CleverName

Interesting product, SOtM Fan Noise Filter, good call. I am not an engineer, but I also wonder that the fan itself might generate noise, given the proximity of the fan motor to the CPU. As for the water cooling mentioned by Harpy, I have been searching around online for a passive water cooler, but no success so far. The best I am finding are radiators with fans, which I am contemplating obtaining and mounting outside the case.

You are of course, correct. I'm just a hobbyist trying to make the best out of what is on-hand, with minimal up costs. Also don't want to have two PC's in my stereo rack below the TV.

Does having a CPU fan add electronic/EM noise in an audio/HTPC application? I am a very experienced PC builder looking to dedicate a PC I already own, but is too high powered (THD ~ 125W) to use in a fanless case. If EM noise is being added by a fan in proximity to the CPU --Other options to distance the fan? What about 'silent-fan' water-cooling with the pump and radiator outside the case? Or, a ducted air-cooled solution, such as a silent fan blowing across the CPU cooler through a plastic pipe, etc. So, how far would a fan need to be distanced from the CPU to eliminate EM fan noise? NOTE: I am not currently interested in a low THD solution, because I need the horsepower for HD video streaming. (yep) I know that I can buy a Haswell i7 that can handle this job, but I don't want to go that route because it means an entirely new system.

Exactly. The original point -- I am curious about whether when a standard USB out is sent to the DAC, this makes "pre-conditioning" (so to speak) the signal through a high-end USB card irrelevant. I might as well throw in the question of whether a wifi signal sent from a PC in another part of the room and/or house to Apple TV feeding into the DAC also presents a relatively good/clean source for the DAC. And, yep, I am aware that Apple TV is not an HD source. Let's set that aside for the moment.

Interesting. Ok, my PC (Gigabyte MB) has an optical out as well as (obviously) USB. I am using a Peachtree Audio DAC, which has both optical and usb input. Are we saying that given the choice, I should use the optical out for best quality?

SSIA. Does an external DAC (separate or inside an integrated Amp) replace the need to install a special high quality internal USB sound card?

What if you use a third-party app such as Onkyo HF Player and stream wirelessly using AirPlay, will there be a downgrade in the output?

Ok...so (perhaps) a dumb question here. I have many Apple Lossless HD files loaded in my iphone (iOS7). When playing those using the built-in itunes app, the playback is not hi res? ...or are we saying that said "hi res" files are referring to other formats, FLAC, et al?

Interesting comment, because I am starting to feel the same way. I'm actually pretty happy with the way my workstation is sounding and given the time/effort involved in building a dedicated CAPS (other than the fact I enjoy putting systems together and tinkering with them) I find myself questioning whether it is worth the effort. Maybe there is simply a device like the auralic aries in my future when the old PC finally dies.

Thank you to those who commented. Hello Alrainbow. To answer your question, I did not run core mode, I ran AO and left in GUI mode because my planned server will be occasionally used to stream audio and video to my tv (from the internet. No games or non-video function contemplated) as well as for, at most times, critical listening. To this end, I am considering dual booting so that I can have both 2012+AO OS and a more functional W8.1 for the less critical listening to internet audio and video streams. Alrainbow, what hardware have you used for in your CAPS systems? Were your CAPS up to the job of streaming internet video when called for without bogging down terribly? (this was a problem I had on the lowest powered laptops)

