manolo2011

Thanks guys for the advice and comments, I have no idea what was going on when it crashed, I was actually working on my laptop and listening to music using the music server, playing through JRiver, I was controlling it with the iPad and just listening to music, I have no idea why it would crash or heat up so much as nothing out of the ordinary was going on. I checked the fans and heatsink but everything is fine, both fans are working fine, plus the one in the power supply. I just connected another little fan the OriginAE case has, that is right below the HDDs, it actually has two small fans but I had to remove one as it did not let me close the MB tray because the eSata connectors would bump into it; I had not connected the other one as I thought two fans plus PS would do, I now have three fans plus PS, the music server now has four fans working permanently .... so much for a fan-less server as a goal, anyway ... Actually it peaked at 89 degrees C, as I rebooted it and went to BIOS and it showed that temperature and it would just not go down. I turned it off after a few minutes, it was stuck at 89 C. I did not have any temperature or core control software, now I do, and am checking on it regularly, it has never exceeded 52 C now since I started to control it more formally, and I just don´t know what went on when it crashed. I have been using the iPad a lot to change songs and play videos and nothing happens. Maybe it was a Win 8 bug or something, as I did install an update for Win 8 right after the crash and now it works fine. I have been checking using task manager and have just two startup programs and run nothing else now apart from JRiver. As I said, I have been checking constantly and there are no processor hogs, no memory hogs, nothing ... and now it works fine, I will make it run for a long time this weekend see what happens ... Regarding the HDD I do have a backup, and have been using a lot of these WD Green Drives and never have had a failure .. so I am not really worried about reliability with it, plus, as I said I have everything baked up. Actually I have never had a WD hard drive crash or fail, and I have had them in laptops, mac mini, pc´s. Seagate is another story, all my Seagate HDDs have failed, and never bought one again. I´m using Samsung SSDs now and they seem to work fine so far. On another point, after extensive listening, I was actually not verly happy with the way it played, seemed to have way too much bass and seemed odd for some reason. I decided to go into JRiver options, and there were very many DSP controls turned on that did affect the music, I have pretty much turned everything off, including the subwoofer option which was set at 8 inch, the ambiance options, everything, and it did sound better. But what really did change the sound was when I changed the ouput mode settings, for some reason it sounds much better using ASIO with the Lynx card, and there is one option that says Volume Device, I am using Play 03+04 (2 - Lynx AES16e), and that did make a huge difference. There are no effects. equalization, or anything else, it just has a volume leveling option that I can`t remove. I am just starting to learn how to use all the JRiver options, so maybe I can still tweak the setup to sound better still. If anyone has a Lynx card with JRiver and has any suggestions, please let me know your experience and what your setup is. I would very much appreciate any advice. If it heats up again, I will try a larger heatsink, but it just makes no sense that it would heat up so much as all it´s doing is playing music or video. Anyway .. thanks again Manolo

I now have heating issues, the CPU reached 80 degrees Celsius and the computer pretty much crashed, JRiver stopped working and I received a very friendly Windows 8 blue screen of death. Everything is now working, but I am monitoring the temperature closely, it just won´t cool well. I will try to install another, large, heatsink on the CPU but I can´t see how I´m going to be able to make due without fans. Anyway, that is the first issue so far.

OK I finally have my music server up .. it has some of the parts of the wishlist but not all, specifically no filtering yet and it still has two running fans. That will be the next step, for now I´m really happy with it, JRiver works great and the music just plays wonderfully. Here's the Origin S21T Chassis : It is a bit short of space but I managed to get everything in ... The motherboard, sound card, wi-fi card, Blu-Ray Player The motherboard installed, the Hard Drives, one is an SSD, the sound card installed The final not too clean final setup, once I have the filtering ready to install I´ll clean the mess up, it'll have to do for now. The final, working version of my Music Server: My CDs, too many, it seemed I would never stop FLAC'ing them Well it sounds awesome, looks awesome and can only get better as I tweak it. Thanks to everyone for this site, I would have never been able to build this without all the advise and information available here !!! Thanks again !!!! Manolo PS I hope the pictures are alright, and not too heavy.

