Amir's Music Server Build Thread

[Richard Murphy]

Earlier in this thread you said you have "an isolated USB interface to my DAC so not afraid of the noise in the power supply". Would you mind explaining what this entails please? I assume it's not an ISO Regen based on your review.

 

[amirm]

Earlier in this thread you said you have "an isolated USB interface to my DAC so not afraid of the noise in the power supply". Would you mind explaining what this entails please? I assume it's not an ISO Regen based on your review.

Definitely not. It is the Berkeley Alpha USB which includes galvanic isolation.

 

[Richard Murphy]

And your decision to go fanless... was that based on the noise from the fan(s) alone? I'm sitting about 2 feet from my desktop PC right now and the fans (1 PSU, 2 CPU and 2 case) are barely audible. Maybe I need a hearing check?

 

[amirm]

That, and unreliability of anything moving. I have my server on 24 hours a day in a cabinet and wouldn't know if the fan got stuck.

The other consideration is that without fan you don't get any dust inside the unit.

 

[rebbiputzmaker]

and unreliability of anything moving.

That shows great faith in humanity.

 

[Soniclife]

And your decision to go fanless... was that based on the noise from the fan(s) alone? I'm sitting about 2 feet from my desktop PC right now and the fans (1 PSU, 2 CPU and 2 case) are barely audible. Maybe I need a hearing check?

Some people seem to not notice fan noise, I find it really annoying and all fans are extremely audible to me, but I doubt it's hearing ability, it can be background noise, quiet rooms really make the fans stand out.

I'll never go back to a home machine with fans, or spinning disks, the very quiet 2tb drive in my PVR drives me nuts when it's on, must change it to a SSD.

 

[Richard Murphy]

Some people seem to not notice fan noise, I find it really annoying and all fans are extremely audible to me, but I doubt it's hearing ability, it can be background noise, quiet rooms really make the fans stand out.

I'll never go back to a home machine with fans, or spinning disks, the very quiet 2tb drive in my PVR drives me nuts when it's on, must change it to a SSD.

Yes but not all fans are created equal either. The fan on my son's PS4 drives me crazy.

As for reliability, I've only once had a PC fan die and even then, it got incredibly loud in the months prior so I knew it was happening. To your point, it probably failed due to dust in the bearings. I'm sure they can fail without warning but every system I've owned in the past 10 years can be configured via BIOS to shut down over a given temperature. Just saying there are fail-safe mechanisms in place so you'd need to be quite unlucky I'd think.

I've got enough spare parts to build a server. Might even build a custom timber case as my wife hates electronics in the living room! Next... software.... no Roon (expensive), needs to play Spotify for the wife, Tidal for me an my FLACs on HDD. Thinking remote access like Team Viewer. Probably a different thread for that.

 

[Wombat]

Some people seem to not notice fan noise, I find it really annoying and all fans are extremely audible to me, but I doubt it's hearing ability, it can be background noise, quiet rooms really make the fans stand out.

I'll never go back to a home machine with fans, or spinning disks, the very quiet 2tb drive in my PVR drives me nuts when it's on, must change it to a SSD.

FWIW: http://www.hyperacusis.net/what-is-it/4-types-of-sound-sensitivity/

 

[Wombat]

Any good advice on fan speed-controlling PC boards would be welcomed by me. A simple on-off type would be fine.

 

[Deleted member 65]

Any good advice on fan speed-controlling PC boards would be welcomed by me. A simple on-off type would be fine.

Do you want to control the fans in your PC (done thru BIOS) or install a card in your PC to control external fans?

 

[Deleted member 65]

BIOS screenshot from my fanless MediaPC, turned all fans off since I don't have any.

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...uild-on-a-budget-thread.722/page-3#post-53233

 

[Wombat]

Do you want to control the fans in your PC (done thru BIOS) or install a card in your PC to control external fans?

I am new to desktops. I was told by the guy I purchased the PC from that audio and HD video use would not usually require the operation of the fans as the computer was built for gaming. I would like them to be OFF unless the system required them for cooling.

 

[oivavoi]

Some people seem to not notice fan noise, I find it really annoying and all fans are extremely audible to me, but I doubt it's hearing ability, it can be background noise, quiet rooms really make the fans stand out.

I'll never go back to a home machine with fans, or spinning disks, the very quiet 2tb drive in my PVR drives me nuts when it's on, must change it to a SSD.

I also hate PC-fans, even in their quietest incarnations. What would be good recommendations for commercial complete package PCs or Macs that run completely fanless and absolutely without any noise at all?

 

[svart-hvitt]

I also hate PC-fans, even in their quietest incarnations. What would be good recommendations for commercial complete package PCs or Macs that run completely fanless and absolutely without any noise at all?

You should listen to the fan noise of my Mac Pro (vase/garbage can edition).

Second hand they are not cheap, but decently priced compared to audiophile setups.

Maybe the new small factor Windows pad PCs would work as well (they are fanless, I believe)?

 

[oivavoi]

You should listen to the fan noise of my Mac Pro (vase/garbage can edition).

Second hand they are not cheap, but decently priced compared to audiophile setups.

Maybe the new small factor Windows pad PCs would work as well (they are fanless, I believe)?

Cool. I have a mac mini at work (latest version), and IMO it creates too much noise for critical music listening, at least if placed within a couple of meters from the listening position. Perhaps the mac pro is less noisy?

 

[svart-hvitt]

Cool. I have a mac mini at work (latest version), and IMO it creates too much noise for critical music listening, at least if placed within a couple of meters from the listening position. Perhaps the mac pro is less noisy?

My iMac and MacBook Pros are noisy. My Mac Pro is not.

If fan is a ban, and you need commercially available and fine-tuned setup, why not plunge into Roon’s box?

 

[oivavoi]

My iMac and MacBook Pros are noisy. My Mac Pro is not.

If fan is a ban, and you need commercially available and fine-tuned setup, why not plunge into Roon’s box?

Yeah, I've considered that. But the point for me is to have one machine which can function both for Roon and as a workhorse. No need to buy more boxes than needed, as I see it. In my case, that doesn't require much processing power, since I only do writing. If I install Roon on a separate machine, I can just as well pick a cheap noisy one and put it away in a cupboard somewhere.

 

[Deleted member 65]

I am new to desktops. I was told by the guy I purchased the PC from that audio and HD video use would not usually require the operation of the fans as the computer was built for gaming. I would like them to be OFF unless the system required them for cooling.

He's correct. Check your manual on how to:
1. Enter BIOS
2. Adjust Fans in BIOS. If it's a fairly new PC my guess is you have something similar in your BIOS setup as I showed above.
3. Choose Silent, Save, Reboot & Evaluate (Note, you have to go thru and silence all your fans).
4. If Silent isn't silent adjust fans manually in BIOS.
5. If nothing of the above silence your PC build Amir's or my SilentPC!

 

[Soniclife]

Yes but not all fans are created equal either. The fan on my son's PS4 drives me crazy.

They all annoy me, before powerful silent machines were easy to get I tried a load of so called silent fans, none of them were.

The view on reliability isn't just the fan, but where all that dust goes, in my mind this is overstated, and nothing a good yearly clean in a desktop cannot prevent.

 

[Sal1950]

I am new to desktops. I was told by the guy I purchased the PC from that audio and HD video use would not usually require the operation of the fans as the computer was built for gaming. I would like them to be OFF unless the system required them for cooling.

There are all type of inexpensive fan control devices that can be installed in a available bay and also some software only based that will allow you to control most anything you'd like about fans "on the fly" without having to access the bios each time.
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...ion=fan+controller&ignorear=0&N=-1&isNodeId=1