[krikor]

I’ve been following the Computer Audiophile Pocket Server (CAPS) builds for some time and with great interest over at computeraudiophile.com. The lurking there is finally over and I just completed the first stage of my C.A.P.S. V3 build which sits somewhere between the Topanga and Lagoon designs (http://www.computeraudiophile.com/section/c-p-s-489/). In keeping with the beach theme, I have dubbed my Great Lakes edition the Boekeloo after a very secluded beach on Lake Michigan in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. The following is also posted over at computeraudiophile.

My goal was to minimize cost while maintaining at a minimum the performance of the Topanga design and ideally moving closer to the Lagoon. There are three key areas I have “compromised” in deference to cost:

Enclosure
Rather than the $65 LGX MC500 chassis from Logic Supply, I chose the $40 M350 from mini-box.com. It looks much nicer and is sturdier than the pictures would indicate. Yes, it has a utilitarian cable-box appearance so may not meet the “good looking” CAPS criteria for some. I like the way it looks, especially the blue edge-lit on/off button. It also provides better ventilation and does not have visible front panel USB ports I am not going to use anyway. There’s also plenty of room inside for this build and given how the SSD mounts there may even be room for the SOtM SATA power filter (I need to measure to be certain of this).

USB Add-in Card
Before investing the long green on the $350 SOtM USB card I decided to first try a lowly $20 SIIG USB 3.0 PCIe card (thanks to 4est for suggesting this). My thinking was that I’d first evaluate how much of a sonic improvement comes from just moving the DAC USB connection off the mobo to the card controller/PCIe bus. Yes it lacks the elaborate power filtering and isolation capabilities of the SOtM, but I may be able to “get by” with the SIIG. I chose this particular card because it uses the uPD720202 chip identified by Renesas as “ultra-low” power, a consideration since I plan to try out battery power.

Battery Power Supply
Though clearly not as slick or user friendly as the ~$1K Red Wine Audio Black Lightning, I pursued a solution with many of the same capabilities for about $160. It consists of 9.9Ah LiFePO4 battery pack from batteryspace.com with a Charge Maintenance Board (CMB) that protects against overcharging/discharging, has a LED “fuel gauge” actuated by push button and can charge/discharge simultaneously. It does not need a smart charger so you can use any “dumb” laptop brick of proper voltage and wattage. Add to this the Y-PWR Load Sharing Controller from mini-box.com and you can hot swap between AC and battery. I’m waiting to get the battery and connectors so I cannot speak to how well this works just yet… stay tuned.


Depending upon how you look at it my build can be considered either a Topanga Plus or Lagoon Lite. Components were bought primarily from mini-box.com and newegg.com due to pricing and availability (the mobo was out of stock at Logic Supply but mini-box had it and offers free shipping on orders over $50).

From mini-box.com:
Intel DN2800MT motherboard/processor - $105
M350 enclosure - $39.95
Card riser and backplate - $12.95
Power supply (12v/60w/Level V) - $15.95 - not necessary if using the battery/CMB power supply below as a UPS


From newegg.com (prices do not include 10% discount via email promo):
Mushkin 8GB RAM - $24.99 (was on sale for $23.99 and yes you can find these cheaper elsewhere)
Samsung 840 Pro 128GB SSD - $149.99 (was on sale for $139.99 at time of purchase)
SIIG 2-port USB 3.0 PCIe Card - $19.99


Battery Supply:
12.8V 9.9Ah LiFePO4 battery pack with CMB - $120 (batteryspace.com) - works like a UPS directly powering the server, simply unplug to go off-grid
Y-PWR Load Sharing Controller - $19.95 (mini-box.com) - not necessary with battery/CMB since that operates like a UPS, but handy for hotswapping power supplies for listening tests
Refurbished 16v 70w laptop charger - $12.95 (Microcenter)


Cost w/out battery supply ~$370
Battery supply ~$160 w/Y-PWR (backout $36 from total if using battery/CMB exclusively)

Total does not include valid licenses for Windows 8 and JRiver MC18. I’m running the 64-bit Windows which was installed using John Doe’s excellent audiophile-tweaked ISO file preloaded with MC18, Foobar and Fidelizer (see the Software forum at computeraudiophile.com).

I got the Boekeloo configured and running last night (AC power only until battery parts arrive). Initial impression is that it sounds good… VERY GOOD… but I need to spend some alone time with the system. As a reference, I’m moving from a software tweaked Squeezebox Touch with a linear power supply into a W4S DAC-2 via coax. More details and impressions to come as I tweak, do some extended listening and add in the battery supply.

[TRADERXFAN]

 Interesting stuff here about substitutions...

Thanks for sharing this and  taking the time to go over the details and provide the pictures. Excellent. 

Be interested to see how it works for you...

[chip]

Is this the card http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815150259

I couldn't find the link for the win8 install.

[krikor]

Is this the card http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815150259

I couldn't find the link for the win8 install.

Yep, that's the card I used.

Here's a link to the thread about the Win8 install. http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f11-software/iso-usb-key-installer-preconfigured-and-stripped-down-audiophile-version-windows-8-pro-including-jriver-and-foobar-14390/

You need to contact John Doe for a download link (which is very slow and does not always work) or use the torrent from abrusc. I can send you the torrent file and it is being seeded by myself and few others, but I'm at work right now and don't have the file on this computer.

[AKLegal]

I am very interested in your battery power supply solution.  If you could give a bit more detail on your setup once you get it up an running that would be appreciated.

[rklein]

I am very interested in your battery power supply solution.  If you could give a bit more detail on your setup once you get it up an running that would be appreciated.

+1

I also have a CAPS V2.  However, I am currently running an Exasound E20 DSD DAC using a 12v 9ah battery (from Cabelas) which sounds very very good.  I would certainly be interested in how your battery power supply works out.

Randy

[krikor]

HEADS UP!! The Samsung 840 Pro 128GB drives called for in the C.A.P.S. V3 Lagoon design are on sale right now at Newegg.com for $119.99.

It will come up as $139.99, but just enter promo code EMCXWVR22 to get the lower price. Free shipping to boot! Wish I had this two weeks ago.

[krikor]

Finally got the LiFePO4 battery with Charge Management Board (CMB). Unfortunately I have been to busy at work and had a head cold that made even thinking about listening to my system impossible. The power connector labeling does not exactly instill confidence, but as long as it works...





Got it charging up and hoping to try it out this evening, but it won't be until this weekend that I can do any real listening. One concern I had out of the box is that the green "charge" LED is dimly lit even when completely unplugged. This means that it will very slowly discharge the battery while unplugged on a shelf. Thinking it was a fault, I contacted batteryspace.com and got this response:

It is normal for the charging LED to remain dim even w/o input power connected. The dim LED draws very small current compare to the overall current to power the board. Also, the CMB is intend to be used like a UPS system so we expect to always have input power coming in.

That actually works out better for my C.A.P.S. build since I can simply run all power through the battery and just disconnect it from AC when I want to go off-the-grid. I'll likely put some sort of double-pole switch on the battery charger AC supply to completely disconnect it from the wall (live and neutral lines). So it seems I won't be needing the Mini-box Y-PWR load sharing board or the 12vdc power supply (saves $36), though I'll probably hang on to the Y-PWR as it makes for easy hot-swapping between power supplies during listening tests.

[Syrah]

I'm really interested in how this works out too.  I'm using a Touch now, and I've wondered how it might compare to the Apple Mini and/or the CAPS.  I think I heard somewhere that the Touch (with software mods) can take on the Apple Mini.  Please let me know your thoughts.  Thanks.

[krikor]

I'm really interested in how this works out too.  I'm using a Touch now, and I've wondered how it might compare to the Apple Mini and/or the CAPS.  I think I heard somewhere that the Touch (with software mods) can take on the Apple Mini.  Please let me know your thoughts.  Thanks.

I have not been able to do any detailed comparison listening due to work, a cold and the unpredictable schedule of our 5-month old baby. But I will say that I am VERY impressed with the sound vs. the Touch and have had no desire to switch back thus far. The focus and positioning of instruments/performers seems improved through the Boekeloo and it has a somewhat more forward and detailed sound, which I'm liking a lot. This gives the music great vibrancy (really catches my attention at times when I'm not actively listening) but it also delivers the music with greater ease/smoothness. This sounds contradictory, but that's how it is striking me right now and it is very enticing. Whether due to the server itself or the fact that I am running it via USB into my DAC rather than SPDIF on Touch, who knows (I can't use the USB hack for the Touch since my DAC is asynch and requires drivers). More to come when I get the time.

[krikor]

OK, I'm back again with my Boekeloo. I was having some battery charging issues that I think have been resolved. I had hoped to use just the battery on its own, with its built-in Charge Management Board running as a UPS (charging when needed and letting me run off-the-grid when I unplug). Problem was that even when plugged into to an AC source for charging, the battery would eventually drain and go into shutdown protection mode.

What I believe is happening is that the charging circuit cuts out when the battery is full (necessary to protect the cells from over voltage) and then comes back on when the battery drains to about 10.5v (as spec'd by the manufacturer), but at that point the CAPS must draw more current than the charging circuit can supply in order to bring the voltage up to the needed 12v and the battery eventually goes into shutdown mode as voltage drops further (again, to protect the cells). Big kudos to batteryspace.com in helping diagnose this issue... their customer service was fantastic!

Soooo, I'm back to using the mini-box load-sharing board that will allow me to switch between AC and DC at will. I've got everything I need to wire this up and hopefully be able to give it go this week/weekend. It will be interesting to hear what differences I experience going back to battery after having used my CAPS on AC for the past several weeks.

[Jon L]

What I believe is happening is that the charging circuit cuts out when the battery is full (necessary to protect the cells from over voltage) and then comes back on when the battery drains to about 10.5v (as spec'd by the manufacturer), but at that point the CAPS must draw more current than the charging circuit can supply in order to bring the voltage up to the needed 12v and the battery eventually goes into shutdown mode as voltage drops further (again, to protect the cells). Big kudos to batteryspace.com in helping diagnose this issue... their customer service was fantastic!

10.5v is pretty low to wait for charger to kick in for most applications I would think.  Why can't we use a smart ("trickle") charger and leave it hooked up?  I've done that with smaller components in past and did not notice any sound degradation when smart charger was connected vs. disconnected to battery myself.

[krikor]

10.5v is pretty low to wait for charger to kick in for most applications I would think.  Why can't we use a smart ("trickle") charger and leave it hooked up?  I've done that with smaller components in past and did not notice any sound degradation when smart charger was connected vs. disconnected to battery myself.

I agree, but the CMB is built into the battery I purchased which allowed me to just use any power supply of sufficient voltage/capacity. In hindsight a standard version of the battery with a smart charger may have made more sense. Also, as I understand it you need a charger designed for use with LiFePO4 batteries since they do not take well to normal trickle charging. At the time, it seemed like a good idea to save a few bucks and get the battery with the integral CMB and a surplus laptop power supply.

[Nick77]

Hi Krikor, can you update this thread with your listening impressions vs Touch with software mods and linear supply?

And how did battery vs AC turn out? Thanks.........

[krikor]

Hi Krikor, can you update this thread with your listening impressions vs Touch with software mods and linear supply?

And how did battery vs AC turn out? Thanks.........

As the saying goes, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. I've never gotten around to finishing off the battery supply (had some initial issues described above) and wiring it up so I could easily switch with AC. Having a one-year-old certainly changes your priorities and available time. That said... who knows, I may have some free time over the long weekend coming up. Sorry to never get that updated.

[Nick77]

No problem, I need to build a new music server for my Touch soon. But if a CAPS type build with JRiver is a superior option then I might just lean that way, so more interested in your Touch comparisons when you have time. Thanks...

