Oh, in case it was not clear from the original post: this cheap PC as a source is no slouch. It sounds almost (but not quite) as good as the transport in my Accuphase DP550; on the other hand, when comparing the CD with the streamed album in a higher resolution like 24/96, it becomes a matter of preference, maybe with a slight nod to the streaming.
Inexpensive but good sounding power supply (and hard drive) for PC audio?
Hello! I am about to replace my hard disk and power supply in my audio PC due to aging and I'm wondering if there's room for improvement (but without investing significant money) compared to what I'm currently using. Please advise me:
1. What power supply to buy? What to look for if I'm interested in sound quality on a ~ 150Euro budget: brand (I'm reading good things about Seasonic and Corsair), power (600W? 750W?), bronze vs. gold and so on?I know some people are raving about dedicated servers running on LPS and so on but I cannot afford the expense atm.
2. Can I expect a better or at least not worse sound after replacing the hard drive with a SSD? Any specific recommendation for a SSD?
My system consists of:
- a generic PC running Windows 10, used for streaming Tidal and Qobuz. It sports a WD Blue hard disk (no SSD), a cheap, generic power supply that costs about 10-15 Euro, I3-6100 processor @ 3.7GhZ, Asus B150M-K D3 motherboard and a Clearer Audio power cord (about 250 Euro) that, to my surprise, brought a significant improvement;
- much more expensive, "audiophile" audio components: Aurender DDC, Accuphase player / DAC and amplifier, Martin Logan hybrid electrostats
The reason for this disproportion between the cheap computer and expensive audio gear is that I've tried several "improvements" to the computer part and in the end I didn't prefer the result:
- a dedicated Lumin U1 Mini streamer. My PC was better to my ears (fuller, less sterile sounding)
- a Matrix PCI-USB card. Even when fed by an expensive Ferrum power supply, it was not a straight upgrade and overall I think I preferred the PC
- more expensive cables (power, USB, Ethernet) or DDC (Audio GD) that sounded worse
- a few Cisco switches, a better (Sotm) power supply for my router - sidegrades or downgrades
Thank you!
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- 21 posts total
I suspect many won't take you seriously with idea of using your computer as high quality streaming source.
I ran various modified mac minis for years and presently use Windows based custom build at present. While my custom build has virtually nothing in common with a general build Windows machine, I do believe one can create a decent streamer with certain mods to general service Windows machine.
I doubt more than minimal improvements with power supplies you mentioned, much better would be HDPlex optimized SMPS allied with external LPS HDPlex 200W dc-atx cost around $70, sufficient lps to power HDPLex will be $400 up.
Assuming you have sata drive, ssd will be nice improvement over HDD.
JCAT or Pink Faun usb card would be substantial improvement over any other usb card or usb off motherboard, a little pricey but worth it!
Optimizing your OS is another substantial improvement you could make, something like Windows optimizer, I use Euphony OS. Be aware these OS modifications will severely restrict or eliminate use of your computer for general service needs
I believe this is minimum for what I'd do for modifying general service Windows machine into music streamer. Without all three of these changes you'd be greatly limiting potential of this machine for music streaming duty. You could do any one or two in isolation with incremental improvements, but not really worth the effort or expense.
As for total costs here, think $500-$1500 for power supply via HDPLex route, ssd could be anywhere from $75 to multiples of $100, one could have OS only on ssd, storage on HDD or everything on ssd. Nice usb card around $800, Windows optimization could be anything from diy for free to subscription to Euphony or another OS for $200 up per year. So bottom line cost here could be as low as something less than $2k-over $3k. Weight this against what an off the shelf would cost, come to your own conclusion. Keep in mind to reach this level the Windows computer can no longer be used for general purpose. If still needed for general purpose you'd be better off going with dedicated off the shelf streamer. Eliminating the many processes Windows general service computers running is absolutely necessary to hearing potential of the other mods.
I go into this much detail because this is exact place I was at some months ago in determining whether I was going to go with diy mods to Windows based computer or off the shelf. In my case this was all out assault, so comparative purchasing decision was to machines like Antipodes K50, Innuos Statement, Aurender W20SE. I chose extreme custom build Windows based mostly because I'm the type that loves bespoke solutions. Whatever route you take, I'd not cheap out, based on your system description, I'd expect you'll hear the improvements brought from a top quality streamer. |
At minimum, I would get a 700 watt+ power supply and a gold one at that. The gold means it will last much longer than traditional ps. A SSD will be much faster and won’t have to be constantly searching like a mechanical drive would. It will make no difference to the sound. I have both in my PC and there is no difference in sound quality, it is only the speed difference. |
@stereo5 Not my experience with mac minis, I used hdd and ssd via sata drives and PCIe ssd in various extremely modded minis, sound quality definitely impacted. I'd expect same in Windows computer. My present Windows custom build streamer runs OS in ramroot, runs OS off RAM, this better than any ssd. |
- 21 posts total