DSD DAC Suggestions

The USB signal is completely in the digital domain. So the simple answer would be No you don't need to add a sound card.
However talking about sound cards I recently read some (general) motherboard reviews where they said that 'on board' sound on current motherboards are extremely good. I saw one with a tube stage on the motherboard ! But there are others using audiophile opamps in the analog section. These motherboards might belong to the 'better' motherboards , meaning more expensive. But probably less expensive than buying a separate expensive sound card.
 
Ok.
Any suggestions on what config I need to have in the PC?

Are you asking for something like this :
The "good" boards with good analog audio on it will dictate what is the range of chips you can use on them. You just need a CPU, RAM, Hard disk(s) . AMD is cheaper than an equivalent Intel CPU. Pick something decent like between 2 and 3 Ghz. Small differences can sometimes cost a 'lot' more. You don't need such speeds unless you are into over clocking and high end games. 4Gb of RAM (min) is typical today and preferably get a SSD ( 250 Mb ?) ( solid state drive) for your operating system and programs and an AV , Western Digital hard drive of say 1TB or 2TB for the data. SSD's are expensive and you could skip that if you want to and share the HDD for programs and data.

For software, check out relevant threads on this and many other forums. Do read WELL before putting things on a 'clean' drive. JRiver is quite well known. But there are many others. Even the operating system. Most work well with Win7 and Linux. Win8 used to have issues and I'm not sure if all that has been sorted out and IF Win8 really is 'worth' it !

Check on the forums and start threads BEFORE you settle down. You don't want to get stuck with issues that others had and 'waste precious time' ! Time is 'always' in short supply........not to mention the irritation factor ! :)
Might add that it would be good to have a HDMI socket apart from the regular monitor connections. If your monitor has a DVI connection it's best to use that.
You can start the Net search for motherboards ( available in India) with 'good on board audio'. Not really required if you just want to use the USB which all boards are capable of. Except for once I've always used AMD CPU's and they are just as good as Intel for usual AV use and cost very much less.
 
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@Naturelover Thanks. I will check that link.

@Fantastic
This PC is a 100% media PC. Basically, I will only use it to stream music to the DAC and play movies from a combo drive to a projector.

I don't need much space on this as it will do zero persistent storage. All media is on a NAS.
 
I don't need much space on this as it will do zero persistent storage. All media is on a NAS.

So maybe you only need a 250Mb SSD drive ? No need for a fan except for the SMPS. But as you need power only for the CPU and other chips you can get away with a smaller SMPS without a fan ? So the PC will be dead silent ! Also a smaller form micro ATX motherboard in a flat cabinet. Can attempt to make everything small and fan free. But here Intel used to score on AMD. Their CPU and chips ran cooler. Not quite sure if it is that way today. The answer is only a Google away ! ;)

We are really suffering from information overload. There is no time to look at everything since we need to practically apply at least what we know. We used to be surprised to see Japanese engineers who knew an enormous amount on a very small application area and very little about other things that were nearby . They reached the info explosion stage a long time ago !

We are just entering that phase now ,though the technology is even more complex than it used to be. It should be surprising that we actually get time to eat and sleep , apart from other things and still try to stay reasonably up to date technically ! Wonder how the Aliens cope with this kind of situation ? :)
 
Just get a simple i3 laptop with 4GB RAM and install just WIndows 7 along with the audio software...If you have an async DAC, that is more than enough... Your ears will not be able to tell you much difference between a music PC, Mac Mini or a simple laptop...
 
I can't use a laptop. It needs to be closed all the time as it will go in a rack.
Also, I will be using this to play 3D movies as well.

The reason for a media PC is space. I want the combined ability of my NAS which currently plays music and the blue ray player.
 
@Fantastic, aren't we mixing up our MB and GB?:) Today's SSDs typically start at 64 GB.

To add to what others have said, besides SMPS fan noise, the processor fan also can make quite a racket so choose one that is the most silent. Or invest in an aftermarket processor fan.
 
Even if the laptop is closed, can the iPad control it? Usually laptops Goni. Sleep mode when the screen part is closed.

Mac mini is a small size PC without a display unlike a laptop. It basically is a tiny size desktop PC without a screen. You can connect to a TV using the hdmi cable and can control using a iPhone or a iPad or iPod Touch.
 
@ROC
I would rather do it once than have multiple PC with me.

Could you share some details on how a laptop will be inferior?
 
@ROC
I would rather do it once than have multiple PC with me.

Could you share some details on how a laptop will be inferior?

There is more emi noise in laptops. Plus you have the noise of tiny whirring fans. Fans push back more emi back into the motherboard where they are plugged in. Finally you can't connect a dedicated Linear power supply or music grade usb card to a laptop. As a result it will never be able to come close to or beat a purpose built music pc.
 
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