Thanks - not sure if I would have mounted the machine it would have looked better.....
Is there a way to improve this setup at a reasonable cost?
At least for safety purposes I would shorten the mains cables to the PSU board, tie them together and route them at a distance from the low-voltage secondary-side cables. The transformer mains cables dropped on the enclosure bottom... at least separating them from the enclosure and secondary-side leads with some spiral wrapping band.
The SPDIF output should use proper shielded coax, IMO. I doubt it will have any audible effect but the current layout seems like wasted 100 euro for the WaveIO board.
The whole PC looks to me like expensive audiophile (i.e. highly overpriced, IMO) components slapped together without any care and attention to detail.
The SPDIF output should use proper shielded coax, IMO. I doubt it will have any audible effect but the current layout seems like wasted 100 euro for the WaveIO board.
The whole PC looks to me like expensive audiophile (i.e. highly overpriced, IMO) components slapped together without any care and attention to detail.
Ah sorry, I misread your earlier posts and I thought you were using the WaveIO card to feed direct I2S to a DAC, but now I see that the WaveIO is just for s/pdif output, and you are using a JCAT USB card for USB output to a DAC.
I agree
I agree.
Starting from scratch is actually what I was thinking about when I originally assessed your situation!
Step back and consider the big picture; the original choice of components and configuration were not so bad (arguably) considering the processor/motherboard were modestly powerful, and low power. But now that your current requirements (DSD256 upsampling) demand a more powerful processor/motherboard, the original components - specifically the power supply - are no longer suitable. The components worth keeping are the JCAT USB card, WaveIO, and case.
If/when you upgrade to an i7T processor/motherboard, you then need a higher capacity power supply, and I suggest a reputable brand SFX-sized SMPS.
You can continue to use the linear power supply's 5V output for the JCAT card ... but the bulky size of this power supply might prevent the addition of the SMPS into the case. If so, consider replacing the existing linear power supply with a small (but high quality) 5V linear power supply, as I mentioned earlier.
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We learn every day. In any case with Audiolinux the PC plays great over USB even with the current setup. So will keep it like that for now. I will try however to look at better isolating the existing components.
Many thanks for the feedback. Disappointed though that the power supply is not as good as I thought.
One further thought: the WaveIO is alleged to do a better job of USB to I2S conversion than what you might normally expect the USB interface within a commercial DAC to do.
So you might (?) consider using the WaveIO for this purpose (substituting the DAC's inbuilt USB interface) ... but the big problem is that it's difficult to integrate the WaveIO with a commercial DAC. The WaveIO is more applicable to a DIY DAC project, where the end user has control of electronic component placement and wiring.
al2813, what is your DAC? I don't suppose it has I2S input, like the Topping D90 for example?
So you might (?) consider using the WaveIO for this purpose (substituting the DAC's inbuilt USB interface) ... but the big problem is that it's difficult to integrate the WaveIO with a commercial DAC. The WaveIO is more applicable to a DIY DAC project, where the end user has control of electronic component placement and wiring.
al2813, what is your DAC? I don't suppose it has I2S input, like the Topping D90 for example?
Hi, as I said initially I bought the PC second hand and as is for 675 EUR thinking it was a good price for the parts in there even if I don't use the PC as "finished product" and start tweaking (which was my intention all along). I have to admit the feedback I got here was less encouraging than I thought about the value of the parts, but at this stage I already use the PC as is with my DAC. I only changed the OS (switching from the delivered OEM Vortexbox to Audiolinux in Ramroot - this already delivers a great sound). I was looking to use USB as my current DAC is USB only. The JCAT card in the setup is the older version (1.1 with the 2.0 firmware), and over USB sound is already a noticeable improvement to what I had before
The WaveIO was kind of a bonus since I did not identify it when buying the PC (I did not have a photo of the internals). It actually has a SPDIF output connected to it which I did not test. I do plan to get a new DAC (and Topping D90 is on the shortlist), which will allow me to test to WaveIO soundwise.
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Are you sure I cannot feed an I7T (kept at 25W) with the existing power supply?
Finally and as I built many PCs in my life but not low power, low noise. Can you recommend me actual HW I can plug in as I want to assess the costs? If I understand correctly you say a SMPS will be an improvement over the existing 12V power delivered to the motherboard?
Yes, that could be a very good configuration. Just be aware that the WaveIO's output is raw I2S, but the Topping D90 (like most other DAC's with I2S input) requires an I2S signal at LVDS level. So you would need to add this converter board to the WaveIO -
HDMI I2S LVDS to I2S Input Module HDMI I2S LVDS to I2S Output - Audiophonics
25W seems like a very optimistic figure - surely this is what the processor draws only with a modest CPU load? But you want to upsample to DSD256 - the CPU load will be high, and so will the power draw. In post #14 have a look at Tubelab_com's power figures for an i7-7700T - over 100W at high CPU load. Even if you don't go over the estimated 50W capacity of your linear power supply, it will be operating near its upper limits.
Improvement? Well yes, in terms of capacity and reliability. Don't worry about the SMPS having a higher noise floor than a linear supply - current wisdom is to not worry about power supply noise on the "dirty" computer side of your playback device, but to use some form of isolation device (the JCAT and WaveIO are both examples) then provide a low-noise power supply to the "clean" side of your playback device.
I would just buy an SFX-size power supply from a reputable company, but don't buy the high-power (750W or so) units because these are expensive and unnecessary.
I just looked now, and the smallest power version I see is 300W - SilverStone SX300-B
SilverStone SX300-B INTRODUCTION
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