Oz streamer (not HAKAI)

FairPlayMotty · Post by **FairPlayMotty** » 2019-12-29 19:46

Basing a digital streamer around the Intel DN2800MT or Jetway NF9C Motherboard has several advantages:

1. It sounds great.
2. The case plus RAM and the power adapter costs around £50. There is no power needed via ATX, the power circuitry is already built-in to the board via a barrel power input connector.
3. In the case of the Intel board it has three PCIe expansion card slots. This allows upgrade scope. To use an Intel DN2800MT as a server I ordered an eight sata to PCIe expansion card.

I think these boards sound very good simply because of the simplicity/low power (or maybe luck). I got to the Intel DN2800MT simply by buying an isolation card which I couldn't use on the Gigabyte boards. I saw the Intel DN2800MT for £50 with three PCIe sockets and bought it to try. I'm delighted with it.

Simply add an Intel 320 SSD, use the ESI Gigaport + DAC and it's done. If you want a cosmetic improvement you can buy a new case.

FairPlayMotty · Post by **FairPlayMotty** » 2019-12-29 20:25

A combination of the wisdom on here and that from Antipodeans seems to work for me.

https://www.snakeoil-os.net/wiki/Hardwa ... n-mini-itx

https://www.stereo.net.au/forums/topic/ ... ic-server/

I'm using the cables recommended on here as well.

FairPlayMotty · Post by **FairPlayMotty** » 2019-12-29 20:30

The attached gives me scope to use a board as a server:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000243 ... b201603_53

FairPlayMotty · Post by **FairPlayMotty** » 2019-12-30 13:06

These are the computers I found on eBay.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Aleutia-Fanles ... B003075JOM

Despite the tiny case, there are screwholes on the lid for an SSD drive - not supplied.

FairPlayMotty · Post by **FairPlayMotty** » 2019-12-31 10:05

Good things sometimes come in small packages. For £50 plus the SSD you get a thin ITX Intel DN2800MT Atom Board. It's the same width and length as the mini ITX but much shorter because of the smaller heat sinks and the absence of ATX power sockets etc. The case is around a third of the height of the Streacom but has a specific slot allocated for the SSD, in this case an Intel 320.

FairPlayMotty · Post by **FairPlayMotty** » 2019-12-31 10:10

The lid has the screw holes for the SSD and mesh to aid cooling.

FairPlayMotty · Post by **FairPlayMotty** » 2019-12-31 10:19

rps20191231_091644.jpg

The £50 includes the small mains block, four USB ports (the yellow ones are high charge), two video sockets and the usual sound sockets.

FairPlayMotty · Post by **FairPlayMotty** » 2019-12-31 10:34

The cases seem to be designed to use the standard fittings behind computer screens to save space. The stand isn't included.

FairPlayMotty · Post by **FairPlayMotty** » 2020-01-01 18:26

A very Happy New Year to everyone!

Four new buys to help build a more heat efficient server and better dedicated player. I had found that the Streacom case was getting too warm at times. Rather than do surgery on it I figured a taller case would be a better option.

FairPlayMotty · Post by **FairPlayMotty** » 2020-01-01 18:26

FairPlayMotty · Post by **FairPlayMotty** » 2020-01-03 04:20

http://www.linuxtech.net/reviews/intel_ ... _draw.html

The low power use of this motherboard may contribute to its sound quality (so might luck).

FairPlayMotty · Post by **FairPlayMotty** » 2020-01-12 01:20

The Jonsbo C2 case arrived this afternoon.

I gutted one of the computers I bought with an Intel DN2800MT. Taking the motherboard out is straightforward and you get to discard two small circuit boards (one for the sound card and one for the power buttons etc.).

The C2 is very well built and is being set up to hold eight SSDs. It's going to have enough room to make heat dissipation easy. The three expansion card slots are ideally situated.

As I build it I am recording clips as each component is added to the motherboard. I have to be sure each component is improving the sound or they'll be discarded.

FairPlayMotty · Post by **FairPlayMotty** » 2020-01-21 13:46

Most of the parts to make the Oz Hakai arrived last week and the build was easy.

In summary, this is now my primary source. The Hakai sounds great. In my view this sounds a little better. And at this quality of sound a little is a very valuable difference.

The changes I made were based on a pretty scientific approach on the Oz forum. Three of the changes are applicable to the Hakai. Those are:

1. The addition of the Elfidelity USB Isolation card - it doesn't use either a PCI or PCIe slot. Getting it into a Streacom case is doable. Its only connection to the motherboard is via a standard USB pin connection.

2. The use of one 2GB 1R memory module.

3. Making the Linux install more efficient by using the many tweaks available within the SnakeOil OS.
Most of these haven't yet been implemented (as far as I can tell) by anyone on this forum aside from me but are highly appreciated by many of the people on the Oz forum and are widely discussed even now when the bulk of their hardware changes finished some time ago.

Some of the other changes can only be done using a motherboard with at least one PCIe slot. I will make the following additional changes to my Intel DN2800MT set up:

1. Replace the mass of power cables inside the case with much higher quality cables. This will get rid of the molex and other inefficient connectors inside the case and result in the much tidier and effective case set up like the one posted on the Oz forum by Chanh.

rps20200121_122045~2.jpg

2. Try out the isolation card for the Intel 320 SSD. The views on this were mixed but it's low cost so I'll try it.

3. Upgrade the PSU. Tasso, Chanh etc. considered this to be the biggest upgrade they made to their entire computer audio set up - outstripping the choice of motherboard, SSD, RAM, DAC, OS etc.

Fredrik wisely said if he had continued commercially with the Hakai a new PSU would have been on his list of changes. He's usually correct!

