DAC Advice Needed

[ddude003]

Hopefully I will have it next week, sometime. It will be nice to eliminate one of my 24/NUCS.

LOL... 24 NUCs??? Do you run a audiophile motel with a NUC in each room?

 

[NBPK402]

LOL... 24 NUCs??? Do you run a audiophile motel with a NUC in each room?

Typo... ROFL

 

[ddude003]

Typo... ROFL

On second thought... Are you Bit Mining or running a CG Render Farm? After all 96 cores is nothing to sneeze at... Typos can be such fun...

 

[NBPK402]

On second thought... Are you Bit Mining or running a CG Render Farm? After all 96 cores is nothing to sneeze at... Typos can be such fun...

I have 3 NUCs...2 i5s, and a i7. LOL

 

[NBPK402]

A little update: I received and hooked up the Lumin U1 Mini to my setup with the Roon Rock, and it sounded really good except something in the bass was strange sounding. Well fast forward to yesterday when all of a sudden my Roon stopped working properly from my tablet, phone, PC, or the Lumin. I spent most of the day trying to figure it out, and I also noticed my 1 year subscription was ending in a couple of weeks, so I decided to try the setup with my USB HDD plugged directly into the Lumin U1 Mini. I then listened to it, and found out the weird bass problem was gone and I also noticed the midrange sounded clearer than before...so I decided not to renew Roon which saved me some cash, and eliminated a NUC.

The one thing I do miss is that Roon had less of a gap between songs...the Lumin is taking 8 to 10 seconds in between track (Roon took about 2-3 seconds), and I do not see any settings to speed it up.

 

[ddude003]

Nice to hear from you again @NBPK402... I am glad that you are enjoying your new streamer and it sounds better in your kit... I hope you don't mind me asking about your current connectivity in trying to help solve your "gap" issue...
Does that HDD get its power from the U1 mini USB connection? How are you connecting your U1 mini to your DAC? Have you tried Qobuz streaming and have the same gap issue? Have you tried using MinimServer software on one of your Nucs + that USB HDD to the U1 mini via ethernet to see if you have that same gap issue... Do you have all other I/O devices turned off in the U1 mini config? Are you doing any up/down scaling in the U1 mini... Are the files on the HDD PCM or DSD? When was the last time that HDD was de-fragged? Have you tried an SSD instead of the HDD?

 

[NBPK402]

Nice to hear from you again @NBPK402... I am glad that you are enjoying your new streamer and it sounds better in your kit... I hope you don't mind me asking about your current connectivity in trying to help solve your "gap" issue...
Does that HDD get its power from the U1 mini USB connection? How are you connecting your U1 mini to your DAC? Have you tried Qobuz streaming and have the same gap issue? Have you tried using MinimServer software on one of your Nucs + that USB HDD to the U1 mini via ethernet to see if you have that same gap issue... Do you have all other I/O devices turned off in the U1 mini config? Are you doing any up/down scaling in the U1 mini... Are the files on the HDD PCM or DSD?

I have the AES, SPDF COAX, and USB with the USB turned off. I have a trial MimimServer, but thought it would be best to have the USB HDD hooked up direct to the U1 (just like it was with Rock with the power coming from what it is plugged into). I do not have Qobuz to test. I wanted to hook the USB to my ASUS router, but when I installed WDRT

I will try the MimiServer later today....just enjoying the music today.

The HDD has the music stored in folders for each artist and then inside that folder are the albums...then inside that are my FLAC files.

 

[ddude003]

Well, enjoy the music @NBPK402... I am thinking that the U1 mini may have smaller I/O buffers than a Nuc or other general purpose computers might have... Could also have something to do with digging down into the directory/file structure, another thing larger read-ahead buffers might help with on a Nuc or PC...

You could always ask Peter (wklie) on https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/topic/14016-lumin-audiophile-network-music-player/#comments...

 

[NBPK402]

Well, enjoy the music @NBPK402... I am thinking that the U1 mini may have smaller I/O buffers than a Nuc or other general purpose computers might have... Could also have something to do with digging down into the directory/file structure, another thing larger read-ahead buffers might help with on a Nuc or PC...

