Golden Gate DAC arrives.

[Audiophile Bill]

I don't believe Bruce has the r2r PCM module yet Blizz - this is very new indeed.

We have been discussing the virtues of hqplayer upsampling for absolutely ages and ages - done to death in fact. I will be testing r2r PCM implementation versus dsd upsampling this weekend. I don't think it will be black and white since the quality of the computer transport will ultimately influence the end result. My laptop can't reliably quad upsample PCM in hqplayer but can in foobar. I will be testing laptop via ifi iusb or Regen dsd upsampled versus PCM r2r.

Blizz - What PC are you using btw?

 

[Blizzard]

I don't believe Bruce has the r2r PCM module yet Blizz - this is very new indeed.

We have been discussing the virtues of hqplayer upsampling for absolutely ages and ages - done to death in fact. I will be testing r2r PCM implementation versus dsd upsampling this weekend. I don't think it will be black and white since the quality of the computer transport will ultimately influence the end result. My laptop can't reliably quad upsample PCM in hqplayer but can in foobar. I will be testing laptop via ifi iusb or Regen dsd upsampled versus PCM r2r.

Based on my testing, foobar's SDM/SRC is nowhere near as good as Jussi's with HQplayer. That's the whole reason for using that software. Certainly not for the GUI.

 

[Audiophile Bill]

Based on my testing, foobar's SDM/SRC is nowhere near as good as Jussi's with HQplayer. That's the whole reason for using that software. Certainly not for the GUI.

I know - that is widely accepted by most Lampi guys who have been through this debate ad infinitum. Foobar is much less strenuous on the PC processing power though.

 

[Audiophile Bill]

Based on my testing, foobar's SDM/SRC is nowhere near as good as Jussi's with HQplayer. That's the whole reason for using that software. Certainly not for the GUI.

I am curious as to what PC you are quad upsampling with.

 

[Blizzard]

Blizz - What PC are you using btw?

I have a bunch of computers. But for testing this 2 channel DSD DAC, upsampling all PCM to 256, with NAA, I just picked up a cheap HP mini tower to see how it would do as a HQplayer server:

http://m.bestbuy.ca/defaultpage.asp...etails.aspx?ajax=true&sku=10391779&lang=en-CA

It was on sale for $750 Canadian Dollars. It does quite well. With PCM to DSD 256 resampling CPU load averages about 30%.

On the NAA end I'm using a fanless NUC 3815 SBC running AudioLinux command line off of a USB 3.0 stick. It's powered by a low noise linear supply. The SATA bus, and all other non required prepherials have been disabled in the BIOS.

http://eu.mouser.com/m_new/Intel/intel-atom-nuc-e3815/

Compared to my Macmini, MacBook Pro, and Broadwell NUC, that's little Atom unit sounds much much better. I recently installed the NAA network daemon on the Macmini and it was like nails on the chalkboard!

 

[Audiophile Bill]

I have a bunch of computers. But for testing this 2 channel DSD DAC, upsampling all PCM to 256, with NAA, I just picked up a cheap HP mini tower to see how it would do as a HQplayer server:

http://m.bestbuy.ca/defaultpage.asp...etails.aspx?ajax=true&sku=10391779&lang=en-CA

It was on sale for $750 Canadian Dollars. It does quite well. With PCM to DSD 256 resampling CPU load averages about 30%.

On the NAA end I'm using a fanless NUC 3815 SBC running AudioLinux command line off of a USB 3.0 stick. It's powered by a low noise linear supply. The SATA bus, and all other non required prepherials have been disabled in the BIOS.

http://eu.mouser.com/m_new/Intel/intel-atom-nuc-e3815/

Compared to my Macmini, MacBook Pro, and Broadwell NUC, that's little Atom unit sounds much much better. I recently installed the NAA network daemon on the Macmini and it was like nails on the chalkboard!

Ah - okay. You have an i7 then. My A10 chip, which is meant to be equivalent to i7, can't muster enough power for reliable dropout free upsampling in hqplayer.

 

[Blizzard]

Ah - okay. You have an i7 then. My A10 chip, which is meant to be equivalent to i7, can't muster enough power for reliable dropout free upsampling in hqplayer.

Maybe try Audiolinux running HQplayer in server mode. It's much lighter weight, and runs in realtime. So should make the most of your CPU without wasting any power running Windows.

