PS Audio Music Server In The Pipeline?

Network Audio
785

Yes, this Nucleus+ w/ Convolution Filtering and Bridge II is the bomb. I just started using my Utopia headphones with Nucleus+ Roon cross feed DSP and man is that amazing. No HP fatigue. Yeah, Roon years ago is not this Roon OS on Roon HW… Just think, $1500 solution that sounds great. Going to the Nucleus+ and CF was worth the additional $1,000. Now add Sbooster LPS, powered from a P20 and there you have amazing SQ for $3K…

If Roon ever decides to integrate HQ Player for the Nucleus/Nucleus+… a game changer for sure…

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786

Just wondering - what’s “Convolution Filtering” and why would you need the bridge if your using the Nucleus?

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787

The Roon Nucleus connects to your network via Ethernet to the Bridge.

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788

@Paul

I’m quoting you below from one of your daily posts because it seems really interesting AND, I think, a substantial discovery. Or, has this been known for a long time?

" …A FLAC file (for example) requires far more bit crunching to extract the original bits than does a WAV file. Those crunched bits contaminate the final output signal through mutually shared power, ground and physical signal traces."

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789

It’s been known by us for a while. I don’t think it’s known or recognized by many other companies.

790

Convolution Filtering is a DSP option in Roon that adds a room filter to your Nucleus+ (need the + for higher performance I7 as opposed to I5 platform). This CF is implemented by sweeping your room and sending the results to a company that specializes in CF. You add the CF to adjust for room acoustics. This filtering plus good room treatments results in amazing SQ. Below are a few links to help you understand the theory, implementation and company that provides the service. Personally, I would not buy a server that does not offer this DSP option, the reason I went Nucleus+ as opposed to PSA. I asked 6 months ago f the Octave was going to have CF and the answer was No. I find this DSP option amazing.

Adding a CF costs ~$200 for the filter from HAF. Use REW (Room Eq Wizard) software w/ usb mic to sweep your room. Cost me $100 for the equipment. Sweeping the room is a given to first understand what room treatments you will need to arrive at better SQ. Born out of that process, since you have swept the room already is getting a CF filter for combined better SQ. Every room has issues unless you design the room and even then, there are issues. CF is one tool used to combat poor room SQ. The reason I would never get a server that did not have this capability. When I move, I can take my server and set up the next apartment or home.

Just so we are clear; my PSA DMP does not have this CF capability, my Nucleus+ has it so streaming just got so much better. I thought my DMP was the bomb till I implemented my Nucleus+ w/ CF. It was a game changer for me. Streaming is the ticket…

Convolution is a term used in Laplace; it looks like multiplication. X(s) * H(s) = Y(s). X(s) is the input; H(s) is the transfer function of a system; Y(s) is the output. You multiply (convolve) the system transfer function by the input to produce the output in the complex domain (s). The room filter is convolved (H1(s)) by the signal path input (X(s)) to produce an adjusted SQ output (Y(s)). There is also z transform for the digital domain. Hope this helps…

Home Audio Fidelity
https://www.homeaudiofidelity.com/

Roon Discussion

Roon Nucleus uses Ethernet to communicate. I have an AQVOX-SE switch between the router (in another room) and the PSA DAC & Nucleus+. The Block Diagram above in this post will illustrate the Nucleus+ configuration.

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791

Wasn’t aware of this technology. So no Ill effects from the eq - all the processing happens before the DAC?

792

Yes, I get benefits, no SQ detriment, SQ better… CF has been around for a while… removing the CF is a switch (Roon DSP) so you can A/B it to make sure there is SQ benefit, not detriment. Always listen to your ears, they are the true tell of amazing SQ. I always listen and pay very little attention to words. In the end I am left with the bill for stereo and I am left with the results. Spend the time listening to your system and trust yourself.

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793

Nice - Very cool technology.

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794

Regarding flac vs. WAV, I had an interesting experience listening to a track I have several versions of. It seems the 44.1 16 bit WAV sounded as good or better than the 24/96 flac. Converting the hi res flac to WAV yielded the best results, but interesting to think how much sonic compromise there is in the real-time uncompressing.

795

It seems strange to me that the flac decompression wouldn’t happen all at once, over the course of a second or two at most…then the resulting wav would play.

