Salk Stream Player

Saturn94 · « **Reply #60 on:** 8 Mar 2014, 09:54 pm »

Quote from: jsalk on 8 Mar 2014, 06:22 pm

I doubt there would be any issues up to 24/96. There probably wouldn't be any at up to 24/192 either, but I haven't really spent a lot of time testing that scenario. I'll add it to my list of "things to do when I get a chance."

I assume you have a DAC with an S/PDIF input. If I recall, Frank Van Alstine had a USB/S/PDIF converter so he could drive his DAC with one of our StreamPlayers (without installing a special USB board in his DAC). It worked well at RMAF when we used it, but I don't recall if it handled 24/192. I'm sure it handled 24/96. Frank's DAC is not a DSD DAC, so I don't know about that either. I am playing with a processor board right now that has built-in S/PDIF ins and outs. I have never tried using it this way, but this board would likely drive an S/PDIF input to a DAC. I'll add that to my list to check out as well.

- Jim

Right now my files are limited to 24/96 max since that is the max my pre/pro (Anthem AVM 20 bought new in 2003) can handle at it's digital inputs (SPDIF digital coax). Frankly, I seriously doubt I'd notice any improvement at higher resolutions. I don't own a separate outboard DAC and have no plans to buy one. It sounds like from your response that I could just hook my portable USB drive where my files are stored directly to the Salkplayer.

I do have this hiFace USB/SPDIF converter that I use to use when I hooked my laptop directly to my pre/pro to play music (my first foray into "computer music").

I don't use it anymore since setting up my Logitech Touch. I'm not sure if it would work with the Salkplayer since I remember having to install a driver on my laptop from hiFace (for some reason I think I remember it's so you could stream resolutions higher than 24/96? So maybe it would work for 24/96?).

My main hurdle though is getting a Ethernet connection from my router at one end of the house to the equipment rack at the other end. There's no access from above (no attic access) nor below the floor access. Adding more boxes to overcome this seems to defeat my thought of a cleaner setup (fewer boxes).

Ern Dog · « **Reply #61 on:** 8 Mar 2014, 10:06 pm »

Saturn, my router is in the garage, so what I used to gain ethnet access at my rack was an Apple Airpor Express as a wifi extender and plugged the Ethernet cable into that. Works great plus it is very small (about the size of my iphone 4).

jsalk · « **Reply #62 on:** 9 Mar 2014, 01:26 pm »

The current StreamPlayer was designed for 2-channel music reproduction. I have not worked with multichannel music to date. But the technology behind the StreamPlayer would probably allow it (it really doesn't care what kind of files it is passing). I would have to check into this.

The exaSound DAC mentioned above requires special, proprietary drivers. It is not USB Audio 2.0 compliant. I have talked to George Klissarov of exaSound about this in the past, but to date have not had a chance to experiment with their DAC. At this point in time, the assumption is that since the exaSound DAC requires proprietary drivers, it will not work with the StreamPlayer. However, I have not tested it so I can't be certain.

- Jim

jsalk · « **Reply #63 on:** 9 Mar 2014, 01:30 pm »

Quote from: gregcss on 8 Mar 2014, 02:36 pm

Would the StreamServer (used as the player) benefit from a linear power supply?

It likely would, but how much I can't say. The current StreamPlayer will work with any power supply from about 7V to about 20V. So it is quite versatile in that regard. I will shortly be testing it with a 12V Teddy Pardo supply and will know more then.

- Jim

ArthurDent · « **Reply #64 on:** 9 Mar 2014, 01:49 pm »

Quote from: Saturn94 on 8 Mar 2014, 09:54 pm

My main hurdle though is getting a Ethernet connection from my router at one end of the house to the equipment rack at the other end. There's no access from above (no attic access) nor below the floor access. Adding more boxes to overcome this seems to defeat my thought of a cleaner setup (fewer boxes).

Not a purist solution to your problem, but I've used one of these for a few years now to get my Inet from one end of the house to the other. Plug in one unit & connect to router, plug in 2nd & cable to computer or whatever.......
http://www.amazon.com/Powerline-85Mbps-Homeplug-Ethernet-Adapter/dp/B000RF15VQ/ref=sr_1_71?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1394372091&sr=1-71&keywords=airlink+101

It may introduce more interference than is acceptable, don't know as I've only used it for access not music transfer, but if you have the available outlets it is a cost effective alternate to wifi. Appears from reviews at Azon they don't work in all home wiring situations so YMMV. Appears there may be one or two other mfg's of similar units. Just a thought.

ratso · « **Reply #65 on:** 11 Mar 2014, 04:20 pm »

i picture jim as only getting 2 hours of sleep a night with coffee mugs in both hands so i hate to mention this, but it would be helpful to either ditch the stream player site and integrate it into the main page or update the stream player site with info and prices. you know, like ... when you have some free time

jsalk · « **Reply #66 on:** 11 Mar 2014, 06:07 pm »

Quote from: ratso on 11 Mar 2014, 04:20 pm

i picture jim as only getting 2 hours of sleep a night with coffee mugs in both hands so i hate to mention this, but it would be helpful to either ditch the stream player site and integrate it into the main page or update the stream player site with info and prices. you know, like ... when you have some free time

It is on my list.

When we first developed the StreamPlayer, we didn't want to promote it aggressively as we did not know how much support would be required (my time is somewhat limited). So we set up a separate site and didn't really promote it. That gave us time to work with customers to determine what kind of support they needed. And based on that experience, we have continued development of our web interface.

Normally, configuring a Linux-based player can be a bit of a challenge for those who are not computer savvy. Now that this web interface is getting more sophisticated, set-up has become a lot easier. I am now working on the third iteration of this interface and hope to have that work done in the next month or so. That is probably when we will update the site (or move it to our main site) and announce the new features.

