[Jon L]

I have been seeing more people touting Windows Server 2012 sound quality over normal Windows, but are there any issues, i.e. not having proper audio drivers available for various USB DAC's?  Will software like Foobar, J. River, Jplay install on Win 2012 server and play fine without glitches?  Would appreciate user comments.

I am also wondering if anybody is using say a Dell server as audio computer, as they tend to come with Win 2012 server already installed.  Would there be issues using a computer like this for audio use, i.e. attaching a USB DAC or needing to install a eSATA card/connector to use external eSATA driver for data, using SSD internally for OS, etc? 

[shawbros3]

I have been seeing more people touting Windows Server 2012 sound quality over normal Windows, but are there any issues, i.e. not having proper audio drivers available for various USB DAC's?  Will software like Foobar, J. River, Jplay install on Win 2012 server and play fine without glitches?  Would appreciate user comments.

I am also wondering if anybody is using say a Dell server as audio computer, as they tend to come with Win 2012 server already installed.  Would there be issues using a computer like this for audio use, i.e. attaching a USB DAC or needing to install a eSATA card/connector to use external eSATA driver for data, using SSD internally for OS, etc?

I've used both Windows 8 Pro and currently use and prefer Windows Server 2012.  But with my Windows Server 2012 machine, I have better hardware and CPU horsepower to run JRiver/JPlay at full strength so it's hard to say which OS would be better on a stock machine with no special scripts to turn off unwanted processes.  I do think Windows 8 GUI is bloated with an "apps" user in mind which aren't related to audio, so my guess is that Windows Server 2012 would sound better.

You should have no problems installing USB DAC drivers into Windows Server 2012.  Any Windows 8 based driver can usually be installed in "Windows 7" compatibility mode.  JRiver and JPlay work fine on WS 2012, I've can't speak to Foobar, but I'm sure it would work well too.  No glitches other than the normal issues that creep up from time to time.  It's a very solid OS, much more stable than Windows 8 IMO.  The beauty of this OS is that you can "turn off" the the desktop GUI altogether and just leave certain shells available like JRiver and have it auto-start at boot up.  It's called "minimal server" mode.  If you are not comfortable using DOS (command-line) to navigate through certain folders and files then you can revert back to GUI mode at any time.

In my experience, I believe reducing the unnecessary processes from an OS is more important than hardware tweaks (cables, etc...).  I use Audiophil's Optimizer with great results.  With that said, having clean linear or battery power to run the server motherboard and dedicated USB card really helps lower the noise floor and allows more music to get through.

That Dell server should work fine.  I use an USB external hard drive and it works fine for me, but eSATA would get the files off the USB bus so even better.  If there's an empty PCI slot, you should have no problem installing an eSATA card.  At the end of the day, an audio server is just a computer.  It just gets tweaked by most folks to serve higher quality files to the DAC.

Good luck...

[DTB300]

I've used both Windows 8 Pro and currently use and prefer Windows Server 2012. 

+1   and any experience one has with Win 8 will greatly assist them with 2012 R2

...... I use Audiophil's Optimizer with great results.  .....

A must with 2012 R2

[Jon L]

That Dell server should work fine.  I use an USB external hard drive and it works fine for me, but eSATA would get the files off the USB bus so even better.

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=04&fb=1&l=en&model_id=poweredge-t110-2&oc=bect12bfsi&s=bsd&vw=classic#logicerror

Various Dell's have served me well over the years, and the Dell PowerEdge T110 II server seems to fit the bill, being on sale and coming with Win Server 2012 Foundation installed.  Dell claims "similar" noise levels as their regular desktops, whatever that means, but I can always swap in quieter fans, etc. 

What's too bad is Dell doesn't offer a solid state drive option and does not include physical media for Win server 2012 for me to install the OS on my own solid state drive.

[shawbros3]

...What's too bad is Dell doesn't offer a solid state drive option and does not include physical media for Win server 2012 for me to install the OS on my own solid state drive.

