[krikor]

Well color me confused, i dont seem to have the right bracket to mount this HD correctly and still get the cover on. But what do you want for free, thanks brother in law.




While i love the cute compac look of the M350 i didnt realize it was soo small.

I have my hard drive mounted front to back with the connectors towards the front. Had the same right angle connector problem, but I plugged the right angle end into the motherboard and used the straight connectors at the hard drive.

[ted_b]

Same here (right angle for mobo, straight for SSD).  Plus, maybe you can gain a half inch or so by mounting black shelf UNDER the side rails, not on top of them.

[Nick77]

Thanks for the insight boys.......

Just got win7 up and going, play some tunes later. 

[Nick77]

Listened to some Patrica Barber and Bob Belden and gotta say I dont miss my Squeezebox Touch although it was more stable.

I installed the new USB32 chip for my NFB2 DAC from AudioGD and having a few issues mostly with hirez.

I must admit i haven't heard redbook ever sound this good, im really impressed so far. Still a little light on bass but with a few more hours im sure that will come around. Im sporting a new Wywire USB cable and not sure how much to attribute to the cable but I am really liking the tone and resolution, cymbals are natural and piano is sounding its best yet in my system. Using Jriver for playback.

I am using battery for power and PPA card is currently being powered by board with good results. Bit of a learning curve but seems to be well worth the effort. Thanks to all.........

[WGH]

Still a little light on bass but with a few more hours im sure that will come around.

...I am using battery for power and PPA card is currently being powered by board with good results.

Right now I have the about 1/2 hour on the PPA card and listening to Daft Punk - Random Access Memories with no shortage of bass, just the same or deeper than the motherboard USB port.

The PPA card is powered by an Acopian 5v 2 amp AC to DC linear transformer (ebay).

Congratulations on making everything work.

Wayne

[this_is_vv]

Seems like this is what i need....may i ask how much i need to spend for this...

V

[WGH]

Seems like this is what i need....may i ask how much i need to spend for this...

V

What particular "this" are you referring to?

[this_is_vv]

What particular "this" are you referring to?

apologies if i was not clear...top of line music transport aka CAPS....

V

[TomS]

apologies if i was not clear...top of line music transport aka CAPS....

V

http://shop.smallgreencomputer.com/Computer-Audiophile-Pocket-Server_c5.htm

[this_is_vv]

http://shop.smallgreencomputer.com/Computer-Audiophile-Pocket-Server_c5.htm

How much we can save if we can make ourselves I have made many computer myself

[ted_b]

You can make an i7-based (Zuma like) server for about $1000-1100.  I think David (dminches) put a recent bill of materials together.  I'll add $$ later, but here's a decent list:
Intel server mobo (s1200kpr)
Xeon processor
64 GB SSD (for OS)
PPA USB card
Streamcom case
8-16GB ECC RAM
Windows Server 2012 (free 6 mo trial)
JRiver (free trial)

[this_is_vv]

You can make an i7-based (Zuma like) server for about $1000-1100.  I think David (dminches) put a recent bill of materials together.  I'll add $$ later, but here's a decent list:
Intel server mobo (s1200kpr)
Xeon processor
64 GB SSD (for OS)
PPA USB card
Streamcom case
8-16GB ECC RAM
Windows Server 2012 (free 6 mo trial)
JRiver (free trial)

lucky me i have 120GB SSD and i7 from earlier build....

i am just little not so sure of these tweaks...thats all....

V

[raysracing]

When I first got the Anker, I bought it to power the PPA card.  Because it had 2 outputs, I tested it powering both the PPA card, and the SSD.  The sound was horrible. I tried just the PPA card, and while the sound was better than powering both devices, it was still horrible.  Powering just the SSD with the Anker is magical. 

After Christmas, I'll have another battery pack to test if a separate battery on the PPA card will work, but previous testing seems to show my PPA card hates these batteries and loves the pico. 

The next step that could be interesting is to power just the CPU with a battery or linear.  I've read success stories with a couple of people, but I'm not sure if I'll try it or not.

