Sound
Quiet by design.
Most good DACs take USB asynchronously: their own clocks set the timing, and they ask for data as they need it. What a streamer can still add is noise, through its power supply, the USB link and the ground it shares with your DAC. Every part of Fideliq, hardware and software, is designed to keep that noise down, and steady.
Hardware
Built around clean power
- Dual custom low-noise power supplies, with isolationEach filtered and regulated, and isolated from the mains and from each other. Mike: what each supply feeds
- Memory on its own supplyThe memory is powered separately from the processor, so the processor's bursts of work don't reach it.
- An audio-grade system clockWe replace the board's standard clock with a higher-quality one, better suited to audio. Mike: type and stability
- Your DAC on its own USB controllerNothing else shares the path to your DAC.
- Optically isolated EthernetThe network connects through light, so no electrical noise from your router comes in with it. Mike: internal, or the external converter used now?
- No radio insideThere's no Wi-Fi in everyday use. A small adapter adds it only for setup.
- Your music on boardAn internal solid-state drive, sized to fit your library and room to grow, so playing never depends on the network or a NAS.
Software
A computer that only plays music
- A minimal systemAbout a quarter the size of a standard one, with nothing running that the music doesn't need.
- Read-only while playingNothing is written to the system disk during playback, so it stays quiet, and a power cut can't harm it.
- A core of its own for audioThe USB link to your DAC and the audio output run alone on one of four processor cores. The library, the display and the network use the other three.
- Calm track changesLarge buffers, a moment for your DAC to settle when the sample rate changes, and the TV display waits until the music has started before it redraws.
- Bit-perfectNo resampling, no volume, no processing unless you choose them. Your DAC receives exactly what was recorded.
Measured
Steady, not just fast
A processor that keeps changing speed keeps changing its voltage, and each change is a step in current on the board. We measured Fideliq while it played, then held it steady.
The core kept for audio is interrupted by its timer just 1.5 times a second, against about 250 on the others, and nothing at all is written to the system disk while music plays.
| Over 20 s, playing | Before | Now |
|---|---|---|
| Processor speed changes | 363 | 0 |
| Voltage-regulator traffic | 315 a second | 0 |
| Processor voltage | 900–1025 mV | steady 900 mV |
Made for good DACs
Most Fideliq owners listen through DACs from high-end makers. Fideliq gives them the music untouched and leaves the rest to them.
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