Build a PC for audiophile use?

[admin_exported]

My current PC is on the brink, it will probably crash 2 or 3 times whilst I write this post, so I'm thinking if building a new one.

For starters I have no previous experience building a PCs but I know a little about the general hardware.

I was thinking of getting a soundcard with digital audio outputs, much like I have already, so that I can use my DAC. Secondly a good PSU so that I can aviod issues I ahve had in the past with noise and address the issue of fan noise also. But really I don't know where to head from here, what I should look for to build a good PC for mainly audio and general media use?

I have thought about getting a MAC although they are a little out of my price range atm but I do appreciate the stability of the platform and superiority with media.

So any ideas are welcomed, if you have any thoughts or can suggest another route I would be pleased to hear your opinions.

 

[richie60]

Any pc will do for audio playback, but if you go down the self-build route, go for a quiet power supply. I currently use my media pc connected to a Fubar II USB DAC feeding my Audiolab amp & it sounds great. All files ripped to flac with EAC played with foobar & WASAPI plugin.

As you mention that you have a DAC, most new motherboards these days have the option of either TOSLINK or Coaxial out, but if not, you can pick up a decent soundcard quite cheaply with digital output.

 

[knacker]

Having built many pc's over the years, I would say the biggest problem with using one as a music source is the noise. Even if you get a "silent" psu and a quiet case, you will still experience noise levels much above that of a mac or even a laptop.

if you are only wanting to use the pc/mac as a music server and basic functions ie browsing/e-mails etc, have you thought about fleabay for a second hand mac/imac/ macmini?

 

[Craig M.]

as already said, a mac mini is ideal, digital out, bit perfect out the box, just about silent.

 

[Olli1324]

I personally built a little Shuttle. It is a relatively powerful beast (although getting on... *sigh* computers move on so quickly) but the loudest part is the graphics card fan; the ****** sits there whirring day in day out. I did, however, recently fix this situation by downloading RivaTuner and from there I can turn the fan right down. Now it is much quieter. Not silent, but a damn sight quieter.

So yeah, when building, see if you can't get a passively cooled graphix card, and avoid small fans where possible. Bigger, slower fans a quieter for each degree they cool.

Also, my Shuttle has SPDIF In and Out (something like 20 quid for it actually, and you have simply plug it into the mobo and screw the sockets into the provided holes in the back of the case. Another vote for Digital out, here.

 

[AlmaataKZ]

Alternatively, speak to somebody like pcspecialist.co.uk. they would build a machine to your spec, help to spec it, have a range of cases and PSUs, cards etc. Get a good specialist on the phone and discuss if their PCs woudl be suitable as music server (i.e. quite, digital outs etc). Ask them to quote a price.

When I ordered (that is how I bought my 2 last desktop PCs) I got a price cheaper than a similar spec from any mainstream maker and I got exacly what I wanted (e.g. spare spaces for hard drives so I just fit my old ones inside, no keyboard or mouse etc etc).

So, see if this is an option for you.

 

[nads]

get a Server and hide it away somewhere connected to the home network and use a media player/streamer.

 

[Anonymous]

I'd go for the mac mini too. Fantastic little machine. It's quiet easy to use and sends out 96k music without much hassle involved.

 

[Anonymous]

Another vote for the mac mini. Absolutely silent, the most user-friendly OS out there, SPDIF output via optical, and it's way smaller than the average PC.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the input,

I have been offline temporally because of the PC in question and now I think I'm missing a colour on the display, very odd.

Anyway, I have been toying with the idea of the mac and I'm almost convinced, the only things that worries me is the rather feeble spec when money spent elsewhere could get something more powerful. Also all my music is flac, does anyone know of a media player for MAC that supports flac + with a good UI?

I feel like with a PC I can use my existing HDD, RAM etc and save a few bob (maybe not the graphics card) there is also the issue of compatibility of programmes with a MAC.

Oh I don't know, too many choices!

 

[Anonymous]

Many questions come to mind: It seems that you need a new computer for normal use as your main computer, and wonder if it can be combined with a function as audio server? What is 'general media use'? Are you willing to switch to the apple world for these normal tasks? Do you already have a wireless network/storage? How much music are you planning to store? Do have or anticipate to have sources better than cd quality? Many questions... I agree that noise is an issue with pc's, plus the fact that it has to be switched on while playing audio. How are you going to connect it to the Beresford, wired?

