Build a dedicated Audio PC

[minionas]

hello guys,

i've heard maplins to be noisy (active cooling ventilation noise)!? is that true?
are you using 7A versions? one for pico (which pico you use? 160XT?), one for CPU and a third one for...? i guess that third one 5V1A for SSD?

Help appreatiated as i'm going to go this route also.

[Fran]

Hi Minionas,

I know nigel has used one of the actively cooled ones for testing - and yes it is noisy, but we are all using the passively cooled 13.8V ones from maplin - sorry I don't have the code to hand but a search for 13.8V on the site will show it up. We then open the box and adjust the voltage down to 12, or close to 12.


Fran

[minionas]

I find only XM21X there, but also find a comment on it to be noisy, so i guess it is actively cooled one..
Nigel, could you please guide me to the correct one? Thanks.

[tony]

This is the link for the maplin.Nigel is using 3 of them bolted together on the zuma if space allows hope to do that myself.
They also are not all 13.8v one at least is smaller but Nigel will confirm that.
I currently have one of them on the pico 13.8v dialled down to 12v but there is no doubt the lift from separating out the supplies is substantial.

http://www.maplin.co.uk/13.8v-regulated ... -units-231 The more expensive one is the one used for the pico (13.8v) 7a. The 5a 13.8v didn't sound as well

I need guidance on this so hopefully someone will set it out here but if you use 3 Linear supplies a voltage regulator maybe two is needed for some of the feeds. Just to be clear one maplin connected to the pico is fine but if you separate out the SSD,USB,Motherboard and cpu there is a bit more to that arrangement(setting it up)

BTW it is not noisy that I am aware of. Itemaudio in the uk also sell linear supplies similar to that one I think the url is itemaudio.com now.

[nige2000]

XM21X seemed to be the pick of all the linears i tested in regards to sq of the entire system and are particularly quiet, these are passively cooled so no fan noise and you will have to place your ear on the power supply case to any hint of transformer hum

the reviewer in maplin was probably reviewing the 5 amp supply as there not exactly quiet

i bought a trilinear from circuit specialists uk which has a case fan which did great work on sq but was ludicrously loud i had to slow the case fan down and i done that twice, its almost bearable now

i live in the country so i know what quiet is, so for silence and best sq

id use two XM21X, and one of these
http://www.ebay.ie/itm/200856094784?ssP ... 1439.l2649
for ssd or the operating system can be placed on a usb3 stick which i still think sounds marginally better but requires usb3 header modifications

dont forget the bench power supplies need to be turned down to 12v or the pico wont work and id imagine the motherboard wont appreciate it much either

ive been meaning to do a build log/instructions on my audio pc build, but i keep long fingering it

[minionas]

thanks nige. i already ordered two 5V1A few days ago (same as you gave a link now). One for SSD and another one for PPA USB card. And planning two XM21X - one for CPU and another for pico. What pico must be used? Hope those will be enough for my downclocked/undervolted I52500k :)

[nige2000]

thanks nige. i already ordered two 5V1A few days ago (same as you gave a link now). One for SSD and another one for PPA USB card. And planning two XM21X - one for CPU and another for pico. What pico must be used? Hope those will be enough for my downclocked/undervolted I52500k :)

what motherboard are you using?
what bios settings are you using?
what dac are you planning to use?
are you using core server?

its a bit of overkill but the pico 160xt is what id recommend
http://www.ebay.ie/itm/PicoPSU-160-XT-P ... 43b6c1f509
this guy seems to get them out fast too

[minionas]

My MB is ASUS p8z68-v lx. In bios everything turned off, except LAN. RAM and CPU are underclocked&undervolted (cpu now 1.6ghz, ram 800Mhz).
DAC at the moment - Arcam rDAC (use only USB). Plans to get JKenny Ciunas.
OS - 2012 server in core mode with latest until now Audiophil's 1.2b13 script version (which is superb IMHO).

This pico seems to need 12V. Is your mentioned Maplin able to give lower than 13.8v ?

[nige2000]

We seem to have similar configuration
have you undervolted the ram aswell
im still testing the under volting as im not sure wether I like it or not but it I usually have it undervolted
which probably says it all

under the hood of the maplin their are two dials on a circuit board one of them is voltage I cant remember which because I dont get enough practice :)
you will need a multimeter for this and both supplys need to be set to 12 ish volts

what do you think of the underclocking in terms of sq?

Is the rdac usb powered or externally ?
I have a rpac aswell that doesnt sound too bad when given a clean 5v injection via usb

[minionas]

yes, if i'm correct currently my ram is on 1.3V
i feel a positive step in sq after underclocking/undervolting. It's very small but still a step forwad for me. in general i feel that sound gets to be a bit "cleaner" after this. maybe my dac could be better to identify this easier..
my rdac is powered from external linear power supply.