help - my SB 2 has stopped working

[Nick B]

 I am presuming the Vault 2 has a smps which would very likely create some noise and the lack of being able to use a digital power cord is also a concern.
I have looked into the Aries quite a bit and that would be a very nice product. But I'm also trying to figure out how much new cables, a phono section and an a/d converter will cost so I can complete my system in 2016.
So many wants and so little money

See that is what I mean the quest. While you and everyone else are doing that I'm listening to music . Noise, what noise  ? from smps can you or anyone  really hear it

Thanks for your posts, although the tone of this one is a bit rude.  Everyone is on a different path in their pursuit of good music, whether it's diy, a $500 system or a $500,000 one. I don't care and I don't make less than kind comments either. I'm happy that you are enjoying your system.

Yes, I do know what noise is. Years ago, a dealer friend cut me a deal on his braided, unshielded silver cables and the noise was horrible. Sometimes noise is manifested in different ways. When you get a good linear power supply, it can reveal a lot more detail in the music and I enjoy that. What I have now is very enjoyable and I need to fine tune that and add a few more components.

I was on the computer audiophile site and read an extensive review of the Bluesound/NAD products. Good stuff and NAD has a good reputation from what I've read. But the review and none of the Bluesound forum posts that I could find really discuss the sound quality, so I don't think I'll be pursuing the Vault 2.

[richidoo]

These two posts are a huge reason I sold my (beloved) BOLDER CABLE modded SB and Duet.
Music shouldn't be this hard. It's suppose to help drain the trials and tribulations FROM life. Not create more. Shame. Glad you got it fixed though. But there's always a firmware update "right around the corner" from Logitech or Windows that will simply ruin your evening.

A hobby shouldn't be that much work.

Same here. I don't like having Windows in my system. Maybe if I got a new i5 with 8GB memory then background tasks would remain completely in background, but I'm 100% sure of that. But people say I would still hear the task churn affecting the stream quality. If you offer double the CPU cycles to Microsoft they will double the background load to make it "even better!"  I switched to Sonos to get rid of the external server of SB, but SQ is less than SB3. Digital is a tough haul for the audiophile, but it's where the new music is so we have no choice.

I'm intrigued by the latest offering by Twisted Pear Audio that lets a small industrial computer running linux supply I2S stream directly to the DAC (no USB, no SPDIF,) and it also reclocks the DAC and the computer together so jitter is reduced to fS. It is said to sound very good. They also have a version to reclock a Amenero async USB input board which then feeds I2S to DAC. Not too expensive, I might try it since I already have the DAC which I like that is compatible.

[Bob in St. Louis]

It scares me when an audiophile says, "Not too expensive".

[ejk]

It scares me when an audiophile says, "Not too expensive".

How about cheap  

Nick

Didn't mean to come off as rude but after all I am a New Yorker. My point is we can tweak forever and never be a happy. That would make people tweakers I guess.We put this device on that and that device on this. Now what happens when we take 1 device out of the equation maybe it sounds better and we didn't need device number 6 in the chain. To each is own. Could it be the people on the Bluesound forum don't talk much about the sound because they have nothing to complain about. One can sit here and say the sound has meat on the bones, its warm, rich, transparent etc... So what, it means nothing until you hear it yourself. The thread on the Auralec at CA is so long I wouldn't even bother reading it. It's probably all repetitive . Can we tweak this , can we do that, who got theirs yet.

Again I didn't mean to come off rude . To each is own  

[richidoo]

It scares me when an audiophile says, "Not too expensive".

$240    

http://www.twistedpearaudio.com/digital/cronus.aspx

Seems cheap for what it does technically, but it's pouring more money into this DIY DAC, while I'm trying to kick DIY habit.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Ok yea, that's not bad after all. I've heard "Not too bad" and guys were talking about $2400 pieces of equipment.   

Never quit DIY Rich. Ever. Seriously. You do it well.

Bob

[richidoo]

Thanks Bob. Maybe just a short break? Please?

[Bob in St. Louis]

Ok Rich. A short one. You've earned it....although, there weren't enough pictures.

[Nick B]

It scares me when an audiophile says, "Not too expensive".

How about cheap  

Nick

Didn't mean to come off as rude but after all I am a New Yorker. My point is we can tweak forever and never be a happy. That would make people tweakers I guess.We put this device on that and that device on this. Now what happens when we take 1 device out of the equation maybe it sounds better and we didn't need device number 6 in the chain. To each is own. Could it be the people on the Bluesound forum don't talk much about the sound because they have nothing to complain about. One can sit here and say the sound has meat on the bones, its warm, rich, transparent etc... So what, it means nothing until you hear it yourself. The thread on the Auralec at CA is so long I wouldn't even bother reading it. It's probably all repetitive . Can we tweak this , can we do that, who got theirs yet.

Again I didn't mean to come off rude . To each is own  

ejk    We're good. I'm a New Yorker too.... kinda....  When my folks were on vacation one time, I got to go to the top of the Empire State bldg when I was 9 years old. What you're saying is completely valid, but you know, the name of this site is Audio Nervosa! I have spent a lot of $$$ over the years, especially when I was single, and really all I want to do is finish off this project and enjoy the music. I am wanting to complete it now because I have enough knowledge and experience and some money to do that. If I need to know something, I post here or at AC and usually get the info I'm looking for. 

Like I said, if you happy with what you have and can keep
this crazy hobby in check, you have my admiration 
Oh yea... I read all the posts on the Auralic over at the ComputerAudiophile site 

[Nick B]

Ok yea, that's not bad after all. I've heard "Not too bad" and guys were talking about $2400 pieces of equipment.   

Never quit DIY Rich. Ever. Seriously. You do it well.

Bob

Yessir   You're right Bob. DIY is great, but with my skill level, the stuff would very likely never work. "Not too bad" is a scary phrase sometimes.
BTW, thought you'd like to know that SB 2 stopped working again today, but I was able to fix it in about 10 minutes   

[richidoo]

Way to go Nick!