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    The Computer Audiophile

    Computer Audiophile Pocket Server C.A.P.S. v4 Cortes

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    CAPS v4 Cortes is like no other CAPS server to date. The server isn’t designed to connect directly to an audio system via USB or AES/EBU. Cortes is a server in the truest sense of the word. It’s designed to serve music to a single zone or to multiple zones over Ethernet, be a workhorse for all types of file operations such as format conversion or resampling, run network diagnostic tools if needed, and be the most flexible music server in the CAPS stable of designs. Cortes is a Network Attached Storage (NAS) replacement.

     

    The impetus to design a NAS replacement such as Cortes came from computer audiophiles' changing playback methods with the addition of many more network based players, and my own desire for a more flexible server that enabled me to install almost any piece of software available. Running several network based audio players in my system lead me to realize they are all different and function best with their own special software configurations. One DLNA renderer may work best with MinimServer and another may function best with JRiver Media Center. Using a traditional NAS limited my options to A) Installing MinimServer by jumping through a ring of fire while wearing a gasoline soaked suit (NAS units without the MinimServer package require a difficult installation), B) Using the built-in NAS DLNA media server application that likely doesn’t support gapless playback, DoP over Ethernet, any has terrible library browsing capabilities, or C) Install JRiver Media Center on a PC and map a drive from the PC to the NAS to serve up the music stored on the NAS. There are other scenarios and possible installation configurations, but this description should get my point across. As much as NAS vendors would like their products to appear as solutions for all media storage needs, NAS drives have serious limitations that can be overcome with a different solution. Thus, I designed Cortes.

     

    Cortes, just like any other computer isn’t perfect and suffers from it’s own limitations. For example, the Windows operating system is often seen as unstable, buggy, and less secure than its competitors. Fortunately, I’ve been running a Cortes server for months and haven’t run into any of the commonly perceived issues associated with the operating system. Windows can be a surprisingly stable OS when used as a network server setup like Cortes. Another limitation of the Windows OS is the requirement for more powerful hardware than a typical Linux based NAS. I like to flip this around to suggest that users of Cortes will actually prefer the increased horsepower as opposed to traditional NAS drives with ARM or Atom based processors and less memory than the new iPhone 6.

     

    This added horsepower may seem like a waste of resources if all the server does is share music over Ethernet. If that’s all this server did I would agree the horsepower is unneeded. However, over the course of the last decade I’ve used my NAS drives to do much more than serve music. For example, creating 24 bit / 176.4 kHz PCM versions of all my DSD material required me to use JRiver Media Center running on my PC to pull the files over the network, convert the DSD to PCM, and copy the files back to the NAS. This is so inefficient and time consuming. Using a Cortes server the DSD and PCM music remains on the same drive on the local PC. This uses the power of the Cortes CPU, the greater RAM capacity, the faster hard drives, and the blazing fast hardware RAID controller. Another area where Cortes’ added horsepower is terrific is analyzing a music library and making mass changes to metadata. Using Cortes and JRiver I selected my entire 50,000+ track library and instructed JRiver to analyze the dynamic range on every track. Sure the entire process took a while, but there’s no way I would have even attempted this using a traditional NAS system. I also like to include a bit more information in the title of my albums than the simple album name. This enables me to determine if I’m selecting the PCM, DSD, high resolution, or a specific master of an album before even tapping it on my iPad. Once I had my entire DSD library in a high resolution PCM format (I also kept the original DSD content) I selected all the new tracks and had JRiver Media Center append the suffix “PCM from DSD” to every track’s album title. Using all the Cortes horsepower the whole process was done in the blink of an eye.

