NOS1 with AMD processor anyone ?

[praphan]

Thanks Per,

After I fixed the issue with the help of Peter, I will share the findings in due course.

Anyone want to buy some of my mobos please let me know. Deep discount may be. But the shipping cost from Thailand and lack of warranty doesn't worth it .

Cheers !

[PeterSt]

I could use one of the 1366 boads ...
I mean, if you really have one spare, we can later talk about how to get it at my place. In the mean time I can promise that somewhat later you will be able to use any of these boards again, so be careful what you put to eBay or anything ...


Best regards, and hunt down those ghosts !!
Peter

[praphan]

Hi Peter,

Thanks heap for helping me to hunt down the ghosts. I eager to see what does it look like.
 
On the mobos stuff, unfortunately I own only on each of the socket. Don't have spare. But will ask Gigabyte if they have any spare that they don't need in their workshop.

Ready and fully armed to catch those ghosts with you.

Best
Praphan
 

[praphan]

Hello everyone,

Ghosts are finally hunted down by Peter !!

I am not quite sure where to post this but thought it might probably be best here so this thread can be closed in a happy ending way.

Being a lucky one with some priority treatment from Peter, I just received my NOS1 USB back to my listening room. Installation of  Phasure v1.0.2 driver was simple and took only few minutes. I connected NOS1 USB with my X58 chipset music server using a plain simple printer USB cable.   NOS1 USB worked perfectly fine with all my gigabyte mobos (P67, AMD and X58 chipsets). Anyone who is going to use Sandy Bridge processor can do so with no more compatibility problem with NOS USB version too.

Now I hope Peter doesn’t mind me doing some anatomy to NOS1 USB just in case someone eagers to see what are inside.

You will quickly notice that Juli@ card is replaced by another new sound card with USB interface. The sound device is smaller with compact size clocks on the rim of the card which understood to be very precise (low jitter) like Swiss watch. So when you return your NOS1 for an upgrade, don’t forget to put back the PCIe interface card and the DVI cable into the box. Peter might have some use with those stuffs. At least put them back in the market on eBay. It has no use for you anyway. This new sound card  is powered by the same PSU as it predecessor hence saving your burn-in time. My NOS1 USB comes with SPDIF interface as a gadget but not everyone will benefit from it. The USB connector that must go to your PC is located in the middle between the SPDIF connector and USB connecting to the small screen on the right leg of NOS. Talking about this little screen gadget, I hope Peter will spare some of his valuable time to write codes to fire up this screen in a near future. If this is possible then we don’t have to bother with the computer monitor anymore. Just use your keyboard to control XX z-6 with Auto HK command. Your cover art will be on your NOS right leg during playback. How nice ?

The DAC board located at the middle of the case remains intact. However, its PSU located in the same compartment as the toroidal transformers got some minor upgraded too. Looking closely in photo, you will see blue thin sheet of vibration damper slided in between those four heatsinks.  Two large Mundorf caps are now held in place by Styrofoam glued to the H-shape cover. This upgrade is to protect potential damage from vibration during shipping. Moreover, vibration may degrade SQ as well during listening session. A word of advise: when you ship your NOS1 back , don't forget to secure these four heat sinks with foam sheets like it was first shipped to you. Do the same for Juli@ card too.

Your NOS1 USB will be shipped back to you with greater protection. Peter put your original box in another bigger box with cushion foam floating between the two boxes.

How the upgrade sound compared to the NOS1 version ?  One single word : BETTER. But to what extend ? Well I cannot tell since I am the one who do not get the NOS1 works smoothly since day one. But definitely worth the upgrade cost. I also own Berkeley Alpha DAC which is also a very good DAC. I will compare both in a separate forum.

I am glad to be able to close this thread happily. I guess that my problem with NOS1 did give some inspiration for Peter to expedite his USB interface project which ended up not only solving Juli@ compatability problem but also sound much better than the first version too. "Excellente !"

Praphan
Mobo geek

PS. Sorry...... it can be impolite to do the anatomy without Peter's consent. The photos were removed.

[manisandher]

Hi praphan, congratulations on the USB NOS1 - I'm sure you'll love it. And thanks for the write- up.

But personally, I would remove the attached images. It's just too easy for the 'competition' to see what Peter has been slaving away at for so long.Also, there's thread on gearslutz.com at the moment where some posters are calling the NOS1 a 'scam'. You'll probably get some of these total idiots saying things like, "He claims there are 8 DAC chips but it's obvious from the images praphan posted that there are only 4". Of course the twits wouldn't realise that there are another 4 on the underside of the board! The same idiots (supposedly industry 'experts') believe that the PCM1704 only accepts 96KHz sample rates. One claims that Peter has got the chip name wrong and that he must be using another chip really!

Of course, this is totally your call. And perhaps Peter doesn't mind. But personally, I'd never post images of the insides of any gear I own, out of respect for the designer/manufacturer.

Cheers, Mani

[praphan]

Hi Mani,
Thanks and done.
Cheers !

[Nick]

Also, there's thread on gearslutz.com at the moment where some posters are calling the NOS1 a 'scam'.

Just took a look. Wow, not shy of stating opinions with not one person having ANY first hand experience of the device thing they are discussing 

I can understand people who work in the industry getting tired of the bigger numbers equals better sound pitch. However, I hope someone decides to get better informed about how the NOS1 does what it does, because it looks like many of these guys are the people responsible for creating music that we listen to. Who knows, we might even end up with hi-res files that deliver on the promise of better reproduction 

Nick.

[praphan]

It was also my first time reading threads on Gearslutz and I feel that some folks in there are pretty arrogant. Not to be surprised since most of them are recording engineers and professionals who think they know a lot. They tend to be so obsessed with technical specifications and numbers. Good recording engineers should use their ears more but I think some are too obsessed with technical specification driven by market demand and mass consumer behavior. Take a look at the example of THD war during the 70 and ‘80. Mass market audio components were back then often designed to look good “on paper” – on specification sheet – sometimes at the expense of the sound quality. The lower the THD, the better the amp was perceived to  be. This led the electronics giants to produce products with vanishingly low THD numbers. It became a contest between all leading brands not to be named here.

Recording engineers in Gearslutz should have also developed a habit of judging the product virtue from numbers before listening by their ears.

In our case, we are in a true “high end audio” business. Hi-end audio products are not only designed by ear, but are often hand-built by skilled craftspeople who take pride in their work. The designers are often audiophile themselves, building the products with as much care as if the products were to be installed in their own homes. This meticulous attention to detail results in a better quality of construction, hence reliability and durability. Hi end products are often backed by better customer service than mid-fi. Because high-end manufacturers care more about their products and customers, they generally offer longer warranties and periodic product update or exchange policy for improved quality.

To me, Peter is absolutely a hi-end designer and manufacturer. 

Praphan