- Jim

nyc_paramedic · « **Reply #67 on:** 11 Mar 2014, 08:17 pm »

Quote from: gregcss on 8 Mar 2014, 02:36 pm

Would the StreamServer (used as the player) benefit from a linear power supply?

I would say yes. I've had great results running the unit with 8 AA lithium cells. The unit, without a drive connected, consumes about 250ma with 12 volts, decoding FLAC last time I measured with my Fluke meter. It ran for over 8 hours before I had to turn in for the night.

There's lots of experimentation one can do with all sorts of batteries or linear supplies as it's quite frugal in its consumption and handles a wide voltage range.

Nick

Ern Dog · « **Reply #68 on:** 2 Apr 2014, 04:58 am »

Update: I had Jim upgrade my stream player to have an internal 2 TB hard drive installed. Previously I was using an external USB drive. This is enough memory to last me 2 lifetimes! I'm only using about 260 GB right now with my whole library in it. This is so much cleaner and streamlined this way, plus it eliminates a cable and takes up less space.

I also upgraded upgraded my USB cable from a $15 Belkin gold to a $130 Audioquest Carbon (got it used in our flea market). This cable connects the streamer to my dac. I'm shocked with how much improvement I'm hearing in every area. I'd estimate this cable change is at least a 35% improvement, which is substantial for the cost of admission. In a nut shell, music sounds smoother and more natural. Listening to music has never felt so satisfying before. There's so many subtle nuances that are present now. Sounds like the USB cable has unlocked more of the Salk Streamers potential.

PMAT · « **Reply #69 on:** 15 Apr 2014, 04:32 am »

So, Jim, what's the price for 2tb Salkstream?

jsalk · « **Reply #70 on:** 15 Apr 2014, 01:57 pm »

Quote from: PMAT on 15 Apr 2014, 04:32 am

So, Jim, what's the price for 2tb Salkstream?

$1295

- Jim

Ern Dog · « **Reply #71 on:** 1 Jun 2014, 03:46 pm »

Quote from: jsalk on 9 Mar 2014, 01:30 pm

It likely would, but how much I can't say. The current StreamPlayer will work with any power supply from about 7V to about 20V. So it is quite versatile in that regard. I will shortly be testing it with a 12V Teddy Pardo supply and will know more then.

- Jim

Hi Jim,
Any word on how the Teddy Pardo power supply sounds with the Salk Stream Player?

Thanks,
Ernie

Austin08 · « **Reply #72 on:** 1 Jun 2014, 03:50 pm »

Quote from: Ern Dog on 1 Jun 2014, 03:46 pm

Hi Jim,
Any word on how the Teddy Pardo power supply sounds with the Salk Stream Player?

Thanks,
Ernie

+1, I would like to know too.

SeaNile · « **Reply #73 on:** 21 Jul 2014, 02:15 am »

Figured rather than starting a new thread I would post my questions here. Total digital music/streaming newbie here so I apologize in advance. I'll start with this, simplicity and sound quality are my goals.

Just bought a Hegel H300 integrated amp and it has a well reviewed DAC. I have all of my music in iTunes and on my MacBook Pro. 85%+ of the songs/files are low quality AAC files. I do not want to buy 100's of CD and get a CD player so I will be slowly rebuilding my library once I learn how to rip them in high quality high resolution files. Through lots of internet research I am thinking of this, but want to know if the Salk StreamPlayer would be a better option. Thinking of using my Oppo bdp83 via optical/digital to the Hegel to listen to a few CD's I am going to buy (5.1 mixes, remastered SACD), then buying a Mac Mini and using Jriver (want to distance myself from iTunes) with an external HD and store all the HQ music there. The Mac Mini would be connected to my Hegel via USB.

Would the Salk StreamPlayer be a good alternative? Ease of use and sound quality is important. I'm also not 100%, OK, not even 30%, confident in my skills to set up the Mac Mini for optimum audio performance.

Thanks for all the help!

Ern Dog · « **Reply #74 on:** 21 Jul 2014, 02:53 am »

Instead of using iTunes, I would suggest getting the free XLD app for Mac to get the best rips. I would also suggest WAV files instead of AAC. Even though WAV files don't include any metadata when using XLD, it doesn't matter because the Mpad program that's used to control the streamer, automatically organizes each album appropriately and adds the cover art too. Easy Peasy.

The benefit of the Salk streamer over the Mac mini is that all the hardware and software that you don't need to play music files has been eliminated, plus it is using a Linux platform which is more stable. To my ears it sounds better than using my MacBook Pro + iTunes/Amarra+ Empirical overdrive USB converter. To be fair, I've never heard an optimized Mac-mini, so I can't offer an opinion about that.

SeaNile · « **Reply #75 on:** 21 Jul 2014, 03:00 am »

That does sound easy to use. And how does the Salk Stream connect to my Hegel? Optical, USB, toslink? Is there an updated price and spec page? I like the idea of everything in one unit, including the HD.

Ern Dog · « **Reply #76 on:** 21 Jul 2014, 03:37 am »

The streamer would connect to your dac using a USB input then the dac goes to your Hegel via RCA cables. Check the Salk web page for pricing and specs.

SeaNile · « **Reply #77 on:** 21 Jul 2014, 03:45 am »

Sounds good to me. One connection via USB to my Hegel and I'm good to go. No info on the site about pricing and specs, just order form. I've sent an email to Jim and will order one this week.

ernest787 · « **Reply #78 on:** 21 Jul 2014, 05:44 pm »

the more I think about the Salk Stream Player the more I like it. I just have to figure out an option that allows for Spotify use.

SeaNile · « **Reply #79 on:** 21 Jul 2014, 09:43 pm »

Just placed my order. Can't wait to get it and have my system hooked up.