It's been a bit of a journey, and like all journeys, the longer they are the more they cost! My computer audio journey started because there was all this music(files) available on the net and I could check out a lot of new music cheaply. First I got a soundcard for my desktop, then I plugged an amp in and attached some reasonable speakers. Then I got a cheap DAC and then a more expensive one. Then I got an EEEPC with a 4gb SSHD, attached an external hdd and attached that to the usb port of my cd player and computer audio had finally made it to my main system. Still sounded crap though!

So then I bought an atom based signage computer - very industrial but finally there was something almost worth listening to. I got an HDPlex PSU and it went up another cog. Then an SSD. I thought a NUC would be another step up but wasn't. Then I got a unit on SNA built by someone who knew what he was doing - atom based mobo, single sided ram, sotm PCI usb card. I put the OS on a CF card and we were cooking. Still a bit of a gap between that and a cd, but more than listenable. I went from Vortexbox to Daphile to W7 with fideliser back to Vortexbox and on to Snake-oil. Gotta love that name.

HDPlex went and a Geiseller came, and a Regen and then a JS-2 PSU. The Regen was unplugged and that is where I am now. 

The sotm sms-200 server has been getting a lot of good comments and reviews and it's not that expensive. But now there is an sms-200 ultra. Well that just has to be something, doesn't it? I mean - ULTRA. And not only that - there's a modded version where they isolate all the ethernet noise. Woohoo! But of course it's no longer inexpensive. But this guy who has gone a very similar route to me, except he jumped onto the sms-200 a while ago, has just got the ultra and reckons that this is IT! The bees knees. AS good, or even a teensy bit "better" than playing a cd. Well you have to like that, so I've jumped on too. 

It will probably take a week to arrive from Aus.







free image upload direct link

Those sotm servers seem popular, for a reason.

this has ended up becoming quite a saga. most of the reason for buying this was the absolutely glowing feedback on SNA and CA. People who had travelled a similar route to me were full of praise. my computer setup up is atom based mobo, with the sotm PCI(not e) usb card that has been further modified with better caps, usb port regulators and power connection. os was daphile and then was snakeoil, and was on an 8gb c-fast card with files on 2tb samsung evo ssd. the ssd had its own 5v psu, and the usb card and mobo had seperate 12v psu's. i have a JS-2 and a gieseler triple, so even the modem was being powered by an LPS. i have a regen which i use sometimes and not others.  i don't think it is better, just a little different. that all fed my AMR CD-77 through a usb slot.the SQ was pretty good, 

another plus for me was that this would be plug and go. it was a package and was made to work straight out of the box. cue the smiley emoticon!

2wks or so ago the package arrived directly from korea although i purchased it through the aussie distributor. i unpacked it and went to connect the ethernet switch to the sms-200 via the SMB connector, which allows a direct connection between the switch and the unit bypassing ethernet cables and ports. the connector port was on the switch but not the unit. i contacted the dealer who said to send the unit to him and sotm would send me another from korea.

just before the 2nd unit was to arrive i thought i would plug the switch in so it would be warm and a little burned in. i had 2 empty slots on the gieseler, a 5v and a 12v. i must have mistakenly plugged it into the 12v and so nothing happened and no lights went on. woops! a 6v regulator blew. not sure what had happened i tried it with the supplied PS. still nothing. bugger.

the replacement unit arrives and of course the switch doesn't work, so i try with an ethernet cable straight to the unit and there was a connection at least. but no noise, no access to my files on my windows pc. i couldn't get squeezelite or MPD to find my music folder or my dac. i contacted the dist. in oz who had a few suggestions but none solved either issue, so he passed me on to sotm. he was very helpful, and so were sotm. fantastic actually. i downloaded teamviewer and they trundled through my macbook pro and their unit and couldn't find the problem. they spent over an hour. they gave me 1 or 2 things to try on the pc and left  for the night.

the next afternoon i d/led teamviewer on to the pc and they had a go from that end. tried many things and finally solved the issue with the files. it was in my "My Music" folder but their OS doesn't recognise a space so i was calling it "MyMusic" which it couldn't recognise because there was no such folder! the tech solved the problem by changing the name of the folder within windows to remove the space, and voila! it was seen. there was music, but still no dac. we broke to eat - me, my dinner and them, lunch.

