Computer hi-fi system

AsSiMiLaTeD

I'm glad you got it all working, at least I think you did.

I gotta say though, all that trouble is why I bought a Mac mini - silent, runs great, no setup and only cost me $350

AsSiMiLaTeD

And by the way, I used to be into the pc building thing and get why people go that route so I'm not knocking it, just not my thing these days.

EndersShadow

AsSiMiLaTeD wrote: »

I'm glad you got it all working, at least I think you did.

Its up and running, but the finishing touches are not in place just yet. Still working on getting it setup networking wise for work.

AsSiMiLaTeD wrote: »

I gotta say though, all that trouble is why I bought a Mac mini - silent, runs great, no setup and only cost me $350

Yeah, it woulda saved me a bunch of cash looking back at it, but I also have to re-learn how to use the computer... That and I have a 1TB HDD now and I know you can mod the mac mini's but i know its not super easy either....

AsSiMiLaTeD wrote: »

And by the way, I used to be into the pc building thing and get why people go that route so I'm not knocking it, just not my thing these days.

I understand. I have loved and hated the experience all at the same time

This screen project may be pretty cool or a total waste, but its costing me nothing but time to take things apart and see what I can do with it.

AsSiMiLaTeD

Yeah upgrading the drive in the Mini is a bit of a job, but doesn't require a Dremel :-)

I've actually put all my stuff on a NAS now so it's a moot point for me, not ideal for a portable rig obviously.

EndersShadow

AsSiMiLaTeD wrote: »

Yeah upgrading the drive in the Mini is a bit of a job, but doesn't require a Dremel :-)

I've actually put all my stuff on a NAS now so it's a moot point for me, not ideal for a portable rig obviously.

Yeah, yeah .....

Well I am pretty happy with how it sounds and looks. I get no noise at all from the system half a foot away and the temps are about 40C at idle which is more than ideal. I can probably even drop the fan speed more but its not worth it.

P.S. the laptop screen mod isnt going to be a go. There is no good way to make it worth without spending more than I want too (like 50 bucks). Same with the wireless card, dont think there is a good way to incorporate it into the system either.

But I got to destroy a laptop and see how it all gets put together which was quite fun.

Habanero Monk

EndersShadow wrote: »

Its up and running, but the finishing touches are not in place just yet. Still working on getting it setup networking wise for work.



Yeah, it woulda saved me a bunch of cash looking back at it, but I also have to re-learn how to use the computer... That and I have a 1TB HDD now and I know you can mod the mac mini's but i know its not super easy either....



I understand. I have loved and hated the experience all at the same time

This screen project may be pretty cool or a total waste, but its costing me nothing but time to take things apart and see what I can do with it.

This will make you sick: Saw a Foxconn micro pc

for $120. Add 2GB RAM for $10, 128GB SSD for $65. Computer and components are just getting dirt cheap.

EndersShadow

Habanero Monk wrote: »

This will make you sick: Saw a Foxconn micro pc or $120. Add 2GB RAM for $10, 128GB SSD for $65. Computer and components are just getting dirt cheap.

Yeah I see those, but they dont have the ability to add an internal cd drive, nor do they look like a piece of high end gear.....

Habanero Monk

I don't think it looks any worse or better than your external DAC plus it's black and can be hidden. You could do an external CD drive and use it just for ripping. I hardly use my CD/DVD drive any more.

Aesthetics is subjective. As example I find this awesome looking:

EndersShadow

Habanero Monk wrote: »

I don't think it looks any worse or better than your external DAC plus it's black and can be hidden. You could do an external CD drive and use it just for ripping. I hardly use my CD/DVD drive any more.

Eh, it is what it is. Also as an FYI, those systems are actually slated for 260 and 280 so not as cheap as originally stated. My build is more expensive than that, but not due to the regular parts (motherboard, CPU, memory), mostly due to my OCD about low noise and high quality finishes and parts. For 280 I could build the same system I have now (or even a newer FM2 build) with a cheaper case and use the stock CPU fan and its a much faster system.

http://www.engadget.com/2012/07/07/foxconn-nano-pcs-get-priced-dated-and-tweaked/

Habanero Monk wrote: »

Aesthetics is subjective. As example I find this awesome looking:

Agreed, and Agreed that does look pretty awesome!

P.S. this build wasnt meant to be a totally low budget build from the start. Its more about taking the time to get all the parts right from the computer parts to the music interface, to the noise levels, to the finishes, etc. Doing things no one else will see (like sleeving the PSU, modding the HDD for another 2.5" HDD that may never be installed, cable routing, ect) to the cables themselves just because I wanted to. This has been a learning process for me on Mini-ITX and while its been annoyingly frustrating, I have enjoyed it as well.

