I'll post this before I run out of Social Battery. The last two generations logic really drains the batteries.
I don't want to run into another post where they state any random generic FPGA board automatically sounds like a Mojo. I have to explain to them a generic FPGA board is not a Xilinx FPGA board. That the underlying computer code is not embedded with Rob Watt's 30+ years of Intellectual Property. There's a lot of Chi-Fi Marketing using buzzword 'FPGA' to try to imply it is similar to Chord DACs in quality. It's bait.
I have to show them you can build your own generic FPGA and that NO, it's not going to sound like a Mojo Gen-Zer's:
https://www.reddit.com/r/fpgagaming/
Anyways, for Mojo owners it's difficult to procure equipment for a multiple of your DAC. For example, in the Summit-Fi threads, they have no issue spending on a source 4-5X multiple of their Chord DAC. Their solution is to pay for $12,000+ PCs. It's similar that in the old days, gamers purchased $10,000 Alienware Gaming PCs thinking it will make them better gamers. Those with some know-how automatically know they can build their own for a fraction of the price. They are aware of "Moore's Law" as tech changes quickly so their $12,000+ equipment will be quickly become obsolete along with software updates over time. But these consumers are in it to flex a brand name, so they get their 6 months value before tech catches up. That's why Alienware and brand name Music Server PCs are a distant memory. Brand name grabs the bag and provide no more software updates. A decade ago, it had it's day but "Moore's Law" and tech eventually catches up. That's why I find it cringe when someone tries to mention "Alienware" because it had it's day but they can't move on because they sunk $10,000 into the machine that promised to make them better gamers and they didn't get their $10,000 worth of attention they were seeking.
Basically, these high-priced Audiophile PCs get you closer to embedded hardware behavior + proprietary software that locks you into their system for life + free open-source Audio server software. So, right away you are bottle-necked by their proprietary software. Once they get tired of providing software updates, the PC becomes a book-holder.
There's another practical way, you can procure an Audiophile OS for your own hardware but for near the price of a used Mojo so it's difficult to justify. I can justify as it's a fraction of my DAC. If it wasn't a sunk cost, I would pursue the Ubuntu Pro route and try to emulate near what my Audiophile OS does for zero cost. Diminishing returns. So at least I was able to learn the internals of an Audiophile OS, otherwise in hindsight it's smarter to build your own.
So what I recommend is for some with some know-how is to try Ubuntu Pro. Ubuntu Pro allows you to activate a realtime kernel to get you closer to embedded hardware performance.
https://ubuntu.com/real-time
Realtime kernels are heavily used in Investment Banks.
It's not difficult to just compile and install your own free open-source battle-tested Audio Server of your preference. I haven't tested it for Audio yet because I already sunk costs into an Audiophile OS, but it should work similarly as a Audiophile OS without the extras.
You get 12 years of updates without having to worry about someone grabbing the bag and making your machine literally obsolete (they have the power to permanently shutdown your PC anytime) not just figuratively.
For Gaming, I use to use an Audiophile OS but since it is based on Arch Linux, the Steam UI and Nvidia drivers are glitchy.
So I migrated my Gaming over to Ubuntu Pro 22.04. If a game is Steam Deck verified, it should work seamlessly on Linux. If it's Steam Deck playable, it still should work depending on your Proton install. I have not tried the new 24.04 yet. It was an easy choice to migrate because for Gaming, I turned off all the extras on the Audiophile OS anyways and just relied on the realtime kernel.
So it made sense to just dual-boot Audiophile OS for Music since I have more finer control and Ubuntu Pro for Gaming since both have my mandatory realtime kernel for Chord DACs.
