[OctavianH]

Nothing unusual, just the highs and lows of the USB input as a source for DACs. I've built a new gaming system for me and I started to have again problems with JCAT and USB connection and I fight here to solve. All is good, after all the CXC works and I can listen to my amp via toslink while configuring stuff on my new PC.

 

[LoryWiv]

Good to have options other than direct USB. I have settled on I2S using a Singxer SU-1 between PC and DAC.

BTW, still enjoying the KT150 driven by GE 7581A. let me know what you think when you give it a go.

 

[LoryWiv]

Lovin' the energy of these KT150's and swapped the GE 7581A's for Sylvania 6SN7WGT's. Bass is improved, perhaps a bit less impressed with treble which excelled with the 7581A's but the current combo. also does beautifully. So here's the long and short of it (pun intended):

 

[LoryWiv]

Quick update / question: Rolled the GE 7581A's back-in. w/TS KT150 powers This is the classic trade-off: The 7581A's with KT150 produce the sweetest, magical treble I've ever coaxed out of Elise. Addictively beautiful. The (-)'s are:
1. A very slight bit of hum, both channels, not audible w/music playing and I can live with it.
2, Definitely less tightness and "thunder" to the bass vs. Sylvania 6SN7WGT, and the latter also provide more detail / transparency in the mids.

So the search continues for drivers to pair with the KT150 that combines the sweet treble and euphony of GE 7581A with the clarity and bass slam or the Sylvania 6SN7WGT.

Suggestions?

 

[LoryWiv]

Brimar 6SN7GT drivers in the house.Not the last word in detail or treble extension but oh man, are they musical. Bass is warm and rich without bleeding into mids, which in turn are sweetly lush but very natural and organic sounding. I have never experienced female vocals like the ones these tubes produce. Instruments layer very well also. Jusd wish there was a tad more plankton and treble extension. Still, a great tube with which to just enjoy music.

 

[LoryWiv]

Hoping this thread hasn't gone fully dark as I have a quick question: The Tung-Sol KT-150's I've been running as powers with adapters from Deyan are 6.3 volt like other Elise powers, draw <= 2 amps heater current which is less than 6AS7's. However, they have a very high plate disiipation of 70 watts, m ore than 4x compared to 6AS7G family. Besides potentially more power output would this aspect alone be expected to influence the souund, and most importantly, can this high plate dissipation potentially damage the Elise?

 

[OctavianH]

I have been long gone for a few weeks in the realm of PC builders. I have built a new gaming PC which will be, as before, source for my audio line. There have been some not very pleasant surprises during the path, with BIOS update crashes, motherboard bricking and then some networking issues which were all solved with a lot of beer and patience and also the help of the gaming community and manufacturers support. The result looks nice and I will share it, even if it is totally out of topic. However, I dragged some conclusions which are useful for the folks here, if they will ever use the PC as a source.

So, this is my latest month occupation:

For the ones interested, we have here an AMD Ryzen 3900X overclocked on all 12 cores at 4.3GHz (1.27V) with 32GB of RAM G-Skill RipjawsV at 3600MHz CL14 on a MSI X570 MEG ACE motherboard. The video card is my old EVGA GTX 1080Ti iCX SC2. The cooling is done by Noctua (U14S for the CPU, S12A and A14 for case cooling).
The PC case is a Fractal Design Meshify C, a smaller one but with a lot of options for wire management and efficient cooling. The storage is all SSD based, we have 8TB for music (2x4TB Sandisk Ultra 3D) near a Samsung 970 PRO 1TB for OS and a Samsung PM871 256GB for downloads. I power it with a Corsair AX1200i 1200W PSU.
For the USB link to my Qutest I continue to use the JCAT Femto USB card which is externally powered by an 5V Sbooster (it can be seen under the video card, in the first picture).

