Where to start with a computer-based system?

aggielaw · « **on:** 16 Apr 2006, 11:34 pm »

I'm toying with the idea of making one of my four computers a dedicated music server. I've read that I can buy a good sound card, and DAC and hook them up to my main rig's amp and speakers and have as good or better sound than I have now for a small fraction of what I paid for my CDP (Cary 303/300) and preamp (McCormack RLD-1 Platinum.)

My questions are: 1. is this true? and 2. What hardware and software should I be looking at purchasing?

Thanks for the help, all!
Howard

dave_c · « **Reply #1 on:** 17 Apr 2006, 12:41 am »

1. Maybe

2. Even maybe as recent as a year ago, it was better to have your computer in the same room as your rig so you could use a USB to SPDIF converter or DAC to achieve the best sound. Now, many people are onboard the Squeezebox train to get their music from their hard drives to their systems. Which one sounds the best? I don't have experience with the Squeezebox, but USB to SPDIF sounded excellent. Also, the convinience of having your music readily accessible is great. Here are some questions you want to ask yourself:

1. Is your computer quiet enough to share the room with your system?
----If not you may want to go the Squeezebox right away or build a completely silent PC. This is probably the best reason to go with a Squeezebox.

3. Are your music files lossy compressed (mp3), lossless compressed (FLAC, etc.) or uncompressed (WAV)?
----If you have mostly MP3's, they aren't going to sound good on any decent system. If you are planning to rip all of your CD's, do you have HD space for WAV's?

4. Do you have a wireless device (Laptop, wireless PDA) to control playlist?
----To get the full convinience of having a music server, you need to interface it somehow and unless you're sitting right in front of it, that means wireless.

It actually is pretty simple to get going with a computer system. But its also easy to buy an integrated amp and speakers. Like any other system, to make it work right for you takes a little more work and due dilligence. Hard disk based audio and distribution are not as mature as other products yet which means more TLC to get the most out of it.

Rewards can be worth it. Starting with a stock or Red Wine Audio or Bolder modded Squeezebox (if you have wireless network at home) is probably the easiest route.

Nick B · « **Reply #2 on:** 17 Apr 2006, 02:07 am »

A few months ago, I wanted to get recommendations for a better CDP, but a few AC members suggested the Squeezebox. I already had a wireless Linksys router, so I added a dedicated 250G harddrive and another 250G drive as a backup. Bought the SB2 and had it modded. It is still breaking in. It is very convenient and easy to use. My computer is in an adjacent room and the signal strength is always 75% or more. The sound is much better than my previous modded Pioneer CDP. Glad I took the AC suggestion.
Good luck

aggielaw · « **Reply #3 on:** 17 Apr 2006, 02:32 am »

Thanks for your thoughts, Dave. So as to get more thoughts from you and others, here are the answers to your questions:

1. The CD's I've ripped so far (for importing into my flash-based walkman for gym use) are .wav files; I chose .wav because it is lossless.

2. My experience with ROIO's tells me one disc is about 1GB; I have about 500 CD's, so a couple 300GB HD's and I should be good for the next few months. (Actually, I'd like to get a smaller drive for the OS and have two 300GB or larger drives to handle music and as temp drives for my Tivo stuff. My thoughts on using that computer for Tivo are irrelevant here, so I'll not talk any more about that unless asked.)

3. I do have the house set up for wireless, and I have a laptop with wireless pre-n networking. My original plan was to somehow patch my computer in to my TV and access the computer that way. I have a six year-old TV, though, so that may not be possible. The laptop sounds like a better option, anyway, now that I think about having to use the mouse/keyboard!

My computer is a bit loud, but I there was an article on cnet.com just last month in their "weekend project" column about soundproofing your PC. I don't know anything about Squeezebox; I'll do some research. I wonder just how much better the technology can get? In my ignorant mind, I'm thinking a good sound card, like the M-Audio 24/192 card, connected to a big-bang-for-your-buck DAC in the $1k used range will get me some great sound. Am I fooling myself? Will I actually need a much more expensive DAC? Will the sound card be the limiting factor on how good the system can sound? (I thought the DAC would minimize the importance of the sound card's quality.)