 

[Bruce B]

Lol. What are you using now, Bruce?

What I've always used for the past 8yr. Pyramix

 

[Blizzard]

What I've always used for the past 8yr. Pyramix

Can Pyramix resample PCM to DSD 256 as well as HQplayer, so you can send all of your PCM through the DSD end of the GG?

 

[bibo01]

One thing not clear to me about Acko's reclock board is the power supply.
Does one have to supply a ps on the clean side? Here ps is pretty crucial.
Does Amanero still take supply from PC on the dirty side?

 

[Bruce B]

Can Pyramix resample PCM to DSD 256 as well as HQplayer, so you can send all of your PCM through the DSD end of the GG?

Yes

 

[Blizzard]

One thing not clear to me about Acko's reclock board is the power supply.
Does one have to supply a ps on the clean side? Here ps is pretty crucial.
Does Amanero still take supply from PC on the dirty side?

No no, just feed it 5-12v into the DC input, and very low noise LDO's feed ultra clean power to the clocks, and Amanero. Seperate LDO's for each section. Plus the power supply feeding the Amanero in the GG is probably already decent. So just imagine how clean after the LDO's!

 

[Blizzard]

Yes

So this may be the holy grail of computer audio players then. Are you using Emotion with Pyramix?

 

[Bruce B]

So this may be the holy grail of computer audio players then. Are you using Emotion with Pyramix?

Emotion is built on the Merging Ovation platform and uses a Google UI.

Pyramix is their recording/mastering platform whereas Ovation is used for Post/Broadcast.

 

[Blizzard]

Emotion is built on the Merging Ovation platform and uses a Google UI.

Pyramix is their recording/mastering platform whereas Ovation is used for Post/Broadcast.

How do you use Pyramix as a media player? Does it do on the fly conversion from PCM to DSD, or do you offline convert, then playback via Pyramix?

 

[Bruce B]

How do you use Pyramix as a media player? Does it do on the fly conversion from PCM to DSD, or do you offline convert, then playback via Pyramix?

Pyramix is a digital audio workstation. It can convert on the fly or offline. You create, for example, a DSD255 project. Everything you put on the timeline gets converted. Otherwise, you can convert offline and play as is.

Since it's a DAW, it is not consumer friendly.

 

[Blizzard]

Pyramix is a digital audio workstation. It can convert on the fly or offline. You create, for example, a DSD255 project. Everything you put on the timeline gets converted. Otherwise, you can convert offline and play as is.

Since it's a DAW, it is not consumer friendly.

What's your take on offline converting PCM tracks to DSD 256 using Pyramix, and playing back via the GG DSD, compared to the best PCM DAC you currently own playing back the non-converted same tracks in PCM?

 

[Bruce B]

What's your take on offline converting PCM tracks to DSD 256 using Pyramix, and playing back via the GG DSD, compared to the best PCM DAC you currently own playing back the non-converted same tracks in PCM?

I can't tell the difference

 

[Blizzard]

I can't tell the difference

I suppose the cheaper one of the 2 is the winner then

With my AK4490 based DAC, the DSD section is very close to a chipless DSD DAC. When DSD is played through it, the DSD is sent direct to a low pass filter, bypassing all the chips internal processing. But the chip only does a portion of the filtering. A high quality Discrete filter finishes it off. So it's pretty much chipless. Compared to running the PCM through the PCM side of the chip, using HQ player to resample to DSD and send through the low pass filter is much better. This is why I decided to ditch the chip altogether and go totally discrete.

But don't get me wrong, the AK4490's internal SDM/SRC is still the best I've heard from an IC chip.

 

[Blizzard]

Ah - okay. You have an i7 then. My A10 chip, which is meant to be equivalent to i7, can't muster enough power for reliable dropout free upsampling in hqplayer.

Hi Bill,

Just a FYI. I'm using my I3 broadwell NUC as an HQ player server resampling redbook to DSD 256 with Windows 10. So far on song 9 of an album without 1 stutter It couldn't do it without stuttering with Windows 8.1.

http://www.amazon.com/Intel-Next-Unit-Computing-NUC5i3RYK/dp/B00S1ISFOQ

However the CPU load is quite high. But I'm sure the I7 NUC would have no problem. Best of all fits in the palm of your hand!

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