I decided that a netbook was ok for me: it is quiet and can be hooked up to my DAC, files are located on a network drive, usb (and hence cd quality) is fine for me, the screen of the laptop allows me (as well a my 8yr old daughter) to browse etc, I use it as internet radio. I have to do the ripping on another machine though (or from a simple usb cd drive) as it has no internal cd/dvd station. If you have a television near your audio you could also consider a WD Live connected to your setup (see PJPROs post). Indeed, too many options... I think you need to decide first what functionality you want.

 

[Anonymous]

Programe called max, you can download it from linn. It even transfers your music to work on i tunes, even 96k works and gets output at 96k too.

 

[Anonymous]

1. Computer is for normal use as well
2. Not presently required for audio server functions
3. I have a wireless network but I use a wired one
4. I am planning on storing my collection, presently ripped on to external HD
5. I connect to the beresford via dig coax at the moment, but can use optical (although I only have one optical and two optical devices).

..but I've basically decided to go down the mac route, there seems to be a solution for all my cross compatibility issues and had a good chat with a guy at a independent apple outlet who was a fellow audiophile.

Thanks for all the help, new system pics going up when its all in place.

Ohh and Max looks just up my street.

 

[the record spot]

Picked up my laptop (HP Pavilion DV6 - Quad Core 2.53 Ghz chip, 500Gb HD, 4Gb RAM, Windows 7), good fast machine, nice and quiet, doesn't run hot and use this with an Apple Airport Express to stream music to the stereo. You need a cable from the AE into a spare line input on your amp. Spend another £20 (on top of the £70-odd for the AE) and get an application called Airfoil which will enable you to also stream others services on your laptop through the AE, e.g. Spotify, WinAmp, browser broadcast services (BBC Radio, etc) and so on.

My laptop was £700, the AE and Airfoil took the overall spend up to nearer £800, but on that you get some great functionality and a good level of performance from the PC. Heard one or two iffy things around the Mac Mini's speed for running some application concurrently and with only 2Gb of RAM on tap, that's a hefty amount (at typically £750-800) to shell out for a machien that might start to slow up a bit.

 

[Anonymous]

The 2gb model only costs £510, spend another £80 and upgrade to the 4gb. Still only £600, but if your not going to be running multiple applications, dont bother, the 2gb will suffice. Got an hp pavilion also, honestly its the worst computer i have ever had. Its been back to john lewis four times now, and its still not working properly. Had to re-install all my cd's (90gb) onto mac mini cos the hp kept freezing after about 10gb was sent. Tried sending wireless and wired, same result.

 

[Anonymous]

In raw terms you certainly get "less" hardware per pound with the Apple mini compared to competitor products from traditional PC vendors (Dell, HP, etc). No blu-ray drive, smaller hard drive, no HDMI, less memory, etc. However you can run OS X which means less messing about and bit-perfect output from the optical s/pdif without hassle - worth a great deal in my book. Perhaps Windows 7 is as good - haven't tried it...?

Oh, and the new iMacs are just beautiful... If I could think of somewhere to put one I'd get one in a flash.

 

[Anonymous]

Well I bit the bullet on saturday and purchased the mini mac with 4gb of ram form an independent mac retailer, I really dislike all the fanboys in the apple store.

What I like most is that it just works, no hassle straight down to enjoying it. For my use its all I need, no crashing, fan noise, driver problems or display issues, plugged straight into my TV via HDMI and just WORKED!

Also looks quite nice on my rack with all my cyrus stuff as it is all the same shade of silver (grey).

Pics to follow,

Thanks for the help : )

 

[kinda]

Hello,

Just reading this and though you've made your purchase wanted to offer some advice for others.

An ION based PC with the free XBMC would have been a great little media player for this kind of thing, and also cheaper and potentially more powerful. Also much more flexibility in audio and video file formats.

There are some passively cooled ION machines emerging now meaning no fan noise, though I don't believe the fans are too intrusive on current models.