Build a dedicated Audio PC

[markof]

Yes but my point is - is the harshness coming from Audirvana & the direct connection is exposing it? Thinking about it - it may have been turning on Integere mode & direct mode that increased the detail to the level of harshness? I'm of the opinion that this is the case as I can hear this harshness with various cables but have a particular cable which reduces/eliminates it but at the expense of a rolled off HF. This is all my opinion of what I hear YMMV
Yes, I haven't tried these & probably won't - try Amarra HiFi - it seems to have the same sound engine as it's bigger brother & only $49. Try 15 day evaluation & post your thoughts, please.

Hi John, thanks for the reply.
I take your point and agree that the harshness (is this noise/distortion?) is probably already there and is revealed/enhanced by the direct/integer mode and by the use of usb adaptors. I found on my system (see sig.), that suitable usb cabling (short length and the removal of the 5v pin) can sweeten the sound without the hf roll-off which you have noted on your system, but then again my speakers have no traditional tweeters. Also I've noticed that well-recorded, higher res files (24/96 and up) tend to sound sweeter too.

I'll download the amarra trial over the weekend, take it out for a spin and let you know how it compares on my setup.

Mark.

[jkeny]

I seem to remember Josef, the developer of Jplay, saying that on a 2 core CPU Jplay exclusively takes over one core. I don't know if this has changed recently but it would suggest that he knows dual cores & is handling it appropriately.
I think the quote about single core being better is more to do with Fidelizer & not Jplay. So I'm not sure that it applies to Jplay - maybe it does?

[Diapason]

I seem to remember Josef, the developer of Jplay, saying that on a 2 core CPU Jplay exclusively takes over one core.

That's certainly what you'd expect, and you'd assume that any other processes would use the other core. Still, CPU considerations aside, I wonder what happens to memory usage in this situation? I'm not well up enough to know the answer or whether it could even conceivably make a difference. Basically what I'm wondering is whether "other" processes can interfere with Jplay/Fidelizer/whatever in memory terms, even if not in CPU terms.

I'm probably not making any sense. Sleep was short-lived last night.

[jkeny]

Yea, I agree - its one thing taking over exclusive control of a processor core but it may require other tricks to do the same with memory if it can even be fully achieved? I reckon this is the main "secret sauce" in their product - memory management. They say much the same themselves. So maybe the streaming configuration gives an advantage in memory management - it certainly uses less memory & splits it's usage between PCs - so this might be the advantage i,e easier to get exclusive control of a smaller chunk of memory than a larger chunk? Just my ruminations.

[nige2000]

whatever it does
it seems the streamer pc is doing all/nearly all the prep work as its demanding the most ram allowing the audio pc to idle at a constant pace sending the data into the dac

[jkeny]

whatever it does
it seems the streamer pc is doing all/nearly all the prep work as its demanding the most ram allowing the audio pc to idle at a constant pace sending the data into the dac

Looking at the Performance screen in Win8 Task Manager (the AudioPC), I see the following when streaming a 16/44 file with River & directlink selected & no hibernation:
- a steady 39% CPU usage on a AMD V140 2.3GHz CPU
- a steady 2GB of memory used (Jplay on audioPC reserves 1GB; Jplay on controlPC reserves 1GB also)
- very low disk usage 1%
- a nearly steady transmission every second of 3.6MB data chunks - this varies down at times

I also separated my laptops into different rooms with a few thick walls between to see if it effected the transmission. To my surprise no drop off in transmission rates or pattern.

However, post from Marcin is that it isn't as reliable or good sounding as a direct wireless connection. I need to bring it to my main system for testing of sound but so far reliability is better than through my router :)

[Fran]

I made a little mod this evening - I wired the audioPC via ehternet to the router. ControlPC still communicated via wifi. Seems very stable.

Almost have the W8 to go done, need to just fix one little problem which there seems to be a fix for (other user issue on login). Took 2 hrs to run the imagex program to transfer the W8 image to the usb key.

So we will see. If nothing else, its handy having W8 on a key to try it out with no committment!


Fran

[jkeny]

Good work, Fran - you have a PC booting into Win8 from USB?
How did you achieve getting the correct boot on the USB? You used a Win7 PC to do this & Image.exe right?
You used BCDboot.exe to transfer the boot right?
Will we take this off-line or is it of benefit to all?

[Fran]

We've been talking off-line anyway, but here it is if anyone wants to try it.

Download:

W8 audiophile ISO. Shoot me a pm if you want the link, or register up at computeraudiophile and ask for it on the thread over there.

You'll need a 32gB usb key - PC world has them at €25 or so. USB3 key is €45 in PC world. Probably cheaper stuff online.

There's a few ISO images to burn so you need a few blank DVDs

1. Follow instructions at http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/53 ... -disk.html. It took 2 hours for mine to do the imagex command.

2. At the end of that process you should have a key that will boot into W8. Remember you may need to change your bios settings to change the boot order so it will boot from the usb key

3. If you have the "other user" issue follow instructions here: http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f11-s ... post204109

4. If you have administrator problems (constant UAC warnings popping up) then do this: http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f11-s ... post207549


5. Install your hiface drivers, or whatever drivers you may need for your equipment, and jplay if thats what you use.

6. Add music and play!


Notes:

You need patience. No patience then don't go there.
USB3 key might be quicker than USB2 but don't know.
This audiophile install doesn't have wifi enabled and I haven;t figured out how to turn it on yet, so you may need ethernet to access network/internet etc.

All works though, and it went in and out of hibernate etc for me.


fran

[nige2000]

my lucks striking out with these usb 3 sticks, the one i received was faulty so i returned it and the windows to go one didnt show up yet. i was playing round with a ssd install of the audiophile win 8 from CA as a audio pc in a two pc system, i think its showing a slight but noticeable advantage in clarity over regular win 8 pro on ssd. curious to get a comparison between ssd and usb3, there may not be much in it.

would prefer the standalone pc to be as good as the 2pc with remote control via tablet/laptop/phone, whatever about one dedicated pc on the shelf 2 really!!!!!!
not that standalone sounds poor its just difficult to go back after hearing the 2pc system in jplay.

i may sometime in the future build a zuma type pc so i can throw it on the shelf and forget about it for the most part. as i have a terrible compulsion to pull my pcs apart. one like this might be safe.