Brass

[rickmcinnis]

I am even worse at photo editing than I am with taking the picture.

Of course, the only point of this is to prove to sbgk that it was done!

Could not resist including a very blurry picture (for the conspiracy theorists) of my c: folder. It is actually much smaller than what it says when you add up the individual folders. Part of the WINDOWS protection scheme. Reads about 80 mB too large. I think it sounds vastly superior to where it began. Started with 10 TECHNICAL PREVIEW - used NTLite to make the .iso as small as possible and still get JPLAY to work and then whittled away from there. It says 6.87 gB free of 7.51 gB. There is more to be removed but I am getting close to the end. Maybe another 50 mB.

Consider using a video card to remove those duties from the CPU. One of "serge's" innovations from the cMP days. Still valid. The JCAT USB card is a revelation. cannot compare it to nige2000's DIY effort since I was too lazy to make one; yet another idea I thought as absurd as the brass block when I first read of it. Get the lowest performance, preferably OLD, video card you can find with the least onboard memory you can. Mine is 128mB but I wanted one with only 64mB and tried to find one years ago and this was the "worst" card I could find. Too late, technology had marched on.

The brass block continues to impress.

TO sima66 - yes, I richly deserve that bit of ribbing! I really did think this was a joke when it first appeared. And then it started to seep in. Been wanting to do this for months and finally got around to ordering the block. THANKS for your excellent recommendation.

[sima66]

I am even worse at photo editing than I am with taking the picture.

Of course, the only point of this is to prove to sbgk that it was done!

Could not resist including a very blurry picture (for the conspiracy theorists) of my c: folder. It is actually much smaller than what it says when you add up the individual folders. Part of the WINDOWS protection scheme. Reads about 80 mB too large. I think it sounds vastly superior to where it began. Started with 10 TECHNICAL PREVIEW - used NTLite to make the .iso as small as possible and still get JPLAY to work and then whittled away from there. It says 6.87 gB free of 7.51 gB. There is more to be removed but I am getting close to the end. Maybe another 50 mB.

Consider using a video card to remove those duties from the CPU. One of "serge's" innovations from the cMP days. Still valid. The JCAT USB card is a revelation. cannot compare it to nige2000's DIY effort since I was too lazy to make one; yet another idea I thought as absurd as the brass block when I first read of it. Get the lowest performance, preferably OLD, video card you can find with the least onboard memory you can. Mine is 128mB but I wanted one with only 64mB and tried to find one years ago and this was the "worst" card I could find. Too late, technology had marched on.

The brass block continues to impress.

TO sima66 - yes, I richly deserve that bit of ribbing! I really did think this was a joke when it first appeared. And then it started to seep in. Been wanting to do this for months and finally got around to ordering the block. THANKS for your excellent recommendation.

The "ribbing" was more for the guys who already know everything, without trying anything!
You were actually cut in the joke at the time. :)

Your brass block could be much smaller (and cheaper). The brass I use is 2"x2"x1" (5x5x2.5cm). Best way will be to find a metal shop and ask for 2"x1" brass flat bar and ask for 2" cut. Even the smaller pieces will work.
I'm glad that, in the end, your effort was rewarded. :)

Again, the best improvement that I found with the brass is on the TUBES!

[rickmcinnis]

I am a transistor guy at the moment using the FIRST WATT amps with the SEMISOUTH devices - SIT and JFET which I do not doubt would be improved with brass heatsinks but that is beyond my abilities! Just imagine what that would cost!

I do not doubt I could go smaller but did not want to have to use any hardware to hold it in place. In addition the machine shop would have charged more than the cost of the bigger block. And most importantly - it was easy!

Luckily the block I received had one very clean and smooth side. Used lots of one of those heatsink prep fluids and then the silver paste, and PLOPPED it on there. Temps staying below 40 degrees C which is just fine. Of course, we have not had any hot days yet in Atlanta. I do use a very low speed fan just for insurance.

IT IS the way to sink the heat from the audio PC CPU and I thank you again for bringing this to our attention. Those who do not try this must realize, as with all of the these "wacky" ideas - the improvement gained from this can be got no other way. I do not find the improvement subtle, it is right up there with the PCI-e USB card in adding spaciousness. Is this due to electrical damping of spurious noise from the CPU or just good old damping from the weight of the block on the motherboard or both? Who knows? I do know that I am very pleased I made the move.

[sbgk]

Anyone tried rounding off the corners of the brass cubes ? It's well known that brass objects of a more rounded nature are associated with
cooling.

[rickmcinnis]

At the moment no cooling issues to worry about.

I agree the rounding off would be better; for more reasons than just that.

Something to put on the list ...