[kennyb123]

Perhaps, this may be the link - https://www.hifi-advice.com/blog/re...s/antipodes-k50-music-server-update-nov-2021/

Yup that’s it.

 

[Presence]

I still stand by my thoughts on power supply pricing vs benefit. Most of these supplies including Antipodes are worth more than your Gustard which has high quality integral supplies I think. I agree about engineers. It was always us Technologists who had to gently herd them in order to get projects completed.

I can't disagree with you on this Progisus...
Once I hear a meaningful improvement though, its impossible for me to go back. I do think the hybrid LPS/SMPS approach is in fact ground breaking on digital gear.
And along the ends of $ vs benefit, if the Hypsos turns out to be very close in sound quality to the S60 for my non-Antipodes powered equipment, I could have bought two of them for the $ of the S60. I am thinking at this time "I could have had a V8 ..."
Additionally, I measured the output voltage of the S60 under load and I get 11.6V on its 12V output for either .8A [1 EtherRegen] or 2.4A [3 EtherRegens].
I am reflecting on the Hans Beekhuysen review of the Hypsos paired with the Mytek DAC where he adjusts the voltage up from its nominal 12V input requirement to 13.1V where he claims he optimized the Mytek's sound. I wouldn't randomly do this on a piece of gear without knowing its limits.....
As people have reported better sound quality from the EtherRegen with 12V vs 9V, it does have me wondering whether an additional level of SQ can be squeezed out of the EtherRegen by it receiving the full 12V [or possibly higher] which can be accomplished by the Hypsos.

 

[Progisus]

I can't disagree with you on this Progisus...
Once I hear a meaningful improvement though, its impossible for me to go back. I do think the hybrid LPS/SMPS approach is in fact ground breaking on digital gear.
And along the ends of $ vs benefit, if the Hypsos turns out to be very close in sound quality to the S60 for my non-Antipodes powered equipment, I could have bought two of them for the $ of the S60. I am thinking at this time "I could have had a V8 ..."
Additionally, I measured the output voltage of the S60 under load and I get 11.6V on its 12V output for either .8A [1 EtherRegen] or 2.4A [3 EtherRegens].
I am reflecting on the Hans Beekhuysen review of the Hypsos paired with the Mytek DAC where he adjusts the voltage up from its nominal 12V input requirement to 13.1V where he claims he optimized the Mytek's sound. I wouldn't randomly do this on a piece of gear without knowing its limits.....
As people have reported better sound quality from the EtherRegen with 12V vs 9V, it does have me wondering whether an additional level of SQ can be squeezed out of the EtherRegen by it receiving the full 12V [or possibly higher] which can be accomplished by the Hypsos.

I took a look at the Hypsos and was intrigued by the adjustment of the output voltage. That is a feature I feel could be used to fine tune the sound. I look forward to your findings. The cost seems reasonable.

I must admit I have ordered a power cord and usb cable for my incoming K30. I could have made the power cord and I haven’t heard much difference on in specification usb cables but darn they will look nice.

I also got a 4tb Samsung EVO ssd for a great price on Amazon, formatted in my EX and have my PGGB files already downloaded to it. I’ll put a 2tb in disk 1 with my remaining Roon library and the PGGB in disk 2. I hope I am able to configure the K30 to do MPD direct. I think I’ll move the EX to the TT(1) on the desk……..

 

[Presence]

I still stand by my thoughts on power supply pricing vs benefit. Most of these supplies including Antipodes are worth more than your Gustard which has high quality integral supplies I think. I agree about engineers. It was always us Technologists who had to gently herd them in order to get projects completed.

Supplemental to my last post, and still along the lines of $ vs. benefit, I originally asked Mark Jenkins if a DC jack on the back of the CX/EX wired to the (opened) Red/Black output leads into the main board from the original LPS would provide the same effect as the upgrade and his reply was yes.
My thought was to use one S60 for both my CX and EX at 1/2 the upgrade cost.
I was not able to
- confirm that one S60 could power both EX and CX simultaneously. At best I think it would have been borderline.
- after the above priority, the next issue would be whether the front panel power button logic would work properly if the S60 was on permanently.

