What's your music PC set up?

[s_sachin]

Hope this is not a redundant thread. Thought it would be good to know what configs others are having for thier music PC

Mine is

Hardware
PC (Also used for movies)
Mobo - Gigabyte GA-MA785GM-US2H
Processor - AMD Athlon II X2 250 AM3 Dual Core 3.0 GHz
Memory - 3 * 2 GB DDR 3
HD - 500 GB
Case - CM 314

Sound card : ESI Juli@
DAC : DacMagic (but mostly using analogue out of Juli)
Digital interconnects : Belkin
Analog interconnects : Chord / MX

Software (with WASAPI)
Media monkey (preferred with 24/96 upsampling)
Foobar

Rest of the set up
Speakers : PSB Image B6
Amp : NAD 325

 

[doors666]

thats a pretty good setup.
is this for nearfield, what OS are you using?

 

[s_sachin]

Not nearfield.

OS is win 7.

 

[spirovious]

I have common PC- HTPC + music PC

CPU - C2D E7500
MB - Asus P5KPL AM/PS
Ram - 2 GB
SC - Xoanar D2X
GC - ATI HD5570
SMPS- VIP 400w(Gold)

Sw- foobar, Cplay

 

[doors666]

Not nearfield.

OS is win 7.

I hope you are using 64 bits as 32 bit windows cant handle more than 3 gb RAM and you've got 6gb.

 

[hydra]

Here's mine:

Hardware
Cabinet: Silverstone GD04-B
PSU: Silverstone ST50F-ES "Strider Essential"
Mobo: ASUS E350-M1-M (AMD Fusion Board)
RAM: Corsair 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3 1333MHz
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 1TB, 7200RPM
Optical Drive: Samsung DVD Writer
Sound Card: Asus Xonar Essence STX (for Coaxial Digital Output)
Fan Controller: Lian Li PT-FN03
KB+Mouse: Lenovo N5901
Monitor: Samsung 40D550

Software
Win 7 Home Basic 32 Bit
Foobar (with WASAPI)

DAC Section
Digital Cable: Chord ProDac Pro
DAC: Rega DAC (Coaxial Digital input from Xonar STX)

The Rest
Analog Interconnect: Chord Crimson Plus
Amp: NAD C326BEE (with AudioQuest Jumpers)
Speaker Cables: Chord Carnival SilverScreen
Speakers: PSB Image B6
Stands: SoundFoundations Alif

 

[reignofchaos]

Here's mine

Hardware:
MSI Wind U1 netbook
M2 Tech Hiface USB->SPDIF converter

Software:
Windows 7 Pro
Foobar with WASAPI plugin

DAC and Cable:
DAC - Ayon CD-1s
Cable - Ridge Street Audio Poemia digital cable

The Rest:
Usher Be-718 with RWS 729 stands
Amp: Modded McCormack DNA-125, Modded Lyrita Audio preamp
Cables: Einstein Largo Unisono Speaker cable and Einstein Neutron interconnects

 

[musicbee]

My all in one PC (work, music, movies)

Hardware
Processor - Intel Core i7-2600K 3.40 GHz
Board - Intel DH67BL
Memory - Corsair 8 GB DDR3 1333 MHz (4 GB x 2)
HDD - Seagate 250 GB for OS and 500 GB full of FLACs (upgrade to 2 TB once prices come down).
Soundcard - Onboard Realtek (digital output via Belkin Optical cable) and Creative 5.1
PSU - Corsair 600W
Optical Drive - Sony DVD RW
Monitor - ViewSonic Full HD 22"
Keyboard + Mouse - Logitech wireless
Router - Netgear WNR1000
UPS - APC Back-UPS RS 1000
Back Up HDDs - 1 TB 3.5" Seagate FreeAgent and 500 GB 2.5" Western Digital My Passport

Software
Win 7, 64-bit
Foobar/MusicBee + WASAPI

Audio
Creative 5.1
JBL 2.0

Video
Onkyo HTS 3100

Upgrade path thanks to HFV...
Still auditioning but will probably settle for KEF or Jamo (based on what I've heard till now based on limited options in Hyd) and an Asus Xonar or a DAC.

 

[msagar]

Wadia 170i transport > MIT Digital Cable > Wadia 151 > MIT Speaker Cables > Monitor Audio speakers.

Macbook Pro (iTunes / Amarra) > DacMagic Plus > Arcam pre > Arcam / Rotel power amp > Paradigm Studio monitors. (Audioquest Cables)

Macbook Pro (iTunes / Amarra) > Adcom GDA 700 / DacMagic > AES pre > AES power > Monitor Audio LS. (Tara Labs Cables)


Music ranges from 16/44.1 to 24/192

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

General Purpose Machine:

Gigabyte GA-890GPA-UD3H with AMD Phenom X4 (955) processor, 4Gb ram
Antec P183 case with Antec CP850 power supply.

CPU cooling by Noctua NH-C14, which is silent.
Case cooling by various fans, which, in total, are not. (this is an ongoing pursuit!)

Audio Interface: Echo Audiofire2, firewire interface, balanced connection to...
M-Audio AV40 nearfield monitors.
Audio-Technica ATH AD900 headphones are very much a part of the PC setup too, as most listening is done at night in a small house.

Operating System: Ubuntu 11.04 + KXStudio.

