I’m writing in regards to 2 different write-ups from the latest Stereophile issues, 1 on the Innuos server and the other article was on the rant on tariffs and what it is going to do to the economy.
As for music servers, How big do you have to make a server to compete with a simple dumb technology CD/SACD player which a lot of people call the standard? I also wish the reviewer of such an article would either question some of the statements given to them from the manufacturer or do some investigation legwork to learn some of this technology before printing it, because it doesn’t look good if its not accurate.
Some of the details of the Innuous server that raised my BS meter are:
1) Real time OS claim. Why is this a big deal, we have been assigning CPU cores to processes for over a decade in Linux. This is called processor affinity or CPU pinning. Why not write software that takes advantage of parallel processing/parallel computing which has been around for ages.
2) Audiocore. Same as #1 above. Nothing new.
3) more processor cores. Why? How many cores does it take to read a disk/ssd and transfer the data down a path? 4? 6? 8? 24? The claim is they needed new processors with more cores and retain lower power consumption. Why? Most of the time when you put more cores in a system the core speeds are lower. Depending on how efficient the software is written, it might be more wise to put in less faster cores if you can’t multi-task over multiple cores, which is called parallel computing or parallel processing. Also, they use the Intel i7 processor which is the worst chip to use if you want to lower your power consumption and keep your system running efficiently. ARM and Apple Silicon chips are the new technologies that blow away any current Intel processor in relation to power and efficiency.
4) Flexibility. A lot of talk about simple processes. This system uses a DAS configuration for their storage instead of RAID, this can be good or bad. If you don’t have a backup (you should), then you should use RAID 1 or 5, but DAS is the easy way out. Then there is a bad explanation on the use of PSLC ssd, and they claim this is a good thing over using SLC. Here is their definition of PSLC ssd: "which means that only every second or 3rd bit is used for storage -- just 1 bit per storage cell". WHAT???? Here is the official description of PSLC:
pSLC, or pseudo-Single Level Cell, is a type of NAND flash memory that emulates the characteristics of SLC by using MLC or TLC NAND flash. In pSLC mode, only one bit per cell is used instead of two or more, effectively converting an MLC or TLC cell into an SLC cell. This approach leverages the cost advantages of MLC or TLC NAND while significantly enhancing performance and endurance.
Bottomline, you use pSLC is to save money, not increase performance. In using pSLC, they use the cheapest MLC or TLC NAND flash (high density NAND) and try to emulate SLC. If a server costs $20k, why not just use the best NAND flash which is SLC.
This next part is where my BS meter was shattered.
In the "As we see it" article of last months issue, we have an audio guy trying to tell us how the global economy is working out, how bad tariffs are, how bad we will be affected, the dollar losing value, the stock market crashing, and our GDP dropping to 1.8%. He stated this rant was at the end of April.
Let me tell you, he couldn’t be more wrong!
Here are the facts about our economy this year. The start of the ’V’ shaped recovery started the 1st week of April this year. With all the unknowledgeable people claiming the sky is falling, a recession is coming, I sold all my money market funds and got back into the market the 1st week of April. This Stereophile reviewer claimed the market was down 11% when he wrote this article at the end of April. That’s funny because the market was way up at the end of April, and my portfolio was up over $300,000 in less than 4 weeks. Since this reviewer stated that certain audio companies were raising their prices by 10-15% (which I don’t think this occurred), if a piece of audio gear was $100,000 and they raised the price to $110,000, I think my $300,000 gain would cover that. But It gets even better.
We are now in late July, the market is booming, tariffs are being worked out, no recession, a lot of tariff deals have been made with the EU, China, UK, Japan, and other countries, and our 2nd qtr GDP was 3%, far cry from the reviewer predicted 1.8% GDP. As of today, I am up $1.4M since the 1st week of April. With gains like this, I wouldn’t balk paying a 10% upcharge for any tariff cost on a $100,000-$200,000 piece of equipment or car. I would suggest that Stereophile stick to writing about audio gear and leave the economy/market facts to the people who do this for a living.