You could always ask Peter (wklie) on https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/topic/14016-lumin-audiophile-network-music-player/#comments...

I am also thinking of taking my 2 1TB SSDs and try that with MimimServer. they should require less power and would be on the NUC.

 

[ddude003]

I run a MinimServer on both my MacOS laptop and Windoz desk side from time to time... As well as Audirvana+ or Roon... No issues or lags... I also have my U1 mini set to the highest priority in my LAN Switch as I don't want anything else in the house hogging the LAN/WAN...

@NBPK402 had said: "I am also thinking of taking my 2 1TB SSDs and try that with MimimServer. they should require less power and would be on the NUC." This would be faster as there is no rotational latency in an SSD...

 

[NBPK402]

I run a MinimServer on both my MacOS laptop and Windoz desk side from time to time... As well as Audirvana+ or Roon... No issues or lags... I also have my U1 mini set to the highest priority in my LAN Switch as I don't want anything else in the house hogging the LAN/WAN...

@NBPK402 had said: "I am also thinking of taking my 2 1TB SSDs and try that with MimimServer. they should require less power and would be on the NUC." This would be faster as there is no rotational latency in an SSD...

Well I did a little bit of work and got it setup with MinimServer and it is about the same. Now what I am trying to see is if i can get it to work with the USB HDD on my ASUS AC5300...so I will not need the Windows NUC. If i cannot figure this out in the next couple of days i will reach out to your link for help.

 

[NBPK402]

@ddude003 I was checking out my settings and i am using Oversampling and the sharp filter. From what i read the only way you can use a filter is in OS mode.

 

[ddude003]

There is nothing wrong with Oversampling... And if you like the sharp filter, that's ok too... Heck, my Chord DAC is Oversampling only and a linear phase sharp "brick wall" filter is my favorite filter... Only you can decide if you like that clean, crisp, precise sound or not... I would think your DAC and PreAmp are like bread and butter... And those horns... A match made in heaven...

 

[NBPK402]

I just ordered some new networking items to see if it helps the speed of changing tracks. I ordered a Ubiquiti 10 port switch with 2 SPF ports for fiber, 2 fiber convertor modules, short cat 6 cables, a TrendNet 8 port unmanaged switch (I ordered this and the modules because it is inexpensive and supposedly increases data packet speed via very large packet), and a fiber cable. The plan is to see how the fiber will work with the streamer and also if it will speed up my media storage devices transfer rates. In addition I am going to test out if I can use fiber for all my cat connections. Peter has made some comments to others that using fiber cables is reported by some users to solve the speed problem, while at the same time lowering the noise floor. I should have it installed by next week end and will report how it goes.

 

[ddude003]

I hope that direction your taking with light pipes works out for you... I never thought much about network bandwidth issues... Even though I did pickup a low latency managed network switch a few years ago... I just needed a few more ethernet ports for the U1 Mini streamer and rearranged my LAN and WAN layout in favor of my two channel system at the time... Now, looking back, that 8-Port Gigabit Ethernet Switch with its low latency and port prioritization turned out to be the cats pajamas...

 

[NBPK402]

I do not expect to hear any difference, but the future is fiber and i might as well try it and see if it helps on speed transfers...plus my Cisco 24 port switch was phased out a few years ago. I also watched a video where this guy said that you should use the TrendNet 80g 4 port unmanaged switch. He claimed it was really fast for retrieving music due to large packet sizes. He also claimed that managed switches were not any better and usually worse for the novice to install. He said if you do not know what you are doing you can really mess up the speed with a managed switch. Now whether or not it does lower the noise floor (which makes sense... I will most likely never hear it until we make our next move to Europe and get a dedicated treated room again.

It also gave me an idea...if you have a managed switch and hookup a unmanaged switch it would be seen as a Gigabit switch and if you have older devices hooked up they most likely would not have the affect of a speed loss over your whole network. Now i have no idea what I am talking about...just using possible reasons.

This is the one I am getting... full retail is $125, but even the manufacturer is out of stock.