     

    The flexibility to install nearly any application on the Cortes server can’t be overestimated. This is great for both consumers and application developers. For example, MinimServer currently has 18 different versions available for installation. The need for all these versions stems from different software and hardware requirements of NAS units and desktop computers. Even with 18 versions there are NAS units such as those from Thecus that MinimServer doesn’t support. Software and hardware fragmentation is a problem that hurts everybody. I've been running my Cortes server for months with JRMC, MinimServer, Devialet AIR, TIDAL, Sonos, Logitech Media Server, Twonky, and UPnP Tools without a single issue. Not only are these applications installed and running, but the installation and configuration of them was simple. Cortes makes NAS software configuration seem quite archaic. Running JRiver Media Center on Cortes not only enables use of all its UPnP/DLNA capabilities, but also enables the user to manage his library with ease. Too many people think that switching to a network based player will relieve them of the need for a computer because the music will flow form a NAS. However, without a good music management application such as JRMC the user is stuck with bad metadata or possibly no metadata. Plus, there’s nothing better than running JRMC on the actual computer that stores the music, i.e. Cortes.

     

    In addition to music related applications I recommend installing apps like Developer Tools for UPnP. Included in this suite of tools is a program called Device Spy. This program lists every UPnP device on one’s network and is capable of probing all the devices and listing their capabilities. This app is very helpful if one is having issues with a UPnP server, renderer, or control point. During Cortes testing I had an issue where the server couldn’t find all the renderers on my network. i was unsure if this was an issue with JRiver Media Center or the renderer or something else entirely. I opened Device Spy and saw the same issues that I saw through JRMC. This enabled me to rule out JRMC and focus more on the server itself. I made several configuration changes, each time using Device Spy to rescan my network. The problem was related to bonding two network cards into one large aggregated virtual device. Once I disabled link aggregation, Device Spy listed all the UPnP devices immediately.

     

    The Cortes motherboard, a SuperMicro X10SL7-F ($243), is much more of a server class component with a longer life span than previous CAPS servers and popular desktop computers. This board has many great features that suit a NAS replacement perfectly. The X10SL7-F supports Intel® Xeon® E3-1200 v3 processors that are much more geared toward data crunching than the Core i7 series of CPUs that have integrated video for multimedia playback. Thus, I selected the Intel Xeon E3-1241 v3 (BX80646E31241V3) ($273) as the Central Processing Unit (CPU) for Cortes. Both this CPU and the motherboard also support ECC or error correcting code memory. This type of RAM detects and corrects common types of data corruption. Cortes features 16GB of Crucial (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM ECC Unbuffered DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Server Memory (CT2KIT102472BD160B) ($358) Random Access Memory (RAM). The SuperMicro X10SL7-F board supports up through 32GB of RAM should one wish to increase from the specified 16GB. The board also features Dual Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports via Intel i210AT. These port support link aggregation to increase throughput to 2GB full duplex if needed, although I experienced some DLNA related issues when enabling this NIC bonding feature. Storage options on the X10SL7-F board are perfect for a NAS replacement. The board offers 2x SATA (6Gbps), 4x SATA (3Gbps), and 8x SAS2 (6Gbps) via LSI 2308 hardware RAID controller. Such a configuration enables the OS to reside on a 6Gbps SSD on one, more average, controller and all the music data to reside on the LSI 2308 server class hardware controller. The Cortes server features a single Samsung 850 Pro 128GB 2.5-Inch SATA III Internal SSD (MZ-7KE128BW) SSD ($130) for the operating system and two Seagate Desktop HDD 6TB 6Gb/s 128MB Cache 3.5-Inch HDD (STBD6000100) ($300 ea.) for the music. The 6TB drives are configured as a RAID1 / mirroring set. Thus, if one drive fails no data is lost and no backup needs to be restored. A new drive must be put in place, but no further configuration or data restoration is required. Should one wish to backup his music inside the same chassis it’s possible to install up to four hard drives on the 3Gbps controller enabling a fairly quick and easy data backup. There are more secure ways to backup, but this way is pretty easy and even recommended more than the unbacked up method most people use. Another fairly good method of backup with the Cortes server is an external drive via the X10SL7-F’s USB 3.0 ports. The last piece of the X10SL7-F motherboard that I absolutely love is the integrated Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) 2.0 with KVM and dedicated LAN port. This interface enables the user to connect to the server via web browser and access it as if the user was physically at the server with a keyboard, monitor, and mouse. The IPMI even enables the user to connect to the server when the power is off, get into the BIOS, and restart the server if the operating system hangs. It’s a great feature for the Cortes server because this server is likely to sit in a back room somewhere out of easy reach. My Cortes server resides in another room and without any keyboard, monitor, or mouse connected.

