larryb Posted February 1, 2013 Share Posted February 1, 2013 Is it possible to run an Alix board with windows 8 and, say Jriver? If not, are there other options with no head, no fan, a similar form factor, etc. that will do this? Music is in a NAS --- I just need ethernet in, usb 2.0 out for my async usb dac. larryb Link to comment
iago Posted February 1, 2013 Share Posted February 1, 2013 Is it possible to run an Alix board with windows 8 and, say Jriver? The current Alix boards use a AMD Geode processor running at 500 MHz and 256 MB of memory, which cannot be extended. This is not enough to run Windows 8. If you do not want to build your own server, there is, for example, fit-PC or one of several bare-bone solutions. You could even use a Mac mini. Primary ::= Nabla music server | Mutec MC-3+USB w/ Temex LPFRS-01 RB clock | WLM Gamma Reference DAC; Secondary ::= Nabla music server | WaveIO | PrismSound Lyra Link to comment
Audio_ELF Posted February 1, 2013 Share Posted February 1, 2013 Smallest would perhaps be the Intel® Next Unit of Computing (NUC) This is 4.5inch square footprint but does have a fan IIRC though some manufacturers (Tranquil PC and Silverstone) are working on passive cooling for the NUC. The next option would be a Mini ITX board - see Chris' CAPS articles. These can be made smaller using difference cases such as Akasa Euler Fanless Thin ITX Case. None of these offer the ability to offer any expansion such as the SotM USB 3 card though you could still use battery power. Eloise Eloise --- ...in my opinion / experience... While I agree "Everything may matter" working out what actually affects the sound is a trickier thing. And I agree "Trust your ears" but equally don't allow them to fool you - trust them with a bit of skepticism. keep your mind open... But mind your brain doesn't fall out. Link to comment
Krisbee Posted February 1, 2013 Share Posted February 1, 2013 Bite the bulllet, and run an Alix board with Linux.l Chris Link to comment
larryb Posted February 2, 2013 Author Share Posted February 2, 2013 @iago: Too bad for me, since I have an Alix. I thought about the Mac Mini, but it doesn't fit my aesthetic of minimality, and although I am a Mac user, the mini systems I've heard just don't sound that great to me. @Audio_Elf: Yeah, this is where I'm going to end up. I've opened old Dells to put in disk drives and replace power supplies, but I've never put one together from scratch. Could be fun, could be costly. @Krisbee: Of course! That's why I had an Alix with voyage linux to begin with. (And before I did Macs, I had a NeXT Cube, and before that, linux laptops. Ever ask a hotel desk clerk what the subnet mask is?) mpd on the Alix sounds much better than anything I've tried on my Air and Powerbook Pro.I have a new DAC with Asynch USB, and it has drivers only for Macs and Windows. So my wife, a luddite who works and there lives 200 miles away, is getting the Alix and an iPad 1 with mPad, and I have to start over again. This will be an adventure. larryb Link to comment
Krisbee Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 Good luck with whatever you go with. What is the new DAC? Some quote they need special drivers for both Windows and Mac, but actually use a M2Tech OEM board for the USB input and will work with the Linux driver made available late last year. Chris Link to comment
larryb Posted February 4, 2013 Author Share Posted February 4, 2013 I have a modded Wyred4Sound DAC1. larryb Link to comment
Krisbee Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 I think the W4S DAC2 uses a M2Tech OEM board, but not the DAC1 as it only does 24/96 over USB. But your DAC is listed as being compatilbe with Linux based Vortexbox: Compatibility Guide So I would expect it to work with other Linux distros. There most be someone here at CA with the same DAC who can confirm this. Chris Link to comment
Krisbee Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 Comments above apply to stock W4S DAC1. What mods have been done on yours? If it's 24/192 over USB then it could have a M2tech OEM USB board in it. Chris Link to comment
larryb Posted February 4, 2013 Author Share Posted February 4, 2013 W4S modified it for 24/192. (At 24/96 it all worked out of the box). Are you referring to the "snd-usb-asyncaudio Linux compliant" driver found on the m2tech hiface web page (http://www.m2tech.biz/hiface.html)? larryb Link to comment