I’ve not bothered with the comparison as there are so many other variables that impact what I hear or not.

796

Yup, for this reason companies like Roon have long recommended separate server and separate ‘endpoint’ (isolated by ethernet or fiber connection) - compared with a direct USB connection (for example) between server and DAC.

A networked DAC (ethernet/fiber input) with Roon achieves the same, as long as the DAC has properly designed around the network input well (noise isolation from the rest of the DAC, especially analogue section, for example). In this case, Roon decodes the files at the server (Roon Core) end, NOT at the PSA Bridge end.

And obviously the PSA Music Server is going to pay a lot of attention to isolating it’s output for connection to the DS, with it’s AGAI solution.

797

Paul,

Do you have a ballpark price for this new server? I’m in the market for one, but can wait a few months if I think it is within my budget.

Thank you,

Geno

798

No exact price tag yet although Paul has hinted something in the region of US$ 6k.

799

Between $5K and $6K depending on the final BOM (Bill of material).

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800

Geno, it will be longer than a few months for the PS server to be released, but if you’re serious about top sound quality it will be more than worth the wait. In the meantime you can just use a standard computer and something like jriver. I think PS’s new server is going to be more like an audio device in the sense that it will be a product you have in your system for the next decade or more, (as opposed to looking at it as a computer, which becomes outdated much more quickly), and that’s worth the wait and expense.

801

In addition to a server, is PS Audio considering offering a pure network player?

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802

3 or 4 years ago Jesus at Sonore recommended that I do conversion from ALAC to WAV on my NAS cpu rather than give the renderer (the Bridge) this task, presumably for this reason.

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803

Happy with Minimserver on my Melco converting flac to WAV :wink:

804

I have used several servers and streamers, some audio bespoke, some not. My current unit is an Auralic Aries Mini with external PSU and internal 1TB SSD. It costs under $1,000 in total, handles Qobuz, Tidal and Roon and sounds superb. I have a new unit on order, due later this week. Once ordered, they run a proprietary disc format and run it for 72 hours non-stop before sending it out.

Any streamer/server is a computer in the sense that it needs a processor, and the choice of processor will be determined by the operating system and software that it is intended to run.

There is a trade-off between processing power, efficiency, heat etc. If you want Roon capability, which I do, full capability allows running 8 zones simultaneously with upsampling to DSD256 and filtering and ripping and storing all at the same time. That requires an Intel i7 processor. I have chosen a device with a much less powerful Intel N4200 processor, more than capable for my needs, not least because my audio system operates at 24/192 on all sources. I have also chosen a 4TB hard drive. It is is SATA, but it is buffered in RAM. It can use external usb or networked data, but that is streamed directly rather than via RAM.

I don’t think anyone can predict what operating systems or applications will be available in 10 years time and what operating system and/or hardware architecture will be needed to operate it.

The fact is that servers and streamers have been optimised for audio for as long as I’ve been using them, since 2010. In those days most of them were based on basic computer hardware and software such as Windows Media Server. Now they tend to run on Linux or proprietary operating systems designed for the job in hand.

The Devialet Expert streaming processor effectively reached end of life after 8 years (still works, no software updates) and was subject to a return-to-base upgrade that was very cost effective and the new card has lots of unused capacity to provide hoped for future-proofing. The operating system is being completely re-written, to improve performance and functionality, including full Roon compatibility, and a single platform over all the company’s products. Auralic sensibly used Lightning over all devices, but they all do much the same thing.

I’ve never used a computer as an audio source, other than sending from Qobuz on OSX over Devialet Air. There have always been better solutions, such as the Naim UnitiServe, a bespoke audio ripper/server/player that was released in May 2010.

The most obvious example is Melco, which is a division of the computer company Buffalo, who have done a very good job optimising servers for audio. There is now a lot of choice, from $1,000 to $15,000 from one company alone, depending how much optimisation, processing and storage you want.

Many companies are innovating and optimising and I have no doubt that PS Audio will bring something new to the party. How they deal with hardware (Devialet had a global hardware upgrade programme still running after about 18 months) and software upgrades are important strategic decisions.

p.s. Naim repplaced the UnitiServe with the UnitiCore. They had to completely rewrite the operating system and the old one was really dodgy. The new unit is cheaper and Roon Ready.