Thank you for the warm welcomes. About my music server, well, first of all I have to credit JPLAY forums and Audiophile Style forums for the vast knowledge shared by so many of their members.
I didnt want to get into computer audio because my first experiences with it in high end audio shops was not great. It just seemed to lack musicality. So it took me along time to give it a go. it's a bit of a story but I'll try not to drag it out too long. I started with a Dell laptop. Did all the things a person can do to make it sound good, Windows Server 2019 operating system, numerous software applications designed to minimize operating system processes and other things I can't remember off the top of my head. Experimented with different USB cables etc. Ultimately I could not get the laptop to sound as good as my CD player, which admittedly is a high bar for CD players. Nonetheless, I could not believe 16/44 format could compete with 24/196 so I took the next step. I decided to build a specialized music server. I've never built a computer before so had to do many hours research. I started out attempting to work with a few places that specialize in building computers and a couple that had experience with music servers. It seemed to get very expensive very fast so I set out to build my own. I just finished the computer build a couple days ago and now have to finish a couple easy mods to the unregulated linear power supply built for me by a member of Audiophile style. Here are the details of the builds:
Music Server:
1) HDPlex H5 Fanless Chassis
2) SOtM SMB-Q370 Audio Mother Board
3) Intel 900P SSD for OS (280GB)
4) Intel 670P NVME drive for Music Storage.
5) 32MB G-Skill B-Die ram.
6) Taiko Audio DC DC-ATX Audio Isolation Transformer.
7) Neotech internal wiring for 24-pin EPS/motherboard, the 8 & 4 pin motherboard power supply, and DC cable between Unregulated Linear Power Supply and Taiko DC-DC ATX.
StarTech Fiber NIC.
9) JCAT USB XE (powered by Fidelizer Nikola2 LPS).
Unregulated Linear Power Supply:
1. Modushop Slim Line 03/230 10mm Chassis
2. IEC inlet (Furutech Fi-09)
3. Noratel transformer
4. Saligny Power rectifier
5. Hi-B Cut Choke custom built by a guy named Martin Mug, in Germany.
I will probably run Windows Server 2019 for the operating system. It seems to have the best reputation for sound quality and reduced background process capability. Windows 11 has some interesting stripped down versions that might also be worth a look.
