[Mr. Oczka]

Hello guys, I am a quiet member who is looking for some guidance on purchasing/setting up a pc to be used as a music and movie server.  I am pretty stupid when it comes to all of this.

Currently, I have a hard drive that is loaded with music and movies.  That hard drive is hooked up to a little netbook computer, running windows 7, that is, in turn, plugged into my  DAC (an emotiva XDR-1).  This setup sort of works, but the netbook is so tiny, it makes it a real pain in the tush to make additions/changes to the music files.  I have movies on the hard drive, but have never attempted to hook them up and play them.  The music files are in mp3 format and I have been using I-Tunes when I play the music.   I unfortunately, cannot tell you what the format is for the movies.

Anyway, I heard that Santa wanted to look into purchasing a new computer, preferrably, a desktop that will be used in my mancave as a music/movie server.  Santa wants to get it right the first time if possible.

Do you have any specs that you would recommend when purchasing a new computer? 

Is there a software program that you would purchase and use on a pc for music files other than i-tunes?  Is there a sound card that you would recomend?  I will be running it into a DAC, so I don't know how important that is.

As far as movies, is there a hardware card that you would recommend for running movies?  I will be connecting the pc to my receiver, a Denon 2310.  That receiver will take an HDMI connection.  Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Tom

[WGH]

You don't need much processing power if the computer is just used for music and movies. Have you ever put together a computer? Computer Audiophile has an article for a silent fanless media computer.
http://www.computeraudiophile.com/content/Computer-Audiophile-Pocket-Server-CAPS-v20

I have parts ordered and will be building a music player for my shop. I substituted a Lite On DVD drive (no Blu-Ray) and a Silverstone ML03B case ($59.99) for a total price of $546.05 including shipping. I'll be using a flat screen monitor, keyboard, mouse, and 500 GB hard drive I have laying around. The price even includes a 60 GB OCZ Solid State Drive for Windows 7 ($80 after rebate, expires Dec.14).

You can get a ready-to-go media player from HAL:
HAL's Amazingly Incredible Nearly Prototype Music Server
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=98467.msg989493#msg989493

This thread should probably moved to the Diskless Circle.

Wayne

[mcoaggie]

The above advice and recommendations are very good.  I think its going to depend on what your using it primarily to do.  If its audiophile quality then it takes more attention to details.

I built an HTPC about 4 years ago ("My wife was tired of rebooting the tv so its now only used as a music server") so just a bit of things you might want to think about. 

1 -How quiet does the pc need to be especially if its in the same room?  Most desktops are a little more noisey than laptops and you have three main culprits the fans, the power supply, and the hard drives (media closet).  You can get fanless case, fanless power supply, and solid state or quiet drives.  All drive up the cost.  I've never really noticed the noise from my drives but putting those on a networked enclosure in some other area and using a Solid state for operating system would be nicer.

2 -How do you want to control it?  -- Universal remote, HTPC remote, Android?
    I started using a logitech harmony to be able to control the receiver/preamp,pc, etc..

3 - Are you doing Blu-Ray other Hi Def?  You'll want to take the HDMI output to the receiver for the full suround sound.  You may go direct to the emotiva with s/pdif or come out of the reciever with optical to the emotiva.

Lots of software choices our there depending on your tastes...
PotPlayer, Windows Media Center, Jriver Media Center to name a few. 


and other options
--- if your not so concerned about file formats or bit rates most new players (blu-ray) or TV's can actually stream things from the network provided they are in the right format they recognize.  I can stream movies, mp3s from my computers to my blu ray or tv or from my direct tv receiver.  Not all of this works on all formats however.

[mcgsxr]

Not sure if you have been down this path or not, but in years past I have researched the Vortexbox appliance.  I recall it is fanless, low power, and has tremendous network connectivity.

I ultimately went with a mac mini for my own use, but respect what the Vortexbox brought to the table.

[skunark]

If you like to tinker, then ignore my post, but I think you can save a lot of money and time looking at a device to stream the music and video.   PS3, XBOX, Apple TV and several blu-ray players and even TVs support this.  The PS3, XBOX and several blu-ray players will allow you to connect a HDD for movie and video playback assuming (and this is important) that they support the codec of your files.   

[HAL]

I have integrated the MS-1 with a Blu-Ray drive via PowerDVD 11 Ultra with very good results.  The HDMI interface makes it easy to tie to most HDTV's.

It comes preloaded with Foobar2000 and remote software for music replay.  Have integrated my Netbook as a WiFi remote control for Foobar2000.

It is designed to support external USB DAC's via Windows 7 WASAPI, Kernel Streaming or ASIO depending on what the USB DAC requires. 

Hope some of these ideas help.

Thanks WGH for mentioning the MS-1 thread! 

[Mr. Oczka]

Hey, I want to thank all of you for your ideas and info.  I'm going to spend the next couple of days checking them out.  I'll keep you all posted on what I do.

I have recently purchased a blue ray dvd player.  I think I'll finally break out the user's manual and see if interfacing the hard drive is possible for playing the movies.  I did not know that was even remotely possible.

Boy, I feel kind of stupid.....I spend a lot of time on AudioCircle, but somehow I have completely missed the Discless Circle.  I'm going to play some catchup tonight and read a bunch of the threads here.

Thanks again,

Tom