance but such is the resolving power of Paul's system (more in a moment on this....) that the results were very clear. So much so that in the end it only took a short time to compare and understand the differences. Our observations about the sound were very consistent so I think we were hearing the same characteristics of the copper and fibre usb systems.

If the criterion is the best possible sound then the Anadco USB 3 does not quite make it. The other virtues like ability to remove the pc from the listening room are possible but there would be a sonic compromise for this. We decided to leave the Anadco system at Paul's for testing of short fibre cables just in case the Anadco has as last trick to reveal whilst on tour in the uk, of course a visit to Holland may uncover more :)

This brings me on to what for me was frankly a revaluation, listening to Paul's system has redefined my view of what is possible in music replay in a domestic environment. I was rocked on my heals and open jawed at what I was hearing throughout the day. With the NOS1, gainclones and Audio Note AN-Es coupled with meticulous setup, home made interconnects, speaker wiring and using Bybees, Paul has created something REALY exceptional.

With a decent recording there is not a hint of edge or hardness at all in the sound, there is detail that it is difficult to rationalise coming from a mere mechanical transducer, highs (cymbals etc) are at the same time both very prominent, lifelike and natural. The system presents dynamics an unbelievable sound stage and presence and remains rock solid regardless of the complexity of music. All music types we listened to we're given this same virtuoso performance. The resolving power and musical ability of this ostensivly quite simple system left me stunned at what I was hearing. Very quickly we just moved on to exploring Paul's great collection of music during the afternoon.

This sounds like a rave but I think Paul has managed to create a very special system indead, god only knows what z09-7 is going to sound like if as Peter says we are listening to distortion right now with pre z09-7 software.

I cannot thank Paul's enough for showing me his system, I now understand where I want to get to with my system and it has confirmed for me that it can be done !

Regards,

Nick.

Thank you too Nick, for an explanantion from the heart. And yes, how important it is to be able to set yourself a reference "knowing that it can be done". On that matter I am still into providing a complete system (including amps and speakers), although I guess that I must hold my own reference against others first. I'm, quite a loner too you know (but a never much complaining one - or deaf enough :)).

Quote

The other virtues like ability to remove the pc from the listening room are possible but there would be a sonic compromise for this.

Well, of course this is of great importance to some. In the end though, it could be an obsessive thing because it's really not needed with some careful thinking. Main thing could be that the keyboard/mouse/monitor can be operated from a distance (I use 12 meters of cable to that) and otherwise that more smart remote control does wonders. All obvious of course, but a different strategy from "not wanting to see the PC".

Of course the objective was that isolation, and I guess the real merits of that will never be unveiled as long as other forces play a role, and apples to oranges comparisons can be in order only. Input jitter can't play a role with this asynch operation, but what's needed to get the whole job done, can. Just think about what the power supply again does at the DAC's end, and you will understand that providing any random beefy PSU there may give as random results, since it matters anyway. So this is what I would do - arrange for that in at least the same fashion as how the native USB connection was arranged for, which already was difficult enough. So, this needs measuring and what not, and that is what I will do of course. If *that*'s arranged for in well fashion (assumed it can be done) we will see further.

So, this is not to be given up upon yet, but how it can be better I don't see. But then I also don't see how USB3 can be better, while it is. And where some use the MoBo's USB3, others use a PCIe card and that is better again. So see ? this is not even related to any physical connection at the cable's end, nor will it be related to ground noise/loops/whatever. This is the PC alone, and now think how the Adnaco stuff will be different at least to that regard. And, as long as "I" am able to dial in some Q settings for different sound (PLUS my knowledge of it all and what to do to prevent that influence on which I FAIL), it is easy to see THAT ALL MATTERS.

Nice hobby ...
Peter

Paul, Nick, thanks for sharing. But just in case it's of use to anyone, I've compared a standard blue 10m copper USB3 cable to a standard blue 1m copper USB3 cable and I can't hear any difference between the two. The 10m cable allows me to place Le Monster in the cellar well away from my listening room. No electrical isolation here, but the PC and rest of system run off the same mains circuit anyway (with a 1KV isolation trannie for the PC) to avoid ground loops.

Quote from: Nick on July 04, 2012, 12:05:52 am

... listening to Paul's system has redefined my view of what is possible in music replay in a domestic environment.

