Building a DIY Music Server

Dutch · January 17, 2020

8 minutes ago, StreamFidelity said:

I am not referring to it, but I answer anyway. 😁

I use the ROG MAXIMUS XI GENE and it fits perfectly into Streacom FC9 Alpha (Black) - Desktop - micro ATX with HDPLEX 800W DC-ATX. I'm excited.

haha thanks. It has a top notch VRM so that’s why I asked. See the tier list attached to this forumpost for example: https://www.overclock.net/forum/27657582-post2156.html#/topics/1638955?page=216&gid=1&pid=1

But of course there’s more than just raw VRM power capabilities.

Nenon · January 17, 2020

2 hours ago, Dutch said:

Did you BTW consider the other Asus heavyweight that would fit this case (though micro-ATX) the ROG Maximum XI Gene? It has two PCIe slots.

I did, but MicroCenter did not carry it. Since this build is not for me, I wanted to stick to the best components I have tested, which was the AsROCK ITX motherboard in this case. I had some problems with the first motherboard I bought. It boots until you connect something to the M.2 slot. As soon as you connect something to the M.2 it would not post. I tried with 3 different Optane cards on both M.2 slots.

This brought me back to the store to exchange it, and I impulsively decided to get the ASUS ROG ITX motherboard as well. I use ASUS ROG for my AMD and like it a lot, so I decided to compare the two. I wanted to keep my motherboard experiments to stuff that I can get locally (and return if I don't like). But now as I like the ASUS ROG ITX that much, I am even more open to test the ASUS ROG Maximum XI Gene. Looks like a really good motherboard.

Nenon · January 17, 2020

2 hours ago, StreamFidelity said:

I am not referring to it, but I answer anyway. 😁

I use the ROG MAXIMUS XI GENE and it fits perfectly into Streacom FC9 Alpha (Black) - Desktop - micro ATX with HDPLEX 800W DC-ATX. I'm excited.

I am very tempted to compare the two ASUS ROG motherboards. Asked the person I am building the computer for. It's his call and it seems like he is open to it. Keep you posted.

In the meantime I need to do more RAM tests, because I really liked what I heard with the ECC RAM last night. I have a PS Audio Power Plant P20 regenerator, and the electricity in my house is not "night and day", but even with the power regenerator sometimes I get better sound in the evening. Not sure how much of what I've heard was related to that. And RAM needs to run for a while, so no easy way to do A/B comparisons. I would need to repeat that test several times over a period of time to be confident which RAM sounds better. But please, let's not turn this discussion into psychoacoustic, snake oil, etc. We've done a really good job to stay on track so far.

Also, thank you for all the comments and feedback. You guys are awesome!

elan120 · January 17, 2020

7 minutes ago, Nenon said:

In the meantime I need to do more RAM tests

I am curious whether ECC RAM that you used on Intel i9900K CPU for testing done earlier, is that CPU dependant or Motherboard dependant. I am also tempted to try the ECC RAMs on my server with a different Motherboard but sibling CPU (i9900KS).

Chopin75 · January 17, 2020

15 minutes ago, elan120 said:

I am curious whether ECC RAM that you used on Intel i9900K CPU for testing done earlier, is that CPU dependant or Motherboard dependant. I am also tempted to try the ECC RAMs on my server with a different Motherboard but sibling CPU (i9900KS).

That is my question too and did u state the Asrock actually runs ECC fine but as Non-ECC mode? And that is regardless of CPU or it only applies to Intel and not AMD?

Nenon · January 17, 2020

The ECC RAM works fine on both Z390 motherboards I have - ASRock and ASUS. It just works as non-ECC RAM. I suspect it would work on many motherboards.

elan120 · January 17, 2020

7 minutes ago, Nenon said:

The ECC RAM works fine on both Z390 motherboards I have - ASRock and ASUS. It just works as non-ECC RAM. I suspect it would work on many motherboards.

Thank you, that is what I am suspecting. I will find some time over the weekend and see if I can get them to work in my server.

Nenon · January 17, 2020

@StreamFidelity I am looking at your build:

Hmm, I wonder if the PinkFaun ultraOCXO clock would fit in this motherboard without removing the big heatsink on the motherboard. See the part in red. It almost looks like it would not fit.