Windows Server 2012 can get very pricey (relative to Windows 8 Pro), so having it as part of the system would be awesome.  Lots of folks use the trial version and keep renewing, but eventually I'd imagine the trial would end.  However, you can buy inexpensive license keys off of Ebay, that's how I obtained my license.

There is solid cloning software out there, such as Acronis True Image.  I would create an image of your stock hard drive and then add the SSD and write that image to the SSD.  It's also easy enough to clone the installed hard drive to the SSD, but sometimes I get boot sector errors and unable to boot after the process completes.  Just make sure you ask the vendor what you need to check off in the software to ensure all the boot information is carried over onto the new drive.

[Jon L]

There is solid cloning software out there, such as Acronis True Image.  I would create an image of your stock hard drive and then add the SSD and write that image to the SSD.  It's also easy enough to clone the installed hard drive to the SSD, but sometimes I get boot sector errors and unable to boot after the process completes.  Just make sure you ask the vendor what you need to check off in the software to ensure all the boot information is carried over onto the new drive.

Last few times I tried to clone a OS drive with Acronis True Image (and also Paragon), I ended up with booting errors, which I could not resolve.  My faith in these cloning software is pretty slim. 
So are you saying if I don't clone but create image and copy to the new drive, the botting errors will be less problematic? 

[shawbros3]

Last few times I tried to clone a OS drive with Acronis True Image (and also Paragon), I ended up with booting errors, which I could not resolve.  My faith in these cloning software is pretty slim. 
So are you saying if I don't clone but create image and copy to the new drive, the botting errors will be less problematic?

I can relate with your pain and frustration on cloning hard drive to hard drive.  When I cloned my mSATA drive to my SSD on my Windows 8 pro server, I also encountered the booting errors every single time.  I then checked off certain boot options in the software and the cloning worked fine and the SSD booted up perfectly (I can't remember which free utility I used, it could have been Macrium, but I'm not positive).  It does work, let me try and find the exact software that I used.

Yes, creating an image first in Acronis is better at least in my experiences with image backups on my desktop.  I can't recall ever receiving any booting errors.  So once you have the server doing all that you want and working well, you could just make an image and Acronis boot disk and then swap out drives and write that image to the SSD.  Or you might even be successful just attaching the SSD via USB or internally and write the image while in Windows.

I think upgrading to a SSD drive is worth the effort...

[shawbros3]

I believe I used Aomei cloning software and selected "sector by sector copy".  The SSD (or new target drive) should be equal to or greater in size than the old drive...

[Audioclyde]

You can also purchase WS 2012 Essentials (which works with Phil's Optimizer), Academic version, for pretty reasonable....

[randytsuch]

If you have kids in school

https://www.dreamspark.com/Student/Software-Catalog.aspx

I bought a cheap license on ebay that I have yet to try, otherwise I would give this a shot.

[DTB300]

If you want to save some $$$ on cloning software, try out CloneZilla and see if it fits your needs.   Works great for me - both with creating an image, and restoring from an image.  All with Win 8.1 and no issues.

[Syrah]

I've got the trial version of Server 2012 on a stick ready to boot, but I'm scared that I'll screw something up and never get my computer back to the way it was.  I need to overcome my fear and give this a go!

[randytsuch]

So I installed Server 2012 on my music PC last night.

It took me a little while to get used to the user interface, I guess it's like win 8, which I have never used.

But I did figure things out, and got it configured enough to work.

I got foobar working and playing DSD files, but for some reason the volume is really low.  At first I didn't think it was working at all, but I turned it way up, and then I could barely hear it.

I may try loading jriver or maybe winamp and see how they sound.  Also should try a flac file, I was just trying dsd last night.

Randy

[randytsuch]

So I played with Server 2012 some more last night.

Anything sound using my DAC with a Amanero USB interface come out at low volume.  I played flac files, and also tried windows system sounds, everything was very low.

