Build a dedicated Audio PC

[Fran]

Other than re-casing it, I haven't done much else. The next thing I want to try is to make a little header to fit on the on-board usb3 pins so I can leave the usb stick inside the box and have another slot free at the back.

Haven't tried to use renesas drivers on the Intel chip yet...


Fran

[nige2000]

Other than re-casing it, I haven't done much else. The next thing I want to try is to make a little header to fit on the on-board usb3 pins so I can leave the usb stick inside the box and have another slot free at the back.

Haven't tried to use renesas drivers on the Intel chip yet...


Fran

best to use all usb 3 for music storage, WTG and DAC
heres a couple of interal usb3 header adapters
i dont know if there any good

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/2-Port-USB-3-0-t ... 1889wt_984

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Sharkoon-interna ... 2937wt_758

my motherboard was one of the first ones on the market with usb3 theres no internal headers unfourtunetly.

[nige2000]

Nige, a question that you might be able to answer - the NUC has two PCIe mini-card connectors on it to support mSata & Wifi cards - are the connectors the same on your PCIe USB3 card? Any reason why it would not work on the NUC if it could physically be accommodated? I'm thinking along the lines of reboxing the NUC & maybe using a cable to connect this USB3 card to the PCIe connectors on the NUC board.

heres some other options which might be simpler:
http://www.speeddragon.com/index.php?co ... nfo&Id=416
but i cant see where to buy it in europe

and this

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Mini-PCI-e-USB-3 ... 707wt_1053

and i kinda like the look of this one:
http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Mini-PCI-e-USB-3 ... 509wt_1053

[jkeny]

heres some other options which might be simpler:
http://www.speeddragon.com/index.php?co ... nfo&Id=416
but i cant see where to buy it in europe

and this

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Mini-PCI-e-USB-3 ... 707wt_1053

and i kinda like the look of this one:
http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Mini-PCI-e-USB-3 ... 509wt_1053

Thanks Nige, that first one is perfect but unobtanium, it appears?
So far your ebay card is the best option when combined with a mini PCIe to PCIe adapter & cable.

Of course, all this may not work with the Intel NUC as it only has 2 PCI-e slots - a half-card WiFi slot & full card slot for SSDs. I don't know if either of these can be redeployed to other uses such as adapter card for USB3 ports?

[nige2000]

heres some other options which might be simpler:
http://www.speeddragon.com/index.php?co ... nfo&Id=416
but i cant see where to buy it in europe

and this

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Mini-PCI-e-USB-3 ... 707wt_1053

and i kinda like the look of this one:
http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Mini-PCI-e-USB-3 ... 509wt_1053

Thanks Nige, that first one is perfect but unobtanium, it appears?
So far your ebay card is the best option when combined with a mini PCIe to PCIe adapter & cable.

Of course, all this may not work with the Intel NUC as it only has 2 PCI-e slots - a half-card WiFi slot & full card slot for SSDs. I don't know if either of these can be redeployed to other uses such as adapter card for USB3 ports?

the mini pcie slots are are smaller version of pcie slots, it wont matter if its a wifi card, ssd, ethernet adapter, usb adapter etc. they will all work (unless they are defective of course)

only thing is the half mini pcie card slot wont fit a full card and thats because of its length there too long to fit other than that theres no difference between the half and full slots.

[jkeny]

the mini pcie slots are are smaller version of pcie slots, it wont matter if its a wifi card, ssd, ethernet adapter, usb adapter etc. they will all work (unless they are defective of course)

only thing is the half mini pcie card slot wont fit a full card and thats because of its length there too long to fit other than that theres no difference between the half and full slots.

Yea, I thought that but then came across posts where using a mini PCI-e card would not work in some mini PCI-e Wifi slots & I also came across this compatibility chart http://www.globalamericaninc.com/pdfdoc ... ss_Ref.pdf

These set me thinking but I won't know until I try it anyway!

Something about Bios whitelisting needing to be available for the Mini PCI-e port http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienwa ... -card.html

[nige2000]

the mini pcie slots are are smaller version of pcie slots, it wont matter if its a wifi card, ssd, ethernet adapter, usb adapter etc. they will all work (unless they are defective of course)

only thing is the half mini pcie card slot wont fit a full card and thats because of its length there too long to fit other than that theres no difference between the half and full slots.

Yea, I thought that but then came across posts where using a mini PCI-e card would not work in some mini PCI-e Wifi slots & I also came across this compatibility chart http://www.globalamericaninc.com/pdfdoc ... ss_Ref.pdf

These set me thinking but I won't know until I try it anyway!

Something about Bios whitelisting needing to be available for the Mini PCI-e port http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienwa ... -card.html

just thinking about what i was reading there was giving me a pain in the head

What the options are
you could get a adapter and
a: it doesnt work = waste of money
B1: it works and theres a SQ improvement
B2: it works but no improvement over usb2= waste of time and money

the odds aren't fantastic

ive tried several things to try and improve SQ, only some of them worked, i didn't bother posting about them

and ive got boxes of parts used for experimenting some get reused some dont, sometimes i think i prefer the journey rather than the destination

suppose it depends if you think its worth the risk

nige

[jkeny]

I know, Nige, I have the same box of parts, circuits, etc as a result of my experiments in audio - guess I'm creating another box for computers now.

In my research I came across this 4 port USB3 card which has an individual driver chip for each port i.e very high bandwith http://www.everythingusb.com/highpoint- ... 21274.html = costs about $100 though

I wonder if this would be another step forward sonically? I'll post on Jplay & see what they make of it - maybe Marcin will try it as he is known to experiment & cost is not a deterrent to him .

[nige2000]

I know, Nige, I have the same box of parts, circuits, etc as a result of my experiments in audio - guess I'm creating another box for computers now.

In my research I came across this 4 port USB3 card which has an individual driver chip for each port i.e very high bandwith http://www.everythingusb.com/highpoint- ... 21274.html = costs about $100 though

I wonder if this would be another step forward sonically? I'll post on Jplay & see what they make of it - maybe Marcin will try it as he is known to experiment & cost is not a deterrent to him .

i came across that usb3 card too, best price i found was amazon @ £75 with free delivery i could get a four port motherboard matx for €130
it would be getting pricy, id like to test it (along with alot of other things)

[jkeny]

Yea, the other problem with it seems to be that the USB ports are too close together for USB sticks to sit side by side!!