change of usb cables had no effect. they were stumped and really wanted to put the blame on my dac. i plugged my MBPro directly into the AMR and sound came out so that wasn't the problem. then they suggested plugging the cable into my regen only and that didn't show either so it wasn't an issue with my dac. so then we tried using 1 of the 2 ordinary usb ports on the unit instead of the "special" audio one. woohoo, the dac could be seen. they hadn't had that happen before. i was asked to open the unit and check the jumpers behind the audio usb port which i did and took a photo and sent it to them. this all took over 3 hrs with never a complaint from them, only a desire to help and solve the problems i was having.

i sent the switch back to korea and they confirmed the regulator had been fried, but have repaired it and are about to return it to me. they are also sending another ultra with it and i will send the defective one back to them when the replacement arrives so they can check it out.

last weekend i decided to put the unit on a higher shelf, and as i did so, the power cord fell out. bugger! plugged it back in and.... no files! bugger, bugger. checked out a few things, but the appropriate folder in the OS had vanished from my network. sent off an email on sunday and on monday, a holiday in korea, i got a reply with instructions and links to re-instal the OS. it took about an hour and everything has worked fine since.

so how does it sound. well, it hasn't got the fancy ethernet switch mod attached and the dac is plugged into an "ordinary" usb port, but it is a huge step-up from the comp described above. i have just played "Paris Texas" and now listening to ryan adams live at carnegie hall. from the first moment it was - wow! it is really, really close to playing a cd, but a little different. it's a bit more forward. great clarity, space, airy-ness. everything is a bit more separate. i am really enjoying it. plus, i am beginning to feel like i really know how this thing works.

Holy shit man! You've the patience of a saint and for this you ought be praised... But come on round and we'll pop a few records on and revel in simplicities essence... It shouldn't be that hard!!

Aug 4, 2017 6:45:05 GMT 12 @johnnyheathen said:

Holy shit man! You've the patience of a saint and for this you ought be praised... 

I can't understand most of the terminology . Now turntable, stylus, lp I can.

Aug 4, 2017 6:45:05 GMT 12 @johnnyheathen said:

Holy shit man! You've the patience of a saint and for this you ought be praised... But come on round and we'll pop a few records on and revel in simplicities essence... It shouldn't be that hard!!

thanks for the offer johnny, very considerate of you, but i do have a few black discs of my own, and even a choice of tt and carts should i feel different urges. and i even played a silver disc or 2 recently.

I'm with you on that one cooks, that one went straight through to the keeper.

Phew - this digital thing, at esoteric level, is not at all plug-&-play.

In short....I think you are storing your digital music files on a big Solid State Drive, feeding them into a 'network player' box, whose job is primarily to on-feed digital audio to your AMR CD-77 which is used as a DAC only.

I am pleased to see that the AMR still uses the 30-year old Philips TDA1541A DAC - multi-bit DACs still rule!

rocl - you've suddenly lost your caps - with all your digital travails, have you been forced to multi-task with one keyboard hand?

DarkLantern blog - darklanternforowen.wordpress.com

Owen Y - yes, you have described it correctly.  files on my windows pc need to get delivered to the AMR. sounds simple, but just as every part of a turntable set-up impacts on the quality of the sound, so it is with digital. everything impacts in some way to some extent.

it can be plug and play. Antipodes provides a p&p solution as do others. however in the audio world cd players are the only significant source that cannot be fiddled with endlessly and that may explain in part the low status it has among audiophiles. it may also explain my fascination with it and my total lack of interest in playing a silver disc.

vinyl provides endless opportunities to fiddle and also has a dictionary full of related terminology. i would challenge cooksferry and guitardude to have a conversation about their tts, arms, carts etc with a novice in terms the novice can comprehend.  and i love my vinyl. for sitting down and totally focussing on the music it cannot be beaten. but for an accompaniment (soundtrack) to much of my daily life it is limited. if i am cooking, cleaning or even reading, i don't want to have to adjust everything every 20mins. and i don't want to wear out my $5000 cart competing with the vacuum cleaner or washing machine.

besides, the satisfaction of setting up a good digital system is similar to the satisfaction of setting up a good vinyl system.

and yes owen, the caps seem to have vanished. apple is becoming more and more intrusive. or maybe it was when i went on facebook, they seem to be responsible for taking a lot of ppl's stuff. or it could possible be google - they're into everything these days. at least i've still got my apostrophes.

good luck with the system rocl.

my toe dipping into modern digital is limited to streaming from my pc to the cambridge 752 or oppo 103

rocl I admire your dedication.

