Build a dedicated Audio PC

[Fran]

No problem mick, I'm here from this weekend and all next week. Sure send us a pm or email and we can make arrangements.


Fran

[nige2000]

hi mick

what u using atm? cd player is it

Pearse has a cirrus nimbus on route, if it works out its a mostly ready made deal

[mick]

Nige,
I have a Dell i7,8gb ram,1tb hard drive, windows7. I have a jkdac32 and a trial version of Jplay.
The only way Ican get it to work is to disable wifi completely. As it is also my normal laptop so it isa pain. I am looking at getting an audio pc without paying mad money, 700-800 euros.
Mick

[tony]

Nige,
I have a Dell i7,8gb ram,1tb hard drive, windows7. I have a jkdac32 and a trial version of Jplay.
The only way Ican get it to work is to disable wifi completely. As it is also my normal laptop so it isa pain. I am looking at getting an audio pc without paying mad money, 700-800 euros.
Mick

You are nearly there but a hispec cirrus will be nearly a grand. Streacom case FW5 in Komplett is €180 the cheapest I have seen it.Silver in colour now if that suits the rest of your gear. €100 for mobo,€290 I7 3770 processor, €100-120 16gb ram,€40 odd for USB3.0,circa €80 pico and €50 for linear maplin supply. I think that is it you will be in the game. Don't think I have forgotten anything. Core server is available for evalution free on micrsoft's site 180 day trial.

[nige2000]

ive yet to be convinced that we need i7 processors in these builds, i still get top notch sound out of my i3

the 16gb usb3 key works fine too their about €20

you could cheap out on a case (wont be fanless) and get something for €50

i think you could build good sound at €600

jplay trail drove me insane i bought after 20 min mostly because i couldn't trial it properly but i havent looked back

also should note that other bit-perfect players experience a similar base lift in SQ with the dedicated system

if i was building today id be considering these

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/intel-co ... tio-retail
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/msi-z87i ... otherboard
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/silverst ... ck-w-o-psu
http://www.ebay.ie/itm/PicoPSU-160-XT-P ... 43b6c1f509
http://www.ebay.ie/itm/390461064094?ssP ... 1439.l2649
http://www.maplin.co.uk/13.8v-regulated ... -units-231
the 7 amp one it sounds best

http://www.komplett.ie/komplett/product ... tails.aspx

[mick]

Thanks for taking the time to source the products, Nige. If I increased the funds to 1000 euro max would I get much improvement,eg fan less case. Which 7amp one?
I had the i7 laptop before computer music. I used it for photo editing.
I had thought an i5 would be more than enough to run a dedicated audio pc.
The audio pc is in a different place to the router so would need a wifi connection for streaming using the laptop as a control pc. Or maybe take one thing at a time and get one pc working properly.

[tony]

Absolutely Mick. Nigel's selection gives you a price indication. i5-i7 processor is in the region €220-290. Streacom case on Komplett slimline fanless I have one is €180. 1155 board is what you need with streacom case so you can see using some of Nigels pricing how much extra the fanless will cost you. i.e €100-120 extra for the case.The motherboard is different you could drop another €60-70 to get an i7 rather than i5. The rest is as per Nigels quote. When you decide the route you want make sure you either post here or pm somebody to check the specs.
You can have a look at the slimline case in my place if you wish. Fran has the larger case it is the same just deeper.

I never put a pc together before but got there.

Streacom FC5WS EVO
http://www.komplett.ie/komplett/product ... tails.aspx
i7 3770
http://www.computerpartsireland.com/pro ... ocket.html

Ram is as priced by Nigel but just needs to be verified it is the right one. Asus board used by Nigel cant remember the model but up to this point any build Nigel has using that board seems to have the edge on mine and others here.
When I get a chance later must post the Caps Zuma thread on building your audiopc it certainly helps but again there are things you come across when building that should be done differently. The heat sink and fitting the processor to the board are the slightly tricky bits but we have all made the mistakes so you should benefit from that

[nige2000]

Thanks for taking the time to source the products, Nige. If I increased the funds to 1000 euro max would I get much improvement,eg fan less case. Which 7amp one?
I had the i7 laptop before computer music. I used it for photo editing.
I had thought an i5 would be more than enough to run a dedicated audio pc.
The audio pc is in a different place to the router so would need a wifi connection for streaming using the laptop as a control pc. Or maybe take one thing at a time and get one pc working properly.

im always eyeballing prospective builds i must have some sort of disease

the 1150 motherboard i listed has dual lan realtek 8111g which would make it an ideal control pc, these realtek chipset seems to be prefered on the jplay site (this might be why my asus p8z77 m running on one linear edges over the intel mobos)
the 1150 boards are lower power which we think is a key to better SQ
(we havent tested a 1150 build yet so this is all best guess theory, other than that its 1155 which should be coming down in price soon)

all 1155 cpu heatsinks will fit 1150 boards tony as they are the same fitment

http://www.maplin.co.uk/13.8v-regulated ... -units-231
is the power supply most of us are using (the 7 amp one)

to improve on the base type build listed above

software based stuff:

jplay player
Audiophils high end audio pc script on jplay forum looks very promising
computer bios settings

hardware based stuff:

Additional maplin bench supply (so thats two in total)

one of these http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0949549814 for the usb3 WTG stick (will also power a ssd if required)

theres a couple of small bits and pieces that wouldnt amount to €50

im a sucker for a nice case myself and those fanless ones tony listed are completely silent and extremely well made, i went with the bigger one the streacom fc10 because i can fit more stuff in it if the need came, this case is about twice as high as the fc5

just a side note to watch delivery costs as its not always included which it used to be with komplett.ie
Ram seems to be up in price these days too

when all that is done the only way to improve is to buy the whole lot over again and use it as a dedicated control pc,
is it worth going that far?
4 bench power supplies 2 linear wall warts and two dedicated computers just to play music

ill agree its insanity,

but i think its worth it

oh on the wifi
best to use a direct ethernet cable as no internet is required for audio pc or even the control pc
others are or have been using wifi but i found it less than bulletproof for reliability

once good foundation parts are bought you can upgrade with additional parts as time goes on

the use of jriver and ipad/android app is a nice finishing touch (control pc needs to be connected to a router)


hope i didnt confuse too much

nige

[jkeny]

Wow, Nige, you are forging ahead with your experiments. Interesting work on the PS changes to RAM. have to find some time soon to implement all these upgrades.

Here's an interesting link I came across about motherboard voltage regulators if anybody is looking into Nige's PS work on the motherboard http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/ ... cuit/616/1

BTW, has anybody tried this new kid-on-the-block free music playback software MQN? http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f11-s ... yer-15401/

[tony]

http://www.quietpc.com/st-fc5-evo

Proper photo of the streacom case.Komplett make it look like a tin of biscuits.
HD5S HDPlex is very nice as well but always unfortunately seems to be out of stock