Also, I like the extra space between the JCAT NIC and PinkFaun card in the ITX motherboard. The JCAT generates a lot of heat (probably EMI too) and would be nice to keep it further apart.

I may still order one of those motherboards to try.

dminches · January 18, 2020

Why not use a larger case, like the FC10, with a modified back panel so that you have more space and can use the cards vertically?

LJONESATL · January 18, 2020

4 hours ago, Chopin75 said:

That is my question too and did u state the Asrock actually runs ECC fine but as Non-ECC mode? And that is regardless of CPU or it only applies to Intel and not AMD?

I've got some extra Apacer ECC RAM left over from when we ordered it from Nenon's friend a few months back (4g sticks DDR4). I've been using one of the sticks in an AMD4 based Asus ROG Strix M-ITX system and like the sound very much. I've also got a system with an Intel I9-9900 using the Asus ROG Strix Z390 m_ITX board. Now that others have found the ECC RAM works with that board, I'm going to try an Apacer 4gb stick in that machine as well. I also have a third build that has the Asus ROG Strix Z390 M-ITX board and it's got an Intel I7-8700K processor that could also benefit from the Apacer ECC RAM. Just to re-iterate, I've been going with our findings that with RAM, less can be more, and using just one 4gb DDR4 stick sounds better than using two or more sticks of the same. This has proved more than sufficient memory for playing Euphony loaded into RAMROOT with HQP oversampling even.

RickyV · January 18, 2020

32 minutes ago, Nenon said:

Also, I like the extra space between the JCAT NIC and PinkFaun card in the ITX motherboard. The JCAT generates a lot of heat (probably EMI too) and would be nice to keep it further apart.

I may still order one of those motherboards to try.

Maybe something like this I did with my jcat usb card, for EMI.

LJONESATL · January 18, 2020

19 minutes ago, RickyV said:

Maybe something like this I did with my jcat usb card, for EMI.

Is that copper foil, or a copper sheet that you used for shielding?

Chopin75 · January 18, 2020

5 hours ago, Nenon said:

The ECC RAM works fine on both Z390 motherboards I have - ASRock and ASUS. It just works as non-ECC RAM. I suspect it would work on many motherboards.

Ok, I understand now that ECC RAM can work with Intel MB/CPU as non-ECC, but does it mean that ECC RAM runs as ECC for AMD CPU/MB or that is still running as Non-RAM. It was not too clear from previous posts. As far as I know, the Z...MB (e.g Z390) are for intel and the X...MB (such as my x370) are for AMD CPU.

Nenon · January 18, 2020

5 hours ago, dminches said:

Why not use a larger case, like the FC10, with a modified back panel so that you have more space and can use the cards vertically?

Have you seen the HDPlex H5 2nd Gen? No need to do the FC9/FC10 mod.

I considered it for this build but decided to use Streacom FC9 instead.

Nenon · January 18, 2020

5 hours ago, LJONESATL said:

Now that others have found the ECC RAM works with that board, I'm going to try an Apacer 4gb stick in that machine as well.

Let me know what you think. I did a second listening test today and prefer the ECC RAM.

Nenon · January 18, 2020

On 1/15/2020 at 4:04 PM, dminches said:

Nenon, we need the updated pictures!

Here they are...

Next: Apply some finishing touches.

RickyV · January 18, 2020

9 hours ago, LJONESATL said:

Is that copper foil, or a copper sheet that you used for shielding?

It is 0.25 mm thick copper sheet.

StreamFidelity · January 18, 2020

13 hours ago, Nenon said:

See the part in red. It almost looks like it would not fit.

Also, I like the extra space between the JCAT NIC and PinkFaun card in the ITX motherboard. The JCAT generates a lot of heat (probably EMI too) and would be nice to keep it further apart.

I think it fits. I see the problem in the short distance between JCAT NET and PinkFaun USB. Mutual influences or heat development in the sensitive watch would not be good.

dminches · January 18, 2020

7 hours ago, Nenon said:

Have you seen the HDPlex H5 2nd Gen? No need to do the FC9/FC10 mod.

I considered it for this build but decided to use Streacom FC9 instead.