     

    The computer case I selected is the Corsair Graphite Series 600T ($160). During my research phase I tried smaller cases, but always had issues squeezing the components into the case. I found no purpose for using the smaller cases and settled on this mid-sized Corsair case that’s very easy to populate and looks half-way decent in person. The power supply I selected is the Corsair Professional Series 760 Watt Digital ATX/EPS Modular 80 PLUS Platinum AX760i ($185). It’s my current belief that the power supply of a network server has no baring on sound quality of a network based music player unless the PSU is feeding garbage back into the power line that isn’t isolated form the audio components. I like the Corsair AX760i because of its DSP controlled monitoring and performance. This PSU makes on-the-fly adjustments for tight voltage regulation, 80 PLUS Platinum efficiency, and stable power. One additional component I added to the design is a Corsair Hydro Series Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler H80i ($86). I like these coolers because, like the PSU, they enabled performance monitoring and adjustments via an application. The H80i is liquid cooled, fan-assisted, but never needs any maintenance associated with other liquid cooling solutions.

     

    Like all CAPS v4 computers, Cortes runs on Windows 8.1 Professional 64-bit. I use the professional version because I connect to the server recently with Windows’ built-in Remote Desktop capability. It works great and doesn’t require an additional third party application for remote control of the actual server. The UPnP server I use most often on Cortes is JRiver Media Center because of its all encompassing capabilities and its great integration with JRemote for iOS.

     

    This combination of hardware and software make Cortes as stable as a Linux based NAS, but endlessly more flexible. As always, my component selections aren’t the only selections that will make a successful server. Members of the CA Community are encouraged to use Cortes as a platform from which to experiment. Users not needing 6TB of drive space can obviously scale back on the cost of hard drives. Please be careful when purchasing memory, as I went through a couple different memory models that made the server un-bootable. Those readers seeking a complete solution should be pretty happy with Cortes just as it’s designed. I encourage members of the community to post questions, concerns, and comments below.

     

     

     

    A Note About Sponsorship

     

    Before going further I'd like to thank JRiver for sponsoring the entire CAPS v4 project. Researching and purchasing all the parts for CAPS servers takes time and money. In the past I spent over $10,000 just trying different motherboards, memory, SSDs, cases, etc… This time around I thought it would be prudent and a win-win for everybody if I obtained sponsorship for CAPS v4. I sought sponsorship from a handful of companies and before the "ink" on the email was dry JRiver stepped up to sponsor the whole project. This sponsorship enabled me to take the CAPS project further in a shorter period of time than I would have been able to on my own. The bottom line is that members of the CA Community benefitted from this sponsorship. Without this benefit to the entire Community I wouldn't have sought sponsorship. Period. Also, JRiver had no input on the design of the servers' hardware or software. Prior to contacting JRiver I had already decided what playback applications would be used for the CAPS v4 project. I also didn't let JRiver know this software decision, thus avoiding any semblance of impropriety. Again, thanks to JRiver for supporting CAPS v4 and the CA Community.

