Hi Fi computer audio

MikeR

Well-Known Member
Jan 2, 2014
6
0
106
Hello Everyone,

I'm a new member here and thought I would share my experiences with using a pc as part of stereo system.
This fall I was in a position to put together a hi-fi music system including a PC.

After some research I purchased a,

Nad C390DD integrated amp,
A SurgeX XR315 surge suppressor/ power conditioner
a pair of Pioneer HPM-200 speakers

For the computer I went with,

Windows 7 Ultimate
Jriver, audio player
Asus Z87-PLUS motherboard.
Intel I5-4430, LGA1150
Off the shelf water cooling, Water 2.0 by Thermaltake
1, Samsung SSD 128 gb hdd for C:/ drive
2, 3 tb Western Digital Hdd for storage
16 gigs of Corsair vengeance ram.
Corsiar GS-500 power supply
Esi Juli@xte sound card

I have been playing with computers and computer based audio for about 23 years as a hobby, and has had varying degrees of success along the way. When I put this system together what I was aiming for was a system that is neutral in the sound reproduction, and the results are far better than I had hoped for. There is no noise other than from the music, recording conditions, recording equipment or records that were scratched ect. From the sound card I used Toslink to the Nad c390dd. Both the Nad and the computer are powered through the Surgex power conditioner and using a power conditioner made a huge difference in the quality of the sound. I chose to spend the bulk of my budget on amp and speakers , I had the speakers into a shop and had the speakers completely tested and repairs made to one midrange and some caps and wires replaced . I am happy to answer questions anyone has about my choices that I made when putting this system together .

Mike
 
congrats on the new system Mike!

i went the music server route several years ago and havent looked back. for me its the ease of use, simplicity and complete lack of required maintenance that makes the difference in regards to using any other source.
 
I'm curious about your choice of a soundcard instead of an external DAC. Most audiophiles believe that an isolated external DAC is critical to achieving high fidelity in a computer-based system. And the water-cooling system? Just to avoid fan noise?

Tim
 
Hello Steve
In my previous email I neglected to state that I use the 64 bit version of Windows 7, the 32 bit versions of
Windows has a System Limitation of four GBs of usable ram. There are several reasons I use windows, I
Have learned and used most of the Microsoft desktop operating systems including all the dos versions
And server 2000 so Windows is very familiar, years ago I used Linux for a while but went back,
The main reason being software drivers.
Most manufactures of computer hardware maintain close ties With Microsoft to insure compatibility
With Windows and their hardware and as a result produce generally fuller featured software with
Better support. The sound card I am using is a good example In that they have drivers for Windows
And Mac but there are no official drivers for Linux, though I have read elsewhere people have been
Having success Using chip set drivers to successfully use it under Linux.
With today’s powerful CPU’s and access to large amounts of desktop ram and improvements with
Motherboards, power supplies and the use of better heat sinks and improvements in water-cooling
Many playback issues are no Longer an issue in my opinion.
When I first started plugging home stereo amps into computer about 18 or 19 years ago I was using
16 Megs of ram, Dealing with pokey hard drives and losing hair fast trying to get sound cards to produce
Something approaching listenable sound as the sound cards of the time was designed with gaming in mind. Now
Of course that has all changed.
In the case of this computer build the only glitch that occurred was the sound-card did not like the PCIE slot it
Was placed in and so the drivers didn't load properly. Once I diagnosed it properly, placed it in a new slot
And performed a clean install of the drivers the entire system runs smooth without playing with buffers, caches
Paging files and channels ect.
Mike
 
Hello Dingus

Thanks, I am very pleased with the system. the most enjoyable part of a computer based system in my opinion is the space savings, in my case
I have about 3.25 TBs, that would be a lot shelving space needed.

Mike
 
Welcome Mike,

I'm not using my PC as a server, but did install a nice soundcard which seems to be getting the job done quite well. It's an Asus Xonar Essence STX. I was wondering what you think of this card. Also, I just ordered the Geek Pulse outboard DAC, as I do intend on hooking it up to my main system.
 