Finally, at the time of my decision to go for the upgrade, it was not clear (to me) whether 3.1 would be available for non-upgraded units w/o returning them to the factory.

 

[kennyb123]

I am reflecting on the Hans Beekhuysen review of the Hypsos paired with the Mytek DAC where he adjusts the voltage up from its nominal 12V input requirement to 13.1V where he claims he optimized the Mytek's sound. I wouldn't randomly do this on a piece of gear without knowing its limits.....

Fixed voltage power supplies can have an advantage in the area of regulation. I’ll let Farad explain it:

“The power dissipation of a linear regulator is dependent on the ingoing and outgoing voltage and current. Therefore the only way to make the output flexible is to make the input voltage flexible or by using switching power regulators, as many other brands do. Both of these ways are very sub-optimal designs. Since we are aiming to be the absolute reference in linear regulated power supplies, we specifically choose to go for rigid, but fully optimized fixed output voltage in our power supplies.”

I think regulation is the real difference-maker when it comes to powering digital components.

As people have reported better sound quality from the EtherRegen with 12V vs 9V, it does have me wondering whether an additional level of SQ can be squeezed out of the EtherRegen by it receiving the full 12V [or possibly higher] which can be accomplished by the Hypsos.

How many reports of this have you actually seen? In the early days there was one person who had Super3 in both and he said he had a slight preference for 9v. It seemed to become gospel after that with many referring to what that one person reported. John and Alex have both said it shouldn’t matter. Thus despite that one report I went with 12v because that seemed a more common voltage should I ever want to repurpose the Super3. Interesting to hear you now say that 12v has been reported to be better.

 

[kennyb123]

I also got a 4tb Samsung EVO ssd for a great price on Amazon, formatted in my EX and have my PGGB files already downloaded to it. I’ll put a 2tb in disk 1 with my remaining Roon library and the PGGB in disk 2. I hope I am able to configure the K30 to do MPD direct. I think I’ll move the EX to the TT(1) on the desk……..

I’m really excited for you to get your K30. As far as your disk strategy, I think it’s going to want to erase the second disk you insert. A single virtual volume is created from both drives. So when you start with a 4TB drive and add a 2TB drive it’s as if you expanded the 4TB drive to 6TB. I could be wrong as I actually inserted a brand new drive as my second drive.

 

[Presence]

Fixed voltage power supplies can have an advantage in the area of regulation. I’ll let Farad explain it:

“The power dissipation of a linear regulator is dependent on the ingoing and outgoing voltage and current. Therefore the only way to make the output flexible is to make the input voltage flexible or by using switching power regulators, as many other brands do. Both of these ways are very sub-optimal designs. Since we are aiming to be the absolute reference in linear regulated power supplies, we specifically choose to go for rigid, but fully optimized fixed output voltage in our power supplies.”

I think regulation is the real difference-maker when it comes to powering digital components.



How many reports of this have you actually seen? In the early days there was one person who had Super3 in both and he said he had a slight preference for 9v. It seemed to become gospel after that with many referring to what that one person reported. John and Alex have both said it shouldn’t matter. Thus despite that one report I went with 12v because that seemed a more common voltage should I ever want to repurpose the Super3. Interesting to hear you now say that 12v has been reported to be better..

Alex and John originally said that the included SMPS wall wart was sufficient and they didn’t hear a difference with a quality LPS.
There is a thread from years ago about replacing the TXCO on the original USB Regen with an OCXO to get better audio quality and Alex and John originally responded that it shouldn’t affect SQ.
I recall them also saying the Crystek 575 was great (for $25 it is) and there wasn’t much to be gained with 10M external reference.
There have been multiple testimonials on Audiophilestyle forums pertaining to 12V over 9V

 

[td19]

I’m really excited for you to get your K30. As far as your disk strategy, I think it’s going to want to erase the second disk you insert. A single virtual volume is created from both drives. So when you start with a 4TB drive and add a 2TB drive it’s as if you expanded the 4TB drive to 6TB. I could be wrong as I actually inserted a brand new drive as my second drive.

