Build a dedicated Audio PC

[tony]

Nigel [/quote] "no not that day the day we used the laptops as control pcs
the ethernet cable on its own is making a good improvement im certain of that
the question is will all so called cat7 cables yield similar results as the meicord[/quote]

Interesting as it sounds the same as what Marcin and a lot of the Jplay forum lads believe also. Have held off ordering the meicord until
I figure out the final location for all bits(stupid I realise now as that will never happen)

[Sligolad]

Pearse your sound was excellent do you think the cirrus is now beyond what you had? My understanding is the cirrus soundwise wasn't working out the laptop was better. Just wondering are you back at square one?

Hi Tony, I am at least back at square one but maybe a bit better, there have been a lot of changes since I got rid of the laptop with the changes in optimiser and Lan isolator, etc. so hard to tell but I am going to have a listen at the weekend and do some more tweaking hopefully :-)

I have a second Anker unit which I might try at 12v out on the CPU on the Audio PC and in place of the Teddy Pardo as well to see if it makes a difference.
The 20,000 mAh unit is nice piece of kit and easily powers the Cirrus7 so another one will hopefully power the Zuma as well.

[nige2000]

Nigel

"no not that day the day we used the laptops as control pcs
the ethernet cable on its own is making a good improvement im certain of that
the question is will all so called cat7 cables yield similar results as the meicord[/quote]

Interesting as it sounds the same as what Marcin and a lot of the Jplay forum lads believe also. Have held off ordering the meicord until
I figure out the final location for all bits(stupid I realise now as that will never happen)[/quote]

ethernet cable shootout?

[tony]

Nigel

"no not that day the day we used the laptops as control pcs
the ethernet cable on its own is making a good improvement im certain of that
the question is will all so called cat7 cables yield similar results as the meicord

Interesting as it sounds the same as what Marcin and a lot of the Jplay forum lads believe also. Have held off ordering the meicord until
I figure out the final location for all bits(stupid I realise now as that will never happen)[/quote]

ethernet cable shootout?[/quote]

Yahoo that is a lot more appealing than turning up with a truck load of batteries and linear supplies just make sure you don't trip up on the cable bringing it in from the car

[nige2000]

Pearse your sound was excellent do you think the cirrus is now beyond what you had? My understanding is the cirrus soundwise wasn't working out the laptop was better. Just wondering are you back at square one?

Hi Tony, I am at least back at square one but maybe a bit better, there have been a lot of changes since I got rid of the laptop with the changes in optimiser and Lan isolator, etc. so hard to tell but I am going to have a listen at the weekend and do some more tweaking hopefully :-)

I have a second Anker unit which I might try at 12v out on the CPU on the Audio PC and in place of the Teddy Pardo as well to see if it makes a difference.
The 20,000 mAh unit is nice piece of kit and easily powers the Cirrus7 so another one will hopefully power the Zuma as well.

have you tried separate power to the operating system yet?

i think its more important to optimise the audio pc first
youll probably get a better return with the battery on the audio pc

id like to see the big anker battery pack at some stage, and get another listen at the lan isolator

[Sligolad]

I have not tried the supply to the operating system yet Nige, must take a look at that sometime.

You are very welcome to drop by anytime you are up in Dublin to see the Ankers (sounds weird that after typing it) but even just to listen to some music.
I will have my head stuck in the audio PC at the weekend but I will take some time for music as well.

[nige2000]

Yahoo that is a lot more appealing than turning up with a truck load of batteries and linear supplies just make sure you don't trip up on the cable bringing it in from the car

i love the way you laugh at me, then buy linears and battery packs

joking aside
i know my ethernet cable might be particularly poor but the difference between mine and the meicord seemed larger than the benefit of a lan isolator

[nige2000]

I have not tried the supply to the operating system yet Nige, must take a look at that sometime.

You are very welcome to drop by anytime you are up in Dublin to see the Ankers (sounds weird that after typing it) but even just to listen to some music.
I will have my head stuck in the audio PC at the weekend but I will take some time for music as well.

Anker's yes that wasn't lost on me
it gets funnier the more you type it

im sure ill get to drop in to you at some stage
ill be working on the haswell build along with the associated batteries but i hope to be finished in a couple of weeks

[tony]

i love the way you laugh at me, then buy linears and battery packs
i know my ethernet cable might be particularly poor but the difference between mine and the meicord seemed larger than the benefit of a lan isolator[/quote]

Not laughing at you at all hopefully just with you lan cables I thought would be a welcome relieve as switching in and out would be a doddle compared to some of the stuff that has been experimented on. Only for all your efforts we would still be back in 2 laptop streaming land so many many thanks for all the risks you have taken. If the meicord delivers more than the lan isolator that will be great as it is a good bit cheaper especially the Giso one.

I have the 'battery' supply up and running. Battery means I am back on the usb key for the audiopc(thanks to Nigel again for making the cable). It sound very nice but not changing it back to see if it is an improvement too much hassle. Will have to put a bit of effort into rearranging things to allow for quicker changes as the current arrangement is a dead cert for sore back etc.

Core server beta14 installed latest beta and unless I am just trying to convince myself things are sounding better it seems like another lift. Would like to be comparing what it sounds like now to Nigels asus build. I am very happy.

On the meicord Nigel what length is it? There is another one out there talked about on Jplay forum but can't remember where it is from I think japan.

[tony]

A bit of a problem with the Anker it powers off when only using the usb key. Reckon it is not drawing enough power and the anker just shuts down. Solution was to plug a phone in as well but just thinking about it if I run a long usb cable or short one if using Pearse's set up would allow me charge a usb key for the control pc. Unfortunately Ken gave me a quick call on the mobile and music stopped again as I had to unplug the phone to take the call.

Would the anker work for you that way as well Pearse? i.e power both usb keys from one anker supply. I believe that battery on usb is sweetening the sound. But will need to plug charger back in to see if that is affecting things. Sadly think I am hooked on the battery route.
The anker really looks the biz kinda like a google nexus or trendy looking smartphone.