Just on case anyone is interested, I have updated my parts list, I decided I did not need a super computer for this, and am using a different MB and CPU, as well as less memory, a different set of HDDs, and a proper fanless cooler for the LGA115 CPU. All filtering I am not purchasing right now, and am keeping the OriginAE chassis as I think it´s just awesome looking and does have an integrated touch screen, which I plan to use. I just saved myself about $900 which is quite good I think. All the filtering I´m going to look into afterwards, as I think that a for a few caps $450 for the ATX filter from Core Audio is way too much, they just increased their price by 50%. I personally think it´s ridiculously expensive, as I think I can do this myself for much less. [TABLE=width: 833] [TR] [TD=colspan: 4]MUSIC SERVER[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Qty.[/TD] [TD]Product Description[/TD] [TD] Total Price [/TD] [TD]Supplier[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=align: right]1[/TD] [TD]GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UD5H LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0[/TD] [TD=align: right] 179.99[/TD] [TD=align: right] Newegg [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD] [/TD] [TD]NO VIDEO CARD[/TD] [TD] [/TD] [TD] [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=align: right]1[/TD] [TD]Seasonic SS-460FL Active PFC F3, 460W Fanless ATX12V[/TD] [TD=align: right] 174.90[/TD] [TD=align: right] Amazon [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=align: right]1[/TD] [TD]XIGMATEK 2.5" to 3.5" Hard Drive Adapter[/TD] [TD=align: right] 9.99[/TD] [TD=align: right] Newegg [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=align: right]1[/TD] [TD]Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz[/TD] [TD=align: right] 219.99[/TD] [TD=align: right] Newegg [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=align: right]2[/TD] [TD]CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600[/TD] [TD=align: right] 72.99[/TD] [TD=align: right] Newegg [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=align: right]1[/TD] [TD]Samsung 830 128GB[/TD] [TD=align: right] 99.99[/TD] [TD=align: right] Amazon [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=align: right]1[/TD] [TD]Western Digital Green 3TB[/TD] [TD=align: right] 149.99[/TD] [TD=align: right] Newegg [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=align: right]1[/TD] [TD]SONY 7280S[/TD] [TD=align: right] 18.99[/TD] [TD=align: right] Newegg [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=align: right]1[/TD] [TD]Cooler Master Thermal Grease[/TD] [TD=align: right] 9.99[/TD] [TD=align: right] Newegg [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=align: right]1[/TD] [TD]Silverstone Tek Heligon[/TD] [TD=align: right] 65.99[/TD] [TD=align: right] Newegg [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD] [/TD] [TD] [/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=align: right]1[/TD] [TD]Lynx Studio Technology Aes16e Pcie Express Interface Card[/TD] [TD=align: right] 630.00[/TD] [TD=align: right] AltoMusic [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=align: right]1[/TD] [TD]Lynx CBL-AES1604 Cable for AES16, AES16e, and Aurora 6 Feet[/TD] [TD=align: right] 58.00[/TD] [TD=align: right] AltoMusic [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=align: right]1[/TD] [TD]JRiver Media Center[/TD] [TD=align: right] 49.87[/TD] [TD=align: right] JRiver [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=align: right]1[/TD] [TD]OriginAE S21T Chassis[/TD] [TD=align: right] 1,100.00[/TD] [TD=align: right] OrigienAE [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD=align: right] 2,840.68[/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]PENDING[/TD] [TD] [/TD] [TD] [/TD] [TD] [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD] [/TD] [TD]PS Filtering DIY ????[/TD] [TD] ??? [/TD] [TD] [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD] [/TD] [TD]Coreaudio ATX Filter ???? Too much !!!!!!![/TD] [TD=align: right] 450.00[/TD] [TD] [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD] [/TD] [TD]SOtM SATA Filter[/TD] [TD=align: right] 195.00[/TD] [TD] [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD] [/TD] [TD] [/TD] [TD] [/TD] [TD] [/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE]