Personally, I'd have given up long ago if that happened to me.

$5000 cart? Tell us more!

Citroen - no dedication involved. all pigheadedness! not going to let a few 0's and 1's beat me. and once it's set up it just keeps on working. and it has been sequential. each issue comes after the previous has been solved. and anyway i paid over $2000 for it, so it is going to work.

the cart on the garrard 301 is a DV te Kaitora Rua, a lovely unit. rrp $5225. yikes! on the WTA i have a 47labs mc bee. ok but nowhere near the TKR.

Ah yes, the TKR rings a bell now. Lovely.

Hi rocl,

That is one heck of a journey. At least you have the requisite knowledge to complete that trip, whereas I would be completely lost, get frustrated and "lose my shit". Vinyl for me is a completely different experience as I have been involved with it for over 40 years and have owned the same table for the last 36 years, so no suprises there !

Ultimately though, my wife is constantly threatening to sell the house, buy a campervan and become grey nomads, so the vinyl and system will all be gone, to be replaced by something good, portable, 12v and headphones. As I cant see that I will be able to fit my CD collection in either it is looking like some sort of a streaming option. Theres a learning curve ahead !

Aug 7, 2017 10:12:30 GMT 12 guitardude said:

Ultimately though, my wife is constantly threatening to sell the house, buy a campervan and become grey nomads, so the vinyl and system will all be gone, to be replaced by something good, portable, 12v and headphones. As I cant see that I will be able to fit my CD collection in either it is looking like some sort of a streaming option. Theres a learning curve ahead !

klaatu should be able to advise you - darklantern.proboards.com/thread/89/ahoy-digital-on-high-seas

DarkLantern blog - darklanternforowen.wordpress.com

Guitardude, Just make sure you buy a campervan that you can fit the turntable and vinyl into.
Rocl, I also have a Garrard 301, with a Dynavector XX2 on the Siggwan 12" arm. It sounds good. I bought my first 301 in 1990 for $90, and still have it. It's now been brought into the 21st century by being powered with my own digital 50Hz power generator that makes it sound more stable.
Is it worth getting a TKR cartridge as an upgrade over the XX2?

AMR-iFi R&D

colinf - i would love to know more about that generator.

re the TKR - i went to it from a DV20H and it was a really significant step-up. i was fortunate and got it lightly used off of audiogon for a good price. its a bit sibilant up high but very good everywhere else. seriously thinking about a benz lp-s

Here's a pic of my 301. This is the first prototype of the generator so it's built roughly into a jiffy box, and the class B poweramp to drive the motor is on a heatsink on the back of the plinth. I can vary the frequency in 0.1Hz steps from 43 to 58Hz, and memorise the set frequency with the M button. I also set it to reduce the voltage to the motor for less vibration.
I built another version of it with a class D amp as well. I'll put it on my manufacturers page.
Cartridges cartridges...the new Grado Epoch looks interesting but a tad expensive at US$12K! One of my mates in Melbs uses a Benz LPS and loves it.




how to host an image

AMR-iFi R&D

Aug 5, 2017 12:56:01 GMT 12 rocl said:

vinyl provides endless opportunities to fiddle and also has a dictionary full of related terminology. i would challenge cooksferry  and guitardude  to have a conversation about their tts, arms, carts etc with a novice in terms the novice can comprehend.  

Very true, a quick visit to some where like the Hoffman forum or vinyl engine will illustrate that.
I did have thoughts about digging deeper into the digital age, one reason I purchased the Oppo HA-1 amp with its multiple options.  After fighting many a battle just trying to get a recalcitrant laptop to bend to my will, and loosing badly, I've abandoned that option for now.
Getting files onto my Fiio X5 I consider a victory and maybe my line in the sand.
If I'm honest the biggest obstacle to going further is my sheer love of the physical format. It's what I was weened on and just seems like the correct option.

Only until your wife wants to sell the house and buy a campervan...

Aug 8, 2017 8:22:55 GMT 12 guitardude said:

Only until your wife wants to sell the house and buy a campervan...

That has been discussed but she's too much of a hoarder to settle for such a small space. I'm safe for the moment.

Rocl, glad to know your CD-77 is still sounding good, even as a dac. Thorsten chose the classic Philips TDA1541 dac because it sounds good. It just needs a good output stage, which he duly designed. I had the AMR DP-777 dac, the first version, but always preferred the sound of the CD-77 as a dac. I'm not sure how the DP-777 SE sounds though, it's meant to be a lot nicer.

