[chadh]

I've just about convinced my wife that we should embark on a new adventure, adding a PC and USB DAC to the audio system.  This is to replace the modified squeezebox I've been using.  I have Peter Daniel's Audio Sector USB DAC shipping to me next week.  Now I just need a PC.

My needs for the PC are humble.  It will only NEED to do two things:
1) stream music very, very quietly to the USB DAC; and
2) allow me to control which music is being played.

This means it only needs to have enough processing power to run something like Foobar smoothly.  It will be connected to my household network via ethernet cable, and music will be stored on another computer.

But I also care about a convenient way to interface with the PC.

Jrebman has suggested using an Asus EEE box.  It's meant to be super quiet, and it's CHEAP.  But to interface with this, I'd need to add screens and keyboards, or have a laptop open or something like that.

In the same vein, I have been looking at this:  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883220008&nm_mc=OTC-Froogle&cm_mmc=OTC-Froogle-_-Desktop+PC-_-ASUS-_-83220008

That Newegg price of $479 is the best I've found.

The problem is, the reviews of this item haven't been great.  The touchscreen strikes me as a super convenient way to interface with the music system.  But the touchscreen software isn't all that flexible, and  it might be tricky to get really good control of foobar that way.

I've considered using something like the Asus box, headless, and then adding a Nokia N810 to control it.

Are there other super quiet, no frills PC options that fit my needs, and also turn out to be super cheap?

Chad

[turkey]

I've just about convinced my wife that we should embark on a new adventure, adding a PC and USB DAC to the audio system.  This is to replace the modified squeezebox I've been using.  I have Peter Daniel's Audio Sector USB DAC shipping to me next week.  Now I just need a PC.

My needs for the PC are humble.  It will only NEED to do two things:
1) stream music very, very quietly to the USB DAC; and
2) allow me to control which music is being played.

This means it only needs to have enough processing power to run something like Foobar smoothly.  It will be connected to my household network via ethernet cable, and music will be stored on another computer.

But I also care about a convenient way to interface with the PC.

Jrebman has suggested using an Asus EEE box.  It's meant to be super quiet, and it's CHEAP.  But to interface with this, I'd need to add screens and keyboards, or have a laptop open or something like that.

In the same vein, I have been looking at this:  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883220008&nm_mc=OTC-Froogle&cm_mmc=OTC-Froogle-_-Desktop+PC-_-ASUS-_-83220008

That Newegg price of $479 is the best I've found.

The problem is, the reviews of this item haven't been great.  The touchscreen strikes me as a super convenient way to interface with the music system.  But the touchscreen software isn't all that flexible, and  it might be tricky to get really good control of foobar that way.

I've considered using something like the Asus box, headless, and then adding a Nokia N810 to control it.

Are there other super quiet, no frills PC options that fit my needs, and also turn out to be super cheap?

Chad

You could get one of those small NAS boxes (Newegg has a number of them) and a Dell Mini 9. Keep the NAS in another room and the Mini and USB DAC in with your stereo.

The Mini is inexpensive and totally silent - it's all solid state.

[mcgsxr]

I think NYC Paramedic around here (http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=62364.0) posted about a SBC Linux build he did.  Very low power, and runs music well.  Typically run headless.

You do still need a device to control it (Netbook, laptop, Blackberry, Nokia, some wifi device), but for the $140 or so he spent, and the low low power consumption, it might just be the trick.  They do have USB ports too.

Had I not just bought a used SFF Dell that I run headless (and parked 25 feet from the listening chair, and in a cabinet) I would absolutely go for one of these, to run my SB3 in the short term, and perhaps what you describe in the long term.

[turkey]

I think NYC Paramedic around here (http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=62364.0) posted about a SBC Linux build he did.  Very low power, and runs music well.  Typically run headless.

You do still need a device to control it (Netbook, laptop, Blackberry, Nokia, some wifi device), but for the $140 or so he spent, and the low low power consumption, it might just be the trick.  They do have USB ports too.

Wouldn't a simpler and less expensive approach be to simply get a Dell Mini 9 running Ubuntu? The base model Mini should do fine.

[mcgsxr]

I cannot speak to simpler or not, and I assume that he already has a laptop?

The Dell mini 9, at around $280 US, does seem good, but he still needs a remote device to alter music and volume via Foobar - no?

Not suggesting it is not a good solution, but if you still need the remote, then isn't it just 2x the price of the SBC solution?  I do get that it has a screen etc, and is easier to admin directly, but I have had great success running headless and doing admin via remote desktop.

[turkey]

I cannot speak to simpler or not, and I assume that he already has a laptop?

The Dell mini 9, at around $280 US, does seem good, but he still needs a remote device to alter music and volume via Foobar - no?

Not suggesting it is not a good solution, but if you still need the remote, then isn't it just 2x the price of the SBC solution?  I do get that it has a screen etc, and is easier to admin directly, but I have had great success running headless and doing admin via remote desktop.