Over the past couple of weeks I have been experimenting with multiple OS, desktop and laptop systems, and the audio quality of each. My quest is to build (and stop fussing with, *mostly*) a music server that I can also watch video on. Here are my observations after testing 6 different computers and configurations. First, the audio equipment: Stax Lambda Professional Headphones with SRM-1/MK-2 Amp + Peachtree Audio DAC. [ So, the fidelity and detail of what I am hearing is of good quality. ] Computers tested: 1> Full size desktop: AMD Phenom II x4 @3.7 GHz, 8 MB RAM, SSD and HDD (both tested), running W-7, no special tweaking (OS loaded with all sorts of garbage) 2> Full size desktop: AMD Phenom II x4 @3.2 GHZ, 8 MB RAM, SSD, Server 2012 + Audiophile Optimizer + recommended BIOS tweaks (fresh install) 3> Laptop: IBM Thinkpad i7 x2 @2.7GHz, 8MB RAM, HDD, Windows 7, no special tweaking 4> Laptop: Sony Vaio Pentium Dual Core @2.7 HGz, 2 MB Ram, Windows 7, no special tweaking (fresh install) 5> Laptop: IBM Thinkpad x61 Core 2 @1.8 GHz, 2 MB Ram, Windows Vista, no special tweaking (fresh install) 6> Laptop: Dell Inspiron Duo, dual core Atom N550 @ 1.5GHz, 2MB RAM, Windows 8.1, BIOS tweaked (fresh install) The Winner: System #1 --My trusty self-built workstation. (surprise?). This is a 2 year old install of Windows 7 with dozens of programs, anti-virus, background services, and noisy-as-hell fans. Based on reading this forum, this makes no sense. W7 is supposed to sound worse than W8/2012, and background services and fans are supposed to degrade the sound. Second place: System #2 - self-build, fresh install of Server 2012 + AO, on similar hardware to #1. I thought 2012+AO was supposed to kick the A$$ of W7 running multiple services??? Third place: Tie between everything else. Why doesn't the high-spec Thinkpad i7 sound better than the lower spec machines? Data measurements: none. my ears. I don't have the faintest idea how to measure the bits. JRiver player used Audio observations: System #1 (un-tweaked AMD 3.7 quad core workstation, Win 7) had the most clarity and liveliness of any rig tested. Fine details and nuances of the music very apparent and crisp. Good soundstage. System #2 (AMD 3.2 quad core workstation, W2012 + AO + tweaking). Very nice sound, more mellow and very slightly larger soundstage, but less detailed and 'fun' than #1. It took me hours to set everything up and the sound is close to as good as #1, but the given effort put into it it seems largely wasted since the workstation sounded better with no work at all. Laptop Systems #3-6: Not a lot of differences. Generally, these sounded warmer, less detailed and a bit more compressed. Questions, frustrations, and "quest": Frankly, I'm surprised and a bit frustrated that my general purpose workstation loaded with programs and services sounded the best. This leads me to the unscientific conclusion that random combinations of hardware might matter just as much as the OS and all of the tweaking. I am now very interested in putting together as powerful a silent system as I can, because I want to save power and have less noise. I don't plan to do rips or editing on the media PC, just listen to music and be able to occasionally stream video via HDMI to my TV. Can I achieve good sound out of an i7 Haswell mini-system running fanless? This seems to be akin to using a laptop (sans fan)? I don't mind building such a system if won't be disappointed.

Thanks. Next time I will try that. Unfortunately, after a couple of hours of mucking around and before I saw your suggestion, I reinstalled W2012.

Initially Windows 2012 Essentials R2 recognized my Peachtree Audio DAC, it was working with the generic/included windows drivers, as it has on multiple other installs and PCs. The DAC has stopped functioning in Windows (the DAC is fine, by the way). W-2012 can "see" that it is there, but will not load or assign drivers to it. The DAC is found in the device manager, but has the yellow *!* assigned to it. Here is what I have tried so far: uninstall and reinstall DAC Detach and plug DAC into other USB ports AudioPhil's DOS/command prompt install method (no joy) Attempts to install the manufacturer's drivers using setup.exe and W7 compatibility result in a message that I must connect the DAC (it is connected). And, PA says that the DACiT does not require their drivers anyway, but uses generic windows drivers, so in other installs, I have never had to actually load any drivers. This has to be something simple, any ideas?

Sorry, that should have said "NOT" continue use of the USB powered HDD.

Thanks Pepsican. I currently have a docked netbook running W8 feeding a Peachtree Audio DAC with a carbon USB cable and I am driving my main speakers with a digital integrated amp and headphones with a dedicated headphone amp. But, as you can see, I am planning a dedicated PC build using all high-quality components. Your information is helpful and very much appreciated. Oh, I will add another comment/question, now. And I apologize to all if I am belaboring any of these points. I am someone who wants to gather and learn as much as possible (and yes, I AM reading the forum, but information changes all the time as our technology and learning improve over time). In referring to my use of a USB drive, I was not clear. I am not using a USB stick, it is a 1tb external USB drive. This drive is powered by the computer's USB port, so your advice that this adds noise applies to my situation. That said, I can see that I may now want to continue to use this device in my build and will be switching to an SSD. Aside from shielded SATA cables and filters are there additional shielding devices/methods? Because this brings me back to my original question about separation of components. I see a lot of discussion and merit to shielded cables, filters and cleaners, but I also note that many are building dedicated PCs that are very, very small. Wouldn't tightly packing the components (SSD - even for the OS, PCI cards, etc.) into a very tight space introduce Rf bleed? I am sorry if this is a dumb question, but I am not an engineer. If the idea is to isolate Rf noise, it seems counter intuitive to me that shortening distances between components could/would be ideal, as it has the potential to introduce interference? Or am I wrong about this?