Looking forward for your impressions.
Your signature also states you have a Taiko Extreme SGM, have you compared it to your Pink Faun server?
Your signature also states you have a Taiko Extreme SGM, have you compared it to your Pink Faun server?
I’ve been following this thread, some great music recommendations as well as the updates on the ultra USB card.
Just received my Ultra USB card from Jord— and also a new PF Ultra USB cable!
USB cable is gorgeous it’s three braided, each about the size of a regular straw, w/ super connectors.
More importantly I found out about Farad Power across the street in the Netherlands…Mattijs owner of Farad and lead designer of the print boards (power supplies and signal circuitries) at Pink Faun— The Super 3 Power Supply w/the step up in silver power cable— is a beautiful well built power supply— very advanced electronics and super caps.
Power Supplies - Farad
From the humble Super3, the majestic Super10, to the true linear SuperATX, Farad Power Supplies has the solution for your DC power needs that will not only generously meet, but fully exceed all your expectations for a quality build linear DC power supply. It’s time to move away from your system...www.faradpowersupplies.com
Easy to install the new Ultra USB card, and also I change the 2032 round coin battery inside my 2.16x streamer as well.
I let it slowly burn in —leaving it on for about a week—
—-wow— the increase in natural air , soundstage and fine detail is very impressive.. would not describe the background as black —-but— it’s a realistic air air and now I hear more of a natural air around voices and the Imaging has enormous space.
Very much recommend the new ultra USB card w/ the ultra USB cable— and the Farad Super 3 power supply.
(don’t forget to change your round 2032 coin battery when you install a new card).
* also note—Damian at PF showed me a trick to better seat the USB card when you install it.
There’s one screw that needs to be loosened on the back panel which frees up just enough space so it all allows the click of the card into the base… I attached a photo.
How much is the cost to upgrade ? Thanks.Pink Faun Ultra Card / Bridge
It’s been a very long time since I first found out about this remarkable new bridge by Pink Faun. In early 2023 Jord Groen, the proprietor of Pink Faun, informed me that they had been working on a new super bridge for their acclaimed 2.16 Ultra streamer for sometime already, one that encapsulated all they knew of what matters in sound reproduction. And it would be an all out assault on the state of the art, audiophile pinnacle without restriction by cost. Being a long time fan of Pink Faun products, what could one possibly do but to visit them and see it!This I did in mid-2023 when I visited Rhenen, the home base of Pink Faun, where I had a chance to hear the Ultra USB bridge. The first few prototypes were freshly completed, not burned in fully and recently plugged into their demo system alongside their older V1 USB and i2S bridges. At that time, I preferred the sound of their existing i2S bridge and wrote about it here. Nevertheless we had a good session listening to music and for me to understand the Pink Faun ethos “no sound, just music”. They are all about generating a connection to the music through a natural portrayal of the sound captured.
At that time, I was very happy they decided on building the USB Ultra bridge first rather than another data format since my existing connection between my 2.16x unit and Vinnie Rossi L2iSE DAC2 was via USB. Jord said it was mostly a business decision; the choice was an easy one USB being the most preferred connection standard between streamers and DACs. When I asked if the USB connection type would still be a valid one or whether the standard had past it’s expiry date, he mentioned that there was still a fair way to go to exhaust what can be improved with USB connections.
View attachment 130189
Jord just completed his first batch of 10 units and, due to my exuberance for all things Pink Faun and the trade in of my old v1 card and Ultra OCXO clock, I was luckily enough to be in this first batch. The Ultra card arrived in a solid metal case with a short power extension Molex cable and a pair of gloves. Nice marketing touch I thought, not that I would be using either the gloves nor the molex cable as my 2.16x already had inside it spare power connection wires soldered to the distribution board. The extension is actually very well made - their tinned copper in teflon PCX wiring found throughout their streamers with good Molex connections for only the 5V leg. On visual inspection, the Ultra card is also built with a similar attention to detail. As the card is thicker than a single PCIe slot, they build the card with 2 connectors to ‘book’ the space of the second slot. Interesting strategy that would serve to make the connection more sturdy and the card wobble less once the streamer cover is screwed back on. The Ultra card was designed initially to be used only in the 2.16 Ultra streamer but it seems to fit into my 2.16x (well, the connectors technically sit on top of the back panel but with some washers, this can be overcome) after Jord tweaked the case design. Initially I couldn’t get it to fit into my 2.16x but after a little adjustment to the back panel screws it fits fine now.
