[Gilberto 62]

But, at the moment, due to the problems I have had with the 5 meter Diamond usb cable, I am waiting for a new one from my hifi store, so I am using the stock one. Yes, I know that many of you think: "... but how absurd, to spend the same money that the LKS costs on a usb cable (... 1500 euros ...) ...!" I know. But I was very excited and, naive I, I thought it would be the right thing to do, give our dear LKS something to match. Well, it was silly, and also with a bad start, the cable did not transmit the sound well and I returned it to be replaced by another. What I mean by all this is that for now, this is my timid beginning, but that I will move forward, thanks to you, in these, for me, darkness ... Thank you.

 

[Gilberto 62]

Since yesterday, "b0bb" advised me that combination of HQPlayer + Sotm sms200 + LKS, instead of my current one (Foobar + Diamond 5meters + LKS), I am looking and informing myself on the web and in another forum here, Spain, " AudioPlanet ", and I see that everyone speaks wonders and they are very satisfied with the same combination that you recommend here, hqplayer, sms200, lks. I see that the opinions on the matter are of the highest satisfaction. But, it seems to be from what I see, that HQPlayer is not compatible with my Windows7 ... Only with the W10.
(... One more thing I will have to update ...)

 

[hpsxrb]

LKS MODIFICATIONS

The Mundorf capacitors that you recommend, for the digital power supply and for the analog power supply, are the Mundorf MLytic AG or Mundorf MLytic AG + (4 pin)
Thank you.

 

[AuxInput]

The Mundorf capacitors that you recommend, for the digital power supply and for the analog power supply, are the Mundorf MLytic AG or Mundorf MLytic AG + (4 pin)
Thank you.

Just the normal Mlytic AG. It is only a 2 pin capacitor. Be aware that you will not be able to fit those 0.1uf film caps in the space between the Mundorf MLytic on the digital supply section. I have soldered 0.1uf MKP caps to the leads of the Mundorf UNDERNEATH the board. This is important to call out based on b0bb's comments.

 

[AuxInput]

But, it seems to be from what I see, that HQPlayer is not compatible with my Windows7 ... Only with the W10.
(... One more thing I will have to update ...)

You may want to email Signalyst to see if that is truly a hard requirement. The driver interface layer is very similar between Windows 7 and 10, though I'm reading that Windows 10 just sounds better. If you don't want the pain of upgrading Windows 7 now, you can always just get JRiver so that you can play through the SOTM SMS-200. I'm running JRiver on Windows 7 with no problems.

 

[Gilberto 62]

Thank you for your information "auxinput". I will consider that alternative to my current Foobar. In a few days, I will receive the new Diamond 5m usb cable. We will see what will happen with this second cable ...
I don't know why, but I have the feeling that with the second Diamond 5-meter cable, I will have the same problems as with the first ... I hope I'm wrong ...

 

[hpsxrb]

Since yesterday, "b0bb" advised me that combination of HQPlayer + Sotm sms200 + LKS, instead of my current one (Foobar + Diamond 5meters + LKS), I am looking and informing myself on the web and in another forum here, Spain, " AudioPlanet ", and I see that everyone speaks wonders and they are very satisfied with the same combination that you recommend here, hqplayer, sms200, lks. I see that the opinions on the matter are of the highest satisfaction. But, it seems to be from what I see, that HQPlayer is not compatible with my Windows7 ... Only with the W10.
(... One more thing I will have to update ...)

You could upgrade windows 7 to Windows 10 Pro with 2,20€:
https://www.allkeyshop.com/blog/buy-windows-10-professional-cd-key-compare-prices/

 

[Gilberto 62]

Well I have written an email to the support of HQPlayer, the gentlemen of "Signalyst" about the compatibility of your player and my old-fashioned windows7 and they have already answered me.
".... Total incompatibility ..." Well, it doesn't worry me much, because soon I will update all the hardware of my pc and, logically, I will put windows10 ...

 

[oldearwax]

5 meters, but that is the distance between my htpc and the dac, well, a little less. But gentlemen, how is it possible that a 1500 euro cable does not work ...? 5 meters is a lot ...? so why do they sell them ...?

Have you tried adding an external USB Hub in your usb pipe ?
That is: PC->2.5m cable -> USB Hub -> 2.5m cable -> LKS dac ??
I don't know for sure if this will work ...
Some computer monitors have built-in USB 2.0 hubs ...
if yours have it ... test the idea without spending more $$$$, save your $ for Barcelona games

 

[Gilberto 62]

Thank you for your input "oldearwax". At the moment, I am waiting for the new Audioquest Diamond 5m cable. I hope and wish, since the damn cable has cost 1500 euros, it works. If not, then I will look for another alternative. But this does not have any logic, Audioquest is not a brand of sh .., I think it is a serious brand, therefore, if they sell a 5 meter cable, that cable has to work, yes or yes ...

 

[AuxInput]

One thing about Audioquest HDMI cables I have noticed is that they use very small gauge conductors. I tried a 2 meter Vodka HDMI cable and found out from Audioquest technical support that this cable has very small 30awg conductors. This was not happy making for me and it showed in the audio/video performance. I suspect the same small conductors are used in their USB cable. If you look at other brands, when they have really long HDMI cables (such as 5-10 meters), they will increase the size of the conductor to allow less resistance on the conductor for the square wave pulses. The long cables, such as 10 meters, will use larger 24awg conductor and even one that I saw uses 23awg conductors! Long HDMI cables will operate just fine with 1080p signals, but as soon as you start getting into the 4K signals, it requires a very fast pulse and higher bandwidth requirements. The long cables just start to fall down because the square wave pulse just does not make it all the way to the end properly. Let's look at one of the best cables - Nordost cables. They are one of the best designs, but as soon as you hit 5 meters, the cables automatically become active cables. This means there is a special chip in the end HDMI plug that boosts the signal and also accelerates the rise time of these digital pulses so that the target TV or projector can actually read the pulses.

I suspect the same thing is happening here with your 5M Diamond. You probably can play any PCM files just fine, but as soon as you get into DSD files (which are huge and require much higher bandwidth) it starts falling down. Using a very small awg conductor without any sort of active/boosting circuit will start to fall down on higher data rate pulses.

 

[Gilberto 62]

Pues lo tengo más claro que el agua (... como decimos aquí, en España ...). Si cuando el segundo cable de Audioquest llega a mi casa y tengo problemas nuevamente, vuelva a cablear a la tienda y encuentre otra solución.

 

[hpsxrb]

You do not need to change how you use your PC on your deskop.
-Today you use Foobar to play your music
-Use HQplayer instead of Foobar in the new setup to play your music.
You do not need the extra laptop.
SMS200 box will work with HQPlayer as a sound interface just like the Amanero.
SMS200 also cleans up noisy signal from PC. LKS004 performance will suffer greatly if this step is not done.

The advantages to solve Gilberto's problem are unquestionable but the drawback is that it does not allow DSD512.

 

[Gilberto 62]

Well, I have it clearer than water (... as we say here, in Spain ...). If when the second Audioquest cable arrives at my house and I have problems again, rewire to the store and find another solution.


"....Sorry, I put this message in Spanish, I forgot to use the translator ..."

 

[b0bb]

The advantages to solve Gilberto's problem are unquestionable but the drawback is that it does not allow DSD512.

That is in context to SMS200 running HQplayer (HQP) NAA endpoint, it is underpowered.

It will run the Roon endpoint at DSD512, however Roon's implementation of DSD upsampling is not as good, for example HQP's ASDM7EC SDM/DSD modulator at DSD256 hands down beats Roon at DSD512 in terms of sound stage width and depth, bass slam and lack of edginess and glare.

Roon in turn is a huge step up from older streamers like the Squeezebox and MPD based players.

Unless you have the DSP processing capability (filtering, upsampling, rate conversion) to take full advantage of DSD512, I would not worry about the difference.