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Achieving High Fidelity Sound
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Ash View Drop Down
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Points: 4334 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Ash Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 Nov 2021 at 7:54pm
I think the most cost effective way of determining whether a "quiet" power supply allows a computer to produce higher fidelity audio than with a "noisy" SMPS is to wait until I can obtain Graham's DAK 5V 3A supply then rather than buy a pricey 12V supply for my UP Xtreme i11, buy an UP Squared board and use the DAK supply to power both PC and PCIe card. Then compare the results against the i11 with 12V SMPS and DAK supply for the PCIe card. If no benefit found, I won't have wasted money on any fancy 12V supplies. Both boards are x86-64 so I be able to keep a lot of variables the same.

Or I could compare the 5V PC with SMPS vs sharing the LPSU with the PCIe card. That would be even easier.


Edited by Ash - 14 Nov 2021 at 8:06pm
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Ash View Drop Down
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Points: 4334 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Ash Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Nov 2021 at 12:26am
Even if implementing a LPSU to a 5V computer doesn't directly improve sound quality, it could allow me to compartmentalize the audio source with an optimized operating system and run it headless with minimum software installed. Just two cables, power and signal output. No ethernet, a wifi/BT module so it can be controlled by the main PC.
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CageyH View Drop Down
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Points: 1678 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote CageyH Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Nov 2021 at 5:25am
what is going to be noisier? BT/WiFi or Ethernet?
Kevin
European loan coordinator, based near Toulouse, France.
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Ash View Drop Down
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Points: 4334 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Ash Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Nov 2021 at 7:38am
I think Wifi/Bluetooth is probably a better choice than Ethernet for noise rejection, as it is one less physical connection and the device is already sat in a sea of EMI whether it has a module to pick up signals or not. It's swings and roundabouts though. I could compare them, there might not be any difference audibly. I can see this all getting a little "obsessive" but it won't cost much to give it a go.

I think the overall way to go is locally stored data (at the 5V computer where possible) but with network control from the 12V PC.


Edited by Ash - 15 Nov 2021 at 7:42am
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CageyH View Drop Down
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Points: 1678 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote CageyH Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Nov 2021 at 3:17pm
It is a shame I don't live closer. If I did, we could compare my stripped down PC using a €40 "clean USB" port feeding a DAC.
I will soon be adding a digital interface, which claims to clean up the noise. This is the same PC I have used before, except the GPU and Asus sound card have been removed. It sounds no better, but technically, it has to be better?

I have also disabled turbo mode on my i7-6700k, which effectively brings the processor to the same level as a 6700T, so no fans required in summer.
Kevin
European loan coordinator, based near Toulouse, France.
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Ash View Drop Down
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Points: 4334 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Ash Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Nov 2021 at 9:14pm
I look forward to comparing my SPDIF soundcard from the Slee DAK supply vs with a switching supply or USB port. I will have to wait until next year but it will soon be here. My i11 board can use Pi HATs like the HifiBerry so I can compare to mobo USB and PCIe paths.

This board has a 4 core 8 thread i7 1185GRE. The current base clock is 2.8GHz and can burst up to 4.4GHz but I can reduce it to reduce heat and power consumption. I wouldn't go for high TDP systems unless I needed to run resource-intensive tasks all the time. You can get very good GPU performance from a PCIe x4 slot if I wanted to try a little gaming on it.

I am really quite intrigued as to whether any of the PC stuff makes any difference at all. I will be sticking to smaller PCs no larger than mini-ITX. Nano-ITX is my preferred form factor as you typically lose some  connectivity options if you go down to pico-ITX.
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Ash View Drop Down
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Points: 4334 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Ash Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Nov 2021 at 12:43am
Have just acquired a Raspberry Pi 3B+ with 5V PSU and HifiBerry Digi+ HAT as a birthday gift. Will have a play with flashing different operating systems, as I already have a 64GB micro-SD card. Was my choice of gift so I could try the GPIO before moving on to HATs with x86-64 boards from UP. I hadn't quite appreciated how small the RPi is; must be mobile-ITX dimensions as the board area is smaller than my LG V30 smartphone. Not expecting anything great with it as a computer but it will be a reference point for comparisons. For ONLY streaming audio data, controlled headlessly and networked wirelessly to my PC/mobile (once I learn how to do it) with the DAK 5V 3A supply, it could be great. The 5V UP Squared is a larger board and has better features/hardware but costs a lot more. But the UP Squared would allow comparison of digital HAT vs digital PCIe card on the same computing platform with a linear PSU.
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