Of course, there are hard disks, optical drive and the usual stuff, the details of which do not matter.

My mistake: too high a specification, hence machine cannot be cooled completely silently.

My ambition: Genelec! --- although I still wouldn't be able to play them at night, so I'd settle for a good headphone amp, with balanced connections and thru connections to monitors.


.

 

[doors666]

General Purpose Machine:

My mistake: too high a specification, hence machine cannot be cooled completely silently.

Turn off a couple of cores in the BIOS, or atleast activate speedstep or equivalent (reduces cpu speed when not in need), remove graphics card(if you have one) if not into gaming. Use variable fan speeds depending upon the need. I am sure experts can chip in more.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

Thanks doors.

The graphics card is an on-board. I need no more.

Although not recommend for audio, especially with the jackd-dependent firewire audio I am using, I keep my CPU cores "on demand" and they usually run at around 25%, with a CPU temperature in mid 30s. The CPU is the coolest thing in the box! The big CPU fans run at less than 1,000rpm. There is one warm HDD, which exceeds 40C without its own fan, and the Northbridge and general temperatures are around 40. Ambient, at the moment, is 28, so I am not doing too badly, and could probably run hotter and quieter. All fans are controlled, where possible, by BIOS or Ubuntu, or by voltage adapters. As I said, an ongoing pursuit

 

[thatguy]

Hardware (Dedicated headless PC):
Case: Silverstone GD05 (only one case fan)
MOBO/RAM: BOXD525MW (Atom 525, passive cooling)/4GB
Power Supply: Nexus VALUE 430 (rated at 15.5dB)
Optical Drive: Plextor DVD Drive
Persistent Storage: 2TB Western Digital Green

Software:
OS: Ubuntu 11.10 (Server/x64)
Ripper: abcde
Media Server: Logitech Media Server (Slim Server)

Controller:
Squeezebox Touch

DAC:
Emotiva XDA-1

Planned upgrade:
Put a sound card (Most likely Asus Xonar Essence ST) and get rid of the touch (control though tablet). Digital out to the DAC.

Wishlist:
Benchmark Dac1 HDR.

 

[yahoo0212]

Desktop !!

CPU-
Core 2 Duo 3.0 Ghz
4 GB DDR 2 800
ASUS P5QL EM Mobo with eSata and HDMI on Board.

1 TB Seagate, 1 TB WD Cavier Green, 250 Seagate, 200 Seagate IDE

Speakers- Creative T6060 5.1
Sound Driver: Realtek (On Board) 8 channel output
and ofcourse ....Logitech Keybd and Microsoft Mouse

Monitor (The best part of my PC) DELL SP2208WFP LCD monitor with USB Hub and HDMI
Glossy Screen..

MP3/FLAC SOftware---- ZUNE


http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1256646

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

thatguy, nice to see another Linux system in the list here

I too have a Squeezebox, the Duet, which gets only occasional use so I don't think of it as part of the PC setup, although, of course, the PC has the Squeezserver software loaded.

My standard Audio player is Aqualung. Overriding reason for this is its ability to give truly gapless playback (even from mixed file formats!) when the should be no gap between tracks, eg Classical and live concert playback. It behaves just like CD player, which is how it should be. Also, it integrates seemlessly, and without even thinking about it, with the Jack demon.

 

[thatguy]

thatguy, nice to see another Linux system in the list here

I too have a Squeezebox, the Duet, which gets only occasional use so I don't think of it as part of the PC setup, although, of course, the PC has the Squeezserver software loaded.

My standard Audio player is Aqualung. Overriding reason for this is its ability to give truly gapless playback (even from mixed file formats!) when the should be no gap between tracks, eg Classical and live concert playback. It behaves just like CD player, which is how it should be. Also, it integrates seemlessly, and without even thinking about it, with the Jack demon.

Thanks Thad. It took me some time to put the hardware together

Since my PC runs headless, a GUI based player is out of question (I don't run the X server). I want something that runs like a daemon that I can control using either HTTP or some other client remotely. I am going to give MPD a try soon. If I find a good way to control the playback, I will remove the Squeezebox from the chain and add a sound card that feeds the DAC directly.

 

[Hassan Khani]

I also run MPD on ubuntu linux (even though it is connected to TV, most of the times it runs as headless). MPD is controlled from either ipod touch, ipad or telnet / ssh + ncmpcpp or android device.

MPD is configured to directly output to soundcard / USB DAC using alsa (no volume control / software mix) -> pre-amp.

 

[dheerajjotwani]

MPD is simple to implement yet a really powerful s/w. paired with the right sound card, it can do wonders.

I have an instance of MPD running a plug computer with a usb output to a nuforce udac !! talk about the wonders of computer audio !!

 

[thatguy]

Slightly OT, but I would ask anyway.

How do you guys manage your CD collection? I have a CD rack next to my setup where I keep my rather modest collection (~200-300). After moving to PC based playback, I only need to pick up a CD once. After I rip a CD, it goes into the rack never to come out again. The rack, while it looks great, has become a mere decoration.

I would be very keen to know how other members with computer/NAS based playback manage their CD collection.

 

[Decadent_Spectre]

Does anyone have any suggestions for a remote (with a display for playlist browsing) to control Winamp or iTunes out of the box (designed for this) ? Something like the Gyration Air Music.

Not looking for iPhone/Android apps to do this.