AMR-iFi R&D

Despite trying various DACs types at the time, I have always ended up with TDA1541A - in a modest Arcam 5+ CDP & in an 'Adagio' DAC which I built a while back - one of T Loesch's designs.

Am pleased to see it still cuts the mustard in the AMR CD-77 (albeit with multiple onboard sampling options).

Multi-Bit still rules

DarkLantern blog - darklanternforowen.wordpress.com

It's a great dac and I remember fiddling with them in the early 90s. I made a tube current to voltage converter for it that was a night and day difference with the commonly used opamps at the time. The 1541 was a contemporary of the Burr Brown PCM63 and its cousins, which I also fiddled with and which also sounded transparent.
So Rocl, is the ultimate goal with your digital journey to get it to be your number one music source?

AMR-iFi R&D

hi colin - no, vinyl will be that, or so i am thinking. when cd arrived it was a blessing as the tt (no idea what) that came with the 1st hi-fi i bought as a $500 package back in '75 was really poor and literally ate records. i took it back once but there was no improvement so i would buy them, play them once while taping, and then not play them again. when i sold the system i sold most of the records along with it so i didn't even benefit from having pristine lp's.
but when i began the journey in earnest about 12yrs ago i went for vinyl. i much prefer it for "serious" listening.
the digital is for background and exploring new music.

Aug 7, 2017 13:59:21 GMT 12 rocl said:

colinf - i would love to know more about that generator.

re the TKR - i went to it from a DV20H and it was a really significant step-up. i was fortunate and got it lightly used off of audiogon for a good price. its a bit sibilant up high but very good everywhere else. seriously thinking about a benz lp-s

So were you the one that snapped up the LP-S from stereonet.au? <100 hours for only $2600. Took a lot of restraint to pass up on it!

no - didn't even see it. bugger! i wouldn't have been able to resist. oh well, probably for the best.

For that money, & if you are buying from overseas, then something like a low mileage Miyajima Shilabe might be better buying IMO.
www.audiogon.com/listings/cartridges-miyajima-shilabe-phono-cartridge-5-hours-lomc-new-2017-06-22-analog

Or even new from 2juki - www.ebay.com/itm/Miyajima-Stereo-Cartridge-Shilabe-Made-in-Japan-/352095931662

However, totally different sound, so it more depends on you sonic leanings.

DarkLantern blog - darklanternforowen.wordpress.com

all the bits - new sms-200ultra and ethernet switch with mod arrived eventually and have been settling in. so i now have the usb cord to the AMR CD-77 plugged into the special "audio" usb socket of the ultra, and the files arrive from my pc via the upgraded switch. it has been another step up. i was very happy with the ultra on its own, but now it is even better.

i have just spent an hour or so with van's moondance, in particular "and it stoned me" and "moondance" moving between cd, server and lp. since the amr serves as the dac for the ultra and the cd player and i can switch rapidly from cd to the ultra, and rapidly between inputs from the amr and the phono i can get a pretty good comparison.

i don't think any of the 3 are lacking or poorer in SQ. i think now they offer 3 flavours. the cd offers the "harshest" listening, which is accentuated by the quality of van's voice. digital glare comes through a bit, and i won't be using it much as a straight cd player.

with the ultra there is a lack of glare and a fullness of tone, like the studio is larger. it is quite pronounced on quick changes from the cd format. almost too "fat" at 1st, but fine after 10secs. previously my computer generated listening sessions were at lower volumes. at higher vols the quality was distinctly lower. not so with the ultra. i enjoy some listening at higher vols and this is now available with the ultra. at lower vols everything sounds a bit more "separate" which is great for some music and some moods.

vinyl still gives the more satisfying experience. on good discs that is. but the gap has closed and i am now quite happy to have a night of intense listening with the ultra, rather than restricting it to background use.

just a follow up after living with the complete package for a month or so. i am highly impressed. the switch mod is a significant upgrade, and helps provide a depth and quality that are really pleasing to my aging ears. i have been completely happy to rely almost exclusively on the sms-200 ultra as my regular source. a couple of times i have put on a record or 2 and enjoyed them but not felt that i must do this more often. i also tried a silver disc or 2 and wondered why i had bothered.

so for those interested in computer sourced music, here is a way of getting the sound quality along with the convenience.