Then I tried my ifiaudio iDAC, and it was fine.  In fact, it sounds really good connected to this PC.  I have made some other tweaks to this PC which contributed, so at this point I'm not sure if 2012 helps or not.

At some point, I would like to compare 2012 to Daphile (Linux based), and see if there is any difference.  The think that makes this a little difficult is that SSD formats are not compatible between windows and linux, so I can't use the same SSD for both.

Randy

[Jon L]

So I played with Server 2012 some more last night.

Anything sound using my DAC with a Amanero USB interface come out at low volume.  I played flac files, and also tried windows system sounds, everything was very low.

...so at this point I'm not sure if 2012 helps or not.

It's this kind of frustrations and annoyances that makes computer audio difficult at times.  The worst of it is one is never sure if doing something (e.g. Win 2012 server) is actually going to be an improvement or a step back.

I just had to go through some frustrations when I changed computers and my foobar playlists no longer worked due to different disk letters.  I had no access to many playlists I have built up over the years, until I figured out I needed to convert the binary fpl files into m4u files before I could use a text editor to change all disk designation 

[randytsuch]

So I agree computer audio can be frustrating, but when I listened to my iDAC last night, it did sound REALLY good.

In thinking about it, I didn't update the basic OS drivers, so I'm going to do that and cross my fingers and hope it helps.

If I can get my Amanero based DAC working right, I want to try audio optimizer, it supposed to really improve Server 2012 for audio.

Randy

[ted_b]

Randy, I have been running WS2012 and AO on dual pcs running JRIver/Jplay for the past year now.  I am one of Phil's alpha testers for AO, and his work to get WS2012 to sound great is nothing short of genius.  It is now so easy to use, as well (no need to be in a certain directory, etc, etc) that it makes using core mode on WS2012 quite simple (audiopc is core mode, controlpc is GUI mode).

I;m not sure what is up with your Amanero driver.  Is it Win 8 ready, or did you have to install it in some sort of compatibility mode?

[randytsuch]

So I ran into what I think is an unrelated problem this morning.
I was trying to reinstall Server 2012, and my PC kept resetting.

I noticed the PCH temp was way high, then found this
http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f10-music-servers/case-intel-s1200kpr-motherboard-19196/

So I must admit this is discouraging, having come this far.

Since this heat problem is related to my PC build, I'll post further updates in that thread.

Randy

[Jon L]

So I ran into what I think is an unrelated problem this morning.
I was trying to reinstall Server 2012, and my PC kept resetting.

I noticed the PCH temp was way high, then found this
http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f10-music-servers/case-intel-s1200kpr-motherboard-19196/

So I must admit this is discouraging, having come this far.

Since this heat problem is related to my PC build, I'll post further updates in that thread.

Randy

Dang, that's unfortunate.  Does your PC have zero fans inside, even "nearby" the PCH chip to cool it?  I hope this issue is isolated to the Intel S1200KPR motherboard and not all the small Intel Mobo's, as I am looking at a Intel board for a heatpiped case 

[randytsuch]

Dang, that's unfortunate.  Does your PC have zero fans inside, even "nearby" the PCH chip to cool it?  I hope this issue is isolated to the Intel S1200KPR motherboard and not all the small Intel Mobo's, as I am looking at a Intel board for a heatpiped case 

Until yesterday, I had no fans inside my box, which was the problem.  I looked at my motherboard user manual again yesterday, and it assumes airflow around the northbridge.

So I added a fan and that problem is solved.
I'll put more details in my other thread.

This mb is intended to be a server, so I'm sure Intel didn't expect some crazy people to use it for audio with no airflow 

Ted and anyone else who cares,
Amanero driver is win8 ready, it is supposed to work ok.

I tried a bunch of thinks yesterday and this morning, reinstalled server 2012 and the drivers and foobar, but problem is still there.  I'm running out of things to try, so if I don't get any help I may have to give up, and then decide what I want to do.

Randy