[TABLE=width: 817] [TR] [TD=colspan: 4]MUSIC SERVER[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Qty. [/TD] [TD]Product Description[/TD] [TD] Total Price [/TD] [TD]Supplier[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=align: right]1 [/TD] [TD] GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UP5 TH LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX[/TD] [TD=align: right] 239.99[/TD] [TD] Newegg[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=align: right]1[/TD] [TD] EVGA 02G-P4-2645-KR GeForce GT 640 2GB 128-bit DDR3 PCI Express[/TD] [TD=align: right] 89.99[/TD] [TD] Newegg[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=align: right]1[/TD] [TD] Seasonic SS-460FL Active PFC F3, 460W Fanless ATX12V[/TD] [TD=align: right] 169.99[/TD] [TD] Newegg[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=align: right]1[/TD] [TD] XIGMATEK 2.5" to 3.5" Hard Drive Adapter[/TD] [TD=align: right] 9.99[/TD] [TD] Newegg[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=align: right]1[/TD] [TD] Intel Core i7-3770K Ivy Bridge 3.5GHz[/TD] [TD=align: right] 319.99[/TD] [TD] Newegg[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=align: right]2[/TD] [TD] CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600[/TD] [TD=align: right] 145.98[/TD] [TD] Newegg[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=align: right]1[/TD] [TD] Corsair Force Series 3 CSSD-F120GB3A-NB 2.5" 120GB SATA III[/TD] [TD=align: right] 144.99[/TD] [TD] Newegg[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=align: right]1 [/TD] [TD] Western Digital RE WD4000FYYZ 4TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Enterprise[/TD] [TD=align: right] 479.99[/TD] [TD] Newegg[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=align: right]1[/TD] [TD] SONY Black SATA DVD-ROM Drive Model DDU1681S-0B[/TD] [TD=align: right] 18.99[/TD] [TD] Newegg[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=align: right]1[/TD] [TD] Arctic Silver 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver Thermal Compound AS5-3.5G - OEM[/TD] [TD=align: right] 9.99[/TD] [TD] Newegg[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=align: right]1[/TD] [TD] Dynatron R8 CPU Cooler[/TD] [TD=align: right] 31.99[/TD] [TD] Newegg[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=align: right]1[/TD] [TD] Lynx Studio Technology Aes16e Pcie Express Interface Card[/TD] [TD=align: right] 699.97[/TD] [TD] Alto Music[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=align: right]1[/TD] [TD] Lynx CBL-AES1604 Cable for AES16, AES16e, and Aurora 6 Feet[/TD] [TD=align: right] 60.00[/TD] [TD] Alto Music[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=align: right]3[/TD] [TD] SOtM SATA Filter[/TD] [TD=align: right] 195.00[/TD] [TD] SOtM[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=align: right]1[/TD] [TD] JRiver Media Center[/TD] [TD=align: right] 49.87[/TD] [TD] JRiver [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=align: right]1[/TD] [TD] OriginAE S21T Chassis[/TD] [TD=align: right] 1,100.00[/TD] [TD] OriginAE[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][/TD] [TD]TOTAL [/TD] [TD=align: right] 3,766.72 [/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]PENDING [/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][/TD] [TD]PS Filtering DIY ????[/TD] [TD] ???[/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][/TD] [TD]Coreaudio ATX Filter ????[/TD] [TD=align: right] 300.00[/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] ItemAudio (BTW what´s your name ????), this is the BOM so far, there is nothing missing I think, but it´s not cheap. I am quoting one of the most expensive chassis available, but it does have it´s own touchscreen and is a very solid build. I guess this is a bit of a wish list. I was having a look at the Coreaudio ATX filter as well, it is expensive though, but could be an easy and quick option.

Hi, you make a very good point, but I already have the DAC, as I said I bought an Audio-GD NFB 7.32, it´s an ESS9018 based DAC, and it does sound very very well. I am going to stick with it for now, and don´t really have plans to change it anytime soon. It is solid in every way, has all kinds of inputs, AES, BNC, SPDIF, USB and RCA as well. ºÍ§Ó­µ响 I am NOT planning on having a USB based or connected server, as it is not optimal for music streaming from my POV, so I opted for a Lynx Studio AES 16 PCIe card, I can run it either in Mac or Win environment, and can connect it to a MacMini via a Thunderbolt adapter from Sonnettech. That way I can have both AES inputs and AES outputs from the Mac or Win based server. After having done a "BOM" of what I would need it would be around a third of the Aurender cost, so I personally think it worthwhile to pursue this project, considering I would have all the gimmicks of the Aurender, plus iPad control, and pretty much unlimited HDD space as well. The sound card is pretty much top notch, so the AES connection should be pretty much optimal and it in theory should all work well. Actually my biggest worry at this point is whether I can make this a fan-less server, and have it run properly, and the power supply. I will be using the SOtM SATA filters for both hard drives and the CD player, but I am still undecided over main Power Supply. As I mentioned, I can build a power supply, but I´m thinking maybe getting a decent PC PS and tearing it apart, removing its fan and filtering the hell out of it may be a better and simpler choice. The ATX connection to the MB is key I think and focusing on that may be a lot easier than going all out and building one from scratch. I already use a Furmann power filter for my stereo system so I have good power to start with, it´s all the noise inside the PC that really worries me. I was even thinking of making a grounded copper plane to go over the MB that could catch EMI/RFI and that way try to eliminate it as much as possible. I am thinking that every trace on the MB, the sound card and any cable or wire is a potential antenna that emits and captures noise. So a very thin copper plate over most of the MB, and even covering the sound card could work in catching some (hopefully all if not most) of that radiation noise and minimizing the effect on the server. Maybe I´m just splitting hairs, but this is the fun bit where you can get really creative. At this point I am going for the Hackintosh version, and with Win on Bootcamp, I have found that Mac´s version of Windows on a well working Mac runs without any glitches is very stable and just works fine for me, and as to upgrades and updates, I think I will be able to leave it alone once it´s working properly. Only change may be to go from Win JRiver to Mac JRiver once it´s out. If I go the Hackintosh way I don´t need any special Thunderbolt connection for the sound card just plug it into the MB, it´s all pretty straight forward, again what really worries me is making this as quiet and noiseless in every way as possible (db and EMI/RFI). Anyway, this is what I have so far.

Thanks, I am on the same page as you are, I like to tinker with things and try to make them better bit by bit, so you are right the Hackintosh way will probably end up being a disaster on the first upgrade of either software or hardware. I will probably not be able to leave it be so PC may end up being the best way. MM as I said seems like a compromise, although I would not know how to express it technically. Again, thanks for the feedback !!! Manolo

I am new to this Forum, and have been doing extensive research on the web as to which way I should go in terms of making my own music server. I have used the Aurender S10, as I had it on loan from my music "dealer" for about two weeks, and simply loved it's ease of use and of course it's sound. I am looking forward to replicating both. As of today I have identified three different, and more or less similar paths to take. First: I am looking at building a PC from scratch, ATX, set it in a nice Aluminium Case, use Windows 8, JRiver, iPad App for JRiver, a Lynx Studios sound card (I like AES/EBU), do as much filtering and EMI/RFI filtering and reduction as possible as well as heat and vibration minimization, this includes possibly building my own PSs, I am planning on using a startup SSD and an enterprise WD 4 TB HDD for the music storage as such. I do have experience with DIY Audio, none with DIY Music Servers though, and I have built my own PCs as well so none of the general skills required for this would be a challenge, but choosing the right long term setup is. Second: Make a similar setup, but Hackintosh it, it's real easy to setup a Hackintosh these days thanks to TonyMac. So the setup is almost identical, although there is still no JRiver for Mac, but I could wait it out. I was planning on using Amarra or Audirvana I think it was called. One standout alternative that comes from following this path of having a Hackintosh is that with Bootcamp I can have Win 8 in one partition and still have the HDD with the music and access it either from Mac or Win depending on bootup selection. This could actually be a decent solution and allow me to try out JRiver for mac vs JRiver for Win. Third: I have been a bit of an Apple Fanboy, from the moment I had my first Apple II, say 1980. I have a nearly brand new Mac Mini Server with Lion lying around and was planning on tearing it apart and adding what was needed to turn it into a proper Music Server, this includes a Thunderbolt connected Lynx sound card and other things as well. This is not too complex, but I feel it is not ideal for some reason. The MM Server can handle two drives, has a good processor, good memory 8GB, but I somehow feel going the ATX either Win or Hack/Win way would be better. I would very much appreciate your input and ideas, I have a pretty decent music stereo setup, with an Ayon Amplifier, Sonus Faber speakers, Micro Seiki TT etc. So I want to end up with a really good Music Server. The only weakish link I have today is the DAC, I had been using a Behringher SRC2946, but went out and bought a Chinese Adio-GD ESS Sabre NFB 7.32 DAC, which is actually not a weak link, it sounds extremely well at least to my ears, but I am looking towards being able to build something very similar or if not as good or if at all possible better than the Aurender. BTW I would definitely want to use my iPad as RC, so JRiver looks like the way to go for that, over Amarra and others. In your experience, as many of you already have music servers, what would be the best way to go and why ??? Thanks Manolo

Hello, new to this forum, I would like to know if there is a way of increasing the Aurender storage capacity, either by changing the HDD, adding an additional one, an external HDD or RAID system ??? I have way too many files, all FLAC and need around 3.5 TBs of storage, I have used the S10 and it sounds amazing and is extremely easy to use with the iPad, I had one on loan from my local dealer. But I have not yet decided to buy one, as I would like to know I can transfer all my music to it, before I buy it. thanks manuel