[Hoots]

I am looking to upgrade from my old Intel P4 w/mAudio Revolution S/PDIF out Media PC and have been wondering if I should focus on a minimal sound focused PC w/battery or linear power supply for the USB out to USB DAC (i.e. the computer audiophile C.A.P.S. servers) or if my i7 Win 7 HP revolving laptop/tablet would work just as well (connected to NAS so not to share USB bus).    The other option is to build a traditional AVS Forum HTPC (i.e. Haswell i5, w/traditional box power supply) for ripping and playing movies as well as sound.  I have a new tower case, Corsair SSD, and RAM already w/a dead motherboard & processor.

I don't care about fan noise, etc. because my PC is in a closet behind the media room with cables through the wall....silent in the listening room!

I was thinking of getting the future (FEB) Emotiva XMC-1 processor w/USB DAC.  I have Oppo 103 now w/old Emotiva DMC-1 component pre/pro for 7.2 HT.  I was thinking of just using the Oppo 105 w/my old pre/pro and the Oppo DAC.   or I could get a different pre/pro and DAC.

But this is about the PC choice...rest is just for context.   I have thousands of my CDs ripped to FLAC and 500GB of DSD.

[mcgsxr]

I played around with an old Mac Mini as a music server for a while, but the one I had could not run modern iTunes, so sharing with other devices in the house proved difficult.

I then went back to an old P4.  When that motherboard died, I went out and bought a netbook running W7 with 2GB of RAM.  It runs Logitech Media Software, and I use a usb-spdif converter into my Pioneer receiver.  I control it with a gen 3 iTouch.

Works great, and for the $200 I spent for the netbook, I am very happy with it.

I do know that folks using DSD report great things about the CAPS pieces, but for my collection (1TB of FLAC with a bit of 24/96 and some WAV thrown in) the value of the netbook is perfect.

[barrows]

If top sound quality via a USB DAC is your priority, then a dedicated server build like CAPS with a separate USB output card (SOtM, etc) will offer improved performance.  Even better if you give the USB card an independent low noise power supply of its own.  I prefer running Linux/MPD on my dedicated server build, but you know, there are those who swear by the complexity that is Windows/JRver+JPlay…
Either way, a dedicated purpose built server will result in the best sound quality with USB DACs.

[wushuliu]

If games are not a priority I would suggest the Intel NUC - you get small form factor, good cpu, possibility of linear supply, msata drive capability.

[Hoots]

No gaming, haven't played a game since Pac Man & Astroids at the neighborhood corner store.

Multi-channel DSD required more power than my old P4.  Stereo DSD seemed ok  Currently playing a USB drive of DSD connected to Oppo 103.

Are there non-USB DAC options I should consider?

I do like JRiver for the organisation.

Interested in CAPS...just a little shy about a $850 batter pack.

[asliarun]

I've been reading/thinking about this a lot as well. How good of a job does a good quality async DAC do, in reducing jitter? I confess I don't know too much but for example, I see Audio-GD's higher end offering with TCXO or Schiit Gungnir with VCXO - all presumably with robust reclocking (I guess even better than entry level async DACs).

Is it then necessary to have a very high quality audio server?

[Hoots]

I've been reading/thinking about this a lot as well. How good of a job does a good quality async DAC do, in reducing jitter? I confess I don't know too much but for example, I see Audio-GD's higher end offering with TCXO or Schiit Gungnir with VCXO - all presumably with robust reclocking (I guess even better than entry level async DACs).

Is it then necessary to have a very high quality audio server?

I also wonder if something like an empirical Audio USB cable filter which reduces jitter caused by common-mode noise on the USB cable (cuts the 5v line) would allow use of a normal HTPC with traditional power supply.

I could try the ZUMA and add a BD Writer which I believe would do both audio & video playback and compare it to my current HTPC & Oppo 103 w/USB drive.  I don't necessarily need the fanless case unless that is part of the lower power design.