QLMS, QNAP NAS and the Allo USBridge Signature Player

QNAP HS-453DX: Silent but Powerful Fanless Multimedia NAS with Hybrid Storage, 10GbE connectivity and 4K HDMI.

Resuming A Dedicated Music Server Journey (Part 7)

I last posted in 2012 about my ongoing experiences with running a music server and managing all my music playback within my home via LMS (Logitech Media Server - previously known as Squeezebox Server). It's been 7¼ years since I last posted specifically about it! Time flies - and to be fair I have neglected my love of music in the most recent couple of years too - and only recently have started actively listening again.

Update on Neil Young's Pono Music Service

Pono Player in use at The Audio Saloon Pono Session

Further to the original 2012 announcement of Neil Young's new Pono Music Service, last week at The Audio Salon, was the first time many consumers had the opportunity to hear the PonoPlayer and Pono music. Pono CEO John Hamm was on hand discussing where Pono has been, where it's at now, and where it's headed. It seems to have been Unanimously agreed that Pono sounds great. Read the full article (and see photos of the event) at Computer Audiophile: The Audio Salon Pono Event Wrap-up.
   

"Trauma" by Cœur de pirate

My newest album addition a week or so ago was "Trauma" by Cœur de pirate (Béatrice Martin) which is available on Bandcamp as a 16bit 44.1kHz download in FLAC or ALAC; its also available in VBR MP3 or AAC lossy files, or Ogg Vorbis format. You can also access it using Bandcamp's free mobile access. Released on 14 January 2014 I believe this is Cœur de pirate's only album since Blonde (here second album released in November 2011), so it's been a while coming...

  

This is an album of covers - which a slightly eclectic selection of songs, but very much in keeping with the atmosphere the album is intended to generate (see below), and nevertheless something I'm finding enjoyable and just a little different from Béatrice Martin's other work.

More On Music Server Cables & Shielding

Continuing on from my last post, in August-September I had assembled a second Vortexbox Server, and I then went through and shielded all the cabling in the new server, and all the data cabling in my existing server (I haven't done the power cabling yet as I am contemplating a Linear Power Supply for my server - and if I do so will need to modify the power cables before shielding). I've posted a few images here to give anyone else wanting to have a crack an idea of how to do it just using some basic equipment...

Music Server Gapless Playback, Shielding & LPSU

Continuing A Dedicated Music Server Journey (Part 6)

My next items to address with the server are getting around to shielding the internal cables, and preparing for adding in a linear power supply to replace the existing one. However first, following on from my previous post, Vortexbox have now upgraded the install package to include an option to auto-install Squeezeplay (and disable Vortexplayer) via Yum – which is fantastic. Vortexplayer is reportedly gapless now also, however I believe that is determined more by the hardware implementation of the DAC manufacturer, and so may not be truly gapless 100% of the time. Regarding Vortexplayer being gapless, in the case of the Bel Canto series devices for example, they are very forgiving and have a longish delay when the signal drops before they react and need to relock the sample rate, etc.

The Great WAV vs. FLAC Debate (Part 1)

There has been on-going debate over recent years that even though FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) files use a lossless compression, on playback they still don’t sound as good as an unpackaged & uncompressed WAV (wave) file. The WAV file encased in the FLAC container, although compressed, is still bit perfect – and when unpacked by the music server/source it should be in every way identical to an original WAV file that has not been encased in a FLAC container. However many audiophiles have argued there is a difference that can be heard.

Neil Young's Pono Digital Music Service

Neil Young's new "High Resolution" music service seems to finally be gaining some traction. Rolling Stone reported yesterday it may be expanded and could eventually rival Apple's iTunes (and will hopefully finally force Apple to actually make available decent quality audio files instead of their totally trash MP3/AAC stuff)... He has also unveiled the first Pono media player device for the service.

Earlier discussions this year had centred around the desire to get all the major record labels on board.

The Focal SM9 Joy Continues...

Focal SM9

A few days on (see my previous post) and well I was continuing to be amazed by these Studio monitors and am being drawn even more to the music – at the time they were nearing the upper end of the 20 hours initial running in period at medium to higher volumes that is recommended to get them loosened up – and while I have not perceived any major shift in the sound ‘quality’ the music (as opposed to the ‘system’) they just seemed to get more compelling the more I listened!

Listening to The Eagles, “Hotel California”, in 24bit/192kHz resolution I’ve never heard the drums sound like they did on the title track – you can feel the tautness of the drumhead, feels like the drum kit is right beside you in the sense of the ‘realness’ and texture of the sound…

Continuing A Dedicated Music Server Journey (Part 5)

Since my last post there has been a bit of progress, I now have my server running fan less. This just took a little bit more minor tidying inside the case and the removal of a large heat source from directly beneath the server – my Perreaux 350P Power Amp! In fact this has been part of a major revamp of my entire system (as discussed in my The Joys Of Discovering Focal Pro SM9s post), which basically is seeing my entire audio system (apart from my Subwoofer) replaced around the Music Server & my Oppo Blu-ray Player which will be the only components remaining. One benefit of this big change is a lot more space in my rack, eliminating the heat issue alluded to above – the presence of the Perreaux 350P causing a passive build-up of warm air around the server without the presence of the fan. Now that’s gone the unit is happily running fan less.

The Joys Of Discovering Focal SM9s

Several people who know me thought I might have lost my mind, had a psychosis, or been otherwise mentally impaired! I appeared to be mindlessly selling off all my audiophile & HT gear for no good reason, and being known for careful consideration and cautious analysis of any new purchase this was a radical departure from prior behaviour! But no, it was not all a fit of madness, it’s something far far better, and possibly a piece of Audio Nirvana – for a while at least?! In fact I had to find something pretty special to move me from my Charios… but I found it – well they rather kinda fell into my lap I guess, with a little help from a friend – and that's Focal SM9s!