That is correct. You can add a blank drive to a previously loaded, single disk-drive, logical volume but you cannot add a drive that has already been formatted separately . I think you will probably need to move your existing loaded 2Tb drive from the EX to the K30, then insert the 4Tb drive in a second slot (you will be asked to wipe it I think), then add it and copy to PGGB files to it. Check with Antipodes support.

However if you meant that you formatted the 4Tb drive on the EX by using Storage Manager to add it to the existing 2Tb drive (logical) volume and then copied the PGGB files to that logical volume I think you can move to two drives from EX to K30 OK.

 

[td19]

Supplemental to my last post, and still along the lines of $ vs. benefit, I originally asked Mark Jenkins if a DC jack on the back of the CX/EX wired to the (opened) Red/Black output leads into the main board from the original LPS would provide the same effect as the upgrade and his reply was yes.
My thought was to use one S60 for both my CX and EX at 1/2 the upgrade cost.
I was not able to
- confirm that one S60 could power both EX and CX simultaneously. At best I think it would have been borderline.
- after the above priority, the next issue would be whether the front panel power button logic would work properly if the S60 was on permanently.

Finally, at the time of my decision to go for the upgrade, it was not clear (to me) whether 3.1 would be available for non-upgraded units w/o returning them to the factory.

3.1 can be installed on non-upgraded CX, EX, DX3 and even DS providing they are on Antipodes 2.7 (or 2.8). I know this because my CX/EX have not been OLADRA-upgraded,

 

[kennyb123]

Alex and John originally said that the included SMPS wall wart was sufficient and they didn’t hear a difference with a quality LPS.
I recall them also saying the Crystek 575 was great (and for $25 it is) and there wasn’t much to be gained with 10M external reference.

I think they were trying to emphasize that the ER didn’t need these things to bring a substantial gain to one’s system - and they were right. That was a departure from their previous products which really needed an LPS-1 or LPS-1.2 or JS-2 to sound great. Also the LPS-1.2 was reported to not really do enough for the ER. It would have lead to disappointment had they encouraged an upgraded supply as they’d done in the past.

Nothing extra to buy when it comes to choosing between 9v and 12v so it’s similar to John‘s remarks about the ER running hot. I’m dubious about reports of it sounding better when cooled in the same way I’m dubious about it sounding better at one voltage vs another. I guess what I’m saying that Alex has to consider the sales and customer expectations side of things when making recommendations - and that’s not easy. John is freed from that and can just comment on things from an engineering perspective. That doesn’t mean he’s never wrong but his batting average is excellent. I personally try to avoid sweating the small stuff. If I have to work hard to tease out differences, I feel I’ve wasted time I will never get back. Hence my decision to flip and coin and go with 12v.

 

[Triode User]

I can't disagree with you on this Progisus...
Once I hear a meaningful improvement though, its impossible for me to go back. I do think the hybrid LPS/SMPS approach is in fact ground breaking on digital gear.
And along the ends of $ vs benefit, if the Hypsos turns out to be very close in sound quality to the S60 for my non-Antipodes powered equipment, I could have bought two of them for the $ of the S60. I am thinking at this time "I could have had a V8 ..."
Additionally, I measured the output voltage of the S60 under load and I get 11.6V on its 12V output for either .8A [1 EtherRegen] or 2.4A [3 EtherRegens].
I am reflecting on the Hans Beekhuysen review of the Hypsos paired with the Mytek DAC where he adjusts the voltage up from its nominal 12V input requirement to 13.1V where he claims he optimized the Mytek's sound. I wouldn't randomly do this on a piece of gear without knowing its limits.....
As people have reported better sound quality from the EtherRegen with 12V vs 9V, it does have me wondering whether an additional level of SQ can be squeezed out of the EtherRegen by it receiving the full 12V [or possibly higher] which can be accomplished by the Hypsos.

Just a few thoughts and a couple of cents or pennies thrown in. Also as it happens I have Dr Sean Jacobs visiting me for most of today so my thoughts are very much on power supplies . . . .

With the ER I ran mine at 10.5V, mainly because that was the LPS that I had around and I did not feel like buying another one for the sake of 1.5V. My evaluation of the ER and other switches has been based on comparing them to disconnecting streamer from the network by pulling the ethernet plug. This was obviously only with playing locally stored ripped files rather than streamed music. This proved to me that the ER was clearly having an audible effect on the sound but to my ear it was colouring the music rather than being better and so I sold it and bought a PhoenixNET instead because with that the sound was indistinguishable from pulling the ethernet plug.

