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In Reply to: RE: Ever thought about remote controlling the cMP setup through smart phone or tablet? posted by Mihaylov on November 03, 2011 at 15:02:58
Yes Mark and Serge, have been thinking a lot about headless, but with more simple mobo like FitPC. Maybe new generation can handle upsampling @ low CPU-frequency. Since PCI is almost 'legacy' it would also mean change to usb-dac or usb-I2S/SPDIF interface.
I did experiment a bit with headless in my current setup: multiboot Win7 (for convenience and webradio),cplay original, Steppe5. i tried headless on W7, was most easy to set up.
In Win7 i compared:
1: monitor + ps2 keyboard + serial mouse via COM-port + no LAN + playing from SSD
2: headless + playing from NAS
1 sounded better. Maybe because of not-dedicated noisy NAS and router. I noticed the LAN-chip is quite noisy too. Any ideas? Did i miss anything?
So this is why i currently stick to monitor and keyboard when playing CMP2. Mouse only needed when changing settings (normally switched off in bios).
Douwe
Follow Ups:
[I] have been thinking a lot about headless, but with more simple mobo like FitPC. Maybe new generation can handle upsampling @ low CPU-frequency. Since PCI is almost 'legacy' it would also mean change to usb-dac or usb-I2S/SPDIF interface.
cPlay uses the SSE4 instruction set when upsampling to 192KHz but Intel Atom processors do not support SSE4.
A 1.6 GHz dual-core Atom is plenty powerful enough to upsample to 192 KHz but you need to use the likes of Foobar to do it. Even a one GHz, single-core Atom can upsample to 96 KHz using cPlay. The restriction is not one of speed.
There are several Intel-designed, mini-ITX format motherboards with a PCI slot, including one (more expensive) version that uses a 12-volt supply only that is particularly easy to run off a linear PSU.
Dave
Thanks Dave, important information for me! My modded Benchmark DAC-1 upsamples to 176KHz (Tentlabs clock), and i let CPlay sample up to 88.2. So i understand now Atom can do this.
I did understand from previous posts that cpu-frequency is not important, it's about the juice the cpu needs, am i right?
Right now i'm looking at Asrock AD245PV3 and GA-D425TUD; both single core, and mybe even underclocking/undervolting possible.
What do you think?
Douwe
cpu-frequency is not important, it's about the juice the cpu needs, am I right?
I'm no expert but I suspect the SQ of a mobo is affected by many things on top of power draw - quality of layout & components, how well bits conform to spec and so on. Power draw matters - but so do lots of things.
I'm looking at Asrock AD245PV3 and GA-D425TUD
You might consider boards such as Intel's D945GSEJT and D510MO or, if the budget is up to it, a Fit-PC. Unlike the Asrock, none of them need cooling fans. In my case, I assumed that Intel's boards would be reasonably well laid out but I've got no proof. They sound good. My Fit-PC sounds excellent though it's a modest spec.
maybe even underclocking/undervolting possible
Underclocking is relevant if your board has to support SSE4 instructions (i.e. can do 24/192 with cPlay) as boards that do are generally far more powerful than our application requires. Underclocking tames them - but it's a bit of a trick.
If you can live without cPlay-24/192, why not pick a low-power board that doesn't need taming and stop worrying about under-clocking? Such boards have, of course, fewer bits you can turn off - because they are not there to turn on in the first place.
Dave
In the Netherlands they sell a product called : "klik aan klik uit" a simple remote controlled 220V on/off device that sits between the powercable and the wallsocket. I've plugged the monitor in one of these and after I've selected my music I simply switch off the power to my monitor and "hey presto"!
BTW, I also use this to switch my cmp pc on/off remotely, after listening I do not shut down properly but simply kill the power. Works like a charm!
Yes, i used to use this too for a long time (still do for the ccfl backlight), until i just gave it a try to isolate ccfl. Was great improvement.
To be sure i just did an A-B test with the same type monitor, untweaked. Conclusion: still very happy with the tweak! For only EU6 and 30min work a nobrainer.
Other point is that these remote devices are single switchers so the display will not be totally disconnected from the net. I used these devices to switch a 5V adaptor, which in turn feeds (or not) a double relay. in my setup this gave a little better sq. Other thing was i discovered that if cmp2 starts up with monitor connected, and monitor is switched off, this had (in my setup) a slghtly negative influence on sq.
To switch off the computer with such a 'remote wallsocket' is for me no option, with the batteries, inverters and all.
Did You try to compare the two modes:
1. monitor + ps2 keyboard + serial mouse via COM-port + no LAN + playing from SSD
2. monitor + ps2 keyboard + serial mouse via COM-port + LAN + playing from SSD
to see how LAN worsens sound? (LAN is turned off in BIOS).
Serge.
http://cmp2-mihaylov.narod.ru/
My cMP2: Windows XP SP2, Gigabyte GA-H55M-UD2H, Intel Core i3-530, Corsair CM3X160C9DHX 1GB, system drive - Transcend IDE FLASH MODULE TS2GDOM40V-S, ESI Juli@, full linear PSU, NAS - WD My Book Live, iPad
I did two tests:
A: in cMP-Steppe5 i tried different combinations, playing from ssd + monitor + ps/2keyboard (in my xp-cMP2 LAN is disabled / removed).
B: same LAN-combinations in the WIN7 setup + ps/2keyboard + serieal COM-mouse + monitor.
Same results in both setups.
In SQ-order (a=best):
a. LAN disabled in bios
b. LAN enabled (but not approached by xp in the cMP2 setup)
c. LAN disabled lancable connected
d. LAN enabled lancable connected
Differences between LAN enabled/disabled are subtle; between cable yes/no connected a little bit less subtle.
So what does this mean? LANcable brings in noise? Lancable makes chip (more) active? Noise from the led in the lansocket? Noisy NAS (because not dedicated and standard adapter-psu)? Noisy router? Noisy router-psu? Maybe noisy wlan-accespoint (powered by it's own lancable)?
other question: i don't think its very safe to allow headless stripped xp on the local network, do you? how do you guys take care of this?
Douwe
Thank you Douwe for your tests. Tell me please what kind of lancable (patch cord) you are used: screened and shielded or not?
Serge.
http://cmp2-mihaylov.narod.ru/
My cMP2: Windows XP SP2, Gigabyte GA-H55M-UD2H, Intel Core i3-530, Corsair CM3X160C9DHX 1GB, system drive - Transcend IDE FLASH MODULE TS2GDOM40V-S, ESI Juli@, full linear PSU, NAS - WD My Book Live, iPad
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