While a battery supply worked with the Atom based CAPS severs, I'm not so sure that it's very practical with the higher powered machines.  But if you'd like to read a 400 post thread on the subject of linear and battery power for higher powered machines, here it is:

http://jplay.eu/forum/computer-audio/linear-power-supply-for-pico-psu-anyone-done-this/

If the SSD is running the OS only and not storing any music files per se (unless running off of memory means running off of the SSD) do you still need the Anker?  I suppose given the limited memory of SSD's you all must be running spinning hard drives to store the music?

[shawbros3]

lucky me i have 120GB SSD and i7 from earlier build....

i am just little not so sure of these tweaks...thats all....

V

If you are a bit weary, try some of the cheaper power alternatives first.  In my experience, all these little tweaks really helped in smoothing out the sound and removing a ton of noise.  I must say that the switch from Windows 8 to Windows Server 2012 (Minimal Server Mode) was well worth it.  Adding on Audiophile's Optimizer was just the icing on the cake, made the music sound more natural and less digital.  I plan on dual booting into Windows 8 for my video needs.  Good luck...

[ted_b]

If the SSD is running the OS only and not storing any music files per se (unless running off of memory means running off of the SSD) do you still need the Anker?  I suppose given the limited memory of SSD's you all must be running spinning hard drives to store the music?

Yes, separately powering the OS SSD with an Anker or other clean power supply is magical; quite an improvement.  I'm running my music on a large Synology NAS.

[shawbros3]

If the SSD is running the OS only and not storing any music files per se (unless running off of memory means running off of the SSD) do you still need the Anker?  I suppose given the limited memory of SSD's you all must be running spinning hard drives to store the music?

I think the Anker or Powergen batteries work very well with the SSD.  I didn't think that tweak would make much of a difference, but I guess clean power is crucial even at the storage point.  It's fairly cheap too at $40-50.  Like some others, I have had isues with the mobile battery turning off all of a sudden, resulting in a reboot, but it seems to happen with only one Powergen that I have.  I don't get that hiccup with the other two I'm testing, weird?

I use spinning drives to store my music files and it works great.  I plan on hooking up a NAS to my router so that I can better manage my music library.

Good luck with the build.  I personally think the PPA card is a must if you want to get great sound from your server, just my 2 cents

[this_is_vv]

usb to sata power

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUhLjN_JpXA


V

[randytsuch]

So after a LONG delay, I finally finished building my PC.

This is what I put together so far
PC info
Chassis      Streacom HTPC-FC8-Evo-Silver
Motherboard   Intel S1200KPR motherboard
Processor   Intel Pentium G630 processor
DRAM       Crucial CT25672BA1067 2GB 240 pin DIMM DDR3 ECC  x 2
Storage      USB 500gb drive
Power supply   pico PSU ATX Power Supply 160W 12V input 24 pin ATX
Power Supply   Xbox ps for 12VDC

Right now, I am running the Daphile off of a USB stick for my "OS".
http://www.daphile.com/

It is basically linux with squeeze server.  Since I used a squeezebox for many years, it is an interface I am used to.

It was easy to get it running with daphile, pretty much just came up and ran.

The ethernet interface is this little tp link access point.  I bought it a while ago from Frys for my pogoplug, but after a little setup, you can plug an ethernet port into it, and it will connect to your wireless network.
http://www.frys.com/product/6980167?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

I still want to try windows server, but my work PC won't let me make a bootable usb stick, the antivirus software blocks it, so I need to figure a way around it.

I am also getting some noise, but it might be my DAC.  I get noise if I an an AC adapter plugged into my macbook, but if I run off of battery there is no noise.

Randy

[randytsuch]

So I found the source of my noise.  My little access point is usb powered, and I was powering it from a PC usb port.
I got an external usb power plug to power it, and most of the noise is gone.  Still just a little, but not enough to bother me.

Randy

[Nick77]

You inspired a number of builds, glad your up and running.

I love my caps build!