• WANTED: Happy members who like to discuss audio and other topics related to our interest. Desire to learn and share knowledge of science required. There are many reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!

Amir's Music Server Build Thread

g29

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Joined
May 1, 2019
Messages
520
Likes
318
My 3 comments.

Nothing wrong with disabling unnecessary features or not loading them in the first place (keeps registry and disk clean). First thing I have always done after installing Windoze is to disable all of the Windoze GUI "eye candy" features to optimize it for performance. I don't need GUI animations on my work or music machines.

Second, use Thesyscon's DLP Latency Checker to see if anything is holding onto resources too long that would cause audible glitches.

dpclat1.jpg


dpclat2.jpg


Third, use multiple SSDs. 1 "small" drive for OS, 1 or more larger drives for data.
 
Last edited:

majingotan

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Feb 13, 2018
Messages
1,509
Likes
1,781
Location
Laguna, Philippines
First thing I have always done after installing Windoze is to disable all of the Windoze GUI "eye candy" features to optimize it for performance. I don't need GUI animations on my work or music machines.

Nothing wrong with this if you're using an incredibly old machine for music playback. IMO this is ineffective in today's computers and especially Windows 10 though if you want the highest PCMark/GPUMark, game benchmarks, this is a must though
 

g29

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Joined
May 1, 2019
Messages
520
Likes
318
Nothing wrong with this if you're using an incredibly old machine for music playback. IMO this is ineffective in today's computers and especially Windows 10 though if you want the highest PCMark/GPUMark, game benchmarks, this is a must though

What do you base that assumption off of ? Freeing wasted memory and CPU loads is noticeable on even Intel Core I7 machines.

If you make a music PC that resides in your music room, you use passive cooling and no moving parts as well as no overclocking to keep the machine absolutely quiet and stable. Passive cooling implies the use of a low TDP CPU. If you are just doing playback that is one thing, but if are doing realtime software DSP, transcoding and convolution, that is another.
 

ousi

Active Member
Joined
Jan 17, 2020
Messages
120
Likes
78
Location
California
Speaking of streaming devices, I recently found Zotac USA is dumping the CI320 (passive cooling) at 47.99USD. This barebone takes DDR3L SODIMM (8GB max, one stick only) which is cheap, and accept SATA 2.5" drives (also cheap).

I got one and stuck in a 4GB RAM stick (19USD) and a 960GB SATA SSD, put Volumio x86 on it (fully functional since the hardware is couple years old), connect to a SMSL M500 and I got a one(two)-box solution. I was running Volumio with RPi4B with a 512GB microSD which I ran out of space, not to mention the couple years old amd64 hardware is still way faster than the RPi4B.

I don't really like playing from network (hence I want large storage capacity without dangling wires) so YMMV but a full-on 64-bit x86 platform for 47.99USD is hard to pass, especially it's passively cooled and quite compact.
 

somebodyelse

Major Contributor
Joined
Dec 5, 2018
Messages
3,680
Likes
2,958
Used thin clients often go for <£20 with fanless x86_64, 2-4GB RAM and similar SSD, sufficient for daphile, volumio etc. A lot of them will take an internal 2.5" SATA drive. Some of the newer ones have USB3 ports, but you might have to pay a little more for those.
 

krabapple

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Apr 15, 2016
Messages
3,168
Likes
3,712
Speaking of streaming devices, I recently found Zotac USA is dumping the CI320 (passive cooling) at 47.99USD. This barebone takes DDR3L SODIMM (8GB max, one stick only) which is cheap, and accept SATA 2.5" drives (also cheap).

Where are you seeing this deal? All I see on the Zotac site (and on ebay) are refurbs.
 

jeff57

New Member
Joined
May 19, 2020
Messages
3
Likes
0
hi Amir

I am curious... Why did you chose the path of building our music server (a silent pc) ?
It would have been easier to pick a silent NAS (I have one from Qnap).

I got a silent Qnap, put a SSD disk in it, and I control the music with an ALLO Digione player and my smartphone.
No fan. No noise. And quite cheap.

ButI dont use Roon !

Jeff
 

In the cold

New Member
Joined
Jun 19, 2020
Messages
2
Likes
5
Nice PC!. I used to build a lot of PCs myself, however for some years now I find laptops do everything I need. As it is switched on most of the time, I do find the lower power consumption of laptops beneficial.

Low end Acer, about $350 AUD IIRC manages Roon core and Jriver for video serving just fine.

View attachment 1573
I thought about building a HTPC a few times, and everytime I ended up with a cheap laptop as the best (price/performance + silence) solution.
 

Harmonie

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
May 30, 2020
Messages
1,927
Likes
2,084
Location
France
Speaking of streaming devices, I recently found Zotac USA is dumping the CI320 (passive cooling) at 47.99USD. This barebone takes DDR3L SODIMM (8GB max, one stick only) which is cheap, and accept SATA 2.5" drives (also cheap).

I got one and stuck in a 4GB RAM stick (19USD) and a 960GB SATA SSD, put Volumio x86 on it (fully functional since the hardware is couple years old), connect to a SMSL M500 and I got a one(two)-box solution. I was running Volumio with RPi4B with a 512GB microSD which I ran out of space, not to mention the couple years old amd64 hardware is still way faster than the RPi4B.

I don't really like playing from network (hence I want large storage capacity without dangling wires) so YMMV but a full-on 64-bit x86 platform for 47.99USD is hard to pass, especially it's passively cooled and quite compact.
Sounds great, I have to keep that post :cool:
 

Chromatischism

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Jun 5, 2020
Messages
4,765
Likes
3,703
Replying to OP:

Brings back memories. I built my current PC in January of 2016 using the same CPU and Samsung 3D NAND SSDs. It's not a fanless build, but it is pretty quiet (water-cooled).