It sounds like Paul's system has come on somewhat since I listened to it, what a year or so ago? It was already pretty spectacular back then. So I may just have to invite myself across in the next few weeks... and put a few more miles on the NSX :)

Mani.

Quote

I've compared a standard blue 10m copper USB3 cable to a standard blue 1m copper USB3 cable

Hey Mani, what's up with this ??
I now start to realize that I checked the maximum length to the NOS1 with USB2 all right (which is ~7 meters) but that it never came to my mind that USB3 could change a few things here. I mean, it would be news to a few people when USB can be extended further than I always told (for the NOS1 that is) ...

And then to think that you most probably have used a "standard" (??) 10 meter cable, while it might even go up to 15, or 20, or ... ?

Any specialties on using the USB power or not ? SOtM anywhere perhaps ?
And when it works anyway, a link to where people can obtain these lengths ? (or did you extend it ?)

All 'n all this comes nicely out of the blue for me, but maybe I've missed a message about it elsewhere. Anyway, great thanks that you dropped it in between the lines anyway !

Regards,
Peter

Quote from: PeterSt on July 04, 2012, 10:45:28 am

And then to think that you most probably have used a "standard" (??) 10 meter cable, while it might even go up to 15, or 20, or ... ?

Ha, I should really check things before writing a post (I blame still being a bit jet-lagged). I thought my USB3 cable was 10m, but it's actually only 5m - I got confused with a (blue) 10m CAT6 cable I ordered at the same time.

To make amends, I've just ordered a couple of simple USB adaptors (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Female-USB-Adaptor---A-USB-4/dp/B0012XXX2Q/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1341392219&sr=8-10) and will link the following three standard blue copper USB3 cables that I already have here together: 5m, 3m and 1.8m... and see what happens.

Sorry for any confusion.

Mani.

EDIT: Ordered a couple of these instead http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B007HXM11E/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00

Aha. Thanks for coming back on this.
But to be honest, I really have thought about that USB3 can make a difference for the length. It's only that I never tried it, that needing this length of course (it is already not all that easy to obtain a normal A-A cable, unless you already know where to be.

But summarized : I seriously think that what can be achieved will be longer than with USB2. I mean, why not ? The power is not used, the transfer is higher speed so if latency would be a problem than that's less now and for allowing the higher speed the "electrical transfer" has to be of a better quality.

Do we have special UK bookmakers for this ? I say 12.8 meters will work.
But it's dangerous, because the other end (NOS1) is USB2 and I sure can imagine that this is part of the latency, and even quality. So, might you not achieve 8 meters (I can't with USB2) than it doesn't make a difference at all. Can you go to that or beyond, then there's a difference obviously.

Do notice (but not sure what you can do with it) that right after connecting it, the most "surge" will be there. So, this is when the most amperage is used, but that shouldn't do a thing (because it's powered from the inside). But also in that stage the most bulky transfer is implied (it loades the firmware in that stage) and that might be more difficult than normal audio transfer. The least what I would do if normally plugging in the cable doesn't work, is plugging it in when the PC is off and then boot (but I realize that this is also current related and shouldn't do a thing).

I now feel that I delegated some tasks; that's not how I meant it.

Peter

Hey Nick –you are very welcome anytime, both Ros and I really enjoyed the day and we look forward to seeing you again soon. I am glad you enjoyed the sounds but I think you have not given yourself enough credit because much of my system is down to you. Who can forget the “GainClone Heaven” thread? started by Nick I had never even heard of a GC before then but it led me to build some just for fun really – but then sat open mouthed when I heard them. Then there are the other tweaks like USB3 etc etc all very fundamental. So a big thanks Nick without you this system would not be anything like as good as it is now.
In fact this system really is a product of the XX forum as that is where most of the ideas have come from. Yea Peter is right this sure is a "loners" hobby but the XX forum helps change that really. Nick and I agree it is unique in its rigour and objectivity - thanks Peter I do not see any other hi fi forum in the same class. Peter has not just created NOS1 he has created much, much more than that an environment to push this hobby forward.

All the best

Paul

XXHighEnd

Ultimate Audio Playback => Playback Tweaks and Source related subjects => Topic started by: Nick on June 24, 2012, 01:08:09 pm