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Sylvanor

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  1. Hello people, I'm very impressed by the number of your answers, and all of your ideas and suggestions. You guys are true heroes. Thank you very much. Well I took a little time to think about the idea of building some kind of a musical server connected to the local network and commanded by my multi-purpose computer or by a tablet/smartphone application... And well, why not, if the sound is far better. I'm already happy with my sound on games or films (when I think about people who play with Altec Lansing-like speakers...). I didn't want to have a second computer to manipulate at the sime time as my principal one, but with a smartphone or a browser application, that's ok. But I have some important prerequisite essentially in therms of ergonomy: - I need a player (on my web browser and/or on my tablet) that allows me to browse my library with folder structure. I'm not involved with tags and my collecion is very messy with it. But everything is clean when it comes to folder structure. - I need to be able to control the files from my main computer (I mean, copy, edit or delete new files in the HDD/SSD of the server). - I need it to be able to play some kind of exotic file formats, like Musepack (yes, at a time I loved Musepack and I maybe have thousands of .mpc files... And I franckly admit that I'm not able to differenciate high quality mpc files from original flac/wave files by hearing. I... am not sure I'd be ready to re-convert all of them! Well, ok, this criteria is less important than the previous ones. So... Your suggestions or answers bring me to some new questions: With this kind of thing, I suppose that I connect on one side to the local network (RJ45) and the other side to the USB input of my DAC (or of my interface). But all of my folders/audio files are whether on my main computer, or on a NAS. This is an important question for me: my router is not in the same room (even not in the same floor!) as my hifi system and my computer(s), so I have meters of cable. And if I want to connect my music server to the network and to the DAC at the same time, I'll need other dozens of meters of RJ45 cable, or some kind of an RJ45 coupler which will give me two RJ45 inputs/outputs. So... Will this affect the sound quality? I mean, when the server plays the music, is it copied into its internal memory and so the quality of the RJ45 doesn't have any importance - since it's not slow - or is it some kind of stream transfert and it will have to be excellent, and needs as much attention as interconnects or power cables for example? So if it's the case, maybe I'll need to have a musical server with an internal HDD/SSD, am I right? This is something I often wonder, because we have a confusing vocabulary: fans produce noise. But is this noise disturbing only because it's boring to listen to music into a noisy environement, or it is distrurbing because of some kind of disturbing electrical noise which will affect the components and so the sound quality? And, if so, is the amount of (audible) noise produced by the fan related to the amount of electrical noise it produces? In other words, if I buy less noisy fans, will I have less electrical pollucation? I guess the answer is yes, but I'd like to be sure. I'm quite ignorant about electrical stuff... I don't see any special input on its external faceplate... Only two USB connexions. If you talk about the 4-pin connector, it's oriented into the interior of the computer, so how can I connect it to an external power supply? Did you notice any improvement when you first installed it, from what you had before? Hmm these non-expensive solutions are attractive, but with no box (stability isn't important?), no Sotm/PPA USB card, no high quality PSU... Is it a real long-term step up? I was also wondering, if the computer which acts as a musical server is not connected to any screen, mouse or keyboard, how can I turn it off? Can I just press the power button like we should never do with our main computers? Since I'm not a very good technicien, I'm also looking for already-built solutions... I saw Sotm was doing some servers which appear to be quite good... Endpcnoise proposes also its solutions... Much more expensive, but after all if you consider the price of each element, plus the the cumulated shipping costs, plus the time needed to build the computer... Have you ever tried them and what do you think about them? On a review, it's said that the Sotm server is better than building a computer with all of Sotm peripherals and filters. Would you confirm? If it's better and easier, I'm ready to pay for it. Once again, thank you all for your time and help! So great a forum like this exists.
  2. Hello people, I'm new to this forum, and please forgive me for my potentially bad English, this isn't my former language (I'm French). I'll do my best. I've been into hi-fi for several years now, using a computer as a source (connected to my DAC with a Weiss firewire INT202 interface), and I've discovered recently that it could be largely optimized for a better sound. Good news, it looks far less expensive than buying a new $$$ amplifier or changing my speakers... Well in France, there are very few informations about this kind of things, it looks like we are a few years in late compared to you, and my questions often stay with no answers in french forums. But it looks like I found the right forum. So, actually my computer isn't at all built for hi-fi. It's a custom built computer essentially oriented for gaming (GTX 970, Core I7, many fans...). My power supply is a Corsair TX750, which is quite good for normal purposes, but I saw that we can do much better. I already have disconnected my CD/DVD drives and disconnected a useless HDD, and I noticed an improvement so I'm now sure that every change will be audible. I'd like to keep it as a computer designed to do everything (gaming, photo and video edition, and sound) so I think I can't change my video card or my CPU for something else. Plus, I think I can't go for a linear power supply: my computer is plugged into my Gigawatt PC-2 EVO power conditionner which is limited in the amount of current it can provide, and a linear power supply could excess this amount. I already have big Coda CX power amplifiers plugged into it and they consume much power. So my plans are: - Buyig a new power supply, not a linear one, but the best standard PSU possible. Do you have any advices about it? No problem if it's quite expensive. I saw some good things in the Antec or Corsair high end series (AX---i series). Maybe a very high power like the Corsair AX1200i which has great ripple/stability stats and has a fanless function when it is used at low loads. But you may have some better ideas...? - Buying a good USB card like Sotm, JCAT or PPA ones. From what I have read, the last PPA version seems to be the best one. - Since I have a Firewire interface, I gess I'll have to change it. Probably for a Sotm one. Some people said me that it's far better than the Weiss INT204. - Maybe buying the Sotm filters for all my fans? Is it effective? - Changing the power cable that connects my power conditionner to my computer. I tried a Gigawatt LC2 MK3 but I noticed only minor changes... I think I'll go for some DIY cables which have always give me some extraordinary results with power amplifiers, preamp and DAC... Do you have some advices about power cables for a computer? - Changing some of my old HDD drives for a big SSD. I think I'll still wait a little because SSD are quite expensive and I think the price will probably diminish in the next months. - Maybe buying a small linear power supply dedicated to the audiophile USB card mentionned before...? Would it provide a sensible enhancement? For people who did it, how concretely do you connect it, is the PSU inside the computer box? Is it oudside with a cable that goes inside to connect the card? If you have other advices for my, or some ideas, please let me know. I could go for a completely audio dedicated computer, entirely fanless etc... But it would force me to use my 2 computers at the same time, and I don't find it comfortable. I'll maybe try this option later, but for now I prefer trying to optimise my multipurpose computer. I hope some of you guys will take the time to give me some answers, and thank you by advance.
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