     

     

     

     

    Links

     

    Motherboard: SuperMicro X10SL7-F

    Case: Corsair Graphite Series 600T

    CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1241 v3 (BX80646E31241V3)

    RAM: Crucial (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM ECC Unbuffered DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Server Memory (CT2KIT102472BD160B)

    SSD: Samsung 850 Pro 128GB 2.5-Inch SATA III Internal SSD (MZ-7KE128BW)

    HDD: Seagate Desktop HDD 6TB 6Gb/s 128MB Cache 3.5-Inch HDD (STBD6000100)

    PSU: Corsair Professional Series 760 Watt Digital ATX/EPS Modular 80 PLUS Platinum AX760i

    CPU Cooler: Corsair Hydro Series Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler H80i

    Tools: UPnP Developer Tools

    Music App: JRiver Media Center




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    Rather than picking apart the specifics let's look at what all of us can learn from Chris' several months of experimentation. Basically if you want to go with a backend server you could order a Dell or HP and be done with it, what we learned is that you do NOT need any specialist audiophile hot rodding - that alone is worth the 10 minute read.

     

    Then he gave us a few tidbits of new technology, Device Spy looks useful, it's nice to know there is an effective low maintenance CPU cooler that interfaces with the computer, being able to use a reasonably priced DSP controller power supply is a big plus, and then there is the discussion of IPMI. I find the article very useful and quite appropriate as I see myself moving the heavy duty computing needs off to another room sometime.

     

    Well done Chris - thanks.

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    I will admit, that when I saw the picture, and started reading that I was a bit disappointed too. My thought, wow, the CAPS concept is certainly getting the bloat this round. As I read, and understood that Chris was just starting the audio system from the beginning, that I started appreciating the article and information.

     

    I have built my own PCs for the last 10 years (not my Macs!), including my current fanless, headless PC running JRiver. My Auralic Aries arrived yesterday though, and my fighting with the Synology NAS continues. This article is very timely for me. I will probably off load a drive or two from the NAS into my player PC, and make it the new music server, with the Aries playing in my room, and serving the Sonos devices housewide.

     

    Thanks Chris, keep 'um coming!

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    Though I think Audio_Elf's tone successfully put a stranglehold on the message, I agree that this article doesn't come across as the "complete package" that previous ones did. Given that effect, I highly recommend it be reformated and that the next 3 CAPS v4 articles follow the older style. It really, really does need better explanations or links offsite to how to setup RAID configurations, what OS settings are good, and how to integrate JRMC on a server. Then supporting comments, even if copied from the v3 article, would be fine.

     

    I found that most of the usual information was present in the article, it was just missing the formating, like category headings, then component headings. And then graphics, to make it look like a real package and not just a long post in some thread. The previous versions all had this, like an "editor's touch" I suppose. This comes across as a first draft that might have the message, but doesn't have the medium/polish to send it.

     

    And common, no prices or linkes to Newegg or something... This might seem like such a small thing, but it's the extra work in areas like this or pictures of components that seemed to pull it together and make it look like the real deal when C.A.P.S. v3 was published. Think of ALLLLLLLL the component and build pictures there are there. I remember them coming up and me spending hours looking them over and dreaming about putting together something similar. This has 1, a black, generic tower...

     

    I'd be more than happy to gather that info and reformat the article for you Chris if you don't have the time. Man, I don't have the time, but I'd much prefer to help deliver a finished, quality product than leave it as is.

     

    As for the actual CAPS v4 Cortes idea, I think the server approach is a great idea since it's a necesarry component in my current system. That's how I currently store all of my music and media, and it's a great addition. It's not an Audio-PC replacement, it's a complement to the system. The spec out doesn't seem too crazy and is similar to what I'd found good reviews about online. That mobo gets A LOT of love on the DIY server forums, and the PSU too. The unfortunate killer here is the $1800 ticket price; that's damn steep. I know it is what it is and if you pick different components you can bring the price down. Hard to say what to do...

     

    Chris, in one of your replies you said that this is for people who don't have the ability to navigate the Dell website and buy a good server... So in the place of not knowing how to navigate a computer website, you'll have them build and configure a server from scratch. Sans instructions, just a component list with no links. I'm not trying to hate on you, I'm sure you gathered that from above, but man... it doesn't work that way.

     

    Since this is the first CAPS Server spec out, this needs to be uber detailed on how you would recommend doing it. If others have other ways, fine, but Joe I-want-to-build-my-first-music/media-server Blow, this is just about enough information to leave him stranded up shitcreak.

