Good idea Peter. Although it is necessary to have some manual dexterity the result is aesthetically acceptable. Maybe the method I used, which requires not remove the bracket is more appropriate for the clumsy people, I think that if the insulator covers only the upper part of the bracket it is thin enough to allow the installation of the card. Even forcing it a bit I think I could use also the screw. Btw are we sure that the screw is not touching the case at all?

Juan

PS. It looks you have used lately the mower, take a look to that green dust under the fan (the grey dust is more familiar to me  )

Gerard, you can buy it here:

- http://www.amazon.co.uk/SilverStone-SST-EC04-P-EC04/dp/B00A0A3GO2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1389898424&sr=8-1&keywords=EC04-P

- http://www.amazon.de/Silverstone-SST-EC04-P-SilverStone-Controller-Elektronik/dp/B00A0A3GO2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1389898544&sr=8-1&keywords=EC04-P

Or here in Netherland:

WAVE Computers Nederland CV
Handelsweg 110
2988 DC Ridderkerk
Phone:+31 (0) 180 - 54 51 70
Fax:+31 (0) 180 - 54 51 71

Best regards,
Juan

I know Peter, I just wanted to clarify a little more what I was really hearing.

Juan

>Peter: I STILL must run into the very first person who an confirm "no noise at all !" and that for speakers which usually are 15dB less sensitive than mine (but can easily be 30dB less).

I said I had no hum at all but it was not totally true at the end. I listened more carefully yesterday with as much as possible silence around and I could heard a very low hum in the woofer. What I can confirm is that in my case the hum was much lower than before isolating the card. In fact the hum was almost inaudible even touching the speakers with my ear while before I could hear the hum from a few cmts from the speakers.

Juan

Hi Leo,

Speaking from memory. Turn all off. Turn on the NOS1 (main on/off switch), wait a few seconds and turn on the dac section (switch n. 2 from the outside). If you see a value of around +/-10.00 is ok (could be + or -, e.g. in my case is -10.00 and -8.50).

Probably you have to repeat the procedure four or five times, only turning on and off the switch n.2 and leaving the NOS1 On all this time.

If you can´t get the correct values then you have to start all the procedure from the beginning. Tourning all off etc.

It looks like it is easier if you have the NOS1 connected to the computer with the USB cable but be careful with the amp and turn it off or otherwise you could have big thumbs when you turn the dac off.

Best regards,
Juan

PS. The light switch for the little screens is n.4 from outside

Good question Alain. As still there is not any explanation on why or how the isolation affects the sound I guess that the best answer is try it and see what happens. I can´t do that but when I return home I´ll do it. I imagine that the same way that as less components are attached to the computer the better for the SQ, as more isolated are the components that are attached to the pc the better for the SQ.

Regards,
Juan

Peter, I think you could very well write science fiction, a possible invasion of aliens, paranormal effects or how it feels when one is abducted by some alien force arrived from some unknown place.

Now I am traveling away from home for a week (again), but when yesterday I closed the door of my listening room, and let all those components in a gloom atmosphere, I felt that a new sound was waiting until my return, a new born and splendidly beautiful sound...

This all happened after isolating the card. What a great discovery, Peter!

Kind regards,
Juan

Hi Georg

Great! now we know something more, I hope you hear also some kind of improvement.

Juan

Hi,

http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=364&area=en

Regards,
Juan

Can not they leave us calm for a while?

http://www.zdnet.com/biggest-hurdle-to-overcome-with-windows-9-the-dead-end-7000025115/

Juan

Peter, I´m never sure if you are laying a trap for us or not  , anyway it's fun and if we move forward it is better still.

This could be a placebo or not but I need (maybe you tomorrow Peter, when someone isolate your card) that other people test the card isolated to see if they hear the same as I do. The highs are smoother and in general all seems to sound better. Really good.

Besides the isolation of the card could be also other circumstances that could contribute to the good sound:

- My Silverstone is getting enough hours on it to start to sound better. I think it has now around 50 hours of running time.

- Today I´ve changed again the CPU speed to 1200GHz and the RAM speed to 600GHz (before I had 3300GHz/1600GHz).

 Hey Peter, thanks for your kind words!

Juan

Hi Mr. Noise,

I don´t use the MoBo connection since I was using a Tecknet USB3.0 card and that´s some quite time ago. With the TeckNet card there was some hum but also my speakers were more sensitive then the ones I have now.

What I´m sure now with the speakers I use today is that with the Silverstone I heard some hum before I isolated the card and no hum at all after I isolated the card.

So:

- Before isolation= hum

- After isolation= no hum

 

Juan

Non of them but the fault was mine. What I wanted to say is:

Before isolating the card I heard a little hum. Now, after I isolated the card I can´t hear any hum. If I put my ear touching the speaker I only hear a slight ssss in the tweeter but not a hum in the woofer, nothing.

Juan

Not, I don´t think there is a difference, it took some times to get it right like always. The only different thing I saw is that repeatedly -1 appeared in one channel and always in the same channel, five or six times. I haven´t seen it before so persistently. I don´t know if that means something.

When I commented about the DC offset I only wanted to say that I´ve found that to set correctly the DC offset is easier when the USB cable is disconnected from the PC. Today I disconnected everything and I had to set the DC offset again and this is why I made the comment, also because you said something about that.

On the other hand I don´t think that when you disconnect the USB cable that connects the NOS1 and the Pc you loose the DC offset, am I wrong?

Juan

Hi Peter,

I made the isolation you said, I believe it is well done. No problem to set up the NOS1 DC offset but it can be done easier if the USB cable is disconnected.

I hear less hum, if any, putting my ear touching the speakers but my speakers are not very sensitive. I did it just to see what happens as you suggested and for me the sound is fine. Better? I really can´t say for sure but I´d say yes. Don´t trust me, I usually find better sound after I make some modification, I´m very prone to placebo  . Anyway the sound is really good, let me say that with less Sssss (I mean my own Sssss not sure either if it is the same Ssss as yours).

To isolate it I used heatshrink tube but only in the upper part of the bracket, it is fixed with blue-tack. I´m sure that the card or the bracket is not touching the PC case, the white piece that can be seen in the green plastic is blue-tack (white) to separate the bracket from the case. As there is not screw the card is like floating, there is a gap between the bracket and the case but the connection with the PCi slot is correct.

Regards,
Juan