I would not normally post this here as it is totally off topic, but I have decided to make an exception because I had some interesting results, audio related, during my tests in the last days. And one of them is that indeed, there is an audible difference when playing from an HDD compared to a SSD. In the previous build my music was stored on a WD 6TB HDD powered directly to the AX1200i. Now, using the 4TB SSDs powered from the same PSU I can say that I hear more details, and the overall sound is cleaner. And the difference is not related to the read/write performance of the SSD, but most probably to the less noise quantity generated when reading data from a static flash memory compared with the mechanical hard drive. I can say that everything sounds cleaner and tighter, not a night/day difference but enough to be observed and enjoyed.
Another thing I have observed is the dramatic effect of PWM fans in the equation of noise reduction. Because this new PC case has no dedicated fan controller and I wanted a good control of the airflow inside it, I had decided to use only PWM fans connected directly to the motherboard. This means I was able to use a variable rotation for each fan in the case. Unfortunately, the impact of setting all these case fans to PWM mode instead of DC as before had a big impact on sound quality. It seems that the square PWM signal generates a lot of noise in the motherboard electrical section and this was somehow transmitted to my DAC. I was hearing a more "metallic" sound, with less bass, everything was sounding thinner and a little bit harsh on specific frequencies. I was almost convinced that the source of my problem are the new SSDs but in the end, after reading a lot of forums (yes, there are a lot of people investigating PC noise on audio forums) I realized that the PWM controllers were the issues. When setting these fans to DC more the problem was gone and I was able to enjoy the music at a superior level than before when using HDDs. Even if I was using the JCAT externally powered, the impact on sound quality was not subtle.

In conclusion:
- SSD can be a good upgrade over HDD as a storage for the music collection
- never use PWM fans inside the case if you use that PC as a source for your DAC
- there a people going much forward than me on filtering, some of them power their SSDs with low noise voltage regulators like for example:
https://czh-labs.com/audiowind-ultr...gulator-module-12520v-15-amp-p0688-p0688.html

So, in the end I learned that there is a "science" of noise reduction when using a PC as a source for an audio line, and there are a lot of people studying it.
I hope my post will be useful for others, even if it is not quite on topic.

 

[hpamdr]

I have been long gone for a few weeks in the realm of PC builders. I have built a new gaming PC which will be, as before, source for my audio line. There have been some not very pleasant surprises during the path, with BIOS update crashes, motherboard bricking and then some networking issues which were all solved with a lot of beer and patience and also the help of the gaming community and manufacturers support. The result looks nice and I will share it, even if it is totally out of topic. However, I dragged some conclusions which are useful for the folks here, if they will ever use the PC as a source.

So, this is my latest month occupation:

For the ones interested, we have here an AMD Ryzen 3900X overclocked on all 12 cores at 4.3GHz (1.27V) with 32GB of RAM G-Skill RipjawsV at 3600MHz CL14 on a MSI X570 MEG ACE motherboard. The video card is my old EVGA GTX 1080Ti iCX SC2. The cooling is done by Noctua (U14S for the CPU, S12A and A14 for case cooling).
The PC case is a Fractal Design Meshify C, a smaller one but with a lot of options for wire management and efficient cooling. The storage is all SSD based, we have 8TB for music (2x4TB Sandisk Ultra 3D) near a Samsung 970 PRO 1TB for OS and a Samsung PM871 256GB for downloads. I power it with a Corsair AX1200i 1200W PSU.
For the USB link to my Qutest I continue to use the JCAT Femto USB card which is externally powered by an 5V Sbooster (it can be seen under the video card, in the first picture).

I would not normally post this here as it is totally off topic, but I have decided to make an exception because I had some interesting results, audio related, during my tests in the last days. And one of them is that indeed, there is an audible difference when playing from an HDD compared to a SSD. In the previous build my music was stored on a WD 6TB HDD powered directly to the AX1200i. Now, using the 4TB SSDs powered from the same PSU I can say that I hear more details, and the overall sound is cleaner. And the difference is not related to the read/write performance of the SSD, but most probably to the less noise quantity generated when reading data from a static flash memory compared with the mechanical hard drive. I can say that everything sounds cleaner and tighter, not a night/day difference but enough to be observed and enjoyed.
Another thing I have observed is the dramatic effect of PWM fans in the equation of noise reduction. Because this new PC case has no dedicated fan controller and I wanted a good control of the airflow inside it, I had decided to use only PWM fans connected directly to the motherboard. This means I was able to use a variable rotation for each fan in the case. Unfortunately, the impact of setting all these case fans to PWM mode instead of DC as before had a big impact on sound quality. It seems that the square PWM signal generates a lot of noise in the motherboard electrical section and this was somehow transmitted to my DAC. I was hearing a more "metallic" sound, with less bass, everything was sounding thinner and a little bit harsh on specific frequencies. I was almost convinced that the source of my problem are the new SSDs but in the end, after reading a lot of forums (yes, there are a lot of people investigating PC noise on audio forums) I realized that the PWM controllers were the issues. When setting these fans to DC more the problem was gone and I was able to enjoy the music at a superior level than before when using HDDs. Even if I was using the JCAT externally powered, the impact on sound quality was not subtle.