I wasn't assuming that he already had a laptop.

I also missed the reference to Foobar. It appears to be Windows-only.

What I was envisioning was using the Mini to control the player, pull data from the NAS, and feed to the USB DAC.

The Mini would sit on a sidetable next to the couch and connect to the DAC and then to the stereo system. Between the USB cable and RCA cable, there should be enough length to make it work. (5M is max for USB, and you can get another 5M or so with the RCA-RCA.)

I'm planning to do exactly this, so I suggested it for the OP.

I think maybe you're right and that it won't be ideal for chadh.

[turkey]

I've just about convinced my wife that we should embark on a new adventure, adding a PC and USB DAC to the audio system.  This is to replace the modified squeezebox I've been using.  I have Peter Daniel's Audio Sector USB DAC shipping to me next week.  Now I just need a PC.

What will a PC and USB DAC do for you that a Squeezebox and external DAC won't? (I'm just curious. I haven't spent much time with a Squeezebox, although I know how they work.)

My needs for the PC are humble.  It will only NEED to do two things:
1) stream music very, very quietly to the USB DAC; and
2) allow me to control which music is being played.

This means it only needs to have enough processing power to run something like Foobar smoothly.  It will be connected to my household network via ethernet cable, and music will be stored on another computer.

In the same vein, I have been looking at this:  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883220008&nm_mc=OTC-Froogle&cm_mmc=OTC-Froogle-_-Desktop+PC-_-ASUS-_-83220008

That Newegg price of $479 is the best I've found.

This is where a Dell Mini 9 would fit in. You could even get one with Windows on it if you'd rather have that. You don't need to store music, so a very small solid state HD would be fine.

They're very small and lightweight, and there's no noise because there is no mechanical HD. They also boot really fast.

They're so small and convenient that you might just start using it as a computer too. Like I often grab mine when I'm talking on the phone and sit down where I want in the house and am able to access the web if I need to look something up. Flip the screen up, press the power button, and in under a minute you've got a computer.

I've also watched videos while laying in a hammock in the backyard. The Mini is light enough to lay on your chest while you're watching. (Laptops get heavy and hot.) I have a whole bunch of USB flash drives that vendors pass out like popcorn, so I've got plenty of storage for whatever I want.

[chadh]

Thanks for the suggestions, guys.

What will a PC and USB DAC do for you that a Squeezebox and external DAC won't? (I'm just curious. I haven't spent much time with a Squeezebox, although I know how they work.)

Before I say anything else, I should mention that I really like my squeezebox.  I have only two (probably small) issues with it.  First, it doesn't seem to matter what I do, my modified squeezebox is always picking up interference of some sort.  Usually, this isn't such a big deal.  But at other times it's frustrating.  Second, it doesn't matter how good the unit sounds after modifications, it's hard to get past the fact that it's a cheap piece of consumer-grade hardware, and it's not built to last.  So, my current unit has a crack around one of the analogue outputs right now.  It's not currently a problem.  But sooner or later, something in the squeezebox is going to die, and then I will need to replace it.  That means replacing the stock unit, paying for modifications, dealing with upgraded the power supplies, etc. 

My ideal would probably be to replace the squeezebox with a transporter.  But, that's not financially viable.  So, I think a wiser approach is to make a small investment in a PC, and another small investment in a DAC.  This way, the expense of replacing the PC whenever it dies is small (and getting smaller all the time).  Moreover, the ability to change the DAC offers a simple upgrade path along which I won't lose nearly as much money on resale as I would with a squeezebox.

This is where a Dell Mini 9 would fit in. You could even get one with Windows on it if you'd rather have that. You don't need to store music, so a very small solid state HD would be fine.

They're very small and lightweight, and there's no noise because there is no mechanical HD. They also boot really fast.

I like the sound of this.  Of course, the Dell Mini 9 seems to be essentially the same as the Asus netbooks, so I guess they are pretty quiet too.

I'm not committed to having remote control of the music here.  There's no particular problem in having to get up to select the next album I'm going to play.  But I am concerned that the interface I use is a convenient one (for me, for my wife, and for my sons).  In some ways, that's why I was excited by the touchscreen idea on the Asus EEE Top.   Then again, saving a couple of hundred bucks sounds good, too.

Chad

[NewBuyer]

Chad, have you considered the SqueezeBox Duet?  The Receiver is small and could easily be stashed out of sight, and the Controller would make for an easy interface.  Used with a cheap linear supply, you may not want/need an external DAC...

[anthony a.]

my setup consists of peters usb dac and an asus eee box.  the pc it completely silent all the time and i have tried different ac/dc adaptors (power supplies) and found one that is very quiet in my setup.  i have an ipod touch that i usually use to control my music and it works awesome (running itunes).  i went from a squeezebox setup and couldn't be happier.  you could also run the asus using a netbook and vnc, but the ipod touch is cheaper and easier.

