Takedown of pricey servers, streamers OCD HiFi guy


Not sure if anyone caught this, but it's quite the take down of some of the very expensive server/streamer stuff out there. It seems logical to me -- especially when he prices out what some of the internal components are -- but this is above my pay grade so I cannot confirm. It's here: https://youtu.be/MMSC9-qQ_K4

Wonder if others agree or disagree with the basic takedown.
128x128hilde45
@tonywinga,

Great post! Congratulations on your retirement, now you can sit back and enjoy the music :-)

I have learned in life that there is no substitute for quality. 
@hilde45, Repeating something over and over does not change (or establish) a valid assertion!

"  But I had never heard that there were cheap ASUS parts inside some of the most expensive of them. This, for me, was revelatory."

"  But it's pretty clear if someone is charging enormous $$'s and is putting a cheap Chinese gamer board "

"I see every audio purchase as part of the larger audio budget that I feel contained by. "

The assertion that you are making about the SGM Extreme using ' cheap parts ' begins on shaky ground and falls off fast ( 'revelatory' ).

' cheap Chinese gamer board ' Do you really want to go There ... ? 
Why ... ???
 
Many Custom Build Audio Streamers use ASUS Gaming Boards and are not inexpensive (definitely not 'cheap').

The Extreme utilizes a Server Enterprise Class Board apparently (Sage EEB Server).
Built for Longevity ... also a design emphasis by Taiko.

Motherboard - $ 500
Xeon Scalable x2 - $ 500 - $ 1000 per chip for Gold (Platinum $ 2000) 
x12 A-Grade ECC DIMMs @ 4 Gig $ 500 (wild  guess)
Total of around  $ 3000 (up to $ 5000 already)

@hilde45, do you know what a - Hyper M.2 x16 Card is ... and why it would matter?

Custom Passive Cooling
Aluminum Case / Copper Shield 
Proprietary Plywood 
Uber high cost power supply components 
Reworked Enterprise OS
24 TB of Enterprise Drives
Making everything work / as noted previously
Craftsmanship

 > Your best cost guesstimate  here _ <  

From Taiko website:
"  Ever heard of DRAM refresh?  You should, because it is one of the main reasons why many think fewer and lower speed DIMMs are better for sound quality. "

Do you think OCD Guy even bothered to look before (or after) going off in the video ...

Do I think an interested AGon participant could craft a Custom Audio Streamer / Server for less money and have a High Performance Playback Component ... yes. (not even closely articulated by OCD Guys rant)

SGM Extreme in intended for use as a part of a HiRez Playback System.

Overbuilt Custom Electronics is an endearing quality with a tradition in Audio Recording Production ... now Playback as well.


 





8 gb of memory and most any modern cpu will do the job just fine at least for cd resolution audio streaming. 
Post removed