     

    And as for the OS, Chris, why not Server 2012? I don't really know what the offering difference would be vs. 8.1 Pro, but this being a server and the other OS having "Server" in its name just leads me to think it'd be better at well, being a server. No? In v3 you tackled this question beforehand by offering an explanation for the OS vs. it's leading competitor, Windows 7. I think doing so this time and referring to WS 2012 would be a good idea too.

     

    **

    I've also attached some pictures of some key parts I talked about in v3 that are absent here. I'm sure you'll see what I mean about what's missing.

     

    CAPS v3 - 5.png

    CAPS v3 - 1.png

    CAPS v3 - 2.png

    CAPS v3 - 3.png

    CAPS v3 - 4.png

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    I assume you were answering my post above yours. If so, you didn't actually relate to my questions.

     

    As far as your assertion that "it's not for dual JPlay setup" - well why not? Seems to me that it would be well suited to be the processing server in such a setup. So if someone wants to build a very powerful network server and use it that way, why not? Chris did say that the point of using Windows 8 as the OS is that it allows the user to install/use pretty much ANY windows software he/she desires on the server, and the Cortes NAS is powerful and flexible so that it can perform any task a user might want.

     

    Chris did respond earlier and imply that he mostly envisions it as running as a powerful NAS feeding other PC's or streamer type devices on the you see each unit (Cortes and PC) performing in their setup?

     

    It's a very powerful 'conventional NAS' replacement running Windows (to install all and any 'server task' oriented software you like) and JRiver for DLNA/uPnP server functionality. It's not for a dual play JPlay setup and it's not envisioned to be used to connect to your DAC using USB or SPDIF/AES-EBU.

     

    So it can be the spider in the web (your home network) for reliable storage, DLNA/uPnP and general server duties to be placed anywhere in your home, out of sight (not near your AV equipment) without a physical KVM (keyboard, monitor and mouse).

     

    I like this concept, but would like to hear from others how they'd envision using it. I can think of 3 scenarios:

     

    1) with a streamer, direct feed from the Cortes;

    2) With a server like a CAPS 3;

    3) In a dual PC setup with JPlay, with the Cortes doing the processing and a less powerful PC doing the playback.

     

    In scenarios 2 and 3 you'd still need a well optimized audio playback PC in addition to the Cortes for optimum SQ.

     

    In scenario 2, the Cortes seems like overkill, b/c if you needed to do any serious processing of your signal for listening (DSP room correction or on the fly upsampling to hi-res/DSD), you'd need to do it on the playback PC, and not on the Cortes. For scenario 2 the Cortes doesn't seem like it would be that useful, except in situations such as those Chris described in the article where he batch processed a lot of files. But unless you think you are going to be doing that often, the Cortes seems like an expensive alternative to a conventional NAS.

     

    Let me know what I'm missing here or any other comments on how to implement the Cortes.

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    I usually see both PC's in a dual JPlay setup being optimized with mostly the same care. Chris believes optimizations as we know for USB/dual JPlay PC setup don't matter for an ethernet UPnP/DLNA setup. True or not this does lead me to the conclusion, together with what he wrote about the purpose of the machine, that this is not the 'to go to' setup for that purpose.

     

    The envisioned purpose for the Cortes is to be a very powerful 'conventional NAS' replacement running Windows (to install all and any 'server task' oriented software you like) and JRiver for DLNA/uPnP server functionality.

     

    No real need to debate this, it's all stated in the article...

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    Sorry but this is really disappointing ...

     

    Just an advert for a bunch of randomly chosen components.

     

    "The 6TB drives are configured as a RAID1 / mirroring set." How? How about some step by step instructions on how you built and configured it all?

     

    How about some details on how you setup J.River?

     

    Sorry Chris ... I'm really disappointed in this as the first of the CAPSv4 articles.

     

    Several years ago, I walked into our weekly staff meeting and stated, "We're going to raise everyone's salary by $200.00 per month." Unfortunately, that started an argument about why everyone was getting the same amount, etc.

     

    Why does it remind me of that story? Because I learned that too many people seem to see the world from their personal myopic and self centered view and are likely to find fault with most things that are not completed in the way that they believe is the 'right' way...typically their way, even with gifts.

     

    Now, this article is way over my head. But, after reading it twice I could see that Chris is trying to share his passion related to most things CA. And, I figured that what I didn't get now, I'd get later through the discussions that occur.

     

    As always Chris, thank you for your efforts.

     

    Eloise, I don't know who you are or what you do for a living. But, you believe you are knowledgeable. So, maybe I can learn something technical from you: Write your own blog..let's see how long it lasts.

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    And as for the OS, Chris, why not Server 2012? I don't really know what the offering difference would be vs. 8.1 Pro, but this being a server and the other OS having "Server" in its name just leads me to think it'd be better at well, being a server. No? In v3 you tackled this question beforehand by offering an explanation for the OS vs. it's leading competitor, Windows 7. I think doing so this time and referring to WS 2012 would be a good idea too.

     

     

    Having looked around for Server 2012 purchase, the high cost of Server 2012 over Win 8.1 would be one big reason for many people not to seek that route.

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    I understand the interest in DLNA. If flexibility is an important design goal, any server designed primarily for DLNA/UPnP isn't a very flexible solution.

     

    With the exception of a couple HT receivers, anything more than 2CH is out. Jriver has made some improvements with regard to DSP over DLNA but my understanding is that it's not fully up to speed either. I feel like DLNA is a little ahead of its time.

    Michael.

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    Chris,

     

    Thanks for wonderful site. I am a long timer lurker/reader, just starting out in computer based audio so contribution is lite.

     

    I did not fully understand the article so I am going to try to summarize what you are talking about in my own words. The thing that I missed was are the component chosen for optimization of audio/video.

     

    1) Use the server as general purpose DLNA/uPNP server

    2) To be used as storage device

    3) Located outside the listening room

    4) Does conversion of music on the fly based on jRiver settings (Redbook to DSD)

    5) You will need another PC in listening room which is connected to your DAC / Video device for playback

    6) The configuration is optimized as serving content, manipulating data and server related tasks

     

    If my summary is correct can you help me understand what the advantages would be of building a CAPS v/s purchasing one of the HP/Dell/Lenovo workstation/servers which have similar cpu/memory.

     

    The one advantage that I see for the CAPS based server is amount of drive bays for expansion v/s prebuilt boxes (tops 4 to 6 bays). Advantage that I see with prebuilt boxes is support (usually 3yrs), quieter (workstation only since they are usually located on peoples desk in cubicle environment, servers are noisy) and depending on the noise level can be used in listening room.

     

    Also, is it possible to use built in IPMI KVM on the motherboard and not use professional version of OS?

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    Unless you need massive amounts of storage, your best bang for the buck these days is a ThinkServer TS140. Amazon and Newegg have been running regular sales for various configurations, and I recently purchased an E3-1225v3 based model, 4G ECC RAM, no HDD and no OS for ~350. No hotswap bays, but 4 internal bays with a 4x4TB RAID10 configuration is plenty of storage for my needs. Mobo is based on the Intel C226 chipset (Haswell) and has IPMI as well as RSTe -- I'm running Windows 2012 R2 Storage Spaces and software RAID. Best part is that the thing is absolutely dead silent (no fan noise) and comes with 1 year of support.

     

    For those who need more storage, the larger TS440 includes 8 hotswap SATA/SAS bays matched to an LSI RAID controller. This is also on sale w/ E3-1225v3 for around 400 bucks. This machine is larger and heavier, and is definitely not silent as it includes a redundant capable PSU with high RPM fan, but is quieter than most front office servers. Plan on spending around 17 bucks each for HDD trays which aren't include, but I still consider this to be a bargain since the LSI RAID card itself retails for around 200 bucks and you get 1 year of Lenovo support as well.

