vandyman Posted August 23, 2009 Share Posted August 23, 2009 Hi Gang, I need some advice on how to build a DIY music server, based on a PC. I have a few old PC"s laying around gathering dust, and would like to build a music server to run through a receiver and a pre-amp to my Vandersteens and my Klipsch Forte's. I'm starting from ground zero, so I need all the information I can get. Any and all help would be much appreciated. Plus my wife would really love to see all the CD's disappear, and I would love to quit messing with CD players and the whole deal of keeping the disc's clean from prying little fingers[6] ( children). Thanks in advance for all your help and suggestions. Todd (Vandyman) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bliss53 Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 The sound of vandersteens got me back in to audio. I now have a weakness for horns. Anyway. What is your budget. I have recently upgraded my digital server stream an it comes very close to my cayin hybrid cd player in sound quality (Vinyl is still my favorite). I started pretty reasonably with a higher quality internal soundcard for the PC which acted as a digital to analog converter (dac). A big hard drive was not too expensive. Itunes is free and does a good job on the software side. I originally ripped the songs in higher rate mp3 and I am now converting the apple lossless format. Remember to turn on the error correction for ripping in itunes. The first upgrade was an m-audio stereophile usb interface (dac) that was more of an external soundcard and I got a second m-audio to allow two way dac for recording vinyl (needle drops). It produced noticeable better sound than the internal soundblaster card. The second upgrade was a apple mac mini. This provided a quiet machine. My old PC had a pretty loud cooling fan. This system was very satisfactory until I saw a "deal" on audiogon for a wavelength brick dac. I sent the brick in for an upgrade to version 2 and it replaced the m-audio. To be honest I did not think much of the wavelength during my first month or two, then I followed the manufacturers itunes set up instructions. I could instantly hear the difference between the lossless files and the 256k rate mp3 files and lower. The improvement was on the order of moving the musicians from a smaller room to a concert hall. Less constricted and more open and detailed. If you are interested I still have the m-audio stereophile interface that I could sell. Check out http://www.computeraudiophile.com, I leaned alot there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klewless Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 Google "media player" or "music server" (you don't need to put the quotes in Google) and follow all kinds of links to learn a lot. Lots of stuff to learn. Do not be intimidated by the complex issues you will find online. Consider it an adventure. I am currently doing the same thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest David H Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 Todd, install ITunes on your PC, and import all of your music in apple lossless format, thats it. Apple lossless will compress the files to approximately half of its original size with no loss in resolution hense the Lossless designation. Itunes is easy to use, and is quite flexible once you get the hang of it. You can use the 1/8 output jack, however I prefer and external DAC. A simple, and great sounding USB DAC is the Firestone Audio Fubar, this is a no frills DAC that does not require drivers or setup, and IMO sound very good. Enjoy, Dave Harris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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