XXHighEnd

I had a hardware problem with the mobo on my music PC which started to look as though imminent failure was a distinct possibility. I took the plunge and built a new PC.

The new PC is an XXHighEnd PC clone using the Silverstone HTPC GD06 chasis. The XX PC clone differs from Peter's in one respect though - there are no running fans anywhere. There are three inside the case but they are not switched on normally - they can be switched on if needed but so far the case internals are cool and fans are not needed. There is no fan for the CPU which is water cooled via my trusty Zalman tower taking all the CPU heat out of the case. And finally I managed to fit my Seagate fanless power supply inside the Silverstone case. That was quite a challenge because the Seagate ps is 160mm long and the max size that can fit in the case is normally 150mm. If anyone wants to do the same let me know and I will send some details. Minimal changes to the Silverstone case are required. With care a very neat result is possible.

After getting all working I had a good listen with the default BIOS settings. So far so good very little apparent difference compared with the previous PC (surprisingly - maybe! but a relief to be sure). But then I applied Peter's recommended BIOS settings and in particular the underclocked CPU speed setting.

What was clear straight away was that this was an improvement in Sound Quality and it was very noticeable. But now it sounded as though something was not quiet right i.e. the "Window" had been opened and I could hear something that was not quite right.

As it happened I was visiting Nick soon after and (among other things) we set up the Dexa USB clocks at either end of the USB link to run very closely in sync. This was using a Lissajou arrangement with Nick's scope and is something I have not done for many a year (like 40). Anyway on returning home the improvement was immediately obvious. The sounds here in my room have taken a step forward - wow I never thought I would hear sound quality of this standard in my room - this is "stop fiddling and listen to the music" good.

I know that tuning Dexa's in this way is no good - they will drift eventually - I also accept what Peter has said about the clocks but it does indicate that a single clock solution could be very beneficial.

Also I currently have two Silverstone PCIe USB3 cards in my XXPC Clone one is "Dexa'd" the other is standard. I can virtually "hot swap" from one card to the other in less than a minute.

By a country mile the Dexa USB clock setup sounds better in my system. And as it is sounding so stonking good there is no chance of it changing in the foreseeable future.

Just saying!!

I must change my signature as it is not now correct!