Best music server for the money

There is nothing audiophile about a server though, its straight up computer nuts and bolts, so be careful about falling into the traditional audiophile mindset of more expensive means better sound quality, like often may be the case with actual sound making devices like turntables and even CD players or DACs.

True, that.

IMHO a proper music server isn't just a straight up computer.

Care has to be taken when choosing the components. I've found a big improvement going from a regular PC to one where I have removed moving parts (fans and HDDs).

And switching to a linear PSU vs a regular switch mode PSU also offers a huge performance improvement.

It is true that you can build such a machine on your own (look at the nofan and streacom range) but they are not for those familiar with DIY.

I can no longer stand it. I am not computer savvy. Yet I have an actual music server where I use a wireless router and jrivers. Not rocket science!. The issue with pc's is the noise. Noise from the cooling fans, main boards, power supply, hard drives, etc. You need a fan-less PC with plenty of quiet storage and a fast quiet mother board. A quiet power supply etc. just go to endpcnoise and check out their quiet PC servers. I have the monster. Install jrivers and Then rip or down load music. After a little practice it becomes a snap. I added a sotm USB with battery power. Why pay a lot for some server that is no better, has less storage and is a lot more money. So start your ripping and/or down load, it's fun. And really not that hard just takes a little effort.

@Markus1299

Do you own a MV server? I have been considering this server and would like to know how well you like this server?

@Pkoegz

I don't know what you mean by computer savvy but if you built your fanless PC design, it probably excludes a large number of people. Most fanless CPU heatsinks are surprisingly difficult to install. I had a fair bit of trouble with my Zalman FX100 and I think the Streacom ones are much much harder to assemble.

For those who are daunted, they could probably just get smallgreencomputers or silentpc to build the complete computer for them. Doesn't cost a whole lot more either.

That said, I can't say I am a big fan of the way Microsoft Windows requires patches and updates at such regular intervals, especially when the updates seem to slow the machine down progressively.