More On A Dedicated Music Server (Part 4)

One of the challenges I’ve been having is with heat and the chassis fan (see my previous post). It hasn’t been a show stopper but it’s been a bit annoying and has prevented any hope of running the unit entirely fan-less… However I’ve subsequently done a tidy up and rearrangement of the cabling in the case (see image) which has made quite a big difference. I’ve also got the chassis fan mounted in a new position on the side so it’s pushing external air in and into the centre of the case (i.e. towards the motherboard & processor heat sink) rather than being in the back corner partially obstructed by the hard-disk drive and pushing air across the latter and away from the motherboard.

A Dedicated Music Server Journey (Part 3)

Continuing on from my previous post one other component I have included (that I didn't mention previously) is a SOtM Fan Noise Filter. While the Motherboard I have used has  a low power fan-less Atom processor the case itself does include a small silent fan which I have opted to run as it's noise factor is 0 (at least at present). As I had purchased a SOtM Filter (in anticipation of having a CPU fan to deal with) I've inserted this into the case fan power feed - it may not be making a huge contribution but then again it might just be helping, and as I had it on hand it might as well do something!

Talking fan-less Atom CPU's & boards one thing to watch for is ventilation - while the Silverstone case I used (the LC19) has a decent amount of ventilation in the upper surface (about 50% of the case lid is perforated, including virtually all the area above the motherboard), it is reliant on a reasonable volume of air space above for dissipation. I initially had it with just 20mm or so of clearance above and this was inadequate - the core temperatures were usually around +65°C initially (max safe temp is +75°C) however once in the constrained rack space these rose to around +69°C, and once I started ripping a series of Music DVDs they rapidly rose to the limit (and even over, one of the cores sitting at +76°C for some time while ripping DVDs). The heat dissipation was very reluctant even after being idle for several hours, only dropping 2-3 degrees. However once I was able to rearrange my rack to increase the height of the air space above the server to about 7cm the temperatures rapidly plummeted back to their norm, and even while in use happily were sitting around +64°C to +66°C again within about 20 minutes - highlighting how the fan-less CPU's are reliant on the appropriate case ventilation with appropriate space above for their heat sinks to work efficiently.

A Dedicated Music Server Journey (Part 2)

Continuing on from my previous post, as mentioned in closing, first impressions were impressive – for such a relatively simple (and basic) implementation the tangible improvements were apparent from the very first track. Alison Krauss & Union Station’s “Paper Airplane” at 24/96 was like a newly discovered physical entity – the first 2 tracks on this album (“Paper Airplane” & “Dust Bowl Children”) both feature very pronounced strings, and these were so well defined you could almost feel the texture of the taut strings (on guitar, banjo, and such) being plucked and massaged, this was a glimpse of a whole new definition of hi-res playback, where the fullness of the sound was that much more developed, giving a greater detail & depth to the soundstage and an environment where the music just ‘hangs’ in the air completely free from the presence of the speakers themselves…

This of course might seem a bit over the top – my first impression was I just hadn’t listened that closely to “Paper Airplane” previously, so I moved on to Carly Simon’s “No Secrets” at 24/192 (ex 2002 DVD-A), winding up that classic “You’re So Vain” – again I was caught off-guard by the tangible difference from prior playback sessions, Carly’s voice (can I call her Carly, or should that be Ms Simon?) coming through with a wonderful new depth and even warmth, and the keyboards were defined so distinct and tightly – there was no muddy blurring here. Again there was a sense of presence of the music as a whole, just existing in the space, and seemingly freed from the location of the speakers… Further tracks from Carly (sorry, Ms Simon) reinforced that, “The Right Thing To Do” & “We Have No Secrets” also display much greater depth & detail in Carly’s voice and that enhanced sound stage for the whole ensemble. With all the tracks the guitars and other strings were again surprising in their accuracy of presentation; feeling like you could just reach out and touch the instruments, just beyond arms reach; while still having rich and deep mid-ranges & bass… As another AudioEnzer likes to say ‘the sound just opens up…’

A Dedicated Music Server Journey (Part 1)

About 18 Months ago I switched from CD's/SACD's/DVD-A's to FLAC for my music format. The Musical Fidelity A3.2 & NAD C521BEE CD Players, and Plinius 9200 Integrated Amplifier went and were replaced with a Bel Canto DAC 2.5 connected to a Logitech Squeezebox Touch via SPDIF (Co-Ax), and a Perreaux 350P Power Amp. The music collection was all ripped to FLAC and placed onto my i7 Windows 7 PC, which was running Logitech Media Server, and would stream the media to the SqBx Touch via wireless.

The improvement was immediate, and very tangible, moving off optical media onto 'static' (i.e. HDD) digital storage. This was further enhanced with Nordost (Heimdall) Balanced Interconnect between the BC DAC & 350P PA, and replacing the Slinkylinks speaker cables to my Chario Pegasi with something else. However over time this still wasn't enough - the PC acting as a server and streaming data via wireless were 2 not so ideal solutions, the former being the biggest issue for several reasons; and the SqBx Touch not handling 192k sampling well the other (i.e. only via USB)... Consequently in recent months I had begun thinking about possible solutions, including directly attaching storage to the Touch, using ethernet over power to remove the wireless link, or stepping up to a dedicated music server that could fit in my main Hi-Fi rack - the latter incidentally being the only likely solution to the 192k issue...