My only issue with the HDPlex case is that the clearance for the CPU pipes could be an issue. What I like about the Streacom cases is the ability to use a CPU cooling riser which not only gives you more flexibility in selecting a motherboard but I also think it cools better since there is a lot more surface area.

ASRMichael · January 18, 2020

Nenon

Are you able to share where you placed your EMI absorbing material? I have SOTM sheet ready to go in my case, but unsure where to place it?

auricgoldfinger · January 18, 2020

3 hours ago, StreamFidelity said:

I think it fits. I see the problem in the short distance between JCAT NET and PinkFaun USB. Mutual influences or heat development in the sensitive watch would not be good.

Do you think the distance between the JCAT NET and Pink Faun USB cards would closer than the JCAT NET and USB cards in your build?

Nenon · January 18, 2020

I decided to keep the ASUS Z390-I ROG Strix mini ITX motherboard. The ASUS ROG Maximus XI GENE looks really good, but I have some concerns about using it in this build.

First, looking closer under different angles, I don’t think the ultraOCXO would fit. This is where the OCXO would end up approximately. It. The metal heatsink would be on the way.

I was thinking to take the PinkFaun card to my local MicroCenter store and ask them to check if it would fit in the ASUS ROG Maximus XI Hero (since they don't carry the GENE), but I don't think it's worth the effort. It seems quite obvious that it would not fit.

Second, I am worried how close the JCAT NIC and PinkFaun USB would be to each other. Both of these cards are very important. @RickyV had an interesting shielded solution, but it's a moot point if the PinkFaun card does not fit.

And third, the smaller motherboard has less components (potentially less EMI), shorter PCB traces, etc. There is plenty of space for the regulators now. The overall layout, heat management, and EMI management matters. Also, the PinkFaun is connected to a 'premium' and shielded PCIe slot now. It would have to be connected to a regular / unshielded slot on the Maximus (not sure if that matters at all but it's another variable to consider). Yes, the impressive VRM on the Maximus might be more important than any of the factors I have listed, but since the PinkFaun card would not fit, it is not even an option to consider anymore. Otherwise, I was tempted to try it and compare.

This music server sounds so good the way it is! I don't think any more changes are necessary. It is time for the new owner to start enjoying it. This is the best USB source I have heard, and it's still breaking in and opening up... I can hear it. I have not heard many, but I've played around with high-end digital sources for a while. Can't compare it with mine, because mine was I2S based. At this level of quality, the interaction with the DAC is much more noticeable than the small differences of the servers.

Also, I decided to keep the ECC RAM. That means I would have 2 x Apacer Non-ECC 4GB modules available. If anyone needs them, ping me on PM.

Nenon · January 18, 2020

Final touches.

The EMI sheet I used is from 3M (part #AB5100SHF)

https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/?qs=gMfM3zrbS4r0qTugzC4tdw%3D%3D

You have to be careful with that stuff. If you put too much it has a negative impact. Not a lot to treat on this motherboard. I put a piece on the big heatsink and a little piece on the OCXO clock. That should be more than enough. I would keep it at that. There is no right or wrong way to do this. Sometimes I add a small piece to the memory, but that can easily fall down. Also, I typically add some very tiny pieces on some of the chips on the motherboard, USB and Ethernet ports, but I don't feel the need for that with this motherboard.

I treated all connectors with the Walker Audio silver paste. That includes the ATX connector, that EPS connector, and all the external GX16 connectors. I used Walker Audio Quantum Silver Contact Treatment with Nanocrystal Technology paste. Here is a link.

Not sure how visible that is on the pictures.

I also applied this damping material on the covers.

It's a car sound dampening mat from a company called Noico Solutions. The model is ESN10.

And the last thing - adding a SR Orange fuse. That's my favorite fuse at the moment.

I went back to the BIOS and did a few other small tweaks. The very last thing I am tweaking now is the process affinities / CPU isolation in Euphony.

And that concludes this DIY music server build. I hope you enjoyed the read.

auricgoldfinger · January 18, 2020

This was a phenomenal thread. Thank you so much!

auricgoldfinger · January 18, 2020

24 minutes ago, Nenon said:

And the last thing - adding a SR Orange fuse. That's my favorite fuse at the moment.

Dumb question...where does the fuse go in your build?

Building a DIY Music Server

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