Edit, May 26, 2016 : Watch out : This post has been the base for the text which is now in the first post of this topic. This first post is kept actual like for prices or functionality, while the post over here is not !
High Resolution link XXHighEnd MachII LPS 02The Phasure Mach II Stealth LPS is an
all passively cooled Audio PC with
10 core (20 core hyperthreaded) or more processor and which houses a
Linear Power Supply. All in a case of only 10cm / 4" of height (that includes the footers). It is 43,5cm / 17.5" wide and 35cm / 14" deep.
High Resolution link XXHighEnd MachII LPS 01Behind the nicely machined bracket for the power inlet (115/230V switchable) and power switch there's a transformer and Linear Power Supply, delicately tuned for the best Sound Quality possible today.
This new Mach II Stealth LPS should be able to set the audio standard for the upcoming years;
The LPS is the result of the on-going expertise and motivation of us all and say that I have been there to finish it off with now 10 years of quite explicit "audio building" experience. This resulted in something which is well beyond a "XXHighEnd PC" as all this expertise is now packed into one small box, previously thought to be impossible.
Besides that, and of course is has been the sheer objective, this "box" changes the sound so drastically that it is once again beyond belief how it can happen.
There are no large heat sinks part of the case - there is no forced air cooling, there is nothing getting hot and there is a 20 core processor.
Minimum !
Like the first edition of the XXHighEnd PC, this one can be heavily underclocked in combination with the XXHighEnd software. And, although it has not been explored for SQ, the Mach II LPS can run at a ridiculously low 120MHz, which is too low to operate really (all is not responsive enough). For that reason XXHighEnd 2.06+ contains a "boost" feature which kicks in when needed (like with volume change), while after the operation of concern the pre-set playback frequency is automatically re-engaged.
And oh, I am also very proud
and thankful that I got ASRock as far as adjusting the BIOS especially for Phasure.
SpecificationsXeon processor,
minimum 10 Core (minimum 20 Core Hyperthreaded) .
ASRock X99M Motherboard.
No running fans anywhere;
For unknown "emergency" situations a CPU Cooling fan can be switched on by means of an external switch (this just in case with the notice that we could not find such a situation) . This fan is completely silent (13dBA or so) and it will draw the heat from the case's internals as well.
Without the emergency cooling fan, the Internal case temperature is between 40C and 45C (104F and 113F), with the hottest component (outside the CPU) being 50C (122F). This is at an ambient temperature of ~24C (75F) and further normal operating conditions.
The heat generating components are rated at 170C (338F) at least, while the advised
continuous max temperature of the CPU is 70C (158F). In the Mach II environment, the CPU is ~59C (138F) max, during continuous playback of several hours (32 bit / 705.6 KHz, never interrupted).
When idle, the cpu is 54C (129F) or a bit less.
A hot-swap 2.5" drive bay is provided for the Operating System SSD, which is also provided (240GB) and pre-installed with the OS RAM Disk Operating Systems (for free for those who obtained the RAM OS Disk already - otherwise 200 euros extra).
Of course the SSD can be removed after the OS of choice has been booted into RAM.
The RAM OS SSD serves 14GB of "disk space" within the 32GB of provided internal Memory (this "disk space" is 5GB more than the standard RAM OS Disk).
A DVD drive is provided for the rare occasion it is needed.
Two LAN ports come to your convenience, so now the route to the WiFi access point (etc.) can exist in parallel to a NAS (while protected from the Interet).
There's one PS2 port for a shared Keyboard and Mouse connection (Y connector not provided, nor are keyboard, mouse and monitor).
There are USB2 and USB3 ports all over the place as well as a pile of SATAIII connectors and even Thunderbolt, but you won't need those.
The video card again comes with HDMI, DVI and VGA connector.
For again a vastly better SQ (this is serious), the video card can be taken out, so all will be "headless" and controlled by means of RDC. Notice that the multi-boot SSD can be controlled by XXHighEnd and that the boot of choice - and also shutdown can be controlled over RDC.
