The NOS1 sounds fine, but I still have to be careful about where the single ended interconnects are routed or I do pick up noise.  I purchased a right angled IEC connector to make everything fit back there and I have a piece of foam in between cables to keep power and signal separated as much as possible.  At least with the NOS1 power and signal are at right angles so inductance is minimised, but that is not so with the B'Ass.

If feasible, I would move the XLR's to the right to make room for the IEC at the far left.  The real RFI source is likely to be the transformer ringing when the diodes switch on and off, so keeping the transformer away from everything is probably a more important consideration. 

Anyway, these are just casual observations from the other side of the world Peter, and there is more to think about than the little item I raised.  I thought you were getting tired of "talking to yourself", as you put it - haha.

Anthony

Peter, my eyes opened up when I saw the AC inlet right next to the single ended inputs and outputs.  Obviously I don't know how everything is laid out inside, and certainly not to criticise your layout, but personally I would have them separated as much as possible, and would stick the AC in the opposite corner.

Anthony

I think that is fantastic Peter, and congrats to Paul so far for the design.

Might we one day end up with an aluminium NOS1a case?

Peter, will XXHE 2.06 and the larger (32GB) RAM OS be available to people that do not get your new PC?  I ask because I do have a nice hi-res collection that contains some of my favourite music.  For example it is a p.i.t.a. to have to load half of the Max Bruch Violin Concerto (DXD) just so I can listen to it...then after that has played I load the second half.


Interesting.  I have observed this but not tested it but now you seem quite sure about it.

Once you undemo XXHE and hit that MinOS button the sound quality leaps forward...not a subtle change.

I am quite sure that fanless will not work in my (Australian) environment even when the cpu is throttled down.  That is unless you can get a pile of heat-pipes from the cpu to a big heatsink stuck to the side of the case...which is unobtainable for LGA2011 as far as I can see...the ones that are available are for use with case fans rather than cpu fans so do not really save anything in regards to fans.

I will probably make my own passive cooling setup for this reason with some generic heatpipes, some lumps of copper and a custom PC case.

I have that problem too.

No problems Robert.  I am glad that we have been able to find a solution albeit requiring a lot of re-ripping of cd's.  Peter did mention earlier in the thread that he may be able to get XXHE to handle the error, which would be great, but he is very busy with other things so I doubt it will happen overnight.

In the meantime I will re-rip more of my cd's.  EAC should sound exactly the same and dBpoweramp or any other bit-perfect ripping software..but who knows?

Cheers,

Anthony

Yes, Peter does rely on measurements, as he should, but he also is capable of figuring out what needs to be measured and adjusting the design to suit.  That 'working towards a goal' is much more productive than just taking stabs in the dark and hoping for the best.  Identifying what needs changing and then achieving that change is the right process to follow but is one that is not easy to do unless you have a keen intuition for these things.

Well, it was not MSB that sent me their dac but the distributor.  I had called them up seriously interested in the dac, and I let them know that I had Peters dac here in the initial 90 day cooling off period and the distributor thought the Analog was up to the task so they couriered the demo unit, server and cables to me for a few weeks to try and make the sale. 

This same dac had been in Melbourne just a week or two earlier and had knocked of a high model Lampizator and another strong contender (cannot remember which) at an audio get together so it was properly run-in and everything was right about it.

So there is nothing special about me...I was just in the market for a really good dac and I had taken a punt on Peter (I was the second NOS1 in Australia - the other is about 3000km away) and I needed to do my due diligence for such a transaction.  I'm glad I did...it sort of quenched my desire to keep looking!   

Hi Paul,

At that time I had one of the predecessors to the NOS1a 75B, the humble NOS1 (still have it - but am also listening to a NOS1a as well) which is a couple of steps down the Phasure ladder.  I was also running an earlier XXHE, which has improved, and had no Intona, RAM-OS or Clairixa USB or any such things...so it was a NOS1 with $2 USB and XXHE 1.186 if I remember correctly.

The MSB was the "top of the range" spec with the uber power supply etc. but was considerably "thinner" sounding than the NOS1, less weight across the entire frequency range, especially noticeable for me in the vocals and the percussive instruments.  Considering the difference in sound between the NOS1 and the current NOS1a, which I know quite well by now, and assuming that the MSB has stood still since that time (I don't know if it has or not) the gap would be considerably wider in that respect now.  Plus with Peters B'Ass unit under development and his enthusiasm about  its effect, I think that the MSB as I heard it then would be quite a step backwards from the current NOS1a/XXHE setup.

One of the things that I have noticed about the Phasure dacs when comparing them to other good dacs is that the Phasures always seem more balanced and composed and therefore engaging across all music genres.  I have heard dacs that sound better but they are only better for a certain genre or two (think girl and guitar or early Jazz or Blues), and if you poke orchestral or even modern rock at them they fall apart, but in their target area they can be stunning.  Is this accuracy?  Heck no, not if they cannot play other kinds of music well.  Would the current NOS1a/XXHE combination still sound lesser than those specialist dacs when they are operating in their own ecosystem?  I actually doubt it now, and I should probably schedule a rematch if I was at all concerned about it, but I am not.  The MSB Analog is more accurate than many dacs I have heard, but it still did not 100% dig out things like the growl in some female vocals or the proper pitch of the piano and display them with their colours intact.  Piano, percussive and vocals are the most difficult things for a dac to get right in my experience, in that order, and I have heard nothing that has been as good at replicating these sounds as the NOS1a.

The MSB guys also delivered to me their under-development server and some expensive power cables that supposedly go well with the MSB Analog, and to my surprise I did hear changes with those cables but they were for the worse...yet thinner sound especially in the mid and higher frequencies.  The special server seemed to work fine and I never could manage to get the MSB drivers installed properly on my XXHE PC to run it from there, although I would have liked to.

You will notice that I don't mention soundstage or image depth or "tightness" of bass when talking about the sound. These are not things that greatly contribute to my listening pleasure...I care about tone, engagement and reality.  The NOS1a is superb at all of those things, including that which does not worry me (well not the tighter bass - that is a misnomer in my opinion) and more, including its balance and composure during complex passages of music.   

I hope that helps.

Cheers,

Anthony

Well, home from holidays today so I burnt a couple of my problem CD's using EAC instead of dBpoweramp and they both played through perfectly, so it does appear to be a ripping problem as you suggested Peter.

No,  the kids are ok... great actually... But I now have a dedicated bench to do this stuff so it is sooo much more convenient and I can do an hour or two in the evenings after they have gone to bed and I don't have to worry about shutting them out when the mains voltages are live.

So have you figured out an ATX startup and shutdown protocol for your supply? Or is it specific to your motherboard?

Anthony

Very interesting Rob, thanks for posting.  sort of nice to know I am not alone in this.

I might have a quick look at EAC.

Cheers,

Anthony

Hi Peter,

I reckon there is a good year of tweaking to get the power supplies to their optimum, especially once all the options are trialled.

Not sure on what I would need to spend 1500euro...although this project has already cost at least that so far.

Anthony