Wardsweb Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 I am in the market for a new computer. This one will be for checking email, web surfing and USB 3.0 streaming music digital data to my DAC. What do you have that you like or any suggestions? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilbert Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 (edited) Based on your usage, it doesn't really matter.... I would think your emphasis should be on soundcard selection, then just make sure your new PC supports or exceeds your soundcards min. hardware requirements. Edited August 3, 2015 by Gilbert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wardsweb Posted August 3, 2015 Author Share Posted August 3, 2015 Based on your usage, it doesn't really matter.... I would think your emphasis should be on soundcard selection, then just make sure your new PC supports or exceeds your soundcards min. hardware requirements. The soundcard won't matter as I will be using USB to stream digital data to an external DAC. I haven't bought a computer in about 7 or 8 years and I know technology is like dog years. It moves so fast and I haven't kept up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minermark Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 Got this down a few years back. I go to Fry's ask for the youngest kid in the Pc department that is a "Gamer". My conversation goes like this: Ok Kid, you got $600 bucks to build me a Pc, three "Base" things i want, 16Ram, Good soundcard, processor/motherboard, gamer quality. If we have any money leftover, kick up the power supply. and done 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muel Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 Where I can, I prefer to keep these functions separate with a computer dedicated to serving audio and another PC for anything else. You can dive as deep as you want into this area! http://www.computeraudiophile.com/section/c-p-s-489/ With the dedicated audio PC I can use my phone or tablet as a remote control as well as for email or browsing. If you are looking at a more traditional PC then whatever you choose I would look at a latency checker to verify you don't have any latency issues that will negatively affect the sound quality. The fewer processes the PC is running the better. I'm actually running Windows Server 2012 on my audio PC because it is able to be stripped down to the bare essentials. I'm pretty hard core about my audio PC you might say! I'm going to be trying a USB REGEN in my system soon. It is supposed to regenerate the USB signal that is going to the DAC. I'll hear what it does for me in a couple of weeks. I would add that you want to be sure that the DAC is connected by itself on the USB bus and definitely not on an external USB hub. Your PC also has internal hubs and you can't really tell which USB ports are sharing a hub just by looking at the port. You can check Device Manager to see what "Hub" your devices (mouse, keyboard, DAC) are on but you can't always tell what the device is because the driver might give it a generic name. You can also look under "Devices, Properties, Hardware Tab" but this is also not really a clear picture of where everything is connected. You could unplug a device to see which one disappears though if you can't tell which one it is. Perhaps I'm getting too far ahead since you just asked about PC selection advice. Most computers will take you at least 95% of the way you want to go and maybe 99.9%. Probably only a tiny percentage of the population worries about the stuff that I do on the PC side of things. On the other hand, for a bedroom system I use my "quiet" PC that I got from these guys: https://www.endpcnoise.com/. This one isn't completely silent but the fan noise if very quiet. They built my PC for about the same price as if you bought the materials and built it yourself. They do a very nice job and use good components. I Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wardsweb Posted August 3, 2015 Author Share Posted August 3, 2015 This is over kill but seems like a decent price for what you get. Lenovo K450e Haswell i7 Quad PC w/ 16GB RAM 2TB 7200 rpm hard drive with 8GB SSD, DVD burner, 802.11n wireless, and Windows 8.1 64-bit. $700 How about this with an external driver just for music. HP Stream Mini 200-010 Desktop, Intel 2957U Dual Core, 2GB DDR3, 32GB Solid State Drive, 802.11n, Bluetooth, Win8.1 $150 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flatgrass Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 The HP looks good. When my current foxconn micro gives out, will be looking at one of these.... http://www.minix.us/index.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest thesloth Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 I don't just suggest tube amps.................. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max2 Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 Easy answer 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Travis In Austin Posted August 3, 2015 Moderators Share Posted August 3, 2015 Easy answer What is that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Travis In Austin Posted August 3, 2015 Moderators Share Posted August 3, 2015 I am in the market for a new computer. This one will be for checking email, web surfing and USB 3.0 streaming music digital data to my DAC. What do you have that you like or any suggestions? Laptop or desktop? To replace your laptop? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wardsweb Posted August 3, 2015 Author Share Posted August 3, 2015 I am in the market for a new computer. This one will be for checking email, web surfing and USB 3.0 streaming music digital data to my DAC. What do you have that you like or any suggestions? Laptop or desktop? To replace your laptop? Actually going to replace my main desktop to move into this decade of computers and hook it to the DAC in my main system. I will still have my big computer so really don't need a work horse. I already have a laptop, kindle, iPad, Samsung Galaxy. I just need to focus on what I need for the job and not what my OCD pushes me towards: like the Lenovo i7, 16g ram, 2T SATA and 32G SSD machine I saw for $700. Still, I'm open to anything and wanted to get a feel for what others like or use. I haven't bought a desktop computer in years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wardsweb Posted August 3, 2015 Author Share Posted August 3, 2015 Easy answer What is that? That sir is an Apple mini. They come it lots of flavors and priced accordingly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimer Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 Do they have a Roma? I love romas. Failing that an ambrosia would be great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max2 Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 Im a PC guy at heart, even though I own two Mac desktops and a Mac mini. I have another Mac in my office, which I run Windows on, but not by choice. I use the mini in my sound room for streaming and surfing. Its little size make you think you bought something thats going to get over loaded with tasks, but it has worked flawless for me and is just as fast as anything I own. I can download lossless albums and watch videos or play music all at the same time with no hiccups. I really like the fact that I have never had a failure out of any Mac equipment which is far from the case of all the PC's I maintain for 40 Agents and 6 CSR's for our company. All in all, it just comes down to what you want, but the video section of the mini has a beautiful picture on my 55" Samsung. Oh yeah, when everyone else is dealing with Malware or the junk floating around or they're mad because their anti-virus, link scanners etc. are slowing the network performance down.... you don't have to mess with this buying a Mac. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teknoid Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 At the company I work for we spec, shop, buy, and install several hundred PCs every year. What I can tell you from that experience is that at any given price point they're all about the same. We consistently buy Dell PCs because of their superior support. If you want I'll do the research for you. Give me a budget number and I'll hook you up with a PC that will meet your requirements. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prerich Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 For what you want to do...All you need is a NUC, JRiver software and you're good to go! Especially since you are sending a direct stream to an external DAC. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilbert Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 Based on your usage, it doesn't really matter.... I would think your emphasis should be on soundcard selection, then just make sure your new PC supports or exceeds your soundcards min. hardware requirements. The soundcard won't matter as I will be using USB to stream digital data to an external DAC. I haven't bought a computer in about 7 or 8 years and I know technology is like dog years. It moves so fast and I haven't kept up. Based on your needs (checking email and surfing the web, while offering at least 1 USB 3.0), can't think of any new PC or Mac that can't perform those tasks simultaneously. About the only thing that's really cool, are the SSD prices, affordable at last, and lightening quick boot-ups. Good luck with what ever you buy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vondy Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 Mac mini all the way. Small package, affordable, easy to use, etc. Our server at work runs on one, zero problems. I'm a designer so have always worked and played on macs, it's the way to go. At least in this case. I'm actually looking for one myself to use as a music server. You can hook up external hard drives for tons of storage too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigStewMan Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 i’m a Mac guy too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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