Help on Optimizing Dedicated PC as Music Server

I've had a chance to try some of those great suggestions given above. I like to share my findings. My comments will be based on the highly modified ML No. 37 transport as my point of reference.

My ML No. 360 DAC does not accept USB input, thus the MSI Z87-G45 MOBO was chosen for its S/pdif output connector. Using a Nordost 1.0m 75 ohm Valhalla V1 digital cable connected between the PC and No.360 DAC the SQ was very acceptable with this minimalist setup.

Next, the KingRex UD384 & PSU comb was connected to the USB port via standard computer cable. I thought this setup was worse sounding than the setup above. Floor noise increased and there was more digital sound. I didn't like the sound.

Swapping out the .99cent standard USB cable with the KingRex Unanimous UART USB Y-cable improved SQ by a wide margin. By adding this Y cable, the SQ was better compared with the MOBO S/pdif output by a small margin.

Next, the ASUS Xonar Essence STX sound card was installed. Using the S/pdif output on the Xonar, and connected directly into the No.360 DAC, via Nordost V1 digital cable, the SQ was superb. The soundstage is expansive, dynamics is the best I’ve heard in my system, the music is clear and detailed, and most importantly it has weight. I like the sound.

There is much discrepancy with JPlay. As one poster said, it’s free to try. So I did. I thought in my system JRiver on its own sounds best. To be fair, I didn't fiddle with the setting within JPlay. Whether this makes a difference or not, I don’t know.

Next, I’m waiting to install Window Server 2012 and Audiophile Optimizer.

Thank you all for your inputs & comments.

Great input. Would you say the Xonar SPDIF output sounded better than the mobo USB output? You may want to try some of the audiophile USB cards by Paul Pang (PPA), SoTM, and JCAT. There has been great feedback on all three products. I am going to try the JCAT one shortly.

First impressions of the Celeron NUC + HD Plex Linear PSU is that it improves the sound a fair bit.

I am testing it in one of the demo rooms we have at work now - it's not fully treated so I've found comparisons are usually harder to do in that room. That said, the bass is more prominent with the NUC/HD Plex combo vs the Mac Mini in the same room. NUC is running Win7/JRiver19. Mac is a 2010 Mini running OS X 10.9.4 and JRiver 19. The Mac is capable of converting PCM/DSD to 2xDSD without stuttering but the Celeron isn't (despite being 2 years newer)

The main demo room now has an Atom based music server with a linear power supply internally. So it would be interesting to see how the 2 PC based servers stack against each other. The Atom board IIRC doesn't have multiple DC-DC converters so it should have a better PSU vs the NUC which does require DC-DC conversion.

Tbooo's suggestion to try those USB cards is a good one. However you don't have an USB input in your DAC, so I'd encourage you to try a good SPDIF-to-USB converter. Might you be able to borrow one?

FWIW my DAC doesn't have a USB input either, and I use an Audiophilleo converter and a PPA card. In my setup, the Audiophilleo madea much bigger difference than the PPA card. Not that the latter made a small difference, but the converter made a very large difference. Also FWIW, mine has the PurePower option which makes it an expensive experiment.

Lewinskih01, interesting feedback about the USB converter making the bigger difference. Right now I have the MF Vlink which I know is a weak link in my system. Ive been toying with the idea of upgrading that or just skipping it and getting a new DAC that supports USB. Aside from not having a USB input I have no complaints about my DAC (Luxman D-06 cdp with digital inputs). My DAC does also does not do DSD or supports sample rates above 96khz which I why I am leaning towards replacing the DAC. That being said, even if I do get a USB DAC there is no guarantee its USB input will sound better than its SPDIF input. Decisions decisions....