Innuos Zenith Mk3 Ultra-low Noise USB Audio Output, Really?

@sns I have the Jcat Femto USB card on my server.
I use a 300w HDPlex LPS, an 8watt embeded commercial grade fanless mainboard with a couple of SSD, it’s a few years old now. I’m sure there’s better solutions, seems you’ve found some already and put them to good use.

I run Winserver 2012 R2 in core mode with Audio Optimizer 3.0, Fidelizer Pro and JPlay Femto as well.
I think next time I will buy a good server, Zenith Mk 3 is absolutely on my radar for such an upgrade.

Oh what is FMC?

@rixthetrick You're present usb out is likely superior to Zenith usb port. The Innuos Phoenixusb exists because Innuos knows their Zen usb out can be improved upon.

Sounds to me like you have a pretty nice server already, you'd have to reach higher than Zen to beat what you already have. You have top line USB and optimized Windows set up, you need to set your sights higher to ensure you're making upgrade. Sounds like you have some form of atx motherboard server, atx motherboards are basis of some of the highest end off shelf and diy servers.

FMC is fiber media converter, TPLink MC200 is example of one, my Sonore Opticalrendu is optimized FMC.

A follow up.

I build a pc using HDPlex faneless and a Matrik Audio USB card with an external LSPU. Running Linux roon core

@martin-andersen This sounds very close to my planned diy music server. I'm mostly waiting to determine how much processing engine I'll need. If I decide on using HQPlayer with high levels of dsp will need much, if not this not much concern.

I don't like Roon dsp. Tried pcm to dsd 256  again last night, smoother than pcm, but that smoothing sounds artificial to me. Even worse that smoothing is in fact loss of resolution, the smoothing is loss of transients, also lose sense of recording venue. If HQPlayer anything like this, won't be for me. Reportedly, it plays at much higher level than Roon dsp, we shall see.

@sns
@martin-andersen
I went a different path, instead of higher processing power, I went lower wattage.
My thinking is that by lowering the power needed the lessening of the electrical jitter, and I also went commercial grade low power fanless CPU.
ASRock N3150DC-ITX - up to 2.08 GHz dual core.
There’s probably better out there to lessen the electrical noise, but I went lower wattage not higher processing speeds. 2GHz is already enough to unpack music at high res DSD.

Fidelizer Pro assigns a CPU and RAM for expressly computing the music, the other is for the operating system, well that’s how I understand it.

I am very much open to experimenting with Linux as my OS, I use AO to turn off a lot of superfluous Windows threads, which is another way. Wouldn’t it be great if there were an AMD or Intel music player that is the OS, the core of the machine language not simply layered on top of it?

HQPlayer is great, there’s also another player from Japan Bug head emperor player, which is fantastic.

I would like to know what is best? better? a way to move forward?
Do I just buy a very expensive server, or find ways to improve mine?

I had a bump in performance when I went to the HDPlex linear power supply, but not as much as when the DAC and the HDPlex were fed power from my Puritan PSM-156 power conditioner.

I don’t know where you guys are, if it’s feasible or not, last year I went from Texas to Washington state to listen to some gear with an invitation. I’d really like to know what works, that isn’t just insanely priced? Can audiophiles willing to do the leg work, build devices as servers that actually compete with the big names?
I really do think that clean power, better software controlling the hardware and good use of current or forward moving technologies are an answer.