But back to power supplies, as most will know I run my Dave with a Sean Jacobs DC4, now upgraded to the ARC6 version. I am told that one of the prime objectives of the ARC6 upgrade was to reduce the impedance of the power supply. The DC4 regulator board is unchanged but the ARC6 rectifier boards have much larger capacitors specifically chosen for their low impedance. Sean has told me that he has found that this low impedance for the power supply is especially important for digital circuits. When my DC4 was being upgraded to ARC6 specification I first of all only had it done to the 5V supply powering the digital board within the Dave. The difference was really quite profound and confounded my original expectation that it would be the Dave’s analogue circuits which might benefit more than the digital circuits. I can therefore understand and appreciate the Antipodes approach to power supplies and can see how that can reap rewards. Certainly my K50 is sounding wonderful.

On the subject of the K50, I have very firmly settled on using Squeeze and Squeezelite (no Roon) as being the best sound for either feeding files to the Mscaler or for playing 705 and 768kHz PGGB files. When connected to the Mscaler I tend to use the bnc output from the K50 and when playing PGGB files I of course have to use the usb output and then convert that to dual bnc with the src.dx in order to optimally connect to the Dave.

 

[Progisus]

That is correct. You can add a blank drive to a previously loaded, single disk-drive, logical volume but you cannot add a drive that has already been formatted separately . I think you will probably need to move your existing loaded 2Tb drive from the EX to the K30, then insert the 4Tb drive in a second slot (you will be asked to wipe it I think), then add it and copy to PGGB files to it. Check with Antipodes support.

However if you meant that you formatted the 4Tb drive on the EX by using Storage Manager to add it to the existing 2Tb drive (logical) volume and then copied the PGGB files to that logical volume I think you can move to two drives from EX to K30 OK.

Thanks Tony. It looks like I will need to reformat the 4tb in the K30. I have only 1 slot in the EX so the 4tb was added as a primary volume. The network copy takes about 6 hours for 2.7 tb of pggb files. I could plug the usb drive into the K30 and use file manager for a quicker transfer perhaps. Delivery for the K30 is Dec 6 according to DHL.

 

[frankensmurf]

Is anyone successfully playing DSD256 native files via CX / EX w Roon Core / HQP?

I have HQP set as a non-oversampling renderer, including SDM Direct. When I try to play DSD256 files, Roon remote (on my laptop) loses connection with Roon Core on the CX, and the CX stops responding for a minute or two. I have to quit HQP on the CX, restart Roon core on the CX and wait a couple minutes to get things working again. Anyone else had this issue?

>> With the setting below, I can play back DSD128 files Roon Core to HQP with these setting no problem at all.

>> However, I thought perhaps the SDM Rate Limit might have an impact (even though SDM Direct is selected) so I upped that to 12,288,000. Clicking play on a DSD128 track on that setting, Roon remote lost connection for a minute, eventually reconnected. Same with DSD 64, it turns out.


My PS Audio DirectStream accepts native DSD256 through HDMI.. Chain is ER1 > CX > ER2 > EX > USB > Innuos Pheonix > USB > P2 > HDMI > PSA DS.

My HQP settings are (were) as follows:

 

[kennyb123]

My PS Audio DirectStream accepts native DSD256 through HDMI.. Chain is ER1 > CX > ER2 > EX > USB > Innuos Pheonix > USB > P2 > HDMI > PSA DS.

My HQP settings are (were) as follows:

I wish I could help but HQPlayer’s DSD configuration has been a mystery to me. SDM direct should send it straight on.

Can you play the files directly from HQPlayer without Roon being involved?

 

[atya35mm]

Hi all I'm not very technical, but just wondering does Antipodes K30 / K50 uses toroidal power transformers? Can't seem to find this info easily googling.

I've been stacking my Chord M Scaler on top of the K30, and recently read on the manual that Chord recommends not having the unit close to Toroidal power transformers. So now wondering whether I should maybe place it side by side or get something to separate the two. Appreciate any advise. Thanks!!