View attachment 130190
I see that in the recently updated website of Pink Faun, the technical details of the Ultra USB card is described clearly https://www.pinkfaun.com/shop/content/43-ultra-usb-bridge and so there is no need to repeat on this matter. Only that the technology inside the card is hidden totally from the user - it’s basically plug and play. Even the charging up of the super capacitors inside happens so quickly and smoothly, it’s not noticeable during use. Once plugged in, it just works like any other bridge. Worth mentioning also is the 2.5mm DC barrel socket for external power they used in the card. Unlike the older v1 (or even v2) USB bridges, this socket fits both 2.5mm barrel plugs but also my Oyaide 2.1mm plugs as well so that comes in handy if one wants to swap external DC power cables with different plug sizes. Whether the power is supplied using an internal molex connector or through an external power cable, the power goes through the super capacitors banks. More on internal power later.
View attachment 130191
The Sound
After a settling in period of 5 days with power constantly on but with the DAC only connected a few hours per day, I feel the sound has mostly settled into it’s final sound. Not much changed after the first 3 days. And wow, what an improvement it offers! Sometime ago, I compared my old V1 (with ultra OCXO clock) USB card with their current v2 card which I now use. There were pros and cons of each card and I liked them both depending on what kind of music it was. Later when a firmware update for the v2 came out, I switched over to the v2 card permanently as it sounded consistently better. Well, with this new Ultra USB card, it’s nothing like the difference between the v1 and v2 cards. It’s so clearly a step up from the v2 card. Right off the bat, three standout characters of this new USB Ultra card is naturalness, cleaned up lower-mids/ upper bass and focus.
I went through around a hundred of my usual favourite tracks, the sound of which I am familiar with and I’m shocked how different so many of them sound. My system to date is already pretty decent. Tweaking can bring about small incremental steps forward but to achieve this amount of step forward is an unusual experience for me. It’s not in your face different - prior to adding the Ultra card, my imaging was already spot on, details, ambience, shape of the room all very clear already. Invisible speakers, soundstage 50m deep into the room and wide outside the room boundaries already present long ago. But yet the Ultra card’s contribution has made the sound take yet another step forward.
..cont
The Ultra USB card is €3250 exc. The trade in depends on your existing bridge/card I guess. I2S, USB, SPDIF, the versions, what type of clock it has etc. You’ll have to reach out to Jord for more info.
ok, so i'm the Israel dealer of PF, take it as you want,
i got the USB Ultra bridge this morning from the NL (i think im the last dealer who got it... but anyway) , and installed it with JORD on face time (it was easy as of fry an egg but i always love to talk to him so why not)
to tell the truth, i was VERY skeptical since Jord announce it... i was thinking, "oh common... more money down the drain for some USB module, here we go again"
but, i need to eat my hat now, for a few hours i'm just Floored from the sound that coming out of this thing!
PF team just nailed it!
it still have some bright edges but as far i'm told, those will be gone in 2-3 days when this bridge will be fully broke in and incorporated with the system inside. PF known not to bring out new stuff every month, not even close (some will say they are VERY slow with upgrading their stuff, i know a lot of PF aficionados that waiting for this bridge for 18 month!) but when they do, its a home run!
codo's for Jord and PF team, you guys rock!
A
i got the USB Ultra bridge this morning from the NL (i think im the last dealer who got it... but anyway) , and installed it with JORD on face time (it was easy as of fry an egg but i always love to talk to him so why not)
to tell the truth, i was VERY skeptical since Jord announce it... i was thinking, "oh common... more money down the drain for some USB module, here we go again"
but, i need to eat my hat now, for a few hours i'm just Floored from the sound that coming out of this thing!