Hello Tim
My first concern with a computer is the dispersal of heat from the hardware and the computer case itself. My understanding is heat creates noise, so the things I look at in a mother board are the quality of the boards construction in relation to heat dispersal., the on -board heat sinks. the power supply cooling, CPU cooling and case intake and outflow fans.
I chose the Asus z87-plus because though it is a lower end board in its series it is still designed with gaming in mind, when you get gamers you get over clockers and over clocking generates lots of heat. To counter that more care is taken with board construction in regards to cooling, both In the amount and types of metal alloys in the layers of the board and with the heat sinks.
I am using water-cooling for two reasons, the current generation of Intel I5 and I7 CPU nicknamed Caswell runs very hot. When I was ordering the parts I was aware that this series of motherboard was designed with this heat issue taken into account but that industry reps recommended using water-cooling also. I of course had to see for myself so when I assembled the computer I used the fan that came with the Cpu, it took 4 or 5 minutes of operation before I changed out to water cooling. I went with a big upright tower case for the air space, it has a big intake fan directly on all of the drives, on the top of the case is another large intake fan, and the push pull fans on the water radiator pull double duty flushing the case also. For the power supply I went with a supply that relies on a heat sink for main cooling supplemented with a fan that is setup to only run during high heat periods and then shut itself off.
Regarding the use of an internal sound card, back when mother boards started coming with onboard sound often the results were poor due to chipsets, manufacturing practices, fan noise, unconditioned power and so on. Gaming sound-cards were a better choice for decent playback,Even now the on board sound in this current computer does not stand on the same ground sonically as the Esi Juli@xte card I am using.
In regards to your question about external Dacs this is my first venture into hi-fi equipment since the mid 1970’s and so I haven’t got the experience. However the NAD C390DD is described as a Direct Digital Powered Dac Amplifier.
http://nadelectronics.com/products/hifi-amplifiers/C-390DD-Direct-Digital-Powered-DAC-Amplifier.

Mike
 
Hello Tim
My first concern with a computer is the dispersal of heat from the hardware and the computer case itself. My understanding is heat creates noise, so the things I look at in a mother board are the quality of the boards construction in relation to heat dispersal., the on -board heat sinks. the power supply cooling, CPU cooling and case intake and outflow fans.
I chose the Asus z87-plus because though it is a lower end board in its series it is still designed with gaming in mind, when you get gamers you get over clockers and over clocking generates lots of heat. To counter that more care is taken with board construction in regards to cooling, both In the amount and types of metal alloys in the layers of the board and with the heat sinks.
I am using water-cooling for two reasons, the current generation of Intel I5 and I7 CPU nicknamed Caswell runs very hot. When I was ordering the parts I was aware that this series of motherboard was designed with this heat issue taken into account but that industry reps recommended using water-cooling also. I of course had to see for myself so when I assembled the computer I used the fan that came with the Cpu, it took 4 or 5 minutes of operation before I changed out to water cooling. I went with a big upright tower case for the air space, it has a big intake fan directly on all of the drives, on the top of the case is another large intake fan, and the push pull fans on the water radiator pull double duty flushing the case also. For the power supply I went with a supply that relies on a heat sink for main cooling supplemented with a fan that is setup to only run during high heat periods and then shut itself off.
Regarding the use of an internal sound card, back when mother boards started coming with onboard sound often the results were poor due to chipsets, manufacturing practices, fan noise, unconditioned power and so on. Gaming sound-cards were a better choice for decent playback,Even now the on board sound in this current computer does not stand on the same ground sonically as the Esi Juli@xte card I am using.
In regards to your question about external Dacs this is my first venture into hi-fi equipment since the mid 1970’s and so I haven’t got the experience. However the NAD C390DD is described as a Direct Digital Powered Dac Amplifier.
http://nadelectronics.com/products/hifi-amplifiers/C-390DD-Direct-Digital-Powered-DAC-Amplifier.

Mike

The NAD is essentially a "power dac". How are you connecting?
 
Hello John
I haven’t used the Asus Xonar Essence PCIE myself. I read up on the specs for the card and several reviews including one from an overclockers site who states the components used are all an excellent grade. It has multiple interface including an optical adapter. I would not hesitate to give it a test if I was looking for a card and the price was right. The only negative thing mentioned is the quality of the drivers, and it is an older card so the latest software drivers are the best. The real test though is how it sounds to you.

Mike
 
Welcome Mike,

I'm not using my PC as a server, but did install a nice soundcard which seems to be getting the job done quite well. It's an Asus Xonar Essence STX. I was wondering what you think of this card. Also, I just ordered the Geek Pulse outboard DAC, as I do intend on hooking it up to my main system.
Hey, Johnny - kinda funny that you are putting your Essence out to pasture (as it is a GREAT card)! The real funny thing is that I'm putting mine out to pasture (Essence ST/H6)...for now. I'm going with an external professional multichannel audio controller (it can connect via Firewire or USB 2.0). I should have it in house on Monday. I'm going this route because I may tri-amp my speakers and use my PC as an active crossover (my new controller can have up to 16 channels) - that would be in the future, just to experiment ;)
 
Hello John
I haven’t used the Asus Xonar Essence PCIE myself. I read up on the specs for the card and several reviews including one from an overclockers site who states the components used are all an excellent grade. It has multiple interface including an optical adapter. I would not hesitate to give it a test if I was looking for a card and the price was right. The only negative thing mentioned is the quality of the drivers, and it is an older card so the latest software drivers are the best. The real test though is how it sounds to you.

Mike
Welcome Mike!!! It's good to see another pc user around! Andre is correct - your NAD is basically an amplified "sound card" or DAC. Very interesting setup you have - with the Pioneer HPM-200's - I remember having a pair of HPM-900's back in 1987 :)
 

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