[krikor]

I replied offline to a request about how my CAPS build compares to the Squeezebox Touch, but never updated that publicly, so here goes:

Well I finally got things put together over the Thanksgiving weekend and did some listening of my CAPS vs. the Touch. Setup was not necessarily apples to apples as I was listening with the CAPS via USB and the Touch via Coax (I can also use it via USB using the EDO hack, but I didn't go through the trouble of switching back and forth). Did not realize it at the time, but I was also running the stock power supply on the Touch (I forgot that solder connection came loose in the connector of my linear supply a couple months ago and I had swapped this out until I could repair the damage). Did my listening through a Wyred mPre using a pair of Sennheiser HD650 cans.

First, let me say that I'm beginning to think that all these claims of "night and day difference" or "the improvement was not subtle" among digital sources and DACs ignore the fact that they are indeed very subtle. I could live with and will continue to live with my Touch in addition to my CAPS. It has a warmth and rightness to the sound that was hard to ignore (again, acknowledging the fact that these are subtle differences).

- The CAPS had a slight edge in the top end, sounding more open, smoother with a more enveloping soundstage that seemed wider and wrapped out and around me to a greater extent. However, it seemed to achieve this at the expense of warmth (that "rightness" I mentioned above) and bottom end extension. It had a slightly lighter weight sound to it.

- The Touch had better bass impact down low, though perhaps a bit too exaggerated with less control. On the highs, there was a slight edge to sound that gave plosives and cymbals a bit too much shimmer and attention. Not really all that excessive as it may sound, but I noticed the slight difference going back and forth.

Most of my initial listening was done with the CAPS plugged into the wall. Then I switched to battery and noticed another slight improvement, moving a bit closer to the Touch in terms of warmth and bass extension. There was a slight but noticeable noise I could hear between tracks when on wall power which completely disappeared on battery power. I'm not sure if this is the result of the SMPS power supply or the power conditioner I have it connected to (it makes a slight buzz when under high load which was occurring when running the SMPS and charging the battery at the same time). Need to do more testing on that front.

Unfortunately there are so many damn variables, combinations, settings etc. involved with CAPS systems that it is really hard to make any definitive conclusion. Fun playing around with all this, but I'm getting fairly jaded with regards to it all. I have not done any AB listening between board USB and card USB. Frankly, I'm doubting just how much of a real difference a lot of this stuff makes on the sound except where noise (primarily from the power supply) can be kept from traveling down the chain.

I also find the CAPS a bit of a pain to use compared to the Touch. The Squeezebox is just so simple and in the end gives really good sound quality.  For that reason I'll be keeping both in the system, with the Touch getting used when I just want some music playing in the background and for everyone else in the house, but switching to the CAPS when I want to do some real listening (pending some more tweaking).

[dminches]

Thanks for the write up.

What music did you listen to in your testing?

Using a cleaner PS for the touch would definitely help as you probably know.

[Gopher]

forgive my ignorance on the topic, but will an atom based machine like this have the horsepower to do DSD64/128 properly?

[krikor]

Thanks for the write up.

What music did you listen to in your testing?

Using a cleaner PS for the touch would definitely help as you probably know.

Hoping to resolder my LPS for the Touch this afternoon and get it back into the mix. As for music, I have a set playlist I use for reference that I know backwards and forwards... and which drives my wife crazy when I'm tweaking the system. Key tracks include:

Wilco - Jesus Don't Cry
Beck - Tropicalia and others from the Mutations album
Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar Masters Vol. 2 (esp. Cyril Pahinui & Bob Brozman, Dennis & David Kamakahi and Ray Kane)
Tuck Andress - Reckless Precision
California Guitar Trio
Ry Cooder & VM Bhatt - Ganges Delta Blues
Joe Beck & Ali Ryerson - Scarborough Fair/Norwegian Wood
Kraftwerk - The Mix
Tous les matins du monde (soundtrack)
And a few other tracks from Jack Johnson, Laurie Anderson and Tori Amos.

Those are the major ones in heavy rotation, though I have several others in the playlist if the spirit moves me or if I want to test out some specific characteristic (like male a capella voices using the Fairfield Four or Saint Saens Danse Macabre for an orchestral work).