In conclusion:
- SSD can be a good upgrade over HDD as a storage for the music collection
- never use PWM fans inside the case if you use that PC as a source for your DAC
- there a people going much forward than me on filtering, some of them power their SSDs with low noise voltage regulators like for example:
https://czh-labs.com/audiowind-ultr...gulator-module-12520v-15-amp-p0688-p0688.html

So, in the end I learned that there is a "science" of noise reduction when using a PC as a source for an audio line, and there are a lot of people studying it.
I hope my post will be useful for others, even if it is not quite on topic.

This is mainly why I switched from heavy all in one Computer to cheap Industrial PC no fan, external 24V psu, ssd, core i7 with 32Gb ram and daphile. I prepare my playlist from UI and start to play, turn of wifi/network .. No need to do many expensive customization..

 

[HOWIE13]

Hoping this thread hasn't gone fully dark as I have a quick question: The Tung-Sol KT-150's I've been running as powers with adapters from Deyan are 6.3 volt like other Elise powers, draw <= 2 amps heater current which is less than 6AS7's. However, they have a very high plate disiipation of 70 watts, m ore than 4x compared to 6AS7G family. Besides potentially more power output would this aspect alone be expected to influence the souund, and most importantly, can this high plate dissipation potentially damage the Elise?

I imagine only Feliks Audio could give you a definite answer but for what it's worth I've been using T-S KT150's as power tubes with a variety of drivers for several months without any problem. At present I'm finding Brimar 6L6G drivers pair very well. I've also had good results with Valvo EL11 as drivers. I find great detail, imaging and soundstage with the KT150's and this suits the music I'm listening to at present. For more warmth the T-S KT120 is a good compromise between the KT150 and the KT88. Incidently, the max current draw for Elise is 6.8A. That's for my original version, later ones may vary, but I doubt by much.

 

[LoryWiv]

I imagine only Feliks Audio could give you a definite answer but for what it's worth I've been using T-S KT150's as power tubes with a variety of drivers for several months without any problem. At present I'm finding Brimar 6L6G drivers pair very well. I've also had good results with Valvo EL11 as drivers. I find great detail, imaging and soundstage with the KT150's and this suits the music I'm listening to at present. For more warmth the T-S KT120 is a good compromise between the KT150 and the KT88. Incidently, the max current draw for Elise is 6.8A. That's for my original version, later ones may vary, but I doubt by much.

Thank you @HOWIE13, that's very helpful. I have listed my KT150's for sale here but if no sale soon perhaps I'll give them another try w/different drivers. Can you also expand on the difference between KT120 versus KT88 and KT150 as I've used KT88's and am familiar with their sound, nice overall but a bit "sterile" and reserved sounding compared to the presence and power one experiences with KT150.
Thanks.

 

[HOWIE13]

Thank you @HOWIE13, that's very helpful. I have listed my KT150's for sale here but if no sale soon perhaps I'll give them another try w/different drivers. Can you also expand on the difference between KT120 versus KT88 and KT150 as I've used KT88's and am familiar with their sound, nice overall but a bit "sterile" and reserved sounding compared to the presence and power one experiences with KT150.
Thanks.

I find the KT88 a bit warm and lush for my ears. A nice euphonic sound as either power or driver tubes (I've not tried a quad) but ultimately have not used them much. Maybe they would suit treble strong headphones or an overbright recording. I should try them with my old K701's if I can find them. KT120 are closer to the K150 and are good power tubes, less upper mid/treble, more lower mid than K150, but it's a small difference to my ears. Both tubes are very quiet in my Elise, completely black background.

 

[OctavianH]

6 months the same combo, I'm getting old.

 

[LoryWiv]

6 months the same combo, I'm getting old.

If it ain't broke don't fix it!

 

[Focux]

hello fellow feliks owners, are there any of you here who use a qutest as well?

am wondering what output voltage is suitable or rather optimal for my echo since there is variable voltage output on the qutest

have been using mojo with qutest so not sure how this voltage thing is supposed to "benefit" sonically..

thanks in advance!

 

[OctavianH]

I use Elise with Qutest set to 3V. I used in the past with 2Qute the same with 3V.