[mcgsxr]

I am in the research phase for building a PC front end - I cannot decide if I will include HT into the equation, I likely should but don't get me started on the should haves...

In any case, I suspect that what I build will be a play only device - as we speak I sit in front of a 1 year old PC, with horsepower, 1.25GB of RAM, fast processor etc, so I think I would install all the ripping s/w here, rip it onto a HD, and then walk the HD downstairs to the playback PC.

That way the playback PC can be optimized for just that - quiet, efficient playback of music.

Sort of like having a minivan, and Boxster! I figure I might as well leverage my investment last year, and then concentrate on how to build the best playback into my Audio system - that would be the natural extension of my approach to audio anyway - budget, fidelity, convenience, in that order, though I sometimes confuse 1 and 2...

It is the interface that stalls me - I don't want to carry a PDA as a remote, a laptop is right out, I don't want to use a Roku or Soundbridge (or I might as well build a 10g LAN in the house to begin with) so I am not sure what to do. I guess I could splurge for a case with a VLD, but that might defeat the whole value prop...

For the record, considering a Asus A8N-SLI motherboard (has SPDIF output right off the motherboard, to my Monarchy, to my Mensa...), AMD Athlon processor (likely in the 1.8Ghz range), 120GB HD for music, small HD for OS, not sure if XP pro, or Linux will be the OS, still reading.  Case likely to end up one of the Antecs that people seem to like.

Any thoughts?

Looking to spend a total of about US$700-900 or so, but willing to hear arguments for more, OR less!

[Hantra]

Mark:

I would absolutely get one of the ASUS Deluxe boards with SPDIF out.  That's a smart move for sure.

Interface is a tough one, but if it's going to be in a HT/2-channel situation, just run it through your display that's already in place.  

You could also get one of those little infra red remotes that will execute macros on your PC.  That would be useful for some functions, but you are inevitably going to need a display to maximize the potential of this thing.

Antec is a good, quiet case.  I'd run XP Pro.  I installed Linux, and then realized that Foobar won't run on it unless you goof with Wine, and that ain't worth it.  Also, for the big souncards, there is no factory Linux driver.  Lynx doesn't make one, but I'm not sure about everyone else.

Anyhow, the latest Fedora install off Red Hat is resource intensive as heck, and may not save you much CPU time/memory versus an XP install.

HTH,

B

[mcgsxr]

Thanks for the advice, it does help.

Of course that motherboard requires a more expensive video card too though, because it uses PCI Express right?  Seems a silly place so spend $150, since I hope to keep it Audio only.

I can use the display I have in the room, but I would prefer to have the 32 inch Sony off during listening.  I suppose a work around would be power up the display, setup the tunes, turn off the display, and then use a remote to move through the playlist.

I have a Mosaic remote that can learn just about anything, so once that is settled, I should be OK.  Good call on the Linux vs XP, nice to hear someone who has been through it.

I figure I will stick with the onboard SPDIF for now, that helps keep the $$ in the bank, versus a big name soundcard.

Powersupply recommendations?  Quiet fans?

Thanks

[Carlman]

For cooling and such Zallman makes a lot of good stuff.  For cases, that's tough but plan on modifying it... Be careful on the fans and such... make sure they'll fit.  I have a huge Zallman CPU fan that won't fit without a lot of hassles... So, I may have to sell it... and it alone was $50.

I didn't have to get a new power supply since the one I bought was already fairly quiet.... so, no good advice on that but there's more info in this circle if you do a search.

The interface... I use a wired solution.  I seem to be the only one that doesn't like the wireless stuff.  So, I have cords that run from the back of the PC under a rug to a little table with a 15" flat panel monitor on it.  I put the keyboard and mouse on the floor next to the couch when I don't need it for a while.  I use the mouse mainly... which is a cordless but only has a range of 6 feet or so.  Hantra has a similar scenario but I think he uses a cordless mouse and keyboard.

I find the interface reasonably easy to deal with.  If you set your fonts to large, it makes it a bit easier to read things from a distance.  I'm a 2-channel only listener... However, if I were going to go the DVD route, I'd likely get a second PC for storing DVD's.  That way you have lots of storage space.  My motherboard has 3 IDE controllers!  I can hook up 5 hard drives... I just think that's awesome.. they may even be RAID but I don't know... I bought it used and haven't gotten that far.

It was really nice to see the audio PC system and control it myself on someone else's system.  It became apparent this would not be a challenge within 2 visits.  In fact, I really like it more than changing cd's into a player.

I don't know if any of this is helpful... I've learned most of what I know from Hantra.  I essentially copied his setup because I liked it so much and haven't thought of a better way to do things yet.  (I'm still new, give me time. )

Best of luck,
C

[Hantra]

Thanks for the advice, it does help.

Of course that motherboard requires a more expensive video card too though, because it uses PCI Express right?  Seems a silly place so spend $150, since I hope to keep it Audio only.

I am sure there is an ASUS with a SPDIF out and onboard video.  If not, then try one of the older P4P800 boards.  You ought to be able to dig one off EBay, and that way you can use an old AGP card, which is preferable to using something on the same bus with the soundcard.  In theory. .  