UBIQUITI 10-Port (2 SFP) PoE Managed Switch EdgeSwitch 10XP (ES-10XP) - The source for WiFi products at best prices in Europe - wifi-stock.com

8x Gigabit Configurable 24V Passive PoE Ports (15W per Port), 2x SFP Ports, Non-Blocking 10 Gbps Throughput, EdgeSwitch XP Configuration Interface, Tough Full Metal and Rubber Casing product description

www.wifi-stock.com

Look how much it is on Amazon... plus 1% Texas sales tax and then 18% duty on top of that! It would have been over $400 through Amazon USA!

https://www.amazon.com/Ubiquiti-EdgeSwitch-ES-10XP-Ethernet-Switch/dp/B07G5XNM7C/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1FGRWAP43ECLE&keywords=%28ES-10XP&qid=1663538954&sprefix=es-10xp%2Caps%2C1397&sr=8-1&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.08f69ac3-fd3d-4b88-bca2-8997e41410bb

Here it is on Amazon.com Mexico...including shipping and import duties...about $160USD

Ubiquiti Networks EdgeSwitch 10XP - Conmutador Gigabit de 10 Puertos con PoE (ES-10XP) : Amazon.com.mx: Electrónicos

Ubiquiti Networks EdgeSwitch 10XP - Conmutador Gigabit de 10 Puertos con PoE (ES-10XP) : Amazon.com.mx: Electrónicos

www.amazon.com.mx

This is why I always check different locations.

Funny thing is Amazon USA only had 1 left and Amazon Mexico imports from Amazon USA. LOL

I have had more than once made a purchase from Amazon Mexico and saved several hundred over Amazon USA. Now I also have imported myself products from Amazon USA (that they will not export) and saved $$$. Strange thing is sometimes Amazon USA sometimes says not exportable and I get it from Amazon Mexico who imports it for me.

 

[ddude003]

Without getting too geeky about networks and their protocols, large packet sizes are not necessarily a good thing... There are a number of things to consider... Without taking too much bandwidth, no pun intended, here is a good place to learn about the trade offs... https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/how-mtu-and-mss-affect-networks/ And yes, I would agree, if you don't know what you are doing you can mess things up managed switch or not... Because tcp/ip... BTW, I have been computering and networking for 40+ years...

 

[NBPK402]

Without getting too geeky about networks and their protocols, large packet sizes are not necessarily a good thing... There are a number of things to consider... Without taking too much bandwidth, no pun intended, here is a good place to learn about the trade offs... https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/how-mtu-and-mss-affect-networks/ And yes, I would agree, if you don't know what you are doing you can mess things up managed switch or not... Because tcp/ip... BTW, I have been computering and networking for 40+ years...

I have had some strange performance my lan...sometimes when I movie a movie to my unraid NAS I get 80-120 on my transfer rate, and sometimes it drops to as low as 2. With my SSD, I have had transfers of 10 to as much as 400. No idea why it varies like that.

 

[ddude003]

I will be a lot of fun for you to track down where the bottle-necks are... Remember that the overall bandwidth is only as fast as the slowest component... So its may be storage device or buss bandwidth and then again it could be network and switching related or traffic across anything... Also remembering that read speeds are always faster than write speeds... And knowing what your OS is doing helps too... Windows has a lot of processes that are running around doing who knows what that may be interfering... So finding the bottle-necks and fixing/adjusting can be a real pain in the neck...

 

[NBPK402]

I hope i did not mess up when I ordered the fiber cable...it is called a patch cable. I wanted a LC cable on both ends.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NFPRULY?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

 

[ddude003]

You will want to get glass light pipes not plastic...

 

[NBPK402]

You will want to get glass light pipes not plastic...

Is this the correct one?

https://www.amazon.com.mx/gp/product/B00552Q8N6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[ddude003]

Is this the correct one?

https://www.amazon.com.mx/gp/product/B00552Q8N6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I don't habla espanol... That does look like it uses high grade doped Corning glass...

 

[NBPK402]

I don't habla espanol... That does look like it uses high grade doped Corning glass...

Sorry, I cannot either... I have the translator setup on google. LOL So it should be good?

 

[ddude003]

Sorry, I cannot either... I have the translator setup on google. LOL So it should be good?

Orange is OM1...
You probably want Aqua OM3 which is spec higher... With such a short length the price should not be much more...