Article: Computer Audiophile Pocket Server C.A.P.S. v3 Carbon

[AjCrisci]

Apparently I am not the only one who was having a problem getting a 1920 x 1080 screen resolution. I found an answer. Go to the Intel download center - Intel Download Center. Do NOT use the driver update utility. Instead use the search downloads field and enter the motherboard - DN2800MT. There are 40 downloads. Go to page 3 and download Graphics: Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator Driver for Windows* 7.

 

 

Remember me in your will.

 

That worked great. Thanks. Was too embarrassed to ask about graphics on the audio website but this helps a lot.

[joelha]

Believe it or not, I have two different devices I want to hook up to this server.

 

Is it possible, reasonable or does it make any sense at all to hook up not one but two Sota USB cards in the same server to drive both devices?

 

Or would some sort of USB splitter make sense or would a splitter defeat the purpose of having a filtered output in the first place?

 

Only one device would be operating at a time and I don't want to have to constantly disconnect and reconnect devices.

 

Joel

[dlbeck]

My carbon build running JRiver is causing some major stuttering during song playback. Anyone else have that problem or know what would be causing it. Running ASIO through a Mytek DAC. I'm at a loss. Thanks for any help.

 

David

[ted_b]

My carbon build running JRiver is causing some major stuttering during song playback. Anyone else have that problem or know what would be causing it. Running ASIO through a Mytek DAC. I'm at a loss. Thanks for any help.

 

David

 

David,

Is this with the Mytek dual DAC 2.2 setup?

[dlbeck]

Yes sir it is. I've read on the JRiver thread that its possibly the Asio drivers aren't up to date for Win8. Thanks for your help.

[ted_b]

Yes sir it is. I've read on the JRiver thread that its possibly the Asio drivers aren't up to date for Win8. Thanks for your help.

 

Not true. As you well know in my multichannel Mytek thread (as well as the regular stereo one) the ASIO drivers for Win 8 are absolutely fine. I documented it fully and am running the most difficult of setups (3 stacked Myteks in 5.1). I believe it could be your unorthodox Mytek 2 DAC 2.2 setup, but need more info.

[dlbeck]

Ok. I don't know what is causing it, thus the post. What is our opinion on what the issue would be with the 4 channels that I'm running vs the 6 that you are running. What's the theoretical difference?

[ted_b]

Ok. I don't know what is causing it, thus the post. What is our opinion on what the issue would be with the 4 channels that I'm running vs the 6 that you are running. What's the theoretical difference?

 

You are not running 4 channels, but 2 with split subs, etc. I have no idea how ASIO is configured for you. 5.1 multichannel is wayy different setup than stereo with split subs, using one dac to do nothing but manage subwoofer output.

[dlbeck]

Sorry, probably a dumb question: why aren't the subs viewed as channels? Do you want any more info from me? I tried increasing the buffer size both in JRiver and within the USBPAL driver. Thanks for your help Ted.

[ted_b]

Sorry, probably a dumb question: why aren't the subs viewed as channels? Do you want any more info from me? I tried increasing the buffer size both in JRiver and within the USBPAL driver. Thanks for your help Ted.

 

Sorry, not trying to be difficult. Subs in a 2 channel file (i.e not a multichannel file with a specific LFE channel) are derived from high pass filtering. Anyway, I guess I'm shootin in the dark here cuz no idea how you guys set up ASIO to do the subwoofer stuff, especially with DSD. Maybe someone else can help...

[Lifer]

Well, I got my Carbon hooked-up and playing sweetly yesterday. I had never built a computer before so it was with some trepidation that I took this on. Mistakes were made and corrected with a bit of luck and by reading these comments carefully. My biggest problem was that I bought Windows 8 rather than Windows 8 Pro. Can you believe that it took Microsoft Support 3 full days (both level 1 and level 2 support) to figure out why Remote Desktop Control wasn't working! And they were so proud when they finally did. At least they upgraded me to Pro for free. I would have avoided that ordeal if I read the comments even closer!

 

I am using my Oppo BD-105 as a DAC. Their website said that they didn't have a driver for Win 8 but a phone call got an email with the driver and it is working beautifully. I tried both the USB connections on the mother-board and the SOTM card and clearly preferred the card. I am using a Synology DS213+ running native raid for storage, and JRiver on both my office desktop for ripping and cataloging and on the server for playback. JRemote on my iPhone is my control - I just wish that I could start up the computer and JRiver Media Server from it.

 

I am ordering the Red Wine battery power today - Vinnie tells me that there is a 6 - 8 week build time due to high demand.

 

I am very glad that I did this - cd's finally are listenable without gritting my teeth.

[The Computer Audiophile]

Well, I got my Carbon hooked-up and playing sweetly yesterday. I had never built a computer before so it was with some trepidation that I took this on. Mistakes were made and corrected with a bit of luck and by reading these comments carefully. My biggest problem was that I bought Windows 8 rather than Windows 8 Pro. Can you believe that it took Microsoft Support 3 full days (both level 1 and level 2 support) to figure out why Remote Desktop Control wasn't working! And they were so proud when they finally did. At least they upgraded me to Pro for free. I would have avoided that ordeal if I read the comments even closer!

 

I am using my Oppo BD-105 as a DAC. Their website said that they didn't have a driver for Win 8 but a phone call got an email with the driver and it is working beautifully. I tried both the USB connections on the mother-board and the SOTM card and clearly preferred the card. I am using a Synology DS213+ running native raid for storage, and JRiver on both my office desktop for ripping and cataloging and on the server for playback. JRemote on my iPhone is my control - I just wish that I could start up the computer and JRiver Media Server from it.

 

I am ordering the Red Wine battery power today - Vinnie tells me that there is a 6 - 8 week build time due to high demand.

 

I am very glad that I did this - cd's finally are listenable without gritting my teeth.

Great to hear Lifer. What do you mean by, "I just wish that I could start up the computer and JRiver Media Server from it."

[Lifer]

Great to hear Lifer. What do you mean by, "I just wish that I could start up the computer and JRiver Media Server from it."

 

What I mean is that if I turn the server off, I must restart it and JRiver using RDC on my desktop rather than from the JRemote on my phone. No big deal, but it does remind one that this is a computer not a normal audio component.

[The Computer Audiophile]

What I mean is that if I turn the server off, I must restart it and JRiver using RDC on my desktop rather than from the JRemote on my phone. No big deal, but it does remind one that this is a computer not a normal audio component.

Ah ok. I set JRMC media server to start on boot up. That way you can connect via JRemote without launching RDC. I can't remember I you can set the server to Wake In LAN (WOL). If this is possible you can use a WOL app to wake the server. I leave mine running all the time.

[BigBear]

Chris:

 

You made a comment that jplay may need more processing power than carbon has. Have you tried it to see if it works well? anyone out there tried jplay with any caps v3? i assume on paper zuma should have no issues with jplay.....thx...

[TJHUB]

I started playing with letting my CAPS v3 sleep. To test it, I set the CAPS to sleep after 1 minute. While JRMC is playing music, the CAPS never sleeps. If I just stop the music, the CAPS sleeps after 1 minute even though JRMC is still running. Then all I have to do to wake it up is use JRemote to play music. The CAPS wakes up almost immediately, and responds to JRemote after 10 seconds or so. I've been running like this since yesterday with many sleep cycles. This is a great solution for anyone running Fidelizer.

 

I don't run Fidelizer, but I'll likely keep running my CAPS this way just because I can.

[Lifer]

TJHUB, I tried to follow suit but in the sleep category in the advanced power settings all I see is Hibernate after x minutes. I tried letting the machine hibernate with JRiver running but not playing and restarting it from JRemote. I was unable to restart it. Where do you see a sleep setting? When I look for sleep, I see a turn display off setting and I have that set to 1 min. I now have hibernate set to never which works fine, but is the computer sleeping when not in use?.

 

Chris,

I too have JRiver set to start on boot up. Makes sense.

 

Now onto a new problem: how do I get the JRiver library on on the server get synced with the library on my desktop. I rip all my cd's, etc to the desktop and from there to the NAS. The server takes the media from the NAS but creates it's own meta-data which does not have all of the edits that I made on the desktop. So I need to either have a single library of metadata or sync the server from the desktop.

Thanks for any help you can offer.

[TJHUB]

When I stated "sleep", I meant "hibernate. The hibernate setting is under the sleep setting in the advanced section.

 

I just tested waking up my CAPS that has been hybernating since yesterday. As soon as I touched the JRemote icon on my iPad my CAPS woke up. I didn't play anything, and it hibernated after 1 minute. I'm not certain why yours wouldn't work like mine.

[mav52]

I thinking about purchasing the Carbon from SGC and was wondering , is there any issues with my Mytek DSD or my EE Mini Max + DACS's with the SOtM tX-USB card as noted in the ZUMA build,

 

Computer Audiophile - Computer Audiophile Pocket Server C.A.P.S. v3 Zuma

 

"" Regarding the USB 3.0 card, you wrote: "I've tested the card with every DAC that has come through Computer Audiophile and haven't had a single issue.""

 

""" Reading the info in the link you provided, with the detailed specs, in the SOtm website it says:

 

"Unsupported Devices with Windows

M2Tech HiFace v1 and M2Tech HiFace OEM v1

The following devices are based on M2Tech boards:

Empirical Audio, Eastern Electric, Wyred4Sound, Chrod, JKenny

Playback Design

MSB Technology

Mytek"

[TJHUB]

I run an Eastern Electric DAC Plus with my CAPS v3. I believe the trick to avoid problems with the M2Tech stuff with the SOtM PCIe card is that you need to use Windows 8 because it has native USB 3 drivers.

[ted_b]

I thinking about purchasing the Carbon from SGC and was wondering , is there any issues with my Mytek DSD or my EE Mini Max + DACS's with the SOtM tX-USB card as noted in the ZUMA build,

 

Computer Audiophile - Computer Audiophile Pocket Server C.A.P.S. v3 Zuma

 

"" Regarding the USB 3.0 card, you wrote: "I've tested the card with every DAC that has come through Computer Audiophile and haven't had a single issue.""

 

""" Reading the info in the link you provided, with the detailed specs, in the SOtm website it says:

 

"Unsupported Devices with Windows

M2Tech HiFace v1 and M2Tech HiFace OEM v1

The following devices are based on M2Tech boards:

Empirical Audio, Eastern Electric, Wyred4Sound, Chrod, JKenny

Playback Design

MSB Technology

Mytek"

 

That's a typo. Mytek's USB is through Rigisystems, not M2Tech, and runs fine with the SOtM cards.

[mav52]

Thank you TJHUB and ted.. now to decide a new Carbon or a new mac mini

[jaxwired]

Thank you TJHUB and ted.. now to decide a new Carbon or a new mac mini

 

Go for the caps Box. I was debating the same decision a couple weeks ago. I'm thrilled with my topanga (with xonar essence Stx card and 500gb ssd) has exceeded my expectations. Superb sound...

[jbpsrca]

Ahhh... my music server just died. Time to build a new one. Looks like CAPS v3 Carbon for me.

 

I'm pretty bad about understanding simple component connections, so I'd appreciate advice on the following:

- I will need to use my Lynx AES16e PCI Express audio card in this server (I dont plan to go USB at this time, my current Berkeley Alpha DAC connected AES/EBU thru an Antelope DA clock works nice, and I need the Lynx digital input into the server for ripping vinyl as well).

- I also need a CD drive for ripping as well (hard to pass up the $1 CDs at the local Goodwill - its amazing how much good music people throw out...). Would an external USB CD drive work best with the CAPS server? Or is there an advantage to an internal CD drive? If so , will it fit, how will it connect? Any recommends for brand / model etc?

Thanks!

[ted_b]

Ahhh... my music server just died. Time to build a new one. Looks like CAPS v3 Carbon for me.

 

I'm pretty bad about understanding simple component connections, so I'd appreciate advice on the following:

- I will need to use my Lynx AES16e PCI Express audio card in this server (I dont plan to go USB at this time, my current Berkeley Alpha DAC connected AES/EBU thru an Antelope DA clock works nice, and I need the Lