[johnjen]

Hey, hey Twhispers in ear), is that your actual Dog?

Please take a closer look.

I'm not sure I follow what you mean…
Yes that is our dog, and take a closer look at what?

JJ

 

[johnjen]

So over the past few days, the SQ has moved into the HE zone.
HE is Hear Everything,
as in all sources of acoustic energy are tightly bound to their parent 'voice'.

And as I posted in the AOIP thread, HE can be described thusly…
"This is a degree of transparency where every sound source (I call them 'voices') are homogeneous unto themselves and are fully recognizable as such.
It's like there is no guesswork as to what I'm hearing, no gaps or confusion in following any single 'voice' be it lyrics or the full 'harmonic structure' of an instrument.
Not to mention the whole of the acoustic impression as it is heard.

IOW there is less mental effort required while listening, less 'strain' trying to figure out, or 'reconstruct' the sum total of the acoustic presentation, as a whole.
There is just the flow of the music as it continues to unfold."

And the SubSonic Bass has become well coupled with articulation and is tight and refined and extended well into the SubSonic region, but also extends upward into the upper midrange as well.
This is what I first heard when I replaced the SMPS with a LPS in my RN3.
It has taken this long for it to fully return, along with all of the other refinements (800 mods, metallurgy, LPS mods etc.) that my entire system can now 'bring to the party' when fully 'settled in'.

It isn't 'spectacular' as in hit you over the head with wowy zowie or dynamic impacts that crush your head…
Well, unless the music includes those acoustic aspects that is, like cannon shots or other artillery.
But the sense of being IN the music, the REALNESS factor, the getting sucked INTO the music, has taken a mother may I step up for sure.

Case in point, for those who have been to one of our Seattle meets and heard Musiqboys system, one of my favorite demo tracks is Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man by Eiji Oue and the Minnesota Orchestra on the Reference Recording label.
They light up the entire room with some impressive honk'n big drum and gong whacks, thruout the piece.
But the trumpets and french horns and trombones are equally as memorable in their harmonic richness as well.

And a sure sign I'm heading for a new peak is that the tLFF has been heading back to its lowest (best) range as well.
When this happens its like the overall degree of focus goes very deep and gets very sharp.
Like when a lens is stopped way down and the depth of field gets very broad and sharp, everywhere.

Put another way, the morié pattern (lack of precise focus) imposed by the entire playback system is minimized as the signal that is generated and then converted into acoustic energy is altered to less and less of a degree.

That is HE.

JJ

 

[mourip]

If you are not using usb at all, you can remove that usb board out and it will sound better. at least it did IME.

+1.

I pulled my USB board out and thought that it made a positive difference plus it should drop the current requirement a bit.

 

[johnjen]

I have to wonder how much of the perceived improvement is just due to having the USB transceiver/decoder chipset not generating noise because it isn't even in the circuit, let alone pulling power.
Sorta like it being powered on but not being used, only more so.

Ever since I've experienced what happens when SMPS's are removed from anything resembling our audio systems, digital circuits have become suspect.

Which when you think about it is oxymoronic because the means to get the digital files out of the digital computer and passed onto the digital/analog converter involves even more digital circuits, and adding even more digital circuits sometimes improves the SQ even further.

But then digital was supposed to be perfect from the get go, and look how far we've come since then.

Paradoxes-R-US…

JJ

 

[rellik]

IMO, CD's and HDCD's are good digital sources. The rest suffer from error compensated repeated coding schemes aka higher digital frequencies. DSD vs PCM or whatever.

PCM is nice in terms of it is pretty much taking the 90 degree transform (rotation) of the amplitide and cross corolatting it (windowed (integral length) integrated multiplication) with time. DSD is just a combed version of PCM, modulating to higher frequency. I dont know if DSD allows for duty cycle changes aka different square wave widths.

This can also yield an uneven form of jitter hence the latest DAC's having I/O for external word clock preferably a oven controlled servo locked rubidium clock. Those only improve in terms of timing after they have been left running for quite a while though...

Its also kinda hard to use the really fun emphasis and de-emphasis functions on DAC's in the analog realm with over sampling DAC's. The Anti-Aliasing filter and de-emphasis filters gets swamped. It has to be done in the digital domain. Emphasis and de-emphasis compensate for ringing at certain bandwidths. Most digital media uses some form of it. How well the DAC can accomplish it is one of the major definers of DAC sound quality.

Kinda similar to RIAA curve or Dolby for casette tapes.

Dual DAC means the DAC has an individual DAC for left/right channel rather than a microlithography switch/optoswitch similar to DLP TV's or transistor. The problem with dual dac is standing wave frequency burnouts in the caps. AKA gotta give it a freq sweep ocasionally.

 

[johnjen]

So my curiosity got the better of me…
Again,
Still…

And this tweak required using the advice from a friend of mine, namely, "closed eye".

I ordered 3 Synergistic fuses, the latest and greatest Black version.
These suckers are $120 EACH, and I was really beginning to question my own sanity for even considering spending this kind of CRAZY $$$ for a fuse, let alone 3 of them.
You know them're those liddel round safety thing-a-mabobs that are meant to self sacrifice if things downstream from them go sideways.

But I figured I'd take one for the team and finally managed to convince myself to mash down on that 'place order' button, but only after closing my eyes.

They showed up yesterday,
I installed them today,
I'm listening to my system now with ≈ 2hrs on the clock.

uh, err, ummmmm…

I had The Toronto Chamber Orchestra, The Pachelbel Canon and Other Digital Delights CD in the cue, so I started to listen to the harpsichord on the "The Harmonious Blacksmith" track.
Uh, Er, Ummmmm…

For those who are familiar with the harpsichord, it is rather a 'dense' (harmonically) and 'rich' instrument.
So much so, it usually sounds like all of the strings are mushed together where all of the resonances of each string merge together and makes for an indistinct 'ball of sound'.

UH, ERR, UMMMMM…
All of a sudden harpsichords are really intriguing and each string can be heard individually.

But WAIT, There's MOAR…

The sounstage has become more focused (in 3d) and expansive, at the same time.
Bass has even more immediate impact and focus along with the tail end of it's resonant nature coming into sharper focus, (think of how the acoustic space dissipates the low frequency impact energy of a big drum for instance), where I can now distinctly hear these resonances morph, as the room resonances interact with that energy.

The mids and top end are more detailed, focused, delineated etc.
And again the truism, 'you don't really know you have a veil UNTIL it's been removed', applies here.
And this only after ≈2hrs.
And both The Rok and Jggy were shutdown so they (especially the Jggy) will need at least a day or 2 to fully recover.

I figure later tonight I'll be in for another HDSuperDuperGlue session, which will make for a bleary eye'd tomorrow.

Overall, at least thus far, I'd say that these SR Black fuses contribute much the same sort of improvements that the Jggy brings to the party.
Specifically, a sense of being up close and personal (sitting in your lap type of directness), and/or being in the middle of the recording, and being able to hear far deeper INTO the acoustic space, which I for one, relish.

IOW, Being IN the music all the moar…

I don't believe that these fuses will be going back within their 30day free trial period.

JJ
ps for those who just might be tempted to try these fuses but might want a more palatable plunge (less $$) the SR Reds are on sale for %50 off (≈$45 each) right now at Parts Connexion.
It looks like a closeout/discontinue this version of their fuse line.
They might go quick, too.
Just a heads up.

 

[somestranger26]

No luck getting the Mutec to stop clicking and popping. Hopefully I can get the SMPS back in, otherwise it's toast.

Things I tried:
-5V, 5.9V, and 6.3V power supply
-With or without earth ground connected (on either end of the connection)
-Removed SMPS
-Soldered wires rather than using clips
-BNC in instead of AES

 

[johnjen]

So if memory serves, your 3+ works without clicking and popping while using the stock SMPS but not on 2-3 different LPS's?

That is baazarrrr.

And rather than toss it, consider contacting Mutec to see what repair services they offer.
Yeah it's gunna be even more $$ but they might just step up and help you out.
Of course they may just stick to the company line and leave you hanging as well.
Still it might be worth investigating, just to know for certain, in either case.

But that sucks for sure.

And I do have 2 SMPS's from my pair of 3+'s (1-USB, 1-non USB version) that are intact if that would help.

edit…
What gauge wire runs from the LPS to the 3+, is it shielded, and how long is it?

JJ

 

[somestranger26]

I don't remember what gauge it is, but should be plenty (I got it from golfnutz). It's not shielded once it goes into the Mutec. Length is only 3 feet. I guess that's about the only thing I haven't tried - rerouting the wires or shielding them, but it only happens after the device has been on for a few hours so I doubt that's the issue.

I have the SMPS, it's just a matter of whether I can remount it. The PCB is a bit f-ed up where I was desoldering it (solder vacuum was not very effective), and then I accidentally ripped off the trace to the power LED when desoldering one of the wires (accidentally swapped the polarity) and the solder hadn't melted quite enough to move it, derp. Pretty frustrating situation but the Ethereum rally will pay for it if I have to "write it off".

 

[johnjen]

I just heard from Mutec about the supply voltage limits.
They say these 3+'s have a 6Vdc upper limit and no less than 5Vdc.
They also say "You should power the MC-3+ mainboard with max. 6V - NOT more! Otherwise the voltage regulators may get broken.".

So could you adjust the voltage to say 5.5Vdc ±0.3Vdc and try it again?
You mentioned 5, and 5.9 and 6.3.
I'm thinking that your 5Vdc may be to low and the others are to high.
So see if that, right in that 5.5Vdc sweet spot, works.

Most LPS's do have the ability to 'trim' the output voltage, so hopefully between the LPS's you have on hand you can dial one of them in at 5.5Vdc

JJ

 

[johnjen]

And on another note.

I now have a more or less set of stock 800's with 2 cables that I can compare to my heavily modded 800's.
One cable is a stock cable cut down to 5' and terminated in a 4-pin XLR.
And the other is a Audio Sensibility Impact cable that has been cryo treated, with rhodium coated 800 connectors and soon to have a rhodium 4-pin XLR connector.

This will allow me to chart the differences as I hear them as I add more of the mods to the 'new kid on the block'.
I'll probably leave the wires with those tiny tiny connectors intact for a while.
But man are those contacts itty bitty.
I can see where simply hardwiring even using these very small gauge wires, will help, let alone using larger gauge wiring which is how my original 800's are wired.

But first I'm gunna play with my latest versions of my VibManagement tweak.
Just to see what contributions it makes all by itself, while keeping these 800's close to stock.

JJ

 

[Golfnutz]

I don't remember what gauge it is, but should be plenty (I got it from golfnutz). It's not shielded once it goes into the Mutec. Length is only 3 feet. I guess that's about the only thing I haven't tried - rerouting the wires or shielding them, but it only happens after the device has been on for a few hours so I doubt that's the issue.

I have the SMPS, it's just a matter of whether I can remount it. The PCB is a bit f-ed up where I was desoldering it (solder vacuum was not very effective), and then I accidentally ripped off the trace to the power LED when desoldering one of the wires (accidentally swapped the polarity) and the solder hadn't melted quite enough to move it, derp. Pretty frustrating situation but the Ethereum rally will pay for it if I have to "write it off".

It's 18ga wire inside LPS right through to the Mutec.

Really sorry to see you're having all these issues with the Mutec. I don't think Mourip removed his SMPS, and he hasn't posted any problems like this (that I've read).

Did you try clipping those 2 connectors from SMPS to PCB first? That's what I would have tried before removing the entire SMPS. I think if you still got the pops and clicks at that point, I wouldn't have bothered removing it.

I'm guessing you used your Rednet 5vdc LPS on the Mutec already without any success, so as JJ suggested, you're probably better off dealing with Mutec directly.

I had to look it up since I didn't know what "Ethereum rally" was.

Ethereum hits another record high, marking a 2,800% rally this year

Glad something is going your way!

 

[johnjen]

So in keeping with the 'too much is never enough' theme, and owing to the fact that when the SMPS's are removed from the 3+'s, it also removes any local reservoir (filter caps) for the +5Vdc that feeds these units.
So, I added a 8µF (100V), and 0.01µF (400V) as a bypass, to both of my 3+'s at the input to the mainboard.
I also wired the back panel switch into the +5Vdc feed so I now have separate local on/off control for each unit.

And yeah I did have to drill a hole in the 3+ (non USB version) to feed the 5Vdc into the case.
And in the 3+ USB version, I removed the USB board and in so doing it left a hole on the back panel to feed the wire into the case, so no drilling required.

Yeah, I'm having some fun now.

Next up is adding bypass caps to the RN3 at the mainboard as well.

JJ

 

[johnjen]

HE Hear Everything leads to Authenticity
And Authenticity is a close relative to REALNESS in that they share the sonic traits of presenting the degree of believability of each ‘voice’ and its relationship to it’s acoustical space.

So, HE leads to Authenticity/Realness, which in turn leads to, “It Doesn’t Matter Anymore”, (IDMA), as it’s now all about listening and experiencing, not analyzing nor listening from the mind. Instead it’s hearing with our heart and a portion of our head takes a back seat to the experience.
But the combined hearing with our heart along with optimizing our heads aural input and thruput yields IDMA.
Does this mean I could quit tweaking? Oh YES!

But realistically it probably won’t happen, mostly because I’m down to the short hairs, the nickel and dime mods which are probably the most fun of all the hands on tweaking I enjoy doing. And of course it’s in my blood so to speak.

And I figure there are a bunch of folks that are experiencing this sort of SQ, one that demands our immediate and ongoing attention to their systems these days.

So the present acoustic presentation is compelling enough that my ability to even want to perform another round of experiments has fallen off considerably as the music demands my full and undivided attention.
But it's also the siren song of temptation too, since it can lead to near sleepless nights as a consequence.
You know it was another late one when the obvious hints of sunrise greet you when you open your eyes, usually at the start of a new album.
Like when I first wrote this and again tonight as well.

And it doesn’t seem to matter what music is being listened to either, be it the very best all the way to even the most mediocre of albums, they all have this strange attractor quality. Even the old Rolling Stones tracks become intriguing and compelling as you hear the master gain come up and the hiss and noise rises followed shortly there after by the music beginning and hearing either the board overloading or an impedance mismatch resulting in various kinds of distortion.

But the killer tracks are so amazing and there seems to be so many more of them, now, as well.

Fun times indeed.

JJ

 

[johnjen]

So I completed the latest round of mods to my RN3.
It now has 0.01µF bypass caps on the +5Vdc that feeds the mainboard.

I also updated the fuse I had added to protect this LPS, to a Synergistic Research Red fuse (they were on sale).

Just another small step for audiokind…

JJ