I'll do some homework on the Squeezebox tonight, but more thoughts are appreciated!

Thanks,
Howard

kfr01 · « **Reply #4 on:** 17 Apr 2006, 04:16 am »

aggielaw:

I personally can't give up the interface of a full computer for a squeezebox.

I feel the m-audio digital out (I use a USB->SPDIF Sonica) with a decent dac (Perpetual Tech. P-3A with Channel Islands PSU) gives me very good sound with a low noise floor.

The PC is in my entertainment rack and is dedicated to playing music. I use a video card with S-VIDEO out to my TV.

I then use a cordless mouse to control Winamp w/ ASIO and FLAC plugins.

I wouldn't trade the interface.

I will eventually upgrade to a higher quality USB->SPDIF converter like the Red Wine USB Select or Empirical Audio Offramp Turbo. Going USB->SPDIF removes the soundcard from the noisy environment of the PC enclosure.

dave_c · « **Reply #5 on:** 18 Apr 2006, 03:57 am »

Kfr01's point about the noisy pc case should be a huge concern. When I used a USB converter, my laptop was utterly silent. Using an EMU1212m soundcard from my desktop had some noise that was apparent. I would certainly recommend going USB converter to outboard DAC if possible.

greigmg · « **Reply #6 on:** 30 Apr 2006, 09:08 pm »

For more info on silencing a PC, check out http://www.silentpcreview.com. I have a media server in my bedroom built from an old pc - I started off with low noise fans from newegg, used fan controllers to spin them as slow as possible, and replaced the stock power supply with a "lower noise" power supply (you can buy fanless ones but they're $$$). The only thing I hear now are the hard drives. If you search the forums on the above site they have various ways of silencing drives - essentially they suspend the 3.5" drive in the 5.25" drive bays (or anywhere else there's space) with rubber bands or elastic.

For my own purposes, I stream .wavs wirelessly from the media server to my laptop which plugs into my stereo through a USB-->optical in interface. The drawback with this setup is that you have to plug/unplug the laptop, and sometimes fiddle with it to select "USB Audio." Would be nice to have a dedicated, permanently connected computer.

lcrim · « **Reply #7 on:** 1 May 2006, 04:10 am »

I changed to hard drive based playback of Redbook last year and the learning curve was not that steep given that I work in IT and have access to lots of hardware. I use an older laptop as my dedicated server, I like the small form factor and the fact that its dedicated meant I could optimize the OS (WIN XP) for audio. I have a 300 GIG storage drive connected via a USB 2.0 PCMCIA card and have a Creative Audigy 2 NX connected via USB 1.1 and use Foobar as the player. I had to play a bit to use Asio4All and the Creative drivers aren't in the signal path, so no KMixer messing things up resampling to 48K. I added a linear power supply to the Audigy, which doesn't get its power from the USB bus. The Audigy only converts the signal to SPDIF and from there to a Scott Nixon TubeDac+. This was not terribly spendy and the quality is astounding.
I use the same laptop and storage drive with SlimServer to send a WiFi signal to a SqueezeBox 3 in my bedroom system. It outputs to a SN Chibi Dac. The SqueezeBox is stock with a linear power supply (an Elpac from AlliedElectric) and it easily bests the sound quality of a highly modded Toshiba 3950 DVD player, a cheap DVD player whose audio quality was held in high esteem not long ago. I still use it for DVD video.
The Squeeze Box can be modded to any level your finances will allow.
If I were doing the change now i would recommend the TubeDac+ w/ the USB connection and eliminate the SPDIF conversion. Get it far enough away to get rid of the operating noises
I use the laptop I'm typing this on to control the music server either w/ remote control to Foobar on the desktop or w/ a browser connection to SlimServer. The learning curve is not that steep and you'll have fun and get better quality and more convenient playback for much less than you spent on that pricey CD player.