With no video card assembled during normal operation and with the RAM OS Disk (SSD) removed after booting, the power consumption is 30 Watts during (32/705600) playback.
It is assumed that you have a valid License for Windows 10 (Windows 7, 8 or 8.1 is also fine) with the clear notice that no Windows license is part of the standard package.
If you don't have a valid License or you are not sure about it, ~130 euros must be added to the price and a License will be provided.
Controlled environmentIt will be obvious that this is not any normally "put together" PC as all would be too hot and no Linear Power Supply would be in there (by miles). Therefore it is to be noted that this PC can operate like it does (in sustained fashion !) because of the carefully selected components which closely co-operate and which all has been tested extensively. It is thus not so that, for example, the PC can be bought without its dedicated power supply, that it can be shipped with 16TB of harddisk inside (which btw sure would fit), that it can be shipped with a random untested processor, or that the Linear Power Supply can be provided as a separate unit;
Instead, it is a dedicated machine purely made for the best audio possible as how Phasure could create it.
This PC is to be used as an Audio Processor only - the music stored on the LAN somewhere (in another PC or NAS etc.). The PC is thus not meant to directly attach storage to via e.g. USB, or assemble that storage internally (via SATA). It is tested in empty condition, though with OS Disk (SSD) inserted (might you think this is more convenient to let it in always). Of course it has been tested with the Video card assembled, although the advice is thus to remove that for better SQ.
The PC has been tested and is guarandeed to sustain its capabilities regarding speed and temperature control for continuous playback and being idle - all under control of XXHighEnd - with an ambient temperature of 25C (77F) and with RAM OS Disk (SSD) and Video card in. This also incorporated stress testing for a reasonable period of time, under extreme non-controlled conditions, like operating at maximum processor speed for 10 minutes. This is without the readily assembled CPU cooling fan, which thus can be switched on when necessary.
The fact that this testing has been done with an ambient of 25C (77F) does not tell that all will break at a higher ambient, but because this has not been tested it can not be guaranteed. With CPU fan all will be OK always (say up to an ambient of 40C (104F) - but hey ...).
Pricing (ex VAT if liable to VAT, and shipping)
(pricing is subject to supplier pricing, obviously, which in the end also depends on euro - USD currency rates; with euro 1000+ costing processors this can wildly change in (near) future).
Price with 20 core Hyperthreaded 2.4GHz Xeon 2640v4 processor : 2250 euros.
This has been extensively tested/tuned for the best Sound Quality.
Price with 20 core Hyperthreaded 2.0GHz Xeon 2630v4 processor : 2000 euros.
This has not been tuned or tried for Sound Quality at all. Other parameters (heat) will be fine.
Price with 24 core Hyperthreaded 2.2GHz Xeon 2650v4 processor : 2450 euros.
This has not been tested at all, thus also not for heat parameters but most probably it will be fine. If not OK in sustained fashion, there's always the CPU fan at our service (can be switched on by means of external switch and is inaudible at ~13dBA).
For the Linear Power Supply no problems are to be expected (at all).
Price with 28 core Hyperthreaded 2.0GHz Xeon 2660v4 processor : 2750 euros.
This too has not been tested at all (same as the 2650v4 above).
For the Linear Power Supply again no problems at all are to be expected.
Benefit of more processor cores : the more cores the less the audio processes "can" be interrupted by other processes in the PC (Operating System) which benefits SQ (largely).
Besides that, each core will load a track in parallel to other tracks, thus an e.g. 24 core processor will load an album of 24 tracks in the time of one track (about 1 second).
When you do not pocess the RAM OS Disk, 200 euros will be charged for that (the SSD will have 5 pre-installed Operating Systems, of which 4 can be booted from RAM - W10 10074, 10565 and 10586.0 plus W8).
When you don't have an XXHighEnd License for your Household, 72 euros adds to the price.
AvailabilityToday ! However, each PC is build to order (first come first serve as always). Processor lead time can be immediate but can also be 2 weeks at times (depending on supplier stock).
Peter