[andyr]

I'm also researching what would make a good music-disk device ... but I need to go one step further than chadh, as I want to rip all my LPs to disk as well as play them back.

A friend of mine recommended the E-MU 0404 USB to use as the device to rip/play back, as it can do this at 24bit/96Khz.  She also recommended getting a Dell Mini 9 because a) it's fanless and b) has a 16GB SSD ... so has no moving parts.

However, from reading the tech specs, I noticed 2 things:
1.  its maximum RAM is 1GB, and
2.  it only has a 10/100Mb Ethernet connection.

Now 1GB is theoretically enough RAM to take a FLAC file from an LP which has been recorded at 24bit/96Khz, so that maybe isn't a problem?

But is a 100Mb connection to the NAS device sufficient?  The Thecus N4100 PRO NAS device (with 4 x 1GB drives, mirrored) that I was thinking of buying has a 10Mb/100Mb/1Gb ethernet port ... so it seems a pity not to be able to take advantage of the higher speed.  But let's do the maths:
* 1GB = 10Gb (well, actually 8 but let's make the maths easier and be conservative!  )
* 10Gb = 10,000Mb
* the LP lasts 45 minutes = 2,700 seconds
* 10,000Mb over 2,700 seconds = 3.7Mbps!

Hehe ... 100Mb would appear to be overkill!! 

Perhaps someone can answer some other Qus I have.:
Q1:  How does one copy the FLAC file to RAM before playing?  I have heard that streaming directly from disk can introduce jitter, compared to playing straight from RAM?
Q2:  What software enables you to search the disk for the album you want to play?

Regards,

Andy

[chadh]

OK, I think I'm nearing a decision.  My wife likes the price on this, and it seems like it should do the job.  Not the Dell mini 9, but essentially the same idea: http://www.amazon.com/8-9-Inch-Netbook-Processor-Storage-Battery/dp/B001BYB61G/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1240664912&sr=1-10.

I'm happy to hear if anybody wanted to tell me if anything appears to be "Wrong" with this.  Remember, I'm not going to use it for anything very much other than dragging files off networked storage, and playing them through foobar (or something like that).

Chad

[avta]

I know you're talking about pc's but a few years ago I bought a used Mac Mini and subsequently got a dac and Squeezebox 2. I've upgraded my system since but still use a Mac Mini ( just got a new one ) with an external hard drive to store music files. There are also few good and free programs available for ripping cd's.  I use the SB2's digital output to the dac so I'm not limited to using the SB's built in one. I like Mac OS and the computer is silent, about the size of a book and connects easily to my home wireless network.  Just a thought.

[agillis]

I would recommend a VortexBox appliance. It's only $359 with a 1TB hard disk. You can plug your DAC into it and start playing. It's already running SqueezeCenter for Logitech. It has a built in player that will play music to your DAC. You could use a SqueezeController remote or an iPod running iPeng to controlling it.

vortexbox.org

[jrebman]

Anthony A.,

What was the power supply you found for your eee box?  I've got essentially the same setup in one of my systems -- eebox to AS NOS dac.

-- Jim

[chadh]

Anthony A.,

What was the power supply you found for your eee box?  I've got essentially the same setup in one of my systems -- eebox to AS NOS dac.

-- Jim

Oh great!  Now I'm going to start worrying about upgrading the PS for my PC too?  Let me know how much it's going to cost me.

Chad

[mcgsxr]

Moreso than worring about the quality of the PS for the PC, I assume it is more concern around not polluting the AC that leads to your DAC.

You might want to use Felix/Felicia's or some other balanced power conditioner on any SMPS near your DAC...

[ebag4]

Moreso than worring about the quality of the PS for the PC, I assume it is more concern around not polluting the AC that leads to your DAC.

You might want to use Felix/Felicia's or some other balanced power conditioner on any SMPS near your DAC...

Or, since the unit runs on 12VDC you could build a battery supply and simply unplug the charger during critical listening!

Best,
Ed

[ricmon]

Chad. 

This my be an over ambitious solution in terms of what you would like to spend but this would be my ideal solution.  Last week they had some for a grand (like I said maybe a little over ambitious).

Recertified: HP TouchSmart IQ804(KT457AAR) All-in-one PC 25.5" Touch-enabled widescreen LCD Core 2 Duo T5850(2.16GHz) 4GB DDR2 500GB NVIDIA GeForce 9300M GS Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883107971

[jrebman]

Chad,

I'm more concerned about having the power supply to the computer as quiet as it can be.  I plug the switcher into a PS Audio quintet which isolates the switching noise from getting back into the AC power and the other components.

If there's a quieter psu for this, then I would like to know about it, that's all.  I use an Acer Aspire One netbook for my other systems and it can run a long time on it's battery, so I don't worry about the psu so much there.

-- Jim