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New build based on CORE AUDIO DAIDO Barebone Entry Music server


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#1 PhilG

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Posted 08 September 2019 - 08:59 PM

Hello (from France) to all of you,
 
This is my first post and I wanted to dedicate it to my newly acquired Music server, the entry level at Core Audio, which this Hungarian company calls "DAIDO Barebone Entry".Attached File  IMG_0563.JPG   570.71KB   10 downloadsAttached File  IMG_0561.JPG   711.12KB   5 downloads
It is actually a linear ATX power supply (8 circle full analogue low noise power supply) powered by 2 toroidal transformers (160va and 100va), the whole installed in the popular Streacom FC-10 enclosure. After several more or less successful attempts to make my own ATX power supply, I finally chose this solution which suits my  needs with an "all-in-one" concept.  I also  wanted something  different from what can be commonly found on the market in terms of ATX power supply.
 
This solution (and this is not the least of its benefits) allows me to build my own music server and customize it according to my needs. it offers a lot of flexibility when it comes to the choice of architecture (mATX server board with Xeon or gaming board with i7 or i9T…) and devices, accessories (cards, wires… ).
It's pricey, yes, but I think it's worth every penny, especially considering the above observation, as well as the global quality of this cleverly designed PSU, not to mention that it makes it possible to do without the previously required power supplies, especially DC/ATX converters and other pico PSUs. I was able to get rid of a 12v psu for motherboard, another12v for cpu, a pico psu, two dc and power cables, an extra power strip needed to connect all that, etc. I made two exceptions, however (more by curiosity than because of need):  I kept my  Bakoon BPS-02 battery to power the OS SSD and for the FEMTO USB card I kept the Uptone LPS-1 power supply (more precisely the LPS-1 set to 7v followed by two LT3045 based MPAudio power supplies in series (respectively 6v and 5v) for an ultra clean, ultra low noise 5v). But honestly it was more by coquetry and because I can hide these tiny little boxes behind the Streacom case, I could easyly live with the 5v from the Core Audio power supply without feeling any loss in SQ .   
 
I finished the build two weeks ago (see attached pictures). I only made one modification to the rear of the FC-10. The  Streacom box is certainly aesthetically pleasing but it has the drawback of not having any vertical expansion slots (only 2 large horizontal slots, only one of which is actually usable in practice because they are too close together). As a result it requires the use of a riser cable, which I wanted to avoid as it seems to degrade the sound quality a bit. So I cut the back of the FC-10 as well as the back of an old FC-9 (a useless spare case that had uggly wear marks on the cover) and assembled the two parts in order to have 2 usable vertical slots.  Not so easy but nevertheless fully achievable with the help of simple but good tools, good eyesight and... a little patience! The result of this "organ transplantation" (with a high risk of rejection) was a kind of FC-9 XXL (or FC-11?). This allowed me to use two USB cards: one FEMTO JCAT and another (normal, not FEMTO). The latter is currently used to receive data from an external HDD housed in a Lacie case), but I could as well use this second slot for a FEMTO NET card for instance.
 
Now, let's talk a little bit about the SQ:  ( I deliberately kept the best for the end !).
As I said earlier, I only recently finished my build and so I haven't been able to listen to much more than about 40 hours, yet we know that a music server, like most audio devices, requires a break-in time. A power supply such as the one installed in this music server is no exception to the rule, (all the more so since it has no less than 31 capacitors on board). Despite this, I had enough time to quickly glimpse the potential of this PSU. First impressions are very positive.
What immediately caught my attention is that this PSU is totally silent, the illumination of the white LED on the front of the Streacom and the green LEDs of the PSU are the only signs that it has been switched on. There is no noise, no parasitic vibrations, nothing.
It is probably a too soon to analyse the listening in detail. I could use expressions like "soundstage is very wide, 3D, airy, and so on" or "I could hear a lot of musical details previously hidden", the kind of words inevitably used in the reviews. Sure, they would be quite appropriate in this case, but perhaps  not credible enough given the short time spent listening. At this point, and  more importantly, I  would rather say that I really, really like what I hear. I found myself listening to all kinds of music (Jazz, instrumental and vocal, Classical, Folk, French songs...) until late at night with curiosity and a certain greed.  There are albums that I know by heart (or at least I thought I knew) and that I rediscover. It's real delight :)
The Core Audio power supply, whatever its qualities, is of course not the only one responsible for these results, the JCAT FEMTO USB card, the JCAT Reference SATA and JCAT Reference USB cables that I reinstalled are an important part of it. So I would like to take this opportunity  to congratulate and thank Marcin for his work and the quality of the products in the JCAT range.
 
As a last comment, I must point out that I get these listening results with  a rather modest motherboard and CPU. No Supermicro server board or fancy ITX gaming board here, no Xeon or last gen I7 or I9 CPU. I only have an old mATX Asus with Haswell (i7 4770T) CPU.  As you can see, it's not the latest in state-of-the-art technology!
I can hardly imagine the result I could get with one of these new motherboards/CPUs.
It is therefore not that difficult to guess what the next step in upgrading my Music server could be :)
Perhaps it will be another story...  For now I am very happy with my new toy.


