Computer for music only?

Onhwy61,

I think you are partly right. A process that doesn't run while playing music should generate electrical noise/jitter.

However, there are many reports from users talking about sound improvements from minimizing the processes that run on a computer. I know I experienced a very significant improvement in sound from running the same OS on the same hardware without and with AudioPhil's Optimizer, which does exactly that. So I'm a believer. One of the critical processes to disable seems to be graphics and running headless, rendering a computer useless for anything other than audio playback. So in my view a computer dedicated to audio is the best way.

This doesn't mean audio will sound bad on a multi-purpose computer. For a long time I used a laptop to feed my Audiophilleo and DAC with great results. I'm only saying to get the BEST results a dedicated computer is the way to go. Just like anything in audio, I guess, a full blown assault renders better results than "just" a very good one.

Many other folks who use JPlay report best sound from using two computers optimized for audio: one as controlPC and one as audioPC. I can't comment on this as I haven't tried it, but again it shows there are improvements to be gained from dedicating a computer to audio only.

Some folks are experimenting with EMI/RFI shielding and absorption inside a computer and report improvements. Overkill? Maybe, but I haven't tried it so can't speak.

The issue of noise in a PC is an interesting and complicated one. I think it goes without saying that the PC should not have a lot of other work being down on it. Surfing the Internet while playing music is just a bad idea. I also turn off any virus control when playing music. You should minimize what is running, but going to hibernate mode on JPlay seems extreme. Without running any special software on my laptop there is seldom more than 1% CPU usage other than the music player. I know there are all sorts of positions on this, so will not dwell on it.

One option is to deal with the issues outside of the PC. Products like ifi's iUSBPower or iPurifier or Empirical's various products like his reclocker can deal with many of the ill effects of the PC environment. One option is to do the obvious things to minimize PC usage and then use these outboard solutions. Food for thought.

Dtc,

FWIW, I'll share my experience. My music server has plenty of headroom (Xeon quad core, 8GB RAM), runs Windows Server 2012 and JRiver, and feeds an Audiophilleo with PurePower. The PurePower works pretty much like the iFi iUSB Power, but designed for Audiophilleo only. When I compare the server running audio only with no antivirus or other programs vs the same hardware & software plus the Optimizer, the difference is very clearly noticeable. I think whatever is going on does not only correlate with CPU load, and the example in my mind shows the iUSB/PurePower don't turn the upstream irrelevant.

Lewinskih01 - some people hear big differences from various optimizers, some do not. It seems to depend on a lot of factors. I can find a large number of people who report little or no improvement for the various programs that shut down lots of processes. I respect what you found but I do not believe that means it will be true for everyone. As I said, it is a complicated issue and there are tons of discussions on this issue in lots of forums.

I just wanted to point out that there are external options to consider.

I run a Sound Science, Music Vault Diamond server that utilizes Windows 7 and a Lineux sound card. I use JRiver for playback and DBpoweramp for ripping. The sound is incredable and beats the pants off my previously optimized MacMini. I was surprised at the ease of use and the better sound compared to the Mini.