Setup Music Streamer Server

[Audioseduction]

PC running Windows 7 Pro is the way to go. You can use Microsoft Security Essentials which provides real-time protection for your home or small business PC that guards against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software and it's free!

If you have a custom PC built make sure it comes with a built-in RCA S/PDIF so you can stream hi-rez audio files up to 24bit/192khz to your DAC. I use JRiver Media Center as my media player. I'm ripping all of my CD's in FLAC Lossless Uncompressed mode with dBpoweramp which provides BIT perfect rips. How sweet it is!

For a remote client I use my Android tablet and Gizmo by "dBpoweramp" to access manage playback via DLNA.

I'm currently using a HRT Music Streamer II USB DAC until I get my reference DAC tomorrow which will allow me to use the S/PDIF instead. I will post pics and additional details soon. :music:

 

[Audioseduction]

The motherboard form factor is the miniITX. The CPU fan I use is the 40mm iXtrema Pro fan which are dead quite due to the Japanese-made FDB bearings. The harddrive is a Seagate 2.5" 500GB 7200RPM which is also dead silent. I have 8GB of RAM. All music is streamed from RAM rather then the harddrive.

 

[amey01]

Thanks for the interesting response. For the base computer I would need something with a silent internal fan for a start because a noisy fan would be a definite distraction when listening to music or watching movies. The other thing is that it has got to sit on top of my isolation equipment rack along with the rest of my hifi equipment so a bulky desktop PC would be too large and ugly, I mean I want to impress the visitors. A small netbook computer could be an ideal candidate as long as it has an silent fan so I'm tempted with one of these, unfortunately because I'm going to be constantly streaming media from the net, Windows based PC's are prone to Viruses so I'll need to run the virus checking software a couple of times every day plus purchase/renew the Virus Software every 6 months (Approx $100 each time because I live in the UK and I prefer Norton 360). Running it temporarily slows down the computer too so that's another no no. This is where the MAC MINI comes in because it's tiny and would look great on the hifi rack. The internal fan is virtually silent, and plenty of connections on the rear. Finally Apple Mac's don't get virus's so the MAC MINI is at the top of my list. Oh not to forget that you can store as much info on the hard drive and it doesn't slow down, whereas PC's do slowdown here. Any suggestions for an alternative computer would be great.

No, I've got no suggestions for an alternative at all. If you've got other reasons for selecting the Mac Mini (you've listed many), then that is the right computer for you - go for it. Just be aware that it won't sound any better than your "beat up piece of sh!t"!

Conversely, be aware than in five years (when your Mac Mini is a 5-CPU generation old, beat up piece of sh!t), it won't sound any worse than it does today!! And a new computer then won't improve things either

I was merely commenting on one, single point. That was - no matter what sort of data storage you use - you will not expect sound "transparency" improvements.

If you've got other reasons for selecting a particular type of computer - go for it.

The important thing is to set it up so the computer is isolated from the audio chain. By the sounds of things, you intend to do this by way of a quality S/PDIF converter into your TacT DAC. That is as valid a method as any..........

 

[|Tch0rT|]

I have an ASRock E350M1 AMD E-350 APU (1.6GHz, Dual-Core) AMD A50M Hudson M1 Mini ITX Motherboard/CPU Combo with 4gb of RAM and 8TB of storage. Running Windows 7 and XBMC for the interface. It's my all in one media server (Movies, music, and TV Shows). I control all of it through a Logitech Harmony 700 remote. It can output video at 1080p with bit streaming DTS-MA and Dolby True HD via HDMI. It can also do 24bit 192khz for sound. My receiver doesn't support the HD surround codecs just regular DTS and Dolby Digital and only goes up to 96khz support for sound but that's "good enough" so I just use toslink optical out. The case I got was the cheapest one I could find that would fit enough hard drives in it (I didn't want a separate media server, I wanted an all in one). With some creative placing you can fit four 3.5" hard drives in it and if I swapped out the power supply for a picoPSU I could fit 5. I don't hear hard drive clicks too often and most of the music I listen to is much louder than the clicks.

 

[Dan Osib]

^^^ Are you serious? :ROFL:



Ever heard of miniITX? Super small not to mention there's plenty of PC cases out there so you can get the exact look you want. Impressing visitors? It's all about what you want not them.



If you build just a media server you don't really have to worry about viruses. They aren't "prone" to them either. You actively have to do something to get a virus. Who buys anti-virus software?! Microsoft Security Essentials works just fine, there's other alternatives like AVG as well. Yeah the anti-virus scan can slow down a computer but this isn't 1995 anymore, any halfway modern system will have no problem running anti-virus software while running any multitudes of other software. Music playing programs aren't really that CPU intensive.



LOL http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2011/10/03/mac-malware-history/



Um an OS drive will slow down if it gets too full. A media drive won't.

Where do you get your info on stuff?! I think I got some swamp land, bridges, and magic audiophile rocks to sell you. :devil:

Because I'm a novice to this field I've been relying on asking questions to computer shop salesmen in large stores here in the UK like Harrods, Selfridges and Apple Store. The Mini ITX looks great but I wouldn't have a clue how to put one together. Does it have a built in SPDIF/coax socket (important)? If I wanted to put a really nice one together what do I need to buy? Bear in mind I would want one of the best built in SPDIF available on the market (coax, not optical).