For example, here's my low-level configuration on top of the realtime kernel layer before it hits the application layer on my Audiophile OS:
Code:
cset:
Name CPUs-X MEMs-X Tasks Subs Path
------------ ---------- - ------- - ----- ---- ----------
root 0-3 y 0 y 142 2 /
system 0 n 0 n 353 0 /system
isolated1 1-3 n 0 n 4 0 /isolated1
It isolates Core0 on the CPU for system tasks and Cores1-3 for the Audio Server
Here, IRQ 32 is set to my Chord DAC so it's fine-tuned for priority from a low-level
IRQ 32 -> 1-3
FULL LIST OF IRQ AFFINITY
(some irq affinity are not set to the configured value if the driver using that irq is not active or for some special system irq)
IRQ 0 timer -> 0-7
IRQ 1 -> 0
IRQ 2 -> 0-7
IRQ 3 -> 0-7
IRQ 4 -> 0
IRQ 5 -> 0
IRQ 6 -> 0
IRQ 7 -> 0
IRQ 8 rtc0 -> 0
IRQ 9 acpi -> 0
IRQ 10 -> 0
IRQ 11 -> 0
IRQ 12 -> 0
IRQ 13 -> 0
IRQ 14 -> 0
IRQ 15 -> 0
IRQ 16 ehci_hcd:usb1 -> 0
IRQ 17 snd_hda_intel:card0 -> 0
IRQ 18 i801_smbus -> 0
IRQ 22 ehci_hcd:usb2 -> 0
IRQ 30 ahci[0000:00:1f.2] -> 0
IRQ 31 xhci_hcd -> 0
IRQ 32 xhci_hcd -> 1-3
IRQ 40 mpt2sas0-msix0 -> 0
IRQ 41 mpt2sas0-msix1 -> 1
IRQ 42 mpt2sas0-msix2 -> 2
IRQ 43 mpt2sas0-msix3 -> 3
IRQ 44 mpt2sas0-msix4 -> 4
IRQ 45 mpt2sas0-msix5 -> 5
IRQ 46 mpt2sas0-msix6 -> 6
IRQ 47 mpt2sas0-msix7 -> 7
IRQ 48 enp4s0 -> 0
IRQ 49 enp4s0-TxRx-0 -> 0
IRQ 50 enp4s0-TxRx-1 -> 0
IRQ 51 enp4s0-TxRx-2 -> 0
IRQ 52 enp4s0-TxRx-3 -> 0
IRQ 53 enp5s0 -> 0
IRQ 54 enp5s0-TxRx-0 -> 0
IRQ 55 enp5s0-TxRx-1 -> 0
IRQ 56 enp5s0-TxRx-2 -> 0
IRQ 57 enp5s0-TxRx-3 -> 0
IRQ 58 nvkm -> 0
USB audio CARDS IRQ:
06:00.0 Chord Electronics Ltd Hugo2
IRQ: 32
INTERNAL audio CARDS IRQ:
01:00.1 Audio device: NVIDIA Corporation High Definition Audio Controller (rev a1)
IRQ: 17
DEVICES CONNECTED TO USB
In the ideal situation your DAC should not share the same USB bus (defined by the first number in the DEVICE column)
DEVICE POWER SPEED VENDOR PRODUCT BIND NAME
3-3 on 480 0781 5588 yes SanDisk 3.2 Gen 1 SanDisk
3-4 on 1.5 04d9 1919 yes DasKeyboard
6-1 auto 5000 2109 8110 yes USB3.0 Hub VIA Labs, Inc.
6-1.2 on 5000 245f 0815 yes Hugo2 Chord Electronics Ltd
Here, I dedicate my Chord DAC to run on it's own USB Bus away from System Processes (Noise). Need physical hardware to accomplish.
So what I'm recommending is to try this for Gaming. If it's suitable and sustainable, you can try building your own Audio Server software over time on top of a realtime kernel.
The realtime kernel is nice to have for Music processing. For example, Ubuntu Studio has a realtime kernel built-in for Media software usage but it's bloated not minimalist.
https://ubuntustudio.org/
So:
- Download Ubuntu 24.04
- Sign Up for Ubuntu Pro (5 Free Licenses)
- After install, login to Ubuntu Pro
- Enable realtime kernel.
- Update
https://ubuntu.com/real-time
Then for Gaming:
- Install Nvidia Linux Driver
- Install Microsoft Fonts
- Install Steam
It works pretty seamlessly and Steam is well-supported on Ubuntu. No more funky glitchy stuff. Plenty of guides available. Of course, it sounds great. I get Soundstage Depth on Open World Games.
For installing Nvidia drivers on top of a realtime kernel, not many guides but basically you just download the latest Nvidia Linux Driver then run:
Code:
sudo IGNORE_PREEMPT_RT_PRESENCE=1 bash NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-550.100.run
if you can't find a guide.
There are a few more libraries and to blacklist the open source Nvidia driver, but it should be simple for those with some know-how. dkms definately needed:
https://gist.github.com/pantor/9786...malink_comment_id=4686645#gistcomment-4686645
Afterwards, you just run the straightforward Nvidia bash install going forward after system updates.
Each time the realtime kernel updates, you need to reinstall the Nvidia driver. Just accept all the defaults. The screen should be low-res after system updates (No driver installed), just re-install Nvidia drivers to get back to high-res (driver installed). Takes 5 minutes, may need to login multiple times for authorization to install.
This is a free realtime kernel foundation for both Gaming and Audio Server services. I'll post if I can reverse-engineer some of my Audiophile OS extras to seamlessly integrate into Ubuntu Pro realtime kernel ecosystem. I would of loved to have this available at Hugo2 launch.
For a sunk cost Mojo, you don't want to spend $12,000 much less $1,000 for a source when you can get near identical performance for FREE. Tech evolves quickly.
To me, Gaming on a realtime kernel with a Chord DAC is mission-critical.