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    lol. For the odd hirez file: The future is in cut down Linux servers people. Not bloated WMS huge gaming machines!

     

    For general listening you can stream Spotify to multiple zones from a 24Million strong ( or whatever it is these days) library for something under 10 bucks a month using $49.95 "Roki's... " or straight into the heart of some pretty good gear (Denon, Marantz, Niam, Cambridge Audio, pioneer... and on and on the list goes ...

     

    You can stream this using your iPhone, off ya Mac, in your car or at work and pick up and leave where you last left it..

     

    You can form cool learn as you go playlists and your own radios stations.

     

    You can share all of this with your friends and follow what they are listening too.. Right from within the app

     

    And none of this without going anywhere near a $2,000 CAPS server...

     

    Guys. Come on. Join the 21C.

     

    Wap...

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    It is a pity that this thread turned into a heated discussion on the merits of the original article. I found the article gave me a different perspective on my past 'local PC and centralized data repository on NAS' approach. I have been struggling for a long time trying to get optimal playback for different DLNA clients. I never managed to transcode content according to their capabilities (downsampling highrez material for example) in a satisfying way. I am considering putting up a PC dedicated to running jRiver. Now the Cortes approach would solve this issue AND the NAS functionality very elegantly.

     

    The Lenovo TS440 looks like a terrific machine to build a Cortes. Finally a piece of hardware that brings back feelings of high power monoblocks with big VU meters on the front to the digital world :-)

     

    I would welcome very much a continuation of the discussion in the direction of how to configure Cortes and the local streamers. Certainly I would look to use Windows Server 2012 R2 as an operating system in Cortes. As I am server noob, I have no idea how to set this server up, so that it is secure and low maintenance. After all I want to listen to music and not professionally maintain IT systems.

     

    A question to Chris: How would one optimally set up the local CAPS streamer to work with Cortes. Probably jRiver would not be needed, allowing to further streamline the number of processes that windows runs. I wonder if Audiophil's purist two box approach would lend itself to a Cortes / CAPS combination. Highend-AudioPC

     

    Lots of questions that we can discuss constructively.

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    ^ sure Jacob. You make some very valid points above. Extremely valid. My apologies for being a bit flippant. I'd swap out my QNAP for a thinned downed WMS server: if like you said it was easy to build/source and it was stable. Is WMS maintenance free?

     

    But it still doesnt deal with the facts everything is eventually going to move to the cloud. And the need to merge the streaming and "UPNP server" experience into a Sonos like hirez "all in one"....

     

    These days you can search right across your UPnP share and streaming services all within the one app!

     

    I mean JRiver and Jremote dont even support this because they don't even integrate the music services right ?

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    So what I'm saying is it is kind of relevant to question whether this sort of setup will be flexible enough in future years IMHO.

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    Still a problem seeing the comments on this thread. The number listed keeps going up, but the number displayed doesn't.

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    So what I'm saying is it is kind of relevant to question whether this sort of setup will be flexible enough in future years IMHO.

     

    Depends what you see yourself doing.

     

    I don't envisage ever listening totally by streaming from the cloud, so a quality server could fit my needs. One advantage of this kind of build is not just that it is very powerful in terms of crunching data, but that the type of parts are designed to be longer lasting than typical PC parts. So in some scenarios this might be something to buy and keep for the long haul.

     

    And if you decide at some point not to use it as a music server, it could still function as a great central home server for general purpose use.

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    Hi Chris,

    the idea of having a server is just great. I have two problems with the setup:

    1.) what are the settings for JRiver and the system to stream over ethernet?

    2.) is it possible to stream DSF files to a streamer?

    Thank you for clarification.

    Stephan

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    Hi Chris,

    the idea of having a server is just great. I have two problems with the setup:

    1.) what are the settings for JRiver and the system to stream over ethernet?

    2.) is it possible to stream DSF files to a streamer?

    Thank you for clarification.