I'm sure this build is still going strong today.

I'm thinking about upgrading my 2010 Synology NAS to a newer model using the same SSDs. It's still running the 1-2TB Western Digital HDDs I put in there 10 years ago! It serves my music and accepts my automated weekly backups. I've been telling myself for the last couple of years "if it's not broken, don't fix it"...
 

Sal1950

Grand Contributor
The Chicago Crusher
Forum Donor
Joined
Mar 1, 2016
Messages
14,067
Likes
16,597
Location
Central Fl
I built my current PC in January of 2016
I've been telling myself for the last couple of years "if it's not broken, don't fix it"..
Ha, that's a spring chicken. I built this box in 2008 and it still runs fine but I do worry over its age. I've updated the drives to most all SSD, took out a big fast GPU I had and replaced it with a fanless unit, also installed a USB 3 pcie board for doing my backups. I'm looking at replacing the power supply with a fanless model soon. I'm wondering how close I can get this guy to running totally fanless and not go up in smoke. The big test will be trying to get the CPU to run fanless, doable but ------------
‎Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q9550 @ 2.83GHz
 

zenmastering

Member
Joined
Feb 7, 2018
Messages
41
Likes
51
I ran essentially the same processor, fanless, for years in a studio machine that ran 24/7. It's still running now as a file server. I used a monstrously big heat sink ('cooler', if you must ;->), properly mounted with heat sink compound. Power supply was fanless and the spinning drives were mounted in heatsinking cases; all as quiet as you'd imagine and it sat in my studio control room where noisy things are verboten.

So, I'd say go for it...

At some point, I ran a variable-speed fan, set to really slow, when the air conditioning in our studio crapped-out; still no problems or noise irritation. I could occasionally hear the drives seeking, which is, of course, a total non-issue with SSDs.

The big test will be trying to get the CPU to run fanless, doable but ------------
‎Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q9550 @ 2.83GHz
 
OP
amirm

amirm

Founder/Admin
Staff Member
CFO (Chief Fun Officer)
Joined
Feb 13, 2016
Messages
44,368
Likes
234,381
Location
Seattle Area
hi Amir

I am curious... Why did you chose the path of building our music server (a silent pc) ?
It would have been easier to pick a silent NAS (I have one from Qnap).
It was based on availability of Room EQ. I found Dirac which ran on Windows so went with that. I have a Qnap NAS but find its interface unrefined.
 

Sal1950

Grand Contributor
The Chicago Crusher
Forum Donor
Joined
Mar 1, 2016
Messages
14,067
Likes
16,597
Location
Central Fl
I used a monstrously big heat sink ('cooler', if you must ;->), properly mounted with heat sink compound.
Don't know what you'd refer to as "a monstrously big heat sink". I run a Arctic Freezer Pro rev2 using Arctic silver 5 paste. A pretty good cooler in it's time.
arctic7.jpg
arctic7-1.jpg
 

capitanharlock

Active Member
Joined
May 17, 2019
Messages
111
Likes
94
My 3 comments.

Nothing wrong with disabling unnecessary features or not loading them in the first place (keeps registry and disk clean). First thing I have always done after installing Windoze is to disable all of the Windoze GUI "eye candy" features to optimize it for performance. I don't need GUI animations on my work or music machines.

Second, use Thesyscon's DLP Latency Checker to see if anything is holding onto resources too long that would cause audible glitches.

dpclat1.jpg


dpclat2.jpg


Third, use multiple SSDs. 1 "small" drive for OS, 1 or more larger drives for data.


in my opinion this sw isn’t Good anymore for modern Os, I.e. Windows 10.
it was abandoned by the developer loooong time ago.
Latencymon for example.
 
Last edited:

Hipper

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Joined
Jun 16, 2019
Messages
753
Likes
625
Location
Herts., England
My current PC set up uses something built on the lines of Computer Audiophiles CASH systems, made by Quite PC in 2013. It uses the same Streacom casing as you use.

At that time it seemed that noise filters on the hard drives (both SSD and HDD) were recommended:

https://quietpc.co.uk/sotm-sata-noise-filter?product=2989

Did these do anything, or anything worthwhile?

I wanted to run Dirac Live EQ and it was only available for Windows.

Did you consider JRiver and its PEQ and GEQ? I have JRiver but haven't used the PEQ yet as I'm listening only on headphones but I'm moving more to the idea of using a PC source for my speaker set-up which will require it.

I have a 21" monitor I can actually read and a handheld track ball for navigation of the music players.

I've not heard of a handheld track ball mouse before and like the idea - I'll investigate thanks.
 

Hipper

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Joined
Jun 16, 2019
Messages
753
Likes
625
Location
Herts., England
My current PC set up uses something built on the lines of Computer Audiophiles CASH systems, made by Quite PC in 2013. It uses the same Streacom casing as you use.

At that time it seemed that noise filters on the hard drives (both SSD and HDD) were recommended:

https://quietpc.co.uk/sotm-sata-noise-filter?product=2989

Did these do anything, or anything worthwhile?



Did you consider JRiver and its PEQ and GEQ? I have JRiver but haven't used the PEQ yet as I'm listening only on headphones but I'm moving more to the idea of using a PC source for my speaker set-up which will require it.



I've not heard of a handheld track ball mouse before and like the idea - I'll investigate thanks.


Should of course have said 'Computer Audiophile's CAPS systems'...
 

Tom Schofield

Member
Joined
Oct 23, 2019
Messages
9
Likes
5
Why not just use a laptop? I was looking at an Asus on sale at Costco for $499, which allows you to reverse the display so that you could set the motherboard side flat on your stand and have the touch screen display standing up for use.
 
Top Bottom