  • Marcin_gps, screenmusic, Adrian and 9 others like this

Music server (single PC): ASUS mATX motherboard, Haswell i74770T cpu, Paul Pang 4GB DDR3 RAM,SAMSUNG 850 Pro 128 GB OS SSD, JCAT Femto USB Card ,

JCAT Reference USB Cable, JCAT Reference SATA Cable, in Core Audio DAIDO Barebone Entry,

2 external Toshiba 3 To  2.5" HDD for music files, in Lacie enclosure,  Bakoon BPS-2 (for SSD), Uptone Audio LPS-1 (for USB card) 

Software: Windows Server 2019 (Total Commander as shell), JPLAY 7 Femto (Alternative version, KS/US/1000Hz/Hibernate), Audiophile Optimizer 3.0, Fidelizer Pro 8.4, BubbleUPnP

Audio equipment: Singxer SU-1 (heavily modified), PS Audio Direcstream DAC, PS Audio BHK Signature Preamp , ROGUE AUDIO M-180 (2 Monoblocs) Amp, 

JMR Offrande Supreme mk2 loudspeakers,

Digital cables (other):  Wireworld HDMI silver Starlight 7,  Interconnect and Speaker Cables: Acoustic Zen, miscellaneous DIY cables ..., 

Power cables: Triode Wire Labs, miscellaneous DIY cables 


#2 Marcin_gps

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Posted 10 September 2019 - 07:53 AM

Thanks for the report! Looks like a great setup! 

 

Regards, 

Marcin


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#3 wittao

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Posted 10 September 2019 - 11:41 AM

Dear Phil,

thanks your detailed report and i am very happy that our Core Audio equipment fits well with Marcin’s great products.
Congratulate for your FC10+FC9 cases “rethinking”, please send it to Streacom :)

Thanks,
Viktor
  • Marcin_gps likes this

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#4 PhilG

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Posted 12 September 2019 - 12:44 PM

I could indeed, but I doubt there would be any reaction ;)  (unless perhaps there were hundreds of people asking for the same thing)

Just look for instance at the time it took for a competing manufacturer (whose name I will keep silent here so as not to offend anyone) to correct a problem with a button on the front of one of its boxes..... to finally give it up and purely and simply remove the said button !


Music server (single PC): ASUS mATX motherboard, Haswell i74770T cpu, Paul Pang 4GB DDR3 RAM,SAMSUNG 850 Pro 128 GB OS SSD, JCAT Femto USB Card ,

JCAT Reference USB Cable, JCAT Reference SATA Cable, in Core Audio DAIDO Barebone Entry,

2 external Toshiba 3 To  2.5" HDD for music files, in Lacie enclosure,  Bakoon BPS-2 (for SSD), Uptone Audio LPS-1 (for USB card) 

Software: Windows Server 2019 (Total Commander as shell), JPLAY 7 Femto (Alternative version, KS/US/1000Hz/Hibernate), Audiophile Optimizer 3.0, Fidelizer Pro 8.4, BubbleUPnP

Audio equipment: Singxer SU-1 (heavily modified), PS Audio Direcstream DAC, PS Audio BHK Signature Preamp , ROGUE AUDIO M-180 (2 Monoblocs) Amp, 

JMR Offrande Supreme mk2 loudspeakers,

Digital cables (other):  Wireworld HDMI silver Starlight 7,  Interconnect and Speaker Cables: Acoustic Zen, miscellaneous DIY cables ..., 

Power cables: Triode Wire Labs, miscellaneous DIY cables 


#5 PhilG

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Posted 16 September 2019 - 12:27 PM

The SQ is getting better and better here as each day goes by. The benefits of a burn-in time are not a fiction. I didn't touch my settings other than by unchecking safe mode (following NickD's advice in another thread) under 8 samples (lowest value) in the Singxer SU-1 control panel. This PSU does a really good job.


  • Marcin_gps and wittao like this

Music server (single PC): ASUS mATX motherboard, Haswell i74770T cpu, Paul Pang 4GB DDR3 RAM,SAMSUNG 850 Pro 128 GB OS SSD, JCAT Femto USB Card ,

JCAT Reference USB Cable, JCAT Reference SATA Cable, in Core Audio DAIDO Barebone Entry,

2 external Toshiba 3 To  2.5" HDD for music files, in Lacie enclosure,  Bakoon BPS-2 (for SSD), Uptone Audio LPS-1 (for USB card) 

Software: Windows Server 2019 (Total Commander as shell), JPLAY 7 Femto (Alternative version, KS/US/1000Hz/Hibernate), Audiophile Optimizer 3.0, Fidelizer Pro 8.4, BubbleUPnP

Audio equipment: Singxer SU-1 (heavily modified), PS Audio Direcstream DAC, PS Audio BHK Signature Preamp , ROGUE AUDIO M-180 (2 Monoblocs) Amp, 

JMR Offrande Supreme mk2 loudspeakers,

Digital cables (other):  Wireworld HDMI silver Starlight 7,  Interconnect and Speaker Cables: Acoustic Zen, miscellaneous DIY cables ..., 

Power cables: Triode Wire Labs, miscellaneous DIY cables 


#6 DC

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Posted 16 September 2019 - 03:45 PM

It's a very nice config PhilG, congratulations for this job.

