robs6

Thanks for your insights, Antipode_Audio. <br /> <br /> Wondering whether you actually tried building the C.A.P.S. server or another mini-itx mobo with an external AC supply and the SoTM USB card?<br /> <br /> Apart from the greater memory capacity of the full-sized rig, what would you guess accounts for the better transparency you are hearing? Raw CPU power? I would have thought that the full-sized board with internal power supply would suffer a greater degree of noise on the supply busses and ground plane. Beyond that, there's the question of the fan noise as machinehead notes.

Hi, Chris -<br /> <br /> It may be time to update the C.A.P.S v2 parts list, as some of the listed pieces will actually no longer work. <br /> <br /> The issue is that the latest generation of the OrigenAE M10 case has the disk eject button toward the right (as viewed from the front) rather than the left. Zygmunt at Perfect Home Theater (the exclusive U.S. supplier) mentioned to me that Origen changed the design because European customers were having trouble finding Bluray drives with the button on the left. (In fact, they are now rare in the U.S. as well.) Owing to this change, the Panasonic and Sony drives pointed to on your part list are no longer suitable.<br /> <br /> A Bluray burner that should work is the Sony BC-5640H-03 (sold through Amazon). A very inexpensive CD/DVD-only burner is the Lite-On DC-8A2SH (CD/DVD) sold by Newegg. This latter could be a good choice if one is only interested in CD ripping on the C.A.P.S. server.<br /> <br /> For either of these (or indeed, any slim slot-loading optical drive), I would recommend the StarTech Slimline SATA to SATA Adapter (SLSATACDADAP) sold on Amazon (for example) that allows you to power the drive using the power cable that comes with the Jetway motherboard. One of the connectors attached to this cable is a 4-pin female floppy connector that plugs into the SP4 header on the adapter.<br /> <br /> Regards-<br /> Rob

Hello, Everyone -<br /> <br /> The price of a Crucial M4 512GB SATA III SSD has just now dropped below $700 at some retailers such as Amazon. This brings the cost of a totally silent and elegantly self-contained (apart from the PSU) C.A.P.S. to within a couple of hundred dollars of, say, a C.A.P.S. + 1 TB Vortexbox Appliance NAS combination. Intriguing, considering that 512GB is good enough for about 800 hours of CD music.