DIY Music Server

xoaphexox

xoaphexox

Supernatural Anesthetist
I recently sourced the following components to build a silent music server.

I plan to install Win7, Logitech Media Server, and Winamp. The SSD is for the O/S and apps, and the spinning platter is for the media.

My main goal here was to be as silent as possible and have USB, Coax, and Optical outputs so I could use an outboard DAC.

Here are the links.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003DXI288/ref=oh_o00_s00_i00_details
http://www.amazon.com/Drive-Mountin...N2W0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1334969169&sr=8-1
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16820148191
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16822136927
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16813500065
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227726

Has anyone else tried a similar endeavor?
 
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DIY server

Hi, I would be very curious to see how your turns out and how much you spend. I took the easy route and put together one with a Mac mini, a 2 terrabyte mirror image drive and I-Tunes. I feed that through a toslink cable to my Cambridge 840C azure CD player. It allows me to use its internal asycrhonious dac. Sounds 9/10 of CD playback comparison.
Augie
 
I am all for going cheaper. My #1 goal of this build was total silence. There are no fans, passive cooling only.

How does the Mac mini fare in that regard? What would one cost?

I realize the hardware specs can be very little to play FLAC/Mp3, which I will be doing. That is why I decided on the Mini-ITX (ION) platform.

I currently use my PC as my source but the CPU, GPU, Case, Power Supply, and HDD fans combine to make an incredibly high noise floor :( When not playing games, I plan to switch off this machine and use the 'Music Server'.

No parts have arrived yet in my case, so it is not too late for me to change the game plan, but I have put a few days worth of consideration in to the parts selection.

I believe all said, the total will be around $450 after rebates. Not cheap, but certainly cheaper than a turnkey music server.
 
All parts except the case arrived today, so I can't really put it together yet. But I will post how it went as soon as I am able.
 
I've had this system in place for a while now and can say I'm very happy with it. I made two Windsurfer parabolic reflectors for my router and that greatly increased the range and speed of the wifi in my house by making it directional.

http://www.freeantennas.com/projects/template2/

I realized about 12dBm increase in signal strength.

The little music server hosts Logitech media server and I use my Android device with the Google Android Squeezer app: http://code.google.com/p/android-squeezer/ to control what's playing.

Alternatively I could use the duet remote, but it is not as fast.

I think there is a lot of voodoo out there with the Squeezebox receiver. I did A/B comparisons between the Squeezebox Receiver and a $1250 DAC and the more expensive DAC only sounded marginally better, certainly not $1000 better!!! I tested them through both a fully restored better-than-new Sansui AU-919 and AKG K701 headphones, so I do not believe the amplification or presentation of the music blurred my comparison.
 
Nice thanks for sharing I all ways wonder if I can turn my laptop into a music server, I know it won't be as quite as what you have built but I think the main thing for me is having the storage of all my music on one source.
 
Boy, there isn't much on AK in the 'PC as music-sever' dept. At some point in the near-future, I would like to put together a custom PC setup that's strong-enough to handle multitasking and also audio-friendly. I would connect that to my external DAC/receiver/speakers. Problem is, I only know the basics of personal computing. When it comes down to the really-technical stuff, I don't have a clue. I know what a MB is. I know what a GB is, and I know how to download and store, and that sort of thing, but I've never written a program or anything like that. So when I try to shop for the right drive (the one that's good-enough, performance-wise, for the setup I want), I haven't a clue what to look for in a drive, motherboard, whatever. I want to take it to the next level, but I just don't have the knowledge to get me through the door.

I'm just looking to do a wired setup. No WiFi. I just want a beefier setup that can handle the stress without crashing from overheating and all that stuff.
 
I have been serving Music and Video from Mac Minis for a long time with no issues and no special builds either.
Just big storage drives connected to the Mini.

I have also used HP all in one PCs to do the same thing and they also seem to work fine without modifications.
I am sure I can build something higher performance but I am also sure I don't need to from my actual experience.

So I think it may be a lot more simple than you think it is?

Ed
 
Setting up a PC music server really isn't that hard. However if you are going for as quiet as possible a traditional hard drive is not going to be your best option. I can absolutely hear a traditional HDD spinning when active. If you want as quiet as possible you need to use an SSD which has zero mechanical movement and is overall much faster which would give better performance in terms of reading the files quicker. I would not say that the audio quality would improve because at that stage the audio data isn't really audio yet, just a file waiting to be decoded. An SSD would just move the file faster.

I personally do not like Itunes at all. I use it, along with the Foobar Ipod component, to manage my Ipod and that is it. It is resource intensive which slows down everything else on your computer (bunch of background processes too) and does not even support the main audiophile digital format we all know and love, FLAC. When I hook my laptop up to our main system all I do is use a mini spidf cable (the 3.5mm thang) to a Toslink and connect it to the front Toslink connection on our receiver. I use Foobar and ASIO to bypass all the Windows processing. Would it be better if I had a high end USB DAC? Possibly and probably. But for the money this works pretty damn well. For my storage I have a traditional HD that spins at 7200rpm connected to the laptop via E-Sata. Overall it is not a TOTL setup, but it works very well for the minimal amount of cash I have put into it.

An even easier method, although limited to 24bit/48khz wav files, is take an Ipod, fill it up with lossless audio up to 24/48 wavs, get a Pure I-20 Ipod dock to access the pure digital stream, and use the I-20 digital out to your receiver or DAC's digital in, and you now have a very solid transport. The only big problem with this is that because the Ipod does not support FLAC you have to use WAV files that take up way more space and you can't expand on an Ipod's storage. For this very reason I keep my Ipod limited to 16bit/44.1khz. If I want to use Hi-rez files I'll use my laptop. Sure you could use ALAC for higher rez files on the Ipod, but not many products support ALAC.

The key is to take as much processing out of the computer's hands as possible. Just need to think of a way to get the digital stream off of the computer and into a better DAC. Whether it is USB or SPIDF. People argue which is better, I personally do not have a USB DAC so I cannot comment, but anything is better than a computer's onboard DAC.
 
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AVService said:
So I think it may be a lot more simple than you think it is?

Ed
Click to expand...

Definitely more simple. Since the OP is using Logitech Media Server, theres definitely a Squeezebox about (Id think). Logitech Media Server can be run from any PC, be it Mickeysoft, OSX, or Linux. Just install it on any PC thats not in the listening environment, noise problem solved. The build the OP did looks to be more of a full-fledged HTPC...definitely overkill for a music/media server, but it does have more capabilities if he so chooses. I run a large server in my home (dual Xeon virtual machine host with 16GB RAM and 8TB HDD space), my music server VM only uses 512MB of RAM with one core, and doesnt get taxed in the least playing back music to 3 Squeezeboxes or ripping a CD. Personally, i think the OP would have more fun with this running XBMC, as itll do far more than just stream music. Hell, the hardware is there, might as well use it up instead of collect dust ;).
 
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I run 8 audio streams at a time to multiple rooms through a MAc Mini and not the newer ones either although they are better and faster.
The Mini can use FireWire discs too which has speed and other advantages and I rarely have them in a room where there is served media anyway so the noise is a non issue in general.

I have also tried various DACs as well as coming straight out of a Mini on Toslink and PCs on Coax and unless using a really great DAC it is tough to tell the difference usually.

Also the files are often more for background noise than for serious listening and I still prefer handling the discs for my own critical listening.

I was really responding more to Gang Twanger than the OP and suggesting that there is nothing to wait to get right but that almost any machine will work so you can start having streamed media fun anytime!

Ed
 
OP here, yeah, I originally wanted just a silent music server but the motherboard I chose lent itself so well to a HTPC that I decided to go that route. I use it to stream Netflix, Hulu, whatever as well as serve to the squeezebox receivers in the house.

So yes, for only a music server it would be overkill. But for an HTPC/music server it's working quite well, and I honestly cannot hear the hard drive spinning at all, even with the case off.
 
Have you looked into XBMC? You can install it as a standard piece of software and run it under Windows. IMO (and many others), its the best media center OS/software out there.
 
For those looking for a good, silent and cheap HTPC video card - give the Radeon 6450 a look.

I needed a silent (fanless) card for my PC and found an ASUS 6450 for $46. It has 1 GB of DDR3 memory, VGA, DVI and HDMI outputs. The video quality is terrific and it decodes everything that I throw at it. My older ATI Fire Pro card chugged at times but this new one is silky-smooth under all conditions.

I use J River Media Center 17 for my HTPC. I have a difficult time imagining a better media center. It is jam packed with high-end features and is aimed squarely at audiophiles.
 
I have not used XBMC before. I believe I am locked in to Logitech Media Server because of the squeezebox receivers throughout the house, but for watching videos or viewing pictures, I just use file explorer and the mouse. VLC for videos, Irfanview for images.

I briefly tried Windows Media Center when I first put the computer together just out of curiosity, but it seemed kind of clunky and watered down.

What is the benefit of XBMC?

It may be worth mentioning I do not have a tuner in the PC so I do not use it as a DVR or anything. I just use my Comcast set-up box for that.
 
Interesting, I'll give it a try.

Also, I like the T.M. quote in your sig - he is one of my favorite people!
 
Here's a simple and cheap music server that I built. Very DYI!

Total cost was less than $150 using both purchased and recycled parts:

Motherboard + Proc = Intel D525MW ~ $80
PSU Pico 120W ~ $30
Memory 4GB ~ $30
Recycled Hard drives and power brick $0
I run Win XP and Logitech Squeezeserver software.

This little rig has plenty of power to support three Squeezeboxes and has been solid as a rock for over a year, now.

attachment.php


The upright board on the left is not really part of the music server (It is a Geovision DVR board as I use the same system for video surveillance).
 

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