166 replies to this topic

[Carlosoptico]

Hello friends :
I wanted to talk about a project made with a motherboard and a
processor that has been recommended several times in this forum and
that has kept me busy in recent months: The Asus P10S WS board and the
Xeon E 1235L V5 processor.
I looked in the web and had no problem locating the Asus board, but
the Xeon processor was very difficult to find and when I found one in
Aliexpress for € 78.5, I decided to buy it, without knowing what would
come and in what state it would come. It arrived after three weeks and
that encouraged me to continue with the project.
Then came the Asus board, the Apacer ECC RAM, extended temperature
range, 8 GB in two drives and HDPLEX H5 chassis with the HDPLEX200 and
HDPLEX 400 DC-ATX Hifi converter, which was what was available at that
time.
With everything already at home I got "JPLAY fever" and I ordered a
JCAT USB FEMTO card and a JCAT NET FEMTO. This led me to situations of
doubt with my more stingy self, whether I had overspent the budget,
whether it was worth it, if it would end up working, since it was the
first time I was assembling a PC by myself. I encouraged myself, every
time I put the Lenovo laptop back on with JPlay FEMTO 7.d and I did
some improvements like turning off the anti-virus, deactivating
unnecessary programs and even disabling processes in the BIOS thanks
to the advice in this forum and hearing the results.
Nothing better to put an end to the doubts, than to finally start
assembling my first PC. With the help of the HDPLEX manual and looking
very carefully at the photos, the work was easier than I thought,
although when I had to connect the 24-pin ATX cables between the
motherboard and the HDPLEX400 DC-ATX converter in the place destined
for it, they did not reach, by little, but they did not get to make
contact. I moved the HDPLEX 400 to the left side, but I had to make
two new holes to hold it firmly to the base of the PC. I did not have
any more problems until I put the FEMTO USB card, it was a little
displaced and the USB inputs rubbing the chassis, a thick terminal of
a USB cable could not enter to the end, so I had to slightly deform
the parts that did not fit well in the chassis and the metal plate
that supported the card. In the end everything is perfect. I placed
the NET FEMTO card but when I went to connect it with the PCIE
extender, it had a torsion that I did not like. I decided to remove
the NET card for the time being, I would put it later in another
location and start with the LAN ports of the motherboard. To see if
that worked and I ordered an Intel M.2 SSD 700 series disk for the 256
GB operating system for € 70.To place the start-up LED, I removed the
upper coaxial connector that is next to the lateral USB connectors on
the HDPLEX chassis, which I was not going to connect and I put it in
the space that was left. Everything was done, the only thing left was
to put Windows 10 Pro, JPlay, the Devialet driver and put Fidelizer
8.3 Free.
And it worked . The sound was more elegant, more layers, more defined
and with better timbre than with the Lenovo. It was an improvement,
but after a while I wanted more. I ordered 1 x SSD Apacer Industrial
with memory type SLC and extended temperature range of 64GB, very
expensive, and I got two units. I did not make a claim for this. I
also ordered 8GB of RAM Apacer, to complete the four spaces intended
for RAM after reading an article in the forum, and yes, it sounds
better with the four spaces occupied.
I ordered a JCAT SATA Reference cable and a JCAT SATA HD cable, but
the delivery was delayed due to a mistake and as compensation I
received a prize from Marcin, who sent two Reference SATA.
I re-assembled everything, with the new Apacer SSD disks, one for S.O.
and the other as reference music library and SATA cables. I also put
the NET FEMTO card, but in another place, that although it is very
close to the passive radiator of the CPU, it does not make contact,
after deforming the part that holds the card. I had to remove the
safety on the side that connects with the JCAT NET FEMTO card of the
PCIe extender cable because it leaned on the passive radiator and
forced the position. Now the sound was quieter, more real than with
the Intel M.2 with the S.O. I have put anti-resonant treatment behind
the front of the chassis and under the electrical wiring line and in
the middle of the top cover where I have also put 3M EMI absorber
(5100) which I have also used for the RAM, the JCAT cards fastened
with cable ties and the electric cables and the HDPLEX DC-ATX
converter, USB ports of the motherboard and some free sides of the
chassis, using 3 sheets for everything.
I earth wired the HDPLEX chassis and placed 1 SSD M.2 Intel 700
Series disk of 1TB instead of the Intel SSD of 256GB , to test the
difference with the Apacher SSD of 64GB with the reference library and
I removed all switching source.
I also put a two-meter Oyaide EE / F-S26 mains cable between the
Victron 5000 Va solar converter's electrical box outlet and the wall
socket of the music room, replacing a normal cable. Later I changed
the cable from the wall socket to the 8 schukos power strip with the
same Oyaide EE / F-26 cable of 2 meters in length with Furutech
rhodium F1-E11-N1 and F1-11 connectors and the old Yarbo 8000 for the
Devialet with two Oyaide EE / F-26 with Furutech rhodium connectors of
1.5 meters. Now the TV monitor and the UltracapLPS 1.2 power supply of
the Iso Regen are powered by a 12-volt DC line from the batteries of a
solar system instead of the switch-mode power supplies they brought.
The motherboard, the USB FEMTO card, the SSD Apacer disks and a Hub
with the wireless mouse and keyboard and three 4 TB hard disks (which
I disconnect when not in use) are powered by the HDPLEX 200 with a
Vovox Texture 1 meter cable and the NET FEMTO card for a PSU
Audiophonics 25 with Furutech cable and Furutech rhodium connectors.
Each of these improvements were done one at a time, giving it time to
stabilize and to check whether they were improvements or were a
placebo. This time, after a week of burning the last addition, the
sound is much better, more real. There's a long way to go, put Windows
Server 2019 + A.O. 3 that will be the next improvement. Now I feel
proud and happy of this challenge that has been for me to get to know
JPLAY, the JCAT products, the learning project of making a SINGLE PC
and improving it, the comments from the forum, from Marcin, from
ThuanB and of course from Felipe Rolim and others. Now its time to
listen to the music and enjoy, until the "fever" returns. I have to
say that everything sounded perfect ... until I broke the UltracapLPS
1.0 and the IsoRegen stopped working between the PC and the Devialet.
I took 1 day to order a new one. I could not live without it, so I
want to thank Alex Crespi for the excellent product he has created and
Larry from HDPLEX for the good service given when necessary. The next
thing I would like to try is the dual PC, first with the Lenovo laptop
+ SINGLEPC and later, who knows, a new PCAudio, the same one but with
the HDPLEX 400.

[Carlosoptico]

Hello friends :
The rest of the equipment is made up most of all, of demonstration
parts that I have been buying and with warranty but at a price between
45% and 57% of their store price.
2 x Devialet Expert 200 config. as Devialet 400, SAM AF Cardeas Plus at 100%
1 x 0.50 meters WireWorld Silver Starlight between Devialet
2 x 2.50 meters Kimber Kable Select 3033
1 x 0.75 meters USB Totaldac
Uptone Iso Regen + UltracapLPS 1.2
Audio Physic Cardeas Plus with Blue Horizon Spike Shoes
Handcraft Audio Rack cabinet, audiophonics aluminum parts and steel
balls to eliminate vibration for electronics and PSU, 3 3 D Vicoustic
Multifuser Wood 36 diffusers, 2 wood diffusers 2D, 8 Vicoustic
Wavewood Diffuser Prem. White diffusers, 6 Vicoustic Cinema Round
Prem. Absorbers on the front wall and sides.
Despite some "heresies" for the most "radical" that I have committed,
such as not going directly to Windows Server 2019 and A.O. 3.0, CF
adapter for S.O. , HDPLEX 400, RAM disk or keep the USB from the
motherboard, although not all of its LAN ports, I still have three
SATA ports enabled for the moment, I tried to compensate it with
quality parts and the result is impressive. I am interested in trying
the radio stations through the JPlay FEMTO and even Tidal or Qobuz.
There is a very interesting learning process ahead.
Today I received the USB + LAN ground conditioner, after two hours
without listening and at low volume, I put the reference tracks that I
normally use and the leap in SQ is really important. It has removed a
thick invisible curtain of nervousness, to bring the music closer to
reality and you forget that what you hear is a recording. With well
recorded live files, it seems that one is in the concert hall. Before
the music sounded good, now with the conditioner, much better.
Cheers. Carlos

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[Carlosoptico]

Today I have removed the Intel M.2 SSD and the sound has improved again. Now I have two SATA ports, one for the OS and the other for the music library.

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[Jogar]

Hi Carlos,

I enjoyed reading your posts and the useful information provided. I was interested in the fact that you've been able to use an M-key M2 NVMe SSD because I'm thinking about using industrial Apacer or Swissbit M2 SATA SLC SSD in my system but there aren't many reports about this. Was there a reason that you did not try industrial M2 SATA SLC SSD (B&M-key which I believe is compatible with your Asus)? With thanks and regards.

[Thuan]

Like Jogar and many others, I enjoyed reading your post too. In addition, I like the way you approach the project: start with top quality components from get-go, slowly and steadily proceeding with software, starting from W10 and eventually to WS2019. I envy the choices of the components you make. Believe me, you singlePC is going to perform like a beast in terms of SQ. Your choice of system components is my dream.

I'm sure it's already sounding beyond good now and can only imagine how it will be after WS2019 and AO3 are installed. Out of my curiosity, what the SQ would be if and when you make a dualPC setup consisting of your SOTA audioPC and Lenovo laptop controlPC? Here's my thought: instead of going "crippled" dualPC (due to the SQ delta between SOTA singlePC and laptop Lenovo), I'd install WS2019 and AO3 on singlePC (on a different SSD if you wish to compare or backup just in case). I bet the SQ will leap forward positively and substantially, unlike a probable step back in SQ if "crippled" dualPC is in place. But don't take my words, please try both yourself and let us know.

[Marcin_gps]

Excellent build - thanks for sharing!

[Carlosoptico]

thanks jogar.
the Asus P10S WS motherboard supports SSD M.2 , M-key. In mouser.com only found SSD m.2 memory type SLC, the type B - M-key, which was not compatible. I think it for SO , is better an SSD memory type SLC, but the difference between the Apacer and Intel m.2 still would be food outside. I found that the difference of SQ was big in favor of the SSD Apacer wired SATA jcat reference with HDPLEX 200. For the library of music, the main difference would also food outside, apart from the memory type used. My main problem is that my music library is 10 TB and continues to rise.Carlos

[Carlosoptico]

Thanks ThuanB
In initially had the idea of dualpc with my laptop Lenovo fan, but after reading an article yours in December on how to get the best SQ , made me decide singlepc very dedicated.Carlos

[Nobudy]

can highly recommend these two cables to your HD Plex 400DC ATX

https://www.ghentaud...rt/dc-pc01.html

• DC-PC01 Gotham ATX-24P Cable
• DC-PC02 Gotham ATX 8P(EPS) Cable

makes a big difference to the sound

[Marcin_gps]

JCAT OCC DC cables will be available soon. The 8PIN CPU cable makes the bigggest difference. 

[Nobudy]

price

[blkjack]

 Thanks for the link on the gotham cables die hard. They sure did smooth it out.

[Carlosoptico]

Hello again .
I have compared these last weeks the difference in SQ between the SATA Apacer SSD SLC extended temperature range and the external mechanical hard drives and pendrive through an Orico hub with power through the 12 volt output of the HDPLEX 200. For the test to be as objective as possible, auditions were made by connecting only the disc under test and disconnecting all others. Disconnecting the Apacer disk with the reference library with the SATA Reference cable from JPLAYFEMTO and connecting either a pendrive or external mechanical hard disk through the Orico hub with the 12 volt power of the HDPLEX has meant a new leap in SQ. It seems that, as Felipe Rolim said, the SATA connection is very noisy, more than the USB, and better to have only one SATA operative than two or three on the motherboard. On the other hand remember that I have the USB-LAN ground conditioner JPLAY and an Ifi iSilencer 3.0 filter between the mechanical hard disk and the Orico hub and it is possible to remove the generated noise.
So, now, I only have 1 SATA operating connected with a JPLAY Reference cable to the SATA SSD disk SLC Apacer of 64 GB with Windows 10 Pro, JPlay via KS / Devialet Asio, 0.5 ms, 700 Hz, hibernate ON, maximum that allows me the Devialet and Fidelizer Free, with the Bubble application on the mobile phone. The SQ is impressive, more dynamic, more transparent and above all more low level micro-information that makes everything more real, both from a pendrive and from an external HDD. The sound image produced by the Audio Physics Cardeas Plus is very holographic, profound and faithful to the timbres of instruments and voices, that is, very real.
I consider changing the HDPLEX DC cables that give the 5 Volt power to the JPLAYFEMTO USB card and the Apacer internal hard disk with the SO, with the Genthaudio version of Neotech UP cable OCC 7N cooper 16 AWG mono filament and also when come out, JPLAY ATX cables.
While external SSDs are so expensive I will continue with this configuration, which although sounds good, is slower, especially when you load 4 TB per HDD when starting Bubble. I'm hoping to make a change with the Intel M.2 SSDs, which I will no longer use, for an external SSD to add to the comparison.
For some, who asked, how much does this dedicated SINGLEPC cost:
Chassis HDPLEX H5 2GEN + HDPLEX 200 + 400 DC-ATX converter ..... € 705.00
Asus P10S WS ............................................... .............................................. € 260.00
Intel Xeon E3 1235L v5 ............................................. .......... ,,,, ..................... € 78.00
RAM Apacer industrial DDR4 ECC UDIMM 4 x 4 GB ............................... 530,00 €
SSD SLC Apacer Industrial SATA 64 GB Temp. Extended ........................ € 530.00
SATA Reference Cable JPLAY .............................................. ..................... € 350.00
USB card JPLAYFEMTO ............................................... .......................... € 435.00
NET JPLAYFEMTO card ............................................... ........................... € 435.00
3M EMI Absorver 5100. .................................. € 180.00
USB-LAN ground conditioner JPLAY .............................. € 500.00
PSU Low noise audiophonics P-25. ................................................. 85 , € 00
Hub Orico ....: ........................................... .................................................. ... € 27.00
Total € 4,115 in Spain in this configuration. It would lack OS, audiophilas applications, power and USB cables, noise filters, regenerators, etc ...
My goal was to overcome the Innuos Zenith mkIII, an objective that I have far exceeded, and although I have not listened to his older brother of two chassis, the Statement, I hope to do so soon.

[Carlosoptico]

I leave you two photos of Innuos The Statement

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[Carlosoptico]

In the photographs you can see two SATA cables, one for the SSD and another for the CD rippear drive, the dedicated USB card with EMI protection in the OCXO clock and the box above the motherboard must be the dedicated NET card, which also He wears his OCXO watch, in addition to the power source. Quite similar to my SINGLEPC.

[Marcin_gps]

In my opinion, the external drive in a hub sounded better only because your PC does not use pure linear PSU. I am quite sure that with a full ATX linear PSU & OCC DC power cable for the SATA drives as seen below, the result would be different. 

 

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[Carlosoptico]

Does it mean to use, for example, an HDPLEX400 instead of the HDPLEX200 + DC-ATX converter and the new JPLAY ATX cables?

[Marcin_gps]

Does it mean to use, for example, an HDPLEX400 instead of the HDPLEX200 + DC-ATX converter and the new JPLAY ATX cables?

Yes, exactly. 

[Carlosoptico]

Hi, Marcin. Is there a difference in the quality of the power produced by the HDPLEX400 due to its ATX output and the one produced by the HDPLEX DC-ATX 400 Hifi converter, regardless of the power cables and the ATX cables?

[Marcin_gps]

Hi, Marcin. Is there a difference in the quality of the power produced by the HDPLEX400 due to its ATX output and the one produced by the HDPLEX DC-ATX 400 Hifi converter, regardless of the power cables and the ATX cables?

Yes, there is a big difference in quality with 400W ATX LPS.