Bilbo
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Posts posted by Bilbo
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Item Condition: NewShipping Options: Pickup available but audition is not available.,Shipping is available at agreed cost.Suburb or Town: BrisbaneState: QLDPayment Method: Paypal as Friend, EFT or Cash on PickupReason for selling: NLR
Further Information:
I bought these some years ago and no longer burn CD's (or play them) so they are no longer required. They are shrink wrapped into a single block of 100 and new. There is no identifying brand on them but if my memory serves me correctly I believe they were Mitsui CD-R's and highly rated for long term archiving or audio CD use.
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Item Condition: As NewShipping Options: Pickup available but audition is not available.,Shipping is included in price.Suburb or Town: Sinnamon ParkState: QLDPayment Method: Paypal as Friend, EFT or Cash on PickupReason for selling: No Longer Required
Further Information:
Dimensions (WxDxH): 2.4″x1.2″ (61x30mm)
Weight Capacity: 20lbs (9kg) per unit
Quantity: 2 units per box
Features:
- Maximise the sound quality of existing monitors
- Decouples speakers/turntables from the supporting surface
- Reflections from the supporting surface are attenuated to eliminate the smear
- Provided greater sound clarity and opens up the stereo image
- "Suction cup” design provides stable mounting
- Works well with guitar and bass amps/cabinets as well as DJ gear
- Small and easy to transport
The IsoAcoustics ISO-PUCK Series provide an innovative new approach in isolating studio monitors, speakers and other systems. This unique patented design provides a high degree of isolation while resisting lateral movement and oscillations, which results in greater sound clarity and focus. This versatile isolation tool is possibly the most cost effective upgrade available for improving the performance and clarity of your speakers or monitors.
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24 minutes ago, dbastin said:
Sometimes you have to try these things because you might be surprised.
Yes, a WiFi dongle is probably the next logical thing to try but it will have to wait until the abuse my wallet is going to suffer this month abates!!
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9 hours ago, dbastin said:
That is one possible explanation, if for some reason the SOtM is accessing the network My guess the issue is more likely ethernet cable shields connected to ground at both ends. Next possibility is the switch and SOtM sharing the same power outlet.
Yes, these are the topics that arise from discussions on another forum. The contributors go to great depths to hypothesize the reasons for these observations but it does my head in most of the time.
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9 hours ago, dbastin said:
The SoTM has no wifi! So you're stuck with wired unless you set up a WAP just for the SoTM.
I can use a WiFi dongle and the SOtM does have control settings to manage the connection.
I guess I'm a bit reluctant because it means adding another gadget to the system!
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19 hours ago, andyr said:
So, can you connect your SotM via wifi ... rather than hard-wired?
Yes I can and that seems to be a logical step in trying to eliminate the problems that a physical Ethernet connection introduces. I have yet to try this.
The iPad app connects via WiFi to the modem/router which connects to the SOtM via Ethernet, and as I understand it, that is where the problems arise.
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45 minutes ago, andyr said:
I'm a bit confused by your post in that you say here, B:
What I understand from this ... is that your music path doesn't pass through your in-house Ethernet network - is this correct?
And yet you started your post by saying this:
Am I correct in assuming that whilst an Ethernet connection is required on your SOtM in MPD mode ... when you are playing music - and so temporarily don't need control from your iPad - unplugging the Ethernet cable from the SOtM improves the sound?
First question: "your music path doesn't pass through your in-house Ethernet network"
Correct - the connection is only required to allow the MPD control app on my iPad - via WiFi connection to the home network - to access and play the library files attached to the SOtM via USB. The SOtM is connected to the home network via Ethernet.
Second question: "temporarily don't need control from your iPad"
Correct - if you play a track or for that matter a playlist using MPD, once you hit "play" in the iPad control app the entire song or playlist will play - even if you remove the Ethernet cable and shut down the iPad app. If you want to stop the song or playlist, you have to reconnect the Ethernet cable to regain control of MPD player on the SOtM using iPad control app.