 

Something makes me think that the DAIDO PSU might be better than the HDPLEX 400W ATX Linear Power Supply but it's not the same price...  ;)

 

Note I've seen you're living in Nouvelle Aquitaine in France like me.  ;)

 

 


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#7 PhilG

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Posted 16 September 2019 - 05:33 PM

Thank you compatriot  ;) 
As is often said "the world is a small place" !


Music server (single PC): ASUS mATX motherboard, Haswell i74770T cpu, Paul Pang 4GB DDR3 RAM,SAMSUNG 850 Pro 128 GB OS SSD, JCAT Femto USB Card ,

JCAT Reference USB Cable, JCAT Reference SATA Cable, in Core Audio DAIDO Barebone Entry,

2 external Toshiba 3 To  2.5" HDD for music files, in Lacie enclosure,  Bakoon BPS-2 (for SSD), Uptone Audio LPS-1 (for USB card) 

Software: Windows Server 2019 (Total Commander as shell), JPLAY 7 Femto (Alternative version, KS/US/1000Hz/Hibernate), Audiophile Optimizer 3.0, Fidelizer Pro 8.4, BubbleUPnP

Audio equipment: Singxer SU-1 (heavily modified), PS Audio Direcstream DAC, PS Audio BHK Signature Preamp , ROGUE AUDIO M-180 (2 Monoblocs) Amp, 

JMR Offrande Supreme mk2 loudspeakers,

Digital cables (other):  Wireworld HDMI silver Starlight 7,  Interconnect and Speaker Cables: Acoustic Zen, miscellaneous DIY cables ..., 

Power cables: Triode Wire Labs, miscellaneous DIY cables 


#8 PhilG

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Posted 17 September 2019 - 05:52 PM

Something makes me think that the DAIDO PSU might be better than the HDPLEX 400W ATX Linear Power Supply ...

 

I have not had the opportunity to compare them, so I will not claim that one is better than the other, as I cannot verify it. For a while I had been considering the HDPLEX PSU before giving up as it was not available at the time (it is still not available). These are two very different designs. The CORE AUDIO PSU is integrated in a STREACOM box and skillfully uses the left panel as a heatsink, while the HDPLEX has its own enclosure (with beautiful heatsinks!), which is separate from the Audio PC. As a result, the latter is more readily identifiable as a power supply (there is this somewhat earthly reflex that makes it difficult to imagine a supply other than in the form of an object that physically expresses its power, that is, something rather massive and heavy). I have the feeling, however, that HDPLEX for its ATX LPSU could have gone further. As it stands, it would certainly benefit from replacing its cables for better ones (for example Ghentaudio cables or, even better, the new DC JCAT power cables which must do wonders). The PSU CORE AUDIO is more about discretion and refinement, it has a little less power but it is still more than enough to cover all current needs, unless you absolutely want more in the context of using a super powerful CPU and a power angry software like HQPLAYER for instance. This is not my case, as I only use JPLAY FEMTO (with happyness!)  Another advantage of the PSU CORE AUDIO, at least in my opinion, is the use of shorter cables and more direct connections, which is always better SQ wise.     
 


  • DC and Thuan like this

Music server (single PC): ASUS mATX motherboard, Haswell i74770T cpu, Paul Pang 4GB DDR3 RAM,SAMSUNG 850 Pro 128 GB OS SSD, JCAT Femto USB Card ,

JCAT Reference USB Cable, JCAT Reference SATA Cable, in Core Audio DAIDO Barebone Entry,

2 external Toshiba 3 To  2.5" HDD for music files, in Lacie enclosure,  Bakoon BPS-2 (for SSD), Uptone Audio LPS-1 (for USB card) 

Software: Windows Server 2019 (Total Commander as shell), JPLAY 7 Femto (Alternative version, KS/US/1000Hz/Hibernate), Audiophile Optimizer 3.0, Fidelizer Pro 8.4, BubbleUPnP

Audio equipment: Singxer SU-1 (heavily modified), PS Audio Direcstream DAC, PS Audio BHK Signature Preamp , ROGUE AUDIO M-180 (2 Monoblocs) Amp, 

JMR Offrande Supreme mk2 loudspeakers,

Digital cables (other):  Wireworld HDMI silver Starlight 7,  Interconnect and Speaker Cables: Acoustic Zen, miscellaneous DIY cables ..., 

Power cables: Triode Wire Labs, miscellaneous DIY cables 





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