Paul R Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 Hi Larry - I have an Alix board with Voyager on it, and to be honest, it doesn't sound as good as I hoped it would. But that is probably because of trying to use a Wavelength Proton with it. The little Alix just does not have enough juice out of the USB port to drive that DAC very well. Nor does it drive a V-Link particularly well. A standard Linux box with Vortexbox player, or a Mac/Windows PC sounds better to me. A Mac Mini, running either MacOS or Windows sounds great, as does any of the battery powered Macbooks. -Paul @iago: Too bad for me, since I have an Alix. I thought about the Mac Mini, but it doesn't fit my aesthetic of minimality, and although I am a Mac user, the mini systems I've heard just don't sound that great to me. @Audio_Elf: Yeah, this is where I'm going to end up. I've opened old Dells to put in disk drives and replace power supplies, but I've never put one together from scratch. Could be fun, could be costly. @Krisbee: Of course! That's why I had an Alix with voyage linux to begin with. (And before I did Macs, I had a NeXT Cube, and before that, linux laptops. Ever ask a hotel desk clerk what the subnet mask is?) mpd on the Alix sounds much better than anything I've tried on my Air and Powerbook Pro.I have a new DAC with Asynch USB, and it has drivers only for Macs and Windows. So my wife, a luddite who works and there lives 200 miles away, is getting the Alix and an iPad 1 with mPad, and I have to start over again. This will be an adventure. Anyone who considers protocol unimportant has never dealt with a cat DAC. Robert A. Heinlein Link to comment
Krisbee Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 W4S modified it for 24/192. (At 24/96 it all worked out of the box). Are you referring to the "snd-usb-asyncaudio Linux compliant" driver found on the m2tech hiface web page (http://www.m2tech.biz/hiface.html)? Yes. Install instructions here: Linux Audio the way to go!? - Page 204 - diyAudio #2036 Chris Link to comment
Krisbee Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 edit to above: Instructions are good for debian, Ubuntu and its derivatives. Or if you use vortexbox try this: http://www.hiendy.com/hififorum/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=47838 Chris Link to comment
larryb Posted February 5, 2013 Author Share Posted February 5, 2013 @Paul: Before my Alix I had an old mac Powerbook. Music sounded muddier to me than with the Alix board. At the moment I'm using that mac's replacement (which itself was just recently replaced), with 10.7, but I've not yet had the time for careful listening. If I stay with this, I'd like to turn lots of stuff off; e.g., run it headlessly, turn off lots of system services. Do you know of a list of what's safe to axe? (I realize we're drifting here.) I could also put mpd on the laptop with macports. That would be a fun experiment. @Chris: This will be a fun experiment too. Thanks. larryb Link to comment
Paul R Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 I honestly don't see the sonic benefits of monkeying around too much with a neat little unit like a Mac Mini. Here's what I do with Minis - (1) Register it (2) Create an account for Music and set it to auto login (3) Turn off iTunes Helper (4) Turn off Wirless networking and plug Mac into a router, turn ON screen sharing (5) Connect up Firewire drives (6) Connect up USB or Optical DAC (6a) Go sit in comfortable chair with laptop (7) Load Pure Music, Amarra, Decibel, Audirvana, or whatever player I choose to use (8) Load the music library to the local firewire drives -- optional (9) Load Windows 7 with Bootcamp (10) Load JRMC (11) Load second copy of music library on NTFS drive The Alix can sound as good or better, but it depends a lot on the DAC. -Paul @Paul: Before my Alix I had an old mac Powerbook. Music sounded muddier to me than with the Alix board. At the moment I'm using that mac's replacement (which itself was just recently replaced), with 10.7, but I've not yet had the time for careful listening. If I stay with this, I'd like to turn lots of stuff off; e.g., run it headlessly, turn off lots of system services. Do you know of a list of what's safe to axe? (I realize we're drifting here.) I could also put mpd on the laptop with macports. That would be a fun experiment. @Chris: This will be a fun experiment too. Thanks. Anyone who considers protocol unimportant has never dealt with a cat DAC. Robert A. Heinlein Link to comment
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