When I discovered the impact of the Ethernet connection on my system I was shocked. How could it be? My audio signal path does not utilise the Ethernet system to pass a single bit - so what gives??? Well far greater minds than mine have presented various explanations (which I can barely understand) - with most appearing to hover around the idea that ground differentials and noise leakage through the ground plain are the most likely culprits. (I think that's what they mean).
Me - I don't know why - but based on my observations through extensive listening - there sure is something going on because it does matter to my ears!
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19 hours ago, Assisi said:
I am curious as to what components are connected to what now and what are the cable connections? What is the Ethernet setup. What do you mean that the Ethernet is not in the signal path yet there is an impact?
John
This is my digital signal path for serious listening.
Western Digital Purple 4Tb HDD in Voyager S3 Caddy (music library in WAV format) > via USB > SOtm SMS-200Ultra Neo (running MPD) > via USB > Holo May KTE 3
> Tortuga LDR V2.5 Preamp > Sanders Magtech Power Amp > Magneplanar 20.7
> DSPeaker Antimode 2.0 > Rythmik Audio F12SE Sub x 2
The SOtM in MPD mode is controlled by "Soundirok" an app on my iPad and so a network connection is required for the SOtM.
This is my current network signal path.
NBN > FitzBox 7490 Modem Router (with LPS) > 20m Cat6 Ethernet Cable > Netgear Prosafe GS105E Switch > 1m Ethernet Cable > SOtM SMS-200 Ultra Neo
The recent changes to the Ethernet setup (mostly prompted by this thread) are a Linear Power Supply for the Modem Router, the Netgear Switch and better quality Ethernet cables.
I have several friends who have the same digital front end and the variations only start at the DAC stage. One of these friends brought around an Ediscreation Silent Switch OCXO some months ago and swore blind it would improve the sound of my system. I initially scoffed at this assertion as I reasoned that, as I did not have a network connection in the digital signal path it would have no effect. Well I was proven wrong and I was quite surprised that it made a pleasant difference.
The real revelation however came when one of the contributors here suggested I remove the Ethernet connection from the SOtM whilst playing a track and see what it sounded like. Well low and behold it was an even bigger improvement than obtained with the Ediscreation Silent Switch OCXO in the network path. This new and improved sound captured my ears and I set about trying to get my setup as close as possible to having no connection at all, which to me was the gold standard. The bonus with these changes was that streamed audio from my PC now sounded substantially better and therefore a viable alternative for serious listening. There is more to this Ethernet journey than the simple changes I have made, so I enjoy reading this thread to give me motivation and ideas on how to achieve improvements to my system.
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15 hours ago, MLXXX said:
I'm sorry you experienced mediocre performance. Of course some years ago bitrates of lossy codec streaming tended to be less and there was still extensive use of the relatively inefficient mp3 codec by some of the streaming providers; so even with absolutely perfect capture of the streaming, the audio quality was inevitably compromised, sometimes audibly.
What bitrates and codecs did you access, if you can recall?
I myself have a low tolerance for the low bitrates used in a lot of DAB+ radio broadcasting in Australia. Quantity (the number of services) tends to be considered more important than quality (the bitrate allocated to an individual service).
I can't recall what the details were but it was an intro offer for Qobuz that I accessed through my PC and then fed to the SOtM. When the offer period expired I cancelled the subscription because as I said I wasn't impressed with the sound. I now have a much better Ethernet setup and probably should sign up again but the main reason I have worked on the Ethernet is because it makes such a difference to my system despite not being in the signal path.
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I'd like to thank all the contributors to this thread that have provided perspectives that encouraged me to start putting together my Ethernet system for audio. The assembly of this system is only happening because one contributor gave me a suggestion to test my perception of what mattered in obtaining the best result I could within my limited ambitions. That, added to the experiences and suggestions of other contributors has been why I follow this thread.
Quite frankly I did not believe the Ethernet connection to my renderer had any influence over the sound I was obtaining. I store files on an external 4Tb hard drive in a caddy that is accessed by a SOtM SMS-200 Neo Ultra that feeds my DAC and so the Ethernet connection is not in the signal chain. It is only used to control the SOtM renderer via an iPad. When I carried out the suggested test I was excited because the improvement was quite noticeable and I remain grateful for the offered suggestion.
The result is that I dismissed streaming audio a couple of years ago because the primitive system I was using only delivered a mediocre result. Streaming audio had its virtues of convenience and enormous libraries but for serious listening my hard drive was clearly superior. Thanks to this thread I have dived into the rabbit hole this element of my system presents and have improved the result I previously dismissed. So thanks folks - keep up the good work and share your experiences and opinions to keep beginners like me confident to venture into the deep dark depths of putting it all together.
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One thing I should mention, have you tried running your router with a linear power supply? That was the first step I took and it got me 50% of the way to the sound when there was no ethernet cable plugged in at all. I'm not sure how much it would effect the WiFi performance but it is worth the experiment to see if you hear an improvement.
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19 hours ago, andyr said:
How very interesting, B! Thanks.
My Roon PC is not connected with an Ethernet cable ... but yes, it does connect to the Internet via wifi.
How do I switch off wifi on that PC - so I can repeat your experiment?
I get the impression that WiFi actually mitigates some of the noise of the network as there is no physical connection. Devices like the EtherREGEN are aimed at this problem for ethernet connections. You should be able to switch off/disable the WiFi connection through the network settings on the PC. Not sure what version of Windows you're running but Google is a great help for things like that.
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On 26/11/2023 at 9:33 AM, andyr said:
But as the signal chain - for, say, playing the WAV files on my SSDs is:
- PC --> miniDSP --> DACs --> amps --> spkrs
... I can't see how anything happening on the in-house ethernet network can affect the above signal chain??
That's what I thought too however when I disconnected the ethernet cable whilst a track was playing from my HDD I got quite a shock. The sound improved markedly and that led me down the rabbit hole of getting rid of noise that resides on the ethernet even though it is not part of the signal path. There is quite a bit of information on this and other sites dealing with this issue but it invariably involves buying filters to minimise the noise and it's definitely a rabbit hole!!
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I’ve been with Internode since the early nineties and the last thing I need now is to deal with changes to the email service. But such is life and I may now be motivated to ditch the current email address and start anew. A hassle for sure but at least free from spam (for a while at least).
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43 minutes ago, SONDEKNZ said:
The OL SCU is NOT designed to operate on AC, which is precisely why it is factory supplied with an AC-DC transformer.
It's clearly the case that we have our own views, though if you had read the bottom of the page on the Origin Live website that I provided a link to, you should have read the following and I quote:
"These wall warts deliver AC current not DC and can be 9 Volt, 12Volt or 15 Volt with approx 1Amp delivery - all work well but can be massively improved by changing to the "Upgrade Transformer". The output lead plugs directly into Origin Live decks and DC motor kit."
'Nuff said I think. Have a good day.
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23 hours ago, SONDEKNZ said:
Bilbo,
I believe the SCU bridge rectifier may be in place to simply help avoid damage if a user accidentally wires the SCU polarity wrongly.
As for the EL capacitor - also factory bypassed by the poly cap on the PCB - the upgrade (increase) I applied made a big improvement to the speed stability and smoothness. Therefore, I believe them to be critical to the circuit.
I guess all you can do is try your ideas and report the results.
There is no doubt in my mind that capacitors do make a difference but I have never given much thought to playing around with the caps in the O.L. speed control unit. Reading other peoples adventures with these mods aroused my curiosity given all my DC linear power supplies are modified with what I believe are better sounding caps. When I have some time I'll give this a go on the O.L. unit for sure.
My confusion arose with people substituting a DC power supply to the speed control unit when the original kit provided an AC power supply (specifically a step down transformer from 240VAC to 9VAC in my case). Instead of purchasing the O.L. "upgrade" transformer I simply put a quality toroidal in a box (as in my first picture in the previous post), which gave me 9VAC and 3.3A and did improve the sound to a pleasant degree. It appears that they now supply a 12VAC transformer as the standard unit though they specify that a 9V, 12V or 15V AC supply will be suitable as per their website as below.
https://www.originlive.com/shop/wall-wart-not-sure-of-my-mains-supply.html
The speed control unit accepts an AC input supply because the first stage of the unit is a rectifier/regulator which generates the stable DC voltage that feeds the rest of the control circuit. Why anyone would want to run a low noise DC power supply through another rectifier/regulator stage baffles me - that's all. The rectifier is certainly not there to "simply help avoid damage if a user accidentally wires the SCU polarity wrongly" because with an AC input this cannot be the case.
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Thanks @SONDEKNZ .
After reading the other link I have in mind to bypass the rectifier, bypass capacitor and 1,000uF storage capacitor and provide the rest of the circuit with a low noise 24V LPS (assuming that the rectified DC is around that value). I can't see any need for keeping them in circuit when I can provide a very stable, regulated, low noise 24VDC from one of my LPS units.
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1 hour ago, SONDEKNZ said:
For a far more technical discussion on this and related topics, you could also check out the following (long) diyAudio thread, here.
diyAudio - 12VDC motor for the turntable. Power, torque, PCB questions
For your reference, I entered the fray at post #115. Given your questions, it's probably an efficient entry point.Thanks for the diyAudio link - I'm sure that will sort out my confusion.
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16 hours ago, SONDEKNZ said:
The 24V LPS just powers the ADVANCED SPEED CONTROL UNIT (SCU).I installed higher wattage / same value resistors on the SCU PCB, for durability.
I also added increased capacitance - 2 x 4700uF/63V.
Then it is just a matter of ensuring the right connector between your chosen LPS and the SCU.
Does this make sense?
Ok - if I understand this correctly, you are powering the SCU with 24V DC which then goes through the built in rectifier on the SCU PCB. That doesn't make much sense to me unless you bypass the built in rectifier which is there to convert an AC input voltage into DC for the speed control circuit. Why did you choose 24V?
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On 01/06/2023 at 2:34 PM, SONDEKNZ said:
A bit of additional feedback…
Our LP12 continues to impress us under the iron hand of our new LHY 160W 24V Linear power Supply - powering our ORIGIN LIVE ADVANCED DC motor controller hot-rod.
I'm a bit confused about your Origin Live DC motor setup as I have an "Advanced" speed control box and that is powered by a 9v AC 3.2A transformer as in the photo below. I'm interested in your capacitor/resistor changes as well as how the new 24v DC fits in. I'm assuming you remove/bypass the onboard rectifier and provide the LHY LPS output of 24vDC directly to the unit. Am I on the right track?
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On 11/12/2021 at 11:29 AM, Extreme_Boky said:
I have modified the old USB card so the May sounds very fast, very natural, with exceptional control of low frequencies and extended highs. The depth perception (that I value soooo very much) has further improved.
I would love to know what modifications you made on the old card. I have found capacitors have a significant effect on the sound and careful tuning creates excellent results. Care to share??
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Item Condition: NewShipping Options: Pickup available but audition is not available.,Shipping is available at agreed cost.Suburb or Town: BrisbaneState: QLDPayment Method: Paypal as Friend, EFT or Cash on PickupReason for selling: NLR
Further Information:
I bought these some years ago and no longer burn CD's (or play them) so they are no longer required. They are shrink wrapped into a single block of 100 and new. There is no identifying brand on them but if my memory serves me correctly I believe they were Mitsui CD-R's and highly rated for long term archiving or audio CD use.
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Item Condition: NewShipping Options: Pickup available but audition is not available.,Shipping is available at agreed cost.Suburb or Town: BrisbaneState: QLDPayment Method: Paypal as Friend, EFT or Cash on PickupReason for selling: NLR
Further Information:
I bought these some years ago and no longer burn CD's (or play them) so they are no longer required. They are shrink wrapped into a single block of 100 and new. There is no identifying brand on them but if my memory serves me correctly I believe they were Mitsui CD-R's and highly rated for long term archiving or audio CD use.
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iiNet handing off email service to "The Messaging Company"
in Computers, Gaming & Technology
Posted
I wonder whether Internode will offer the same deal. Here’s hoping!