The Computer Audiophile Suggested Hardware list is a real-time list of hardware, and a little software, that Computer Audiophile recommends. There is no need to wait every six months for an update or even wait for a monthly refresh of recommendations. When a product deserves to make this list it's added immediately. Most products on the list have been reviewed or used here at Computer Audiophile. In some circumstances products will be added based on recommendations from very respected neutral sources. Computer Audiophile does not "rubber stamp" its approval on components from advertisers or any other product representative. Our list is wide open to reader comments. This openness shows our integrity and should instill a high level of reader confidence in the selections. Consider the Computer Audiophile Suggested Hardware (CASH) list as the most up to date source for excellent high-end audio music server hardware, and a little software. Without further ado here is the CASH list.

 
Last Update 12/11/2008 10:43 PM CST
 

 

 

 

Digital to Analog Converters (DAC)

 

Berkeley Audio Design Alpha DAC - This is my current DAC of choice for my reference Mac Pro based system. The Alpha DAC in combination with the Lynx AES16e PCIe card produces the best sound I have ever heard. Period. $5000

 

 

 

Weiss Engineering Minerva - The Weiss Minerva is an absolutely fabulous DAC in terms of sound and versatility. The most important feature for computer audiophiles is the FieWire interface. The Minerva supports up to 24/192 audio over FireWire. This allows the Minerva to connect to almost any computer available. Laptops without FW interfaces can add them very easily via a relatively inexpensive PCMCIA card or ExpressCard. Desktops without FireWire can add very small cards that will fit into half-height PCI slots where a Lynx Card will not fit. $5000

 

 

 

Devilsound DAC - This single cable DAC has a USB termination on one end and single ended RCA terminations on the other end. It's a very good sounding DAC that has no competitors in terms of design and ease of use. $250

 

 

 

 

 

bryston BDA-1 External DAC - The Bryston BDA-1 external DAC is an incredible bargain. The sound quality, build quality, and feature set are equal to or better than other DACs I've heard at twice the price. This DAC is a giant-killer. If I didn't own my beloved Alpha DAC I would have purchased the review sample in a heartbeat, and had $3k left over for music! $1995

 

 

 
 

 

 

Computers

Desktop

 

Apple Mac Pro - My Reference music server uses OS X, Windows XP 32-bit, Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit, and openSuse 11 (Linux). Intel Macs are fully capable of running almost any operating system that runs on an Intel platform. I'm currently quad booting my Mac Pro. At system startup I can select any of the four operating systems. It's great for testing and a music server change of pace. The Mac Pro is the best built computer from any of the major manufacturers. It is very powerful yet quiet enough to place in a listening room. ~$2800 +

 

 

 

Laptop

Apple MacBook / MacBook Pro - Either the MacBook or MacBook Pro can make great music servers. Just like the Mac Pro, Intel MacBooks can boot several operating systems. MacBooks are great for dual purpose computers and have a small footprint compared to the Mac Pro. Having a keyboard and monitor built into the music server is a very nice feature and is often overlooked. MacBooks are quiet 99.9% of the time. The only exception is when ripping a disc. The fan will speed up to somewhat loud levels. Certainly not a show-stopper. ~$1200 +

 

 

 

Other
HP touch Smart PC - Based on Windows Vista this touch screen PC has a wonderful interface. It may not be a reference music server in terms of sound quality, but the user interface is as good as it gets for the money. Full product review to come. ~$1500

 

 

 

 

 

 

Digital I/O

Lynx Studio Technology AES16 & AES16e - These cards output up to 24 bit / 192 kHz digital audio streams to an external DAC via HD26 to XLR AES cable. They also provide the capability to use the internal clock or an external clock. The AES16 is the PCI card recommended for Windows XP PCs. Legacy firmware and legacy drivers sound best. The AES16e is a PCI Express card for Mac Pro music servers. Current firmware and drivers are recommended. $800

 

 

 

 

 

Storage / Hard Drives

Network Attached Storage (NAS)

Thecus 5200B Pro - A very solid NAS unit and the one I use in my system. The 5200B Pro has five hard drive bays supports several different RAID configurations. The 5200B Pro also supports iSCSI on OS X and Windows. This NAS device is not for the weekend audiophile without any technical knowledge. Users should have a good grasp of RAID and some other technical items such as AFP, SMB, and user rights. Once configured the 5200B Pro offers a huge amount of disk space and does not need ongoing maintenance such as security patches and updates. $750

 

 

 

Direct Attached Storage

Data Robotics, Inc. Drobo - The Drobo is a unique storage product. With the addition of the DroboShare attachment the Drobo can become a NAS drive similar in function to the Thecus 5200B Pro. What sets the Drobo apart from most of the other storage options available is the ease of use. Audiophiles needn't know anything about RAID or how to backup their music collection. Everything is automatic with the Drobo. The new Drobo units support FireWire 800 and USB 2.0. $350 - $500

 

 

 

Internal Hard Drives

Samsung 64GB SATA II SSD - This Solid State Drive is highly recommended. The drive is based on SLC technology instead the of inferior MLC tech that so many cheaper SSDs are made with. The Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) is two million hours. I've used these drives in a fanless PC and MacBook Pro laptop. They will work in a Mac Pro desktop with a little creativity. ~$550

 

 

 

Seagate Barracuda ES.2 Hard Drive series - These hard drives have a Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF) of 1.2 million hours.

 

 

 

Hitachi Desk Star series (HDS) - These drives have low power modes and ultra quiet operation. The HDS drives are typically $50 - $75 cheaper per terabyte than the Seagate ES.2 disks.

 

 

 

External Hard Drives

Western Digital My Book series - These external drives come in many sizes and are the most readily available drives on the market. Traditional not my favorite brand, but more people have had great luck with these drives. If possible you'll want to listen to the noise level for yourself. some people report silence and others report jet engines.

 

 

 

 

 
Seagate Free Agent | Go - The Seagate Free Agent | Go is my new portable drive of choice. The physical features of these drives are fabulous. 0.49" in H x 3.15" in W x 5.12" in L (12.5mm x 80mm x 130mm) and Weight: 5.64 oz (0.16 kg). The Free Agent | Go comes in 250 GB, 320 GB, and 500 GB models with color choices of silver, black, blue, and red. There is a Mac version of this drive, but the standard versions work great on Mac as well. The standard version is powered via the USB 2.0 cable and is a little thinner than the Mac version. This is the drive I now bring to audio shows with 500 GB full of music from 16/44.1 up to 24/192. $120 - $200

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wireless

Apple Airport Extreme - This wireless router support 802.11n and attached hard drives and printers. The speed of the Airport Extreme is great. The wired ports are gigabit Ethernet 10/100/1000. Connecting a USB hard drive to the router turns it into a router / NAS device. The Apple Time capsule is almost identical, but only supports 500 GB or 1 TB. I've used Belkin, Linksys, Netgear and other brands of wireless devices. None of them have the stability of the Apple Airport Extreme. It always works. $179

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Remote Control Options

Apple iPod Touch with Remote application - The iPod Touch / iPhone has the best user interface of any device on the market. In addition Apple's native Remote application is a fabulous add-on for the iPod Touch or iPhone. The best feature in my opinion is called "Stay Connected." Enabling Stay Connected keeps you iPod Touch connected to your wireless network and your music server library even when the iPod Touch is in sleep mode. This allows one to simply wake the device and have immediate control of the music server. Without this feature enabled the iPod Touch must reconnect to the wireless network and the music server. The down side of the Stay Connected feature is decreased battery life. A fine trade-off in my opinion. $229

 

 

 

 

Laptop - A laptop is the ultimate remote control solution. It provides complete access to your music server as if you were standing at the keyboard of the server. I use a MacBook Air (in addition to an iPod Touch) to control my music servers. Three applications that enable smooth remote control are VNC, Remote Desktop, and Screen Sharing.

 

 

 

A. VNC - Allows remote control from Windows to Windows, Windows to Mac, Mac to Windows, and Mac to Mac. Linux options also available. Free limited versions.
B. Remote Desktop - Allows remote control from Windows to Windows, and Mac to Windows. Free
C. Screen Sharing - Allows remote control from a Mac to another Mac only. Free

 

 

 

 

 

Computer Components

Case Fans - Silenx iXtrema Pro Quiet Fans. Silenx offers the industry's best noise to airflow ratio. Its fans are typically between 8 and 14 dBA and feature fluid dynamic bearings. ~$25

 

Power Supply - The Silenx IXR-65-142 is a 650W ATX PSU with less than 14 dBA noise output. It has plenty of power and connections for a music server. $140

 

 
 
Hard Drive Silencer - The smart drive classic "Cooper" from Grow Up Japan looks great and silences & cools an internal hard drive at the same time. Yes, the name is Cooper even though the product is made of copper. $200

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Case - Zalman's TNN 300 is the foundation for a completely fanless music server. This 30+ lbs. pure aluminum computer case is very audiophile-esque. $700

 

 

 

 

Case - Origen's S21T is a wonderful case for a music server. The built-in motorized TFT touch screen allows easy access to a headless music server. The case itself is great looking and can hold up to ten hard drives. $1300

 

 

 

 

Cables

 
USB - The Kimber USB cable is a very nice and reasonably priced cable. The Belkin Pro series of USB cables has also received favorable press. ~$50

 

 

 

 

Mini-Toslink - These cables are not as widely available as standard Toslink cables. A reasonably priced cable is the Monster LightSpeed 100. It fits into the mini-optical output of a Mac computer and connects to any standard Toslink via the standard connector on the opposite end. $35

 

HD26 - XLR - This is the cable I use to connect my Berkeley Audio Design Alpha DAC to the Lynx AES16e card in my Mac Pro. The cable is not publicly available at the time of this writing.

 

 

 

All-in-One Solutions

AVI ADM9.1 Active Loudspeakers - These active loudspeakers have a built-in 24/96 Wolfson DAC with two optical Toslink inputs and one analog input. It is very hard to assemble a system of separates for less than the price of the ADM9.1s. Plus, the convenience and aesthetic appearance of a single cable running from a PC to one speaker is hard to beat. $2999

 

 
 

 

 

Software

Microsoft Windows XP Professional 32-bit - Legacy OS that is becoming harder to locate. Some audiophiles believe the best sound available today from a music server is from Windows XP.

 

 

 

 

 

Apple OS X Leopard - Bit perfect playback through iTunes right out of the box. The best design and interface of any operating system available.

 

 

 

Note: Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit will play bit perfect audio, but additional testing needed before placing it on the CASH list.
 

 

 

Apple iTunes - Bit perfect sound on OS X. Great design from Apple. Missing auto sample rate recognition out of the box. Windows users look elsewhere.

 

 

 

MediaMonkey - Great Windows based application that produces bit perfect output with a couple configuration changes. A few other plugins can be added for additional support like ASIO etc... Possibly the best PC based sound.

 

 

 

Music

HRx from Reference Recordings - Hands down the best sounding music I've ever heard. 24/176.4 albums created directly from the RR Master files. This is the future of high-end audio.

 

 

 
Linn Records - Nice selection of high resolution formats. Great sounding albums. Prices are a bit high and content selection is somewhat limited.

 

 

 
HDTracks - The best selection of non-DRM 16/44.1 downloads. Album art and a PDF booklet with liner notes come with every album. Absolutely simple download process and very reasonable prices.