PF team just nailed it!
it still have some bright edges but as far i'm told, those will be gone in 2-3 days when this bridge will be fully broke in and incorporated with the system inside. PF known not to bring out new stuff every month, not even close (some will say they are VERY slow with upgrading their stuff, i know a lot of PF aficionados that waiting for this bridge for 18 month!) but when they do, its a home run!
codo's for Jord and PF team, you guys rock!
A
Scion
The Pink Faun Scion high end streamer is the newest addition in our portfolio of digital playback systems. Read more about the Scion!
www.pinkfaun.com
Thanks
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This may be a silly question but perhaps the correct place to ask.
Does the Pink Faun gear play nice with Audirvana?
Asking for a friend.
Does the Pink Faun gear play nice with Audirvana?
Asking for a friend.
The new Pink Faun OS is using Roon as the interface so I don't think it is possible.
But I would contact @Pink Faun directly.
I am used to using mine with Roon or Stylus. But I am going to loan it to a friend who favors Audirvana. My experience with Audirvana was negative at best.
Personally, i dont use roon out of principle. The roon team obviously cant hear for shit...
My personal experience is roon sounds warmer no matter what settings you tweak, and audirvana does sound more 'digital', but is more dynamic.
I do not own any pink faun gear btw. Your mileage may vary
Newsflash - Jord discusses Pink Faun’s new OS and their Scion streamer Oct 2024
I managed to get hold of the busy Jord of Pink Faun in between meetings and moving his office to a new building and had a chat about their current offerings and future plans. Some of what follows is already in dealership newsletters and known to existing Pink Faun customers but some interesting development facts and operating details perhaps not.
The Scion streamer is PF’s mid range streamer. From user feedback, and the high cost of running Euphony, it was decided to build this streamer to run Roon playback software rather than Euphony/Stylus. Unfortunately as everyone knows, as good as Roon is in library management, it falls short in sound quality. So PF decided to build their own OS to host Roon and attempt to improve the sound somewhat for the Scion.
It was decided to develop the software using the Ultra platform and build the new OS with deep integration with Roon. Using Archlinux and the Roon software development kit, it took 16-18 months to build the new PF OS to the level where it matched Euphony’s sound quality but using the superior Roon library interface. Faced with this success and the potential of further improvements, Jord decided to further develop this new PF OS/Roon for use in the Ultra streamer also and went all in on its development.
Presently the PF OS/Roon system is based on
I enquired about the way Roon is updated frequently and often breaks optimisations made to handle it. Jord replied that their OS is specially designed to manage this issue and is resistant to Roon sound variations from Roon updates. The audio engine has been separated from Roon’s library management and is currently being developed using advance linux audio architecture. Any changes in Roon updates that adversely affect the sound are automatically adjusted for through the PF Update Server and rolled out to the PF streamers.
All the above is only possible because PF has control over the entire hardware and software chain. Jord says with this new OS, finally he can realise the full potential of the hardware - the power systems and Ultra clocks can now show itself fully. It’s just like how Apple does with their iPhone hardware and their in house iOS. This tight integration of hardware and software effectively makes Pink Faun streamers the iPhone of music streamers!
All new streamers leaving PF will be using this new PF OS. There are around 50-70 units out on the market already with the new OS. Existing Ultra users under Euphony/Stylus will be reached out to next year with an option to update to the new OS. This takes time and has to be done one at a time manually.
Asking about future work, Jord says that in 2 weeks, there will be a major announcement of OEM work for a major brand and they might also consider offering the PF OS as separate external software or to equipment manufacturers but without the dedicated drivers. FPGA dedicated sound cards and switches is also in development too.
Interesting update from Jord, looks like all pistons are firing there!
I managed to get hold of the busy Jord of Pink Faun in between meetings and moving his office to a new building and had a chat about their current offerings and future plans. Some of what follows is already in dealership newsletters and known to existing Pink Faun customers but some interesting development facts and operating details perhaps not.
The Scion streamer is PF’s mid range streamer. From user feedback, and the high cost of running Euphony, it was decided to build this streamer to run Roon playback software rather than Euphony/Stylus. Unfortunately as everyone knows, as good as Roon is in library management, it falls short in sound quality. So PF decided to build their own OS to host Roon and attempt to improve the sound somewhat for the Scion.
It was decided to develop the software using the Ultra platform and build the new OS with deep integration with Roon. Using Archlinux and the Roon software development kit, it took 16-18 months to build the new PF OS to the level where it matched Euphony’s sound quality but using the superior Roon library interface. Faced with this success and the potential of further improvements, Jord decided to further develop this new PF OS/Roon for use in the Ultra streamer also and went all in on its development.
Presently the PF OS/Roon system is based on
- running Roon in
- a custom PF Archlinux kernel using
- custom network, storage and audio drivers all developed from ground up.
I enquired about the way Roon is updated frequently and often breaks optimisations made to handle it. Jord replied that their OS is specially designed to manage this issue and is resistant to Roon sound variations from Roon updates. The audio engine has been separated from Roon’s library management and is currently being developed using advance linux audio architecture. Any changes in Roon updates that adversely affect the sound are automatically adjusted for through the PF Update Server and rolled out to the PF streamers.
All the above is only possible because PF has control over the entire hardware and software chain. Jord says with this new OS, finally he can realise the full potential of the hardware - the power systems and Ultra clocks can now show itself fully. It’s just like how Apple does with their iPhone hardware and their in house iOS. This tight integration of hardware and software effectively makes Pink Faun streamers the iPhone of music streamers!
All new streamers leaving PF will be using this new PF OS. There are around 50-70 units out on the market already with the new OS. Existing Ultra users under Euphony/Stylus will be reached out to next year with an option to update to the new OS. This takes time and has to be done one at a time manually.
Asking about future work, Jord says that in 2 weeks, there will be a major announcement of OEM work for a major brand and they might also consider offering the PF OS as separate external software or to equipment manufacturers but without the dedicated drivers. FPGA dedicated sound cards and switches is also in development too.
Interesting update from Jord, looks like all pistons are firing there!
As someone who really enjoys the Roon interface, it is good to see more streamer designers finding a way to maximize the sound quality. Competition is always good for the marketplace of ideas and design (even if that "competition" is the designer who lives continuous improvement). What is in the water in the Netherlands (consider: PF, Taiko Audio, Grimm Audio)?
Using a non-PF streamer, I have found it a good practice to reboot the streamer after a Roon update. Don't know why that works or if other streamers also benefit by this practice.
Using a non-PF streamer, I have found it a good practice to reboot the streamer after a Roon update. Don't know why that works or if other streamers also benefit by this practice.
Very impressive news, thanks for sharing
When Scion is the mid range streamer will there be an entry level streamer too?
@Hificlips @matthias
Nope I don’t have a price (forgot to ask actually) but it should be soon out on their website. Along side a page to present their OS.
I don’t believe there will be another lower priced unit for the time being. Moving to their own OS was a long term cost saving move which they could also better serve customers directly. They didn’t really have a choice actually given how Euphony was being managed.
For me the most exciting point raised is the development of their own drivers from scratch allowing their 100% RAM based solution to talk directly to their audio cards. I think this is a game changer. So much so I’m planning to finally upgrade my 2.16x to the Ultra.
Also second most exciting point is for non-PF owners. The software might be available to use for other streamers albeit without the dedicated drivers. This part isn’t confirmed but Jord was pretty enthusiastic during the discussion. I guess it will depends on whether it makes sense to do so and not dilute the PF streamers. And how much a priority it is for them as they are totally swamped with their current work and their move to this new office.
Nope I don’t have a price (forgot to ask actually) but it should be soon out on their website. Along side a page to present their OS.
I don’t believe there will be another lower priced unit for the time being. Moving to their own OS was a long term cost saving move which they could also better serve customers directly. They didn’t really have a choice actually given how Euphony was being managed.
For me the most exciting point raised is the development of their own drivers from scratch allowing their 100% RAM based solution to talk directly to their audio cards. I think this is a game changer. So much so I’m planning to finally upgrade my 2.16x to the Ultra.
Also second most exciting point is for non-PF owners. The software might be available to use for other streamers albeit without the dedicated drivers. This part isn’t confirmed but Jord was pretty enthusiastic during the discussion. I guess it will depends on whether it makes sense to do so and not dilute the PF streamers. And how much a priority it is for them as they are totally swamped with their current work and their move to this new office.
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