AUDIO PC: Direct power to motherboad 24 and 4pin (picoless)

[rickmcinnis]

Look here for SATADOM - http://www.memorydepot.com/ssd/ssdlist. ... M&cat=SATA.

I am using a 256mB one. After OS has installed I remove it so power is not an issue.

BELLESON says the 1.32 reg will allow 2 amps. With 2gB memory stick I think that will be sufficient. I will find out.

I figure I will parallel the 3.3 rail and use this same rail to power the regulator for the memory. In the interests of simplicity and packaging ...

Found this to use for PCIe riser: http://www.asrock.com/mb/spec/card.asp? ... TC+PRO+Kit - figure I can cut the power wire and connect this to the big battery. I think the OPTIMAs are considered about the best SLAs made. I had used this with the ALTMANN phono stage; what he recommends for all of his strange gear. Brian Lowe (BELLESON) measured one at my suggestion and found it to be quite extraordinary in its abilities - http://belleson.com/compareoptima.php. See what you think. There is something to be said for removing video duty from the CPU.

I wish my fingers were as nimble as yours when it comes to the USB card. I do not think I can do what you can! Do you know anything about the JCAT card? It has the power input on the rear which I assumed was just for USB power. Do you think it might, at least, allow divorcing the 5 volts from the motherboard? Would be great if it supplied not only USB power but then to the 3.3 regs. I need to ask them and hope they know. Wondered if you had ever looked at one of them closely?

I would agree removing the caps from the MB near the memory a good idea. Have you considered removing caps at the CPU?

Sometime in the future I want to remove as much extraneous stuff from the MB as I can. If the video card can be made to work I want to get rid of the monitor port which I think contains the HDMI stuff. Remove the sound chip, probably the USB stuff and the mosfets for the USB like in the cPLAY days. I like removing things. Only the PS2 ports to remain.

All of this is based on the FIGHT CLUB player. (first rule of FIGHT CLUB is there is no such thing as FIGHT CLUB, Second rule of ...)

My 500 hz and above horns were made by this fellow and I think you might find him interesting - take another look here: http://www.inlowsound.com/ He designed my sub 500 hz horns which were made by a fellow in Hungary. I think John is one of the great audio tinkerers.

[rickmcinnis]

This might be the circuit for the memory regulator?
http://electronicdesign.com/analog/high ... -regulator

[nige2000]

actually finding this satadom thing quite interesting i found this on ebay

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Kingspec-Indust ... 1467422639

if you see below what is quite likely a 5v to 3.3 reg that could be bypassed and a clk that could be replaced if its not good



it could be a very simple "super audio drive"

[rickmcinnis]

That one is much larger than what I need! I could get by with 50mB. That is very cheap in comparison to MEMORYDEPOT!

Got the ASROCK riser.

12 volts rail powered by the OPTIMA. 3.3 connected to the board. Everything was fine for about 15 seconds. The USB card would disappear; the music stopped. Installed the parallel 3.3 battery and all is working very well. In fact, I am convinced with the board powered USB card I must have been on the thin edge because dynamics are much better.

I figure I am getting a glimpse of what a remotely powered USB card would sound like. I have no problem erasing pins, finding a place to input the power concerns me. That is where I would screw it up.

The folks at JCAT say the 5 volts connector will power the chipset but the 3.3s remain dependent on the board. I wonder if that, alone, would make any difference?

I have been using SATADOM and the video card since cPLAY so I know what they can do - especially the video card. You must have one laying about - you should give it a try. Obviously one that doesn't require much power since we do not need it to do much other than relieve the CPU of video duty. I do not even know which one I am using - the tags are long gone. At boot it says NVIDIA, maybe 5300? The ASROCK adapter is superior to anything else I could find and I was lucky that the local computer store had one in stock.

It is not a small improvement.

[nige2000]

That one is much larger than what I need! I could get by with 50mB. That is very cheap in comparison to MEMORYDEPOT!

Got the ASROCK riser.

12 volts rail powered by the OPTIMA. 3.3 connected to the board. Everything was fine for about 15 seconds. The USB card would disappear; the music stopped. Installed the parallel 3.3 battery and all is working very well. In fact, I am convinced with the board powered USB card I must have been on the thin edge because dynamics are much better.

I figure I am getting a glimpse of what a remotely powered USB card would sound like. I have no problem erasing pins, finding a place to input the power concerns me. That is where I would screw it up.