    Stephan

     

    With point#2, it does not matter what type of file it is. If the streamer is able to play the file format in question and pass it off to the next component and if the location of the file on the server is known by the streamer, it will play.

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    Depends what you see yourself doing.

     

    I don't envisage ever listening totally by streaming from the cloud, so a quality server could fit my needs. One advantage of this kind of build is not just that it is very powerful in terms of crunching data, but that the type of parts are designed to be longer lasting than typical PC parts. So in some scenarios this might be something to buy and keep for the long haul.

     

    And if you decide at some point not to use it as a music server, it could still function as a great central home server for general purpose use.

     

    Define long haul, 5, 10 years? I don't disagree that server class hardware could last longer than consumer grade hardware. The operative word here is could. The average $300 box (such as a i3/i5 box or the TS140 mentioned by someone else) could do a great job of serving music- who cares if the server class hardware could last longer when one could have a number $300 boxes for the price of this one build. (the things that will likely fail first are the hard drives not the motherboard or processor)

     

    This article makes many statements without any real analysis or discussing potential gotchas. For example:

    - The use of Raid1 is a bad bad idea: If you accidentally delete files they are removed from both drives at same time, any virus, file corruption or bit rot will occur on both drives at same time, 100% drive overhead etc. If you want to duplicate files accross both drives then there are many tools to do this without the potential for disaster with Raid1 (stable bit, flex raid, snap raid etc)

    - "endlessly more flexible" - this is a point of view, not fact and should be presented as such- there was nothing discussed in the article that could not be run in Linux. If the author isn't comfortable or familiar with Linux this is OK (or had to use Windows for contractual sponsorship reasons)

    - as stable than a linux system- many would disagree, so this is based on what?

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    - The use of Raid1 is a bad bad idea: If you accidentally delete files they are removed from both drives at same time, any virus, file corruption or bit rot will occur on both drives at same time, 100% drive overhead etc. If you want to duplicate files accross both drives then there are many tools to do this without the potential for disaster with Raid1 (stable bit, flex raid, snap raid etc)

    Quite frankly I am missing your point about why RAID1 is a bad idea. The issues you bring up are not the ones RAID1 addresses by design, so they are not applicable. The issues you mention normally addressed by backup arrangements, and RAID is not backup. More so, Chris writes about backup separately and how it may interact administratively with RAID1, but nowhere I see he conflates the two. Hyping "potential for disaster with RAID1" is akin saying that if RAID1 can be used poorly (i.e. it is not fool-proof), then it should not be used at all.

     

    In this case, I think that the use of RAID1 is quite appropriate for the stated purpose of simpler recovery from a single disk failure.

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    Thanks Chris for the ideas and options. Looking forward to the other versions too.

     

    I guess with John Swenson's work on packet burst noise we are not quite at a point where nothing upstream matters to the sound quality though.

     

    Cheers

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    Firedog... Try going to Article Comments and selecting the CAPSv4 article from there to see all the comments.
    Thank you! That worked for me and is much easier to navigate.

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    Hello Chris,

     

    If you were not concerned about noise.. why did you go with water cooling? In my experience they are a lot harder to maintain and you can find a good cpu fan that does just as well these days. Thanks for the article.

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    Quite frankly I am missing your point about why RAID1 is a bad idea. The issues you bring up are not the ones RAID1 addresses by design, so they are not applicable.

     

    Exactly you are missing the point because it doesnt make it easier to recover from a single disc failure. The article states: "Thus, if one drive fails no data is lost and no backup needs to be restored". If one drive goes down, you may lose data on both drives because the mirrored pair automatically changes data on both drives. Even if both drives are healthy, user error could still result in data loss. Further, he states this: "A new drive must be put in place, but no further configuration or data restoration is required" -wherein you hope the array rebuilds successfully. If it is the controller that is fubared then you may really be up the creek. Needlessly making it way more complicated of a system where you are much more likely to have data loss on both drives under the illusion that it will be easier/faster etc to restore the data.

     

     

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