[CSMR]

I would be wary of using motherboard spdif: the quality of output is likely poor and likely fixed at 48khz. The EMU 0404m is a good choice for digital output, and you probably won't need your monarchy with it.

Building a quiet computer is slightly tricky.
Two hard discs=extra noise. A good choice is the 160Gb samsung with a nidec motor.
I don't know what the best options are for processors. I was considering building a computer with a socket 939 athlon 64 3000+ and an asus A8V. This is low-power with cool and quiet, plus the motherboard turns the fan off when not needed.
I don't know about PSUs. A fanless one may be best provided it is outside the case.

It is best if you can have the PC in an adjacent room. That is what I have done and it is much easier and less expensive than continually tweaking the PC to make it quieter. Long monitor and USB cables to where I use it.

[dave_c]

I think the A8N is a little too much power for what you need.  You will be spending money for a board and CPU that has way too much power for strictly playback.  I have a Abit NF-7s with an mobile 2500+ that doesn't go over 25% utilization while playing back and doing day to day things.  If you want any Socket 939 gear, you could just go with an NF3 250gb board and A64 3000+.  You'll probably not need more than 512mb or RAM and thus no need for a dual channel board.  Otherwise you could even go with Socket 754 and a Sempron to save even more cash.

If no NF3 boards have SPDIF out, just get a Chaintech AV710.  It doesn't have the best drivers, but mine manages to work with Foobar under Kernel Streaming so I don't have to mess with any ASIO Drivers.  One caveat is that the Chaintech driver's are dodgy.  The volume control doesn't control volume, but balance for some reason.  Either way, if you're using an external preamp it won't matter.

I also recommend Empirical's USB to SPDIF adapters.  Excellent SQ and USB lets you move it to any other computer as you like.  Maybe out of the budget though.

For quiet case fans I think SilenX are the way to go.  Kind of expensive, and don't push the most air, but very quiet.  You may want to go with a fanless PSU though, mine is quiet, but still the loudest fan in the case (Silverstone SST-40F).

My hard drives are 36 gb Raptor and 160 gb Hitachi.  I think both are a little too loud for a strictly audio pc.  The raptor grinds like hell and the Hitachi is quiet except that it makes these weird cat noises regularly.  Apparently that's common to all of the 7k250 Hitachi's.  I have a Seagate in an external that's not too bad.  I hear the low RPM Samsung's are quiet and cheap.  

What you can do for video is get a cheap vid card (this is where AGP is handy) with S-Video output and a wireless keyboard and mouse to control you gear.  It is very helpful to have a mouse when using Foobar.

Just remember, quiet over absolute performance is the goal.  You don't need the fastest OCing machine out there.  It needs to be stable, quiet and cool.

[CSMR]

You could also ask on SPCR to see if anyone will sell you a quiet PC.

[BillyM]

...the asus I just put in a custom system, k8n has coax and optical output.  These will pass through multi-channel data from DVD's as well as 2-channel for lossless from the PC.  It was something along the lines of $90 shipped from zipzoomfly.com  

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=240416

...no dual channel, yet still has SerialATA raid onboard, supports the cheaper socket7xx 64bit processors, definately a cost-effective solution, lacking only the features you dont need...

csmr's reservations of using onboard SPDIF are flawed.  I have had no problem using it in mutiple applications, and have seen absolutely no gain by switching to a pci-based spdif output either....

If they make a Zalman copper-sheet based cooler for your processor, USE IT!  I have zalman in everything I own, they are fantastic.  for the harddrive, I suggest finding a maxtor diamondmax9 <--- (take note, the ___10 is louder)  as they are quite nice, and cheap now too...

--BillyM

[CSMR]

So can you confirm that there are motherboards that have low-jitter bit-perfect spdif output (bypassing k-mixer) at 44khz? I am under the impression that no motherboard has any of these three properties. Moreover software resampling to 24/96 might be a good idea for mcgsxr's modded ART dio.

dave_c sure, a mobile athlon is also an idea, if you can find a board which turns the fan off when not needed.

For a video card I would suggest something between a radeon 9200se and a 9600.

(NB I said A8V not A8N)

[mcgsxr]

Thanks for all the ideas so far, and that slightly cheaper motherboard is a great idea - it really is what I think I need, without the gaming intensive options.

As for s/w that upsamples, I have not played around with any of that, but would be willing to spin it, to see how it sounds.

I do understand that the remote is the hardest part to get right - I might be able to use a wireless keyboard and mouse, but I really do want to avoid having the CRT tv running while playing music.  

Thanks for the info guys, I appreciate all the opinions, and ideas!

[mgalusha]

I've started collecting the parts to build an audio PC and am considering a small LCD touchscreen.



There are a bunch of these little 8" units on eBay

Not horribly expensive but not exactly cheap either. Still, beats having to have a CRT near my system and a small touchscreen won't take up much space.

I've ordered one of the Accent HTPC cases from QuietPC.com