Confirmed : PC Damping

[juanpmar]

Hey Peter, maybe after finishing the test with the Clairixia you could give another opportunity to the bamboo boards. The clarity that seems to bring your cable could help to define better the effects of the board. But let's be patient ...

Juan

[PeterSt]

Juan, yes, that has slipped my mind for sure.

Thanks,
Peter

[goskers]

Hello,

Newer member and owner here but want to start adding to topics when possible.

What is our goal here in regards to dampening/isolation besides better sound?  More specifically, are we trying to dampen vibrations induced onto the nos1a chassis?  Are we hoping to isolate the device from structural occurrences from a rack or supporting device?

These are two different problems but I might offer up some possible solutions with solid physics behind them.

1) To dampen chassis vibration best would be done with the usage of constrained layer dampening techniques.  The ideal would be to use the same material type and thickness as to which the chassis is constructed from.  Keeping the material stiffness properties the same is the ideal.  Using this matterial one would apply a mastic or non-hardening adhesive between the layers.  Only a fraction of the surface area needs to be covered to be effective.  This technique is commonly used in luxury automobiles to reduce cabin noise across a wide frequency range.

2) There has been a technique which I heard about for isolating a device from structures that might be able to be implemented here.  Suspending a device with the use of woven nylon rope.  What? Nylon rope is made from many, many individual fibers.  These fibers actually rub against each other thereby disipatting energy transfer. 

My thoughts would be to take smaller pieces of the same gauge steel and attach them to the nos1a chassis using Liquid Nails subfloor adhesive.  This will provide CLD for the chassis.  Using the same wooden cutting board that's others seem to like here I would build a small structure to span over the nos1a.  Braided nylon rope would the be used to attach the cutting board to the overhead structure.  The dac would then sit on the cutting board held off the ground by the rope.  If one would want to take it another step then you could take two cutting boards and make a CLD sandwich from them.

Just my initial thoughts here from a guy who tends to hate tweaks.

Regards,
Joel

[PeterSt]

Hey Joel, thanks for that. Looks pretty decent to me.
And welcome aboard !

The problem is more complicated, I'm afraid;

We must look from two main angles, and both fight each other :
1. Decoupling of the room vibrations (but think floor for comfort);
2. Decoupling from acoustical vibrations.

Ad 2.
This is actually a "DAC cabinet" problem (or PC cabinet if you like, since the topic originally was about the PC).

This is how both fight each other :
The more the DAC is free in the air, the more it will be decoupled from the room, but the more it will be under the inflience of the acoustical (through air) vibrations.
and
The more the DAC is fixed to a very large surface (think floor) the less the acoustical vibrations will "let vibrate" the cabinet.

So do notice that I performed an experiment a couple of months ago where I completely detached the clock assembly from the DAC's chassis and all, and hung it in adjustable rubber bands (plain rope could have been better).
Sound was totally strange.

So if we look at the clock (oscillator(s)) as the main source of the problem (to solve) then it is easy to see that this clock actually has to be super-fixed to a large surface so its own vibration isn't turning into self-vibration with oscillations (read : harmonics emerge at distinct frequencies and they will influence the good clock signal).

I don't know whether you tried it, but find two completely different types of footer material for under your NOS1a. You will be shocked about the difference. You will see that the stiffer material will emphasize accuracy. Or that the softer *but* bouncing material (e.g. rubber) will go the exact other way and implies more bass (and fuzzyness).


Last week someone sent me a PM and wondered how good a cushen might be. Well, actually that could be the perfect "footer" as how I think;
Small self-vibrations will hardly have a chance, acoustical hammering will be damped perfectly and room/floor vibrations will also be damped perfectly.
To me it looks better than the floating on water I also tried (and which was very good but tedious).

The cushen must be of the "loose feather" type, so if you put your fist in it, the imprint of that stays.
I didn't try it myself, with the notice that we have such a cushen on the floor, only 1 meter from where the NOS1a is.

Regards and thanks,
Peter

[christoffe]

Hi

Read in the HiFiplus 124 that there is a new bamboo plinth for the Linn LP12 turntable on the market with a great SQ impact.

Based on this I made the first modification on my system.
The big IKEA tablet (with Harmonix footers) went under the laptop.
Second: Somebody on CA recommended to use pressured bicycle tyres tubes as footers, and I bought foam insulation for pipings for € 3,50 and installed them under the NOS1 and the NSWPS. (See pictures)
First impressions after two hours listening to Stanley Clarke and Brian Bromberg tracks: amazing, best bass with a very realistic timbre I ever heard in my room, more details and smoother highs. 

Joachim

[PeterSt]

Hey Joachim,

Yes, I know that foam material and I tell you : this feels exactly right.

Also : I think that you, as one of the earlier NOS1 buyers, received this pink pads for footers. Do you remember ? this material feels quite the same and I think this is still a very good option. If you still have those pads you could try that (again ?).

Otherwise, the other day - with Windows 10 - I again tried the Ikea Bamboo. But it still didn't work for me. Of course this will also be related to the footers under it.

Thank you for sharing ...
Peter

[christoffe]

Also : I think that you, as one of the earlier NOS1 buyers, received this pink pads for footers. Do you remember ?

Hi Peter,

no, I didn't use them at that time, and they are somewhere in our ..... .

Joachim

[christoffe]

Otherwise, the other day - with Windows 10 - I again tried the Ikea Bamboo. But it still didn't work for me. Of course this will also be related to the footers under it.

Hi,

I tested the Ikea board with the same configuration under the NOS1, where it didn't work, but under the laptop it's perfect.

You might test the board (with the foam pads underneath) with your XXH PC.

Joachim

[juanpmar]

I liked the idea of Joachim foam footers so I couldn´t resist to try it. When I went to buy the foam I squeezed it with my fingers and I thought that it was too soft for the weight of the NOS1. Then I saw next to the foam a corrugated plastic tube which was also flexible, not only longitudinally but also vertically. I thought that putting the tube into the foam may harden a bit what could be an excessive softness without losing flexibility.

I tested first the foam without the corrugated tube, the same way did Joachim, and I noticed that the sound lost the excessive emphasis on the upper midrange that gave the bamboo footers, but at the same time the sharpness of the bamboo footers was lost in some degree. Then I put the blue tube (seems made especially for NOS1 ;-) within the foam and the sound was much more balanced, recovering the sharpness but in this case without apparent distortion or the overemphasis that I saw in the upper mids.

I´m using under the NOS1a two bamboo boards and one ikea board (I think is beech) and the bamboo footers on the floor. Hey!, I love this kind of tweaks. The cost of the foam footers including the "NOS1a blue" tube can be about 3€ and I´am convinced that can rival other audiophiles footers of bizarre prices.

So, congratulations Joachim for your idea and I hope the little sophistication added by me is useful as well.

Juan

[PeterSt]

I wonder what would happen if we got REALLY creative with this all. Fact is that it matters a LOT. Or better put : it is crucial to have this "right".
Whatever that might be.

Thanks !
Peter

[christoffe]

Hi Juan,

good idea.
Will try it with the inner pipe too.

The foam I used has a relative high density.
The outer dia is 42mm, the inner dia is 18mm= wallthickness is 12mm.

Joachim

Edit: Tested the foam pipe under the power amp too, and there it is not working. "All the power is gone", thin sound, my wife said immediately.