 

[Audioseduction]

I used the MSI E350IS-E45 motherboard which has a built-in S/PDIF. It's right above the optical connection.

 

[|Tch0rT|]

The Mini ITX looks great but I wouldn't have a clue how to put one together. Does it have a built in SPDIF/coax socket (important)? If I wanted to put a really nice one together what do I need to buy? Bear in mind I would want one of the best built in SPDIF available on the market (coax, not optical).

A lot of motherboards these days have SPDIF out, not all do. Good luck finding any specs on the SPDIF out. It's digital, it's either all there or not there at all. I seriously doubt you'll hear a difference between the SPDIF out on a Mac Mini or any of the many motherboards with that output. You're chasing dragons.

 

[Audioseduction]

Tch0rT, nice media server you built there. Mine is strickly for streaming music.

 

[amey01]

I used the MSI E350IS-E45 motherboard which has a built-in S/PDIF. It's right above the optical connection.

Granted, I have not heard a setup like this, nor have I seen measurements. BUT......

I would not be going down this path......I would not want the PC being responsible for creating the audio. A buffered DAC may alleviate some of the concern here, but I'm not sure how much.

 

[|Tch0rT|]

Tch0rT, nice media server you built there. Mine is strickly for streaming music.

Thanks, you got a slick setup yourself. It's great to have your entire collection at your fingertips isn't it? No more swapping discs!

Granted, I have not heard a setup like this, nor have I seen measurements. BUT......

I would not be going down this path......I would not want the PC being responsible for creating the audio. A buffered DAC may alleviate some of the concern here, but I'm not sure how much.

I don't see the problem if you're using HDMI, SPDIF, or Optical out. Analog yeah, something different would be better. I don't see what makes the difference between a CD player/DVD/BluRay/Squeezebox/PC or any other player's SPDIF out. It's just 1's and 0's to a DAC.

 

[amey01]

It's just 1's and 0's to a DAC.

No, it's not. It is clocked 1s and 0s to the DAC.

It is advisable to take this to the music system independently of the computer, using an asychronous connection. That is, asychronous USB, wi-fi, LAN, etc.

If your DAC re-buffers the S/PDIF input then the differences may be negligible. But I'm not so sure...........I guess in the final analysis, why risk it [that is, clocking data in your PC] when you can eliminate it from consideration?

More than happy to open debate on this (perhaps in another thread if others are interested), and appreciate it is a debatable topic.

And honestly - debate is quite valid......this is not an established area of the audio industry. There are many ways to achieve good results, and in some ways, it is a little like other controversial topics in audio - eg "valve amps are best". They are not. People can get great results with either. Likewise, people can get very poor results with both valve and SS amps if they fall into the many pitfalls.

 

[|Tch0rT|]

I don't know a whole lot about that particular subject but what research I've done it falls under the "splitting hairs" kinda thing. To me sound quality falls under 3 major areas. How well the source was recorded, the speakers, and the room the speakers are in. I'd say that covers some 90 odd percent and the rest doesn't matter nearly as much. I know this is getting a bit off topic so I'll say this, if I get to the point of caring about my perceived amount of jitter in a PC mother board vs an external DAC or media player it means I'm not sitting back and enjoying the music anymore. That's just my view point.

 

[amey01]

I don't know a whole lot about that particular subject but what research I've done it falls under the "splitting hairs" kinda thing. To me sound quality falls under 3 major areas. How well the source was recorded, the speakers, and the room the speakers are in. I'd say that covers some 90 odd percent and the rest doesn't matter nearly as much. I know this is getting a bit off topic so I'll say this, if I get to the point of caring about my perceived amount of jitter in a PC mother board vs an external DAC or media player it means I'm not sitting back and enjoying the music anymore. That's just my view point.

If that's your viewpoint then fine - but you should probably disclose that before giving advice. This site is filled with people that care passionately, and go to extreme lenghts for the best sound quality.

 

[Ron]

This site is filled with people that care passionately, and go to extreme lenghts for the best sound quality.

+1

 

[|Tch0rT|]

I'm sure there's a fair amount of people on this site who don't feel like amps/dac's/wiring have any sonic signatures worth worrying about too. And how does that make my advice any less valid because I didn't start it off with a disclosure? Should I state my religious beliefs and political leanings before I reply to anymore threads?

 

[amey01]

I'm sure there's a fair amount of people on this site who don't feel like amps/dac's/wiring have any sonic signatures worth worrying about too. And how does that make my advice any less valid because I didn't start it off with a disclosure? Should I state my religious beliefs and political leanings before I reply to anymore threads?

No, because religious beliefs or political leanings don't have any impact on the advice you give when you are talking about audio equipment. But this site has never had a "near enough is good enough" ethos. Sure, there is healthy disagreement, and some people place less emphasis on certain things. Heck, even I am one who has documented several times that cables aren't worth too much expense and worry - but I do disclose this is my belief and why. We shouldn't just tell someone (Dan has admitted he is a novice in this regard) do do something without saying why.

 

[|Tch0rT|]

I was joking.

 

[amey01]

I was joking.

I revoke my comment then.

The joy of attempting to deduce context when communication is written only!