Okay, a completely new discovery for me - Music Server - Questions...

Tom, I think you mis-took my statement about usb. I'll elaborate offline

I hardwired a Shunyata Omega XC to a small space heater. It reduced the fan noise by 10dB!!!

@treitz3 I want to chime back in, but this time constructively and politely.

Tom, have you considered ditching ethernet all together? If you're trying to avoid EMF, latency, timing issues, and even speed constraints, you should heavily consider fiber.

Fiber doesn't need shielding or anything, EMF won't affect the signal, it doesn't carry any noise at all, it travels at the speed of light for no latency, and the timing is always consistent.

Seeming as you're chasing the purest signal, it wouldn't really get much better than this. You might need a fiber-ethernet converter at each end of the line but high end ones are shielded very well and won't introduce nearly as many anomalies as if you used a traditional ethernet setup.

Something to consider, remember fiber is light pulses and so avoiding any noise also means nearly zero error correction is done, freeing up processing for better timings and latency.

Even just local communication is heavily improved. When I was at my old private school we switched to fiber between devices and transfers between the workstations went from about 500 megabits per second to 10 gigabit per second (we had 10 gig networking but the cables were not up for the task) and the 500 megabit was average, sometimes it spiked up or dipped down but the fiber was steady the entire time.

treitz3 wrote: »

Fiber isn't offered in my area *yet*. Also, the rigs that use optical connections (at least those that I have heard to date), didn't exactly sound that good.

In other words, I'm not the biggest fan of optical. Now with that said, I am always open to the idea and maybe one day I'll give it a whirl. Thanks.

Tom

Sorry I worded poorly, I'm talking about from your router to your devices.

You can buy 50 meters of full duplex fiber optic cabling for $40 Canadian, two full duplex SFP converters for $60 Canadian, and then two media converters for $80 Canadian. (SFP and Media by TP-Link) With 1 gigabit speeds.

You could convert your router's ethernet into fiber, run it to your device, and then convert it back and have an extremely short (like 1 foot) run of your audiophile ethernet cable of choice, maybe even throw in your filters to see how it sounds.

The end result would be minimal transmission noise compared to just running a long ethernet cable. You'd also reap the benefits of plastic fiber cabling being super cheap and not needing to worry about material differences like plastic vs glass!

Personally I'm looking into it for my house (replacing wall ethernet with wall fiber, it's cheaper to do fiber lol) and I highly recommend it.

ChrisD06 wrote: »

Tom, have you considered ditching ethernet all together? If you're trying to avoid EMF, latency, timing issues, and even speed constraints, you should heavily consider fiber.

Fiber doesn't need shielding or anything, EMF won't affect the signal, it doesn't carry any noise at all, it travels at the speed of light for no latency, and the timing is always consistent.

Haven't you ever heard of dirty light? Optical is terrible filthy dirty. No true audiophile uses optical.

I think Tom's network setup is sufficient.
Now, is he going to build a server or not? Or at least try playing some files on a USB?

billbillw wrote: »

So are we talking about setting up a server or reducing the noise at the end of the line before the streamer?

Regarding FLAC vs WAV, there is no loss in converting. You can go from one back to the other and always have the same audio file, which can be verified using complex analysis tools.

It may be true that some under powered streamers play back a WAV file better because their processor has more breathing room, but my Daphile box has plenty of CPU overhead. I've never been able to hear a difference and my system is pretty resolving.

FLAC is much better at holding song/album Metadata as well.

Either way, you can't make a wrong decision because something like Fubar2000 could convert from one to the other in seconds.

I can tell you, the stuff coming from Qobuz is not stored in WAV format.

Accurate information billbillw. Unfortunately, it only takes one pure subjectivist opinion for it to be completely dismissed.

It seems many don’t do any research to understand why FLAC and ALAC files are indeed lossless, yet still able to save hard drive space, while including the metadata benefits you mention.

“Compression” of FLAC and ALAC files, doesn't mean the same thing as compression of lossy files such as mp3 and AAC.

Once understood, one realizes that all the 1s and 0s are fully present and heard during playback of a FLAC file just as they are with a WAV file.

treitz3 wrote: »

Okay, so I have a couple of things on order. I am going to start out with this, based upon some other conversations and research -

AQ Jitterbug FMJ > RAL USB (power separated from signal) > DAC

Using a UPnP (already installed) to operate the Lumin UX1, via the Linn app and go over Wi-fi, just as I do when streaming. (In theory, at least from what I have read....this is so damned confusing)

Currently also looking at a Samsung 2TB SSD that will be hooked straight up to either the laptop or the Lumin. This should give me a little bit of flexibility and options moving forward. I was able to locate my thumb drive but it is an older one and I have no idea whether or not it is compatible.

Thanks for the advice and suggestions so far. This learning curve is steeper than I thought. So many variables....but I am slowly getting there. I think I just need to dive in and find out things for myself. If I hit a roadblock or stumble along the way, I'll be the first one to come back here and ask the next question.

Tom

Possibly just me, but I think your money would have been better spent on a server than that RAL cable. The whole idea of using USB was just as a test, not as a final solution. But hey, my opinions often get shunned here.

That's cool. Which portable drive did you decide on? I would have advised one of the Pioneer or Plextor models mounted inside a Nexstar DX. LG drives have gone down in quality of late and Samsung seems to have gotten out of the game. Most of the other brands are rebranded from one of those I mentioned.

Just keep in mind, that SSD should be a copy of a more secure storage location. If you spend any significant amount of time ripping files, you don't want to loose everything. SSDs are great, but they can also die with very little warning. They don't normally, but it does happen.

I was asking about which portable/external CD drive ordered, not about the SSD.

I hate to say it, but you are probably wasting time trying to get the Marantz to sound better. Ripping the CDs and playing them through the Lumin is much easier and probably sounds better. The CD drive in the Marantz will give mechanical noise and possibly some amount of jitter that would not be in the ripped digital file. It also doesn't take any more real-estate, it will save you from handling the discs and it offers a richer playback experience (with song/band info etc.)

treitz3 wrote: »

Ah, my bad. Just some cheap CD drive.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09BC44T8K/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

Tom

NOOOOOOOO! That's the cornerstone of what you are trying to do. With all the attention you give to every other aspect, you don't want to use some no-name crap like that. Trust me.
You want this:
https://www.amazon.com/Vantec-NST-536S3-BK-NexStar-External-Enclosure/dp/B01MRUN0HQ/?th=1

and then a decent drive to fit in it. Like this:
https://www.amazon.com/Pioneer-BDR-212V-Blue-ray-Internal-enhanced/dp/B08R89FN61?th=1
or
https://www.amazon.com/PioData-Internal-Optical-Drives-DVR-S21DBK/dp/B07355C9DP?th=1
or...

I have a Samsung drive that I'm not using, and likely will never use again that I could send you. I have three bluray reader/burners so the Samsung (just does DVD/CD) will not really find a need anymore.
(EDIT: You would still need the Vantec external drive case above, since my Samsung drive is bare)

NOTE: I edited my drive recommendations a couple times. Pioneer is the gold standard, but they have sold off their older technology (read not the newest UHD BluRay drives) and it is rebranded as PioData. If you never plan to read or burn a BluRay, then the less expensive PioData S21 CD/DVD drive is an excellent choice.

pitdogg2 wrote: »

I take it Sony and Philips no longer make good CD/DVD/BR drives?

They both exited the market, as did Samsung. Vinpower bought up the lines from several of them including Pioneer, who only focuses on higher end BluRay drives now. At this point, I'm pretty sure there are only LG and the various Vinpower models, not including the bizarre Chinese branded ones.

billbillw wrote: »

pitdogg2 wrote: »

I take it Sony and Philips no longer make good CD/DVD/BR drives?

They both exited the market, as did Samsung. Vinpower bought up the lines from several of them including Pioneer, who only focuses on higher end BluRay drives now. At this point, I'm pretty sure there are only LG and the various Vinpower models, not including the bizarre Chinese branded ones.

I don't think Vinpower make drives either. They are all old Lite-On designs, at least 10-15 years old. I've had drives by Pioneer, Asus, Piodata, Lite-On, Plextor, etc. They are all using this same design, Look at the top of the units.

https://www.newegg.com/p/pl?d=liteon+dvd+drive

https://www.newegg.com/p/pl?N=8000 100006646&d=dvd+burner

Some also rebrand LG as well, I have had Asus drives that were rebranded LG. Those are junk.

I think Lite-On and LG designs are all that's left, and they will disappear eventually too, no demand. So get a couple spare Lite-On's (whatever brand is on it) while you can. Just look at the top. I like the Asus drives.