Maximising sound quality from USB

[struth]

yup mostly my streaming is my own cd copies, although i do use qobuz etc too and find they are mostly good. some are upgraded they say but are mostly just made too loud instead of a proper remaster. ive about 5/600gb of cd's or my own copies of vinyl whicch come out well

[CageyH]

A major step forward today. I removed the Elfidelity USB card from the system, and I am feeding my DAC directly from the motherboard USB. It sounds better to my ears, so the Elfidelity is not going back in.

[CageyH]

Today I spotted a Matrix Audio Element H at a price I could not refuse, so I bought it, as it is supposed to be an improvement over the onboard USB. I will feed it from an after all battery to start with, and if it is better, I may invest in a Linear Power Supply for the PC.

[CageyH]

The Matrix Audio card has arrived, and is fitted.
I am pretty sure it is subtly better running off the internal power. It is not a massive difference, so I am glad I did not spend the €400 that they go for new.

Hopefully, an HD Plex 500W ATX linear supply will be on the way to me soon, then it is job done on the digital side, for now.

[Jimbo]

So what is your complete digital set up at the moment Kev?

[CageyH]

Fanless PC (Asus Maximus Hero VIII / i7-6700k running as a i7-6700T / 16 or 32Gb Corsair RAM / Intel 512Gb M2 NVME / Samsung Evo SSDs / Corsair HX750i ATX PSU / Asus GT 1030 passive GPU / Matrix Audio Element H USB) connected to my RME ADI-2 DAC FS with a Neotech OCC silver USB cable, streaming from Amazon HD, or using Squeezlite through LMS. Fidelizer Pro is installed. OS is Win 11.

The DAC is connected to the Pre90 using Elecaudio OCC cable (I prefer this to the Neotech commonly used) using balanced connections, which is then connected to the Mod 686 using balanced connections, and then OCC speaker cable. The DAC is powered by a LDA linear PSU.

[Jimbo]

Fanless PC (Asus Maximus Hero VIII / i7-6700k running as a i7-6700T / 16 or 32Gb Corsair RAM / Intel 512Gb M2 NVME / Samsung Evo SSDs / Corsair HX750i ATX PSU / Asus GT 1030 passive GPU / Matrix Audio Element H USB) connected to my RME ADI-2 DAC FS with a Neotech OCC silver USB cable, streaming from Amazon HD, or using Squeezlite through LMS. Fidelizer Pro is installed. OS is Win 11.

The DAC is connected to the Pre90 using Elecaudio OCC cable (I prefer this to the Neotech commonly used) using balanced connections, which is then connected to the Mod 686 using balanced connections, and then OCC speaker cable. The DAC is powered by a LDA linear PSU.

Did you build the PC yourself?

[CageyH]

I did, using some old bits I had lying around, and a few new bits.
It is built in a Fractal Design R5 case, hidden behind my TV. The case is vented with the top panels removed, and a dust filter installed.

The most difficult bit was tricking Windows 11 into installing on an old machine.

[Jimbo]

I did, using some old bits I had lying around, and a few new bits.
It is built in a Fractal Design R5 case, hidden behind my TV. The case is vented with the top panels removed, and a dust filter installed.

The most difficult bit was tricking Windows 11 into installing on an old machine.

I thought it sounded like a home built PC. A friend of mine builds Monster gaming PCs and is always looking for cutting edge graphics cards and ultra fast GPU etc. I don't understand a lot of it but I believe you can build stuff a lot better than is available on the market unless you pay big money.

[CageyH]

I build all my PCs myself.
I have a monster gaming rig as well for my SIM racing. It allows me to practice circuits before my track days.

However, the requirements are completely different.