2. pc-audio
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Best PC to use as a Server

Sure this one has been asked before but I couldn’t dig up anything recent and this stuff changes over time anyway.  I use a Mac Air but it apparently is out of HD.  It is 7 years old and has been stuttering badly lately, especially since I loaded Audirvana Plus and dbpoweramp.  
  I am interested in a Windows based PC, because I want to run a Windows based program called MusiCHI and I also would like to have an HDMI port, which Macs don’t offer afaik.  I won’t use it for much else, maybe for surfing, occasional downloads, etc.  I haven’t owned a Windows Computer for years but use them at work, where the Dell Laptops that we are given seem particularly crappy to me.
  My daughter had a Sony PC that I demoed in my system a few years ago that impressed me, but it seems that Sony has gotten out of that business.  Is there any particular brand that works well for music?
mahler123
david_ten
5,480 posts
 
Take a look at the audio specific pc's, headless, controlled from your phone, iPad, or laptop. 

I have, over time, used three of Small Green Computer's models. 

There are other pre-built and supported options or you can build your own.
mahler123 OP
3,362 posts
 
@jsd52756 
Thanks, I had never heard of eluktroniks.  The offerings look interesting and yes it does look like there are some sales going on.
mitch2
4,007 posts
 
look at small green computer, the inexpensive i5 linked should do what you need but they also have a more powerful i7 variant in a couple of configurations.  Using these for Roon core and then using the ultraRendu, Metrum's Ambre, or something similar as the endpoint should be a very satisfying sonic solution.
https://www.smallgreencomputer.com/products/sonictransporter-i5?variant=20893269700

for mac type solutions, you might also look at Mojo Audio
https://www.mojo-audio.com/
grinnell
1,100 posts
 
The newer macs all use USB C for connections i bought a $8 connector to run hdmi out of my macbook pro
cheapbob
50 posts
 
I can appreciate you wanting a Windows-based system. I use Ubuntu Linux on a $14 computer I bought at Goodwill (I use a $39 SSD in that).

I have 10 Tb of external drives and use that as my 'server'.

I use Raspberry Pi ($35) computers as endpoints on an SSH-network. (One has Allo-DigiOne SPDIF card, and another has Allo Boss DAC.)

 The music player, Audacious is small, uses between 2-4% of the RasPi processor to play music. And it handles Classical music just fine.
 
Most folks are afraid of Linux, but for my 'bang for the buck', free open-source is the way to go.
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