The folks at JCAT say the 5 volts connector will power the chipset but the 3.3s remain dependent on the board. I wonder if that, alone, would make any difference?

the 5 volts is only required for usb out on the jcat, infact it will sound best without 5v input
the usb chip and the clk is powered from the pcie 3.3v this is the problem
BTW we know coz pearse and I tested it last year
Jcat USB works perfectly fine without additional 5v meaning the USB chip and clock is pcie powered
It's a very silly flaw in an expensive product

I have been using SATADOM and the video card since cPLAY so I know what they can do - especially the video card. You must have one laying about - you should give it a try. Obviously one that doesn't require much power since we do not need it to do much other than relieve the CPU of video duty. I do not even know which one I am using - the tags are long gone. At boot it says NVIDIA, maybe 5300? The ASROCK adapter is superior to anything else I could find and I was lucky that the local computer store had one in stock.

It is not a small improvement.

its a while since i had a gfx card in a audio pc
at that time i could work it without the gfx card with jplay streaming
would be nice to work without either

[rickmcinnis]

It would seem that way until you consider the video card is taking those duties away from the CPU. That is the key.

You might be in for a pleasant surprise if you try it.

[rickmcinnis]

Wonder how much one would lose with using the ASROCK riser with 7 cms. SATA cables to power the JCAT USB card?

Removing junk from the motherboard today. Hope it will still work.

[nige2000]

Wonder how much one would lose with using the ASROCK riser with 7 cms. SATA cables to power the JCAT USB card?

Removing junk from the motherboard today. Hope it will still work.

Using the riser for power injection will still be the lesser evil

Brave mobo work

Take lots of pics

[rickmcinnis]

Phase one was successful.

Cleared all of the jacks and their associated chips. Now I have to use the video card, as if I did not want to. I think I got all of the video stuff but maybe not. Hoping you have some knowledge of what does what on a motherboard. I will keep looking, of course.

A chip near the marking OS GENIE which I know is something in the BIOS that I do not use. I would like to get rid of that. Wonder if it would wound the BIOS fatally?

Also removed the audio chip and something near the lone PCI slot that I figure controls that.

I know there is more I just need to figure out what they are doing. Can't read the ID - hope I can take a photograph good enough to help me read those.

Lots of USB mosfets -- just wanted to be sure I was going in the right direction before removing too much. Looked like I had an ants problem after blowing little bits off of the board.

As far as using the riser to power the USB card - should it have its own battery or can I parallel a third and not have to make another floater? No getting around having to ground it at the slot so it can only be SO isolated. I cannot imagine it making much of a difference in the sound and would make a huge difference in ease of installation.

Getting some 6 inches SATA cables for this. By the time I got fancy cables from JCAT or PP I could get one of these: http://www.adnaco.com/products/s5/ which seems neat but I do not like the necessary switch for four cards. Wish they made a one slot version. Well, not wishing too hard.

I figure I will eventually have to get some really good SATA cables.

[nige2000]

Phase one was successful.

cool

Cleared all of the jacks and their associated chips. Now I have to use the video card, as if I did not want to. I think I got all of the video stuff but maybe not. Hoping you have some knowledge of what does what on a motherboard. I will keep looking, of course.

only know a small bit about mobo
delving into the unknown here
last i seen anyone doing this stuff was Wong

A chip near the marking OS GENIE which I know is something in the BIOS that I do not use. I would like to get rid of that. Wonder if it would wound the BIOS fatally?

mucking about with the bios chips is dangerous id put it closer the bottom of the hit list

Also removed the audio chip and something near the lone PCI slot that I figure controls that.

I know there is more I just need to figure out what they are doing. Can't read the ID - hope I can take a photograph good enough to help me read those.

Lots of USB mosfets -- just wanted to be sure I was going in the right direction before removing too much. Looked like I had an ants problem after blowing little bits off of the board.

As far as using the riser to power the USB card - should it have its own battery or can I parallel a third and not have to make another floater?

paralleling batteries works perfectly fine
i actually use my battery banks to partially power the dac

No getting around having to ground it at the slot so it can only be SO isolated. I cannot imagine it making much of a difference in the sound and would make a huge difference in ease of installation.

Getting some 6 inches SATA cables for this. By the time I got fancy cables from JCAT or PP I could get one of these: http://www.adnaco.com/products/s5/ which seems neat but I do not like the necessary switch for four cards. Wish they made a one slot version. Well, not wishing too hard.

dont know if i like this idea much converting to fibre optic then converting back
whats this for ? music drives?
if so its further down the priority list

I figure I will eventually have to get some really good SATA cables.