If I was just looking to throw together a cheap little mini-itx system I could have done that months ago.

EndersShadow

I would say if I had one regret it was not seeing this sooner:

Attachment not found.

http://www.arctic.ac/en/p/living/office-pc/572/mc101-barebone-a10-4600m.html?L=1

Its a pit pricey at around 500, but given the finish and parts I think its totally worth it. It is however still without a built in drive, and from the reviews can get a bit hot as the entire chassis is a heatsink, but overall a VERY nice looking product.

*edit* also noticed they have a A8 version that start at around 400 bucks... so its a very viable Mac Mini alternative for folks wanting to stick with Windows.

transmaster

EndersShadow wrote: »

I would say if I had one regret it was not seeing this sooner:


http://www.arctic.ac/en/p/living/office-pc/572/mc101-barebone-a10-4600m.html?L=1/QUOTE]

Thanks for this interesting link, They are going to get an order for the USB desk fan and hub

EndersShadow

Thought I would update: Its up and running, I am simply waiting on a couple last parts in order to be able to use it at work, mainly a wireless USB card. I will probably be buying one off my brother in law he isnt using which is a D-Link Xtreme N Dual-Band USB Adapter (DWA-160), Wireless N600.

The plan for both it as well as the little USB IR reciever I am re-using is to use 2 of these internal USB to USB connectors so that I can keep all the cords inside the case so you dont see them and utilize the internal USB headers that otherwise would go unused.

I will get some pics when I finish getting all the cables connected up right and sleeved in black techflex and heatshrink....

In other news, thanks to Christmas money, I am going to invest in a little USB touchscreen monitor for this puppy, a MIMO UM-720S. At 100 bucks I cant pass it up, given most of the others are running 150+. Hopefully it works out OK. I have seen some decent reviews about using it as a jukebox type display.

seabeerob213

Habanero Monk wrote: »

This will make you sick: Saw a Foxconn micro pc

for $120. Add 2GB RAM for $10, 128GB SSD for $65. Computer and components are just getting dirt cheap.

Yeah I see those, but they dont have the ability to add an internal cd drive, nor do they look like a piece of high end gear.....

its foxconn, its made in china by children,

EndersShadow

DSkip wrote: »

I'm meeting with the parents tonight to pick up the Schiit. I'll give you an update once I get it all set up. This will be my first dive into a computer-based system, so we will see how it goes.

Nice. I am debating picking one up myself for my office rig upstairs in a couple months (after I get the Citation pre and amp).

I havent done much with my Audio GD-NFB-5 with using it as a pre yet, but I need to play around with it later tonight...

I am MOST curious how that works out as I can totally see myself with a Modi and Magni in my office at home for sure! Heck, might even use those two at work and keep the NFB-5 at home...

EndersShadow

This baby is finally almost wrapped up. I just need to get 2 pieces powdercoated and installed and its done.

I got 2 internal motherboard to USB connectors so my USB wireless card is inside the unit, as well as the cords for the IR reciever I re-used from my parts bin. I got the Silverstone noise dampening material in and have it all over the place.

Its not as good as the AcoustiPak stuff, but it works ok, especially if you layer it up like I have.

Internal case temps are running arond 40 Celcius which is well under where I would have issues and the thing is darn near silent till your within a couple inches of it. The control of the unit via my iPhone and the XBMC remote works great, makes me debate getting a dedicated device for this like an older Android tablet so I have a bigger screen to look at, but thats all later on...

I will be taking pics hopefully sometime soon, but it came out better than I had hoped.

EndersShadow

Be looking for a pretty big update to this thread sometime this week.

EndersShadow

I thought I would update this post as the system is for the most part done. I am pretty happy with the system baring some issues I will discuss later in the post.

I thought I would start by updating and listing all the system components I am using right now. There may be some changes but nothing major hardware wise. The system components are below:

Motherboard: ASRock A75M-ITX
CPU: AMD A6-3500 2.1GHz FM1 65W Triple-Core APU
Memory: 4 Gig Corsair DDR3 1333
Hard Drive: Samsung 1 TB 2.5"
Case: Wesena ITX-6
PSU: City Net 150 watt pico psu
Extras:

Noctua NH-L9a heatsink
Noctua NF-R8 80mm case fan
Silverstone Noise dampening foam
Silverstone 80mm fan filter
2 x Startech internal USB header to USB adapter
D-Link DWA-160 USB card
IR Sensor + Windows Media Center Remote
*Possible optional parts*

Sony Optiarc slot loading blu-ray drive
Rosewill RHRC-11002 Remote and USB Dongle

Interface: XBMC streaming FLAC and hi-rez audio, Pandora, etc
Headphone DAC/AMP: Audio GD NFB-5
Headphones: Beyerdynamic DT-770 32 ohms

Here are some of the roadblocks I have to getting things to work:

Controlling playback:

My ability to control the computer without a monitor was dependent upon the XBMC remote app being used on my iPhone. The app requires both devices to be connected to the same wireless network and it then works flawlessly. I have tested it at home and it works without any issue. It’s a pretty neat app. There is a wireless network at work that my iPhone connects to as well as my computer. The issue is that it’s got some sort of security setup that is blocking the iPhone and the computer from talking to each other. This requires me to use the Windows Media Center 7 remote and IR sensor I have to control music playback. That said I all I can control without a monitor is skipping forward and backward on songs. I have no way to browse my library at all.

I am researching options for getting around this. The main one I have found is simply to use a small 7” USB touchscreen monitor which would allow me to see everything that I am doing with the Windows Media Center remote and browse the library etc. I know XBMC has some issues with remotes so I am deep in researching what the guys at the XBMC forum are using for playback and what modifications they have made to XBMC to control them. The optional “Rosewill” dongle is supposed to be able to work with XBMC and also turn the computer off and on according to someone using the same motherboard as I have. If I go with that I will use that USB Dongle instead of the much larger IR Sensor I am using now that is connected internally using a internal USB motherboard header to USB adapter.

Volume control:

Currently I am planning on at work using the Audio GD NFB-5 headphone amp rather than the Meridian Explorer. The Meridian is ULTRA portable and super nice, but it requires you to control the volume via the computer. The Audio GD has an actual volume knob and is a lot more powerful than the Meridian. The Audio GD can also be used as a digital pre entirely on its own as its RCA outputs can be fixed or variable. This is nice because if I ever wanted to use something like AudioEngine A2’s at work I could use the volume knob on the Audio GD to control the volume.

The issue I am having is that after installing the Meridian drivers I have been having trouble getting the NFB-5 to work again. I haven’t had time to invest in looking hard into why but I am sure I will get it figured out pretty quickly.

Here are some of the things I am quite proud of:

Noise level:

This computer is SILENT in a normal working environment. Not only is it silent but it also runs VERY COOL. I am a HUGE fan of Noctua fans and while they are 2 or 3 times the cost of decent fans I personally think given their low noise levels in all their fans as well as their lifespan they are well worth it. I have been running 5 P12 120mm fans in my main system for 5 years 24/7 and they have had no issues. I just replaced the only non Noctua fan this month as it died. I replaced it with their newer line that now have a rubber mount built into them and its lowered my noise floor significantly in that system. So with this system by buying only the best Noctua parts and even modifying the CPU heat sink to make it work as well as keeping cables clutter to a minimum the entire system runs very efficiently and dissipates heat quite well.

I have also installed Silverstone noise dampening foam over all areas of the case possible. I don’t like this material nearly as much as the AcouticPak stuff I used in my main system, but it was cheaper and I just used a couple layers as I had a bunch.

Some area’s I am still looking at upgrading parts for and or needing to work on:

Power supply:I am still looking at power supplies to make sure I have the best of the best in my system. I know that by going USB to my DAC I am taking the possibility of getting noise from my computers power supply out of the equation, but I didn’t start this system to be anything other than no holds barred.

I/O Shield and GPU slot: I have a contact in Cincinnati who is going to powder coat the silver I/O shield and GPU slot cover to satin black so that they fit the color scheme I am going for.

Wireless: I am debating cutting a slot in the GPU cover to allow for the wireless card to be pulled out a bit to get better signal. I have found that the internal location I have it works great with most home systems and allows me to connect and control the device with my iPhone, however at work the signal is low enough I have to be able to pull it out and mount externally.

Exhaust: I am debating because I am OCD buying another 80mm Silverstone fan filter to go on the exhaust like I have on the intake

So here are some pictures of the system as its built now:

Top view with the HDD cage removed
*Note the cable management. I may replace the red zip ties with black ones at a later date as it drives me batty to have red ties sticking out like that*


Side view:


Closeup of IR sensor casing and overall cable management:


Notched Hard drive cage covered in foam. The remaining part hanging at the bottom will allow for another 2.5” HDD to be mounted at a later date if more storage is needed.




Hard drive bracket installed:


Top cover with foam and fan filter installed:



Exterior view:

j1mmy

Try vox commando for voice control of xbmc. You can program voice responses from your pc as well. They have a droid app but I haven't tried it yet.

EndersShadow

j1mmy wrote: »

Try vox commando for voice control of xbmc. You can program voice responses from your pc as well. They have a droid app but I haven't tried it yet.

Interesting, will have to look at that. However its not conducive to a cubicle environment to be constantly talking into my phone to go to the next track. The XBMC app has all of that functionality built into it for me, and it also I found out this weekend has a built in volume which would work decent for being able to use my Meridian Explorer.

timk65

I personally like the look of these cases, for an NVIDIA ION based HTPC

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163197

EndersShadow

timk65 wrote: »

I personally like the look of these cases, for an NVIDIA ION based HTPC

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163197

Looks nice but its too tall to fit in my HT entertainment centers.

Drenis

No I/O shield for the back Dan or will it not fit in that case?

Edit: That is a pretty slick build. I have been tossing the idea of building another HTPC, albeit smaller this time... I very much miss my old one I sold on here.

Need entertainment in the living room. I saw these this morning and it had me come back to your thread. Quite impressed with how small its getting these days. But to build something small seems more challenging then buying whats available...

http://www.gigabyte.us/MicroSite/340/brix.html

EndersShadow

Drenis wrote: »

No I/O shield for the back Dan or will it not fit in that case?]

The plan is to powder coat it black as its silver. Just haven't gotten around to it.

I agree there are lots of little pre built systems put there. Mainly it's a storage issue.

I am going to try and fit in a 3.5 3TB drive for the final piece of the puzzle.

We are debating cutting our cable and building a HTPC/NAS downstairs for Hulu, Netflix, FLAC, and blu-ray rip playback.

I am looking at a Silvetstone Grandia case for this. I could do a small HTPC and then a NAS but that requires another build I don't really want to do.

doctorcilantro

Nice build! I think I used some Silen-X 80mm maybe 60mm actually. Very quiet and good rpm.

EndersShadow

doctorcilantro wrote: »

Nice build! I think I used some Silen-X 80mm maybe 60mm actually. Very quiet and good rpm.

I used to use Silen-X fans but didnt like the lack of airflow I got from them and the Noctua's I have in my main rig have been on 24/7 for 6 years and have yet to fail. They are a bit steep, but performance wise I feel the lack of noise is well worth it as is the airflow they generate.

IIRC your case uses a 60mm fan not a 80 but I could be wrong.

If I knew when I started out what I know now I would have looked at a case like yours with a color/touch LCD installed so I wouldn't need an external USB monitor like I am using now.

They had a model that had the ability to add a TFT screen, but I didnt buy it and wished I had now. But my touch screen USB monitor works and does what I need it to do.

EndersShadow

The motherboard came back in this week after being RMA'd due to a faulty HDMI port. I haven't got it re-installed yet but will be doing that tonight. In addition a couple of things have changed so I thought it worth updating the thread with that information. Some roadblocks have been overcome, some still need work. I realize no one is probably really following the thread at this point, so this is more for myself than anything.

My updated parts list is below, the new additions are underlined

Motherboard: ASRock A75M-ITX
CPU: AMD A6-3500 2.1GHz FM1 65W Triple-Core APU
Memory: 4 Gig Corsair DDR3 1333
OS ONLYDrive: IIRC its a OCZ 80 gig 2.5"
Music ONLYHard Drive: 80 gig 2.5"
Case: Wesena ITX-6
PSU: City Net 150 watt pico psu
USB Touchscreen Monitor: Mimo 720S
Extras:

Noctua NH-L9a heatsink
Noctua NF-R8 80mm case fan
Silverstone Noise dampening foam
Silverstone 80mm fan filter
2 x Startech internal USB header to USB adapter
D-Link DWA-160 USB card
*Possible optional parts*

Sony Optiarc slot loading blu-ray drive
Rosewill RHRC-11002 Remote and USB Dongle

Interface: XBMC streaming FLAC and hi-rez audio, Pandora, etc
Headphone DAC/AMP: Audio GD NFB-5
Headphones: Beyerdynamic DT-770 32 ohms

Some of the roadblocks I have overcome:

EndersShadow wrote: »

Controlling playback:

My ability to control the computer without a monitor was dependent upon the XBMC remote app being used on my iPhone. The app requires both devices to be connected to the same wireless network and it then works flawlessly. I have tested it at home and it works without any issue. It’s a pretty neat app. There is a wireless network at work that my iPhone connects to as well as my computer. The issue is that it’s got some sort of security setup that is blocking the iPhone and the computer from talking to each other. This requires me to use the Windows Media Center 7 remote and IR sensor I have to control music playback. That said I all I can control without a monitor is skipping forward and backward on songs. I have no way to browse my library at all.

I did install a IR Sensor, however the remote and XBMC had limited functionality together so it just wasnt going to work well. I have removed the IR sensor to use in my main system with my Harmony one remote instead. My solution as shown in my parts list was to buy a 7" Mimo 720s USB Touchscreen monitor. This lets me control playback and anything I need via a stylus or my big fat fingers. One thing I didn't know that I wished I had was that the Mimo 720 will keep the PC from booting if connected at startup. It also cannot be run as the ONLY monitor, you have to have a VGA, HDMI or DVI monitor connected. In my case my work monitors have both DVI and VGA. Even if the monitor is disabled, it needs to be connected for some weird reason. For now I tend to leave the PC on overnight anyway since it isnt noisy and doesn't light up to tell you its on so its inconspicuous. Since its on 24/7 I can just leave the Mimo plugged into it 24/7. If I have to reboot, I have to pull it and re-set everything else back up.

EndersShadow wrote: »

Volume control:

Currently I am planning on at work using the Audio GD NFB-5 headphone amp rather than the Meridian Explorer. The Meridian is ULTRA portable and super nice, but it requires you to control the volume via the computer. The Audio GD has an actual volume knob and is a lot more powerful than the Meridian. The Audio GD can also be used as a digital pre entirely on its own as its RCA outputs can be fixed or variable. This is nice because if I ever wanted to use something like AudioEngine A2’s at work I could use the volume knob on the Audio GD to control the volume.

The issue I am having is that after installing the Meridian drivers I have been having trouble getting the NFB-5 to work again. I haven’t had time to invest in looking hard into why but I am sure I will get it figured out pretty quickly.

After uninstalling the Meridian drivers (since I sold it) everything works fine with one exception. When connected via USB to the NFB-5 and being used as a pre-amp (so variable RCA out) there is a TON of noise to my system. IF however I use coaxial or optical, the noise is gone. I am thinking the Pico PSU may have something to do with it. There isn't a difference in transfer rates between the options so I may go with optical at some point to isolate the computer from the NFB-5 if I get Audioengine A2 speakers. If however I go with the A5's that have their own volume control, then I could use the NFB-5 as a straight DAC and that may fix my problems.

I may potentially buy a better external power brick (possibly a linear one) since I believe the power brick may be my problem. That bridge will be crossed if I ever need to use the NFB-5 as a pre. For now with my headphones only it works fine.

An lastly the updated section about potential upgrades in the future.

EndersShadow wrote: »

Power supply:I am still looking at power supplies to make sure I have the best of the best in my system. I know that by going USB to my DAC I am taking the possibility of getting noise from my computers power supply out of the equation, but I didn’t start this system to be anything other than no holds barred.

Alluded to in the previous section.

EndersShadow wrote: »

I/O Shield and GPU slot: I have a contact in Cincinnati who is going to powder coat the silver I/O shield and GPU slot cover to satin black so that they fit the color scheme I am going for.

Both these parts will go out this week.

EndersShadow wrote: »

Wireless: I am debating cutting a slot in the GPU cover to allow for the wireless card to be pulled out a bit to get better signal. I have found that the internal location I have it works great with most home systems and allows me to connect and control the device with my iPhone, however at work the signal is low enough I have to be able to pull it out and mount externally.

I have decided against this. I am actually going to put the wireless card external and use the provided cord and dongle since the wireless signal I am using is somewhat faint where I sit. This issue has become MUCH MORE important since I am now also using MOG to augment my XBMC library. I will still keep the USB header empty in case I want to take it somewhere and want it to look purdy . I also have a spare Linksys WRT54G router lying around to make my own network if needed.

EndersShadow wrote: »

Exhaust: I am debating because I am OCD buying another 80mm Silverstone fan filter to go on the exhaust like I have on the intake

I have decided as I installed HWMonitor on the PC and continually checked the temperatures of the CPU and board for the first couple weeks and temps were well within tolerable levels for the equipment.

The ONLY thing left that I am debating at this point is replacing the 2.5" 1 TB drive with a MUCH larger 3 TB Western Digital Red 3.5" drive. I have accumulated a LOT of music and currently have a BUNCH more incoming. I anticipate filling the current HDD up within the next few months. The 3 TB drive would allow me some additional time to either A:) Buy a different case with more room that also allows for a regular power-supply to be added. My case of choice would be the Fractal Design Node 304, which has adequate HDD options, however I would lose the option of having a cd/dvd drive internally which is a sacrifice I might be willing to make. The power-supply I would use in it would be the CORSAIR CX430M BRONZE Certified Modular.

If I go that route, I may sell the existing case & pico psu, or keep it to re-use elsewhere in the future as a HTPC.

I will get some updated pics once everything is back together.