The comparative clips were posted.

FairPlayMotty · Post by **FairPlayMotty** » 2020-01-24 22:26

After building the Oz Hakai I have tried a few changes on the Hakai. One makes a significant upgrade to the Hakai sound in my view.

FairPlayMotty · Post by **FairPlayMotty** » 2020-02-04 06:49

My dedicated player is almost completely built now in a Fractal Design Node 2 case and sounding great.

I have a little cable tidying to do and a couple of experiments on where to put the os to optimise the sound quality. Then I'll finish off the server based on an Intel DN2800MT. The 2TB SSDs are on the way to me. I look forward to comparing the sound quality of this server compared with my Hakai server.

It's interesting to note that the Intel DN2800MT was in an upgraded model of an Antipodes Audio Server.

FairPlayMotty · Post by **FairPlayMotty** » 2020-02-05 21:49

Just as I thought I was done I came across great reports of another ATX, ITX based on the Intel Atom. It cost me $32USD including postage.

I told my girlfriend to castrate me if I buy one more motherboard :)

FairPlayMotty · Post by **FairPlayMotty** » 2020-02-05 22:04

Creation of custom cables for inside the PC:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFGUdRR2Yek

FairPlayMotty · Post by **FairPlayMotty** » 2020-02-10 02:58

The Intel DN2800MT formed the basis of the SotM sMS-1000SQ server.

FairPlayMotty · Post by **FairPlayMotty** » 2020-02-24 04:10

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rps20200224_021733.jpg

This is a 200W pico PSU favoured by the Oz forum and subsequently modded slightly by Paul Pang Audio. I went for the version on Aliexpress for just less than £20.

When it arrives I'll complete a build based on an Intel 2500cc motherboard.

FairPlayMotty · Post by **FairPlayMotty** » 2020-02-29 01:41

rps20200228_234320.jpg

One slightly modded Jonsbo C2 case. So far I removed the original two SSD caddy and added one four SSD caddy. It only needed one hole drilled and countersunk (after removing the motherboard of course). I will add another four SSD caddy when required. At present it has one Intel 320 SSD for the Snakeoil OS and one Kingspec 2TB SSD for music. The other Kingspec 2TB SSD arrived this afternoon and will be added tomorrow. There's one expansion card to add eight sata ports.

rps20200228_234642.jpg

The cables will be tidied in due course.

I'm unsure whether to use the Intel DN2800MT (shown) or the Intel 2500cc favoured by Chanh and others on the Oz forum. As players my daughter helped me conclude the Intel 2500cc is slightly better sounding. At this level small SQ differences are significant. The Intel 2500cc is available from Poland for $32 including international postage.

I'm only using one 2GB strip of 1R RAM and it sounds great to me. The processing power/RAM requirements are small for the tasks performed by the PC.

Once the Z2 pico arrives I'll do a shoot out between the two Intel boards as players and servers, hopefully as a get together. The second Fractal Node 2 case arrives on Sunday.

The progress of this journey has been fascinating for me. The Oz guys typically don't have separate servers and players. It's been clear to me that having both adds significantly to the overall sound quality. As does the use of the Intel 320 for the OS - imho that adds more to the SQ than using 1R RAM.

FairPlayMotty · Post by **FairPlayMotty** » 2020-06-20 23:12

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If you use one of these multi sata cards to build a server please use the following order:

1. Install Snakeoil OS on the Intel 320 plugged into the sata connector on the motherboard.
2. Install the multi sata card plus any SSD drives for music. Then configure the server within the Snakeoil OS.

If you try to build it all at once then load Snakeoil you'll likely get a Linux error message.

FairPlayMotty · Post by **FairPlayMotty** » 2020-06-21 14:54

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ESI604-DC-12 ... Sw4Apebld~

I have no idea what this motherboard will sound like. But it looks very much like the board in the Jetway the Australians used with a slightly different processor model, Note it doesn't include a charger but a suitable charger is cheap on Aliexpress. The case is very cool and I will report on the audio quality when mine arrives - I have a suitable mains adapter from an old laptop.

Close inspection suggests the computer may come with two unnecessary components that have good resale potential.

springwood64 · Post by **springwood64** » 2020-06-27 09:42

I've assembled Pete Oz Hakai (POH) v0.2

v0.1 sounded like it was playing underwater in a tin can through a sock, which was rather disappointing initially. However I switched the USB cable for the DAC to the front panel and suddenly music emerged, at about twice the volume.

My benchmark is the Sonos Connect + Arcam AVR 300 DAC, and POH v0.2 has comfortably exceeded it. My first impression is that it sounds like my turntable.

Any recommendations for tuning FairPlayMotty?

Here's the setup:

IMG_20200627_092338345.jpg

The Sonos Connect will be retired and I'll move my Atom NAS onto the shelf below in its place.

FairPlayMotty · Post by **FairPlayMotty** » 2020-06-28 18:41

springwood64 wrote: ↑2020-06-27 09:42 I've assembled Pete Oz Hakai (POH) v0.2

What's the build of your OzHakai so far Pete?

springwood64 · Post by **springwood64** » 2020-06-29 10:21

My build is:

Intel DN8200MT 1.86GHz Intel Atom N2800 4GB RAM Mini PC in thin case with PSU

Intel 320 Series 120GB 3G 2.5 inch SSD

Deltaco SATA Cable 6Gb/s 0.3m

Gigaport HD+ Dac

17mm adhesive rubber feet (for PC and DAC)

Snakeoil with upmpdcli as music player (with openhome off)

Twonky, BubbleUpnp and MinimStream on Atom PC as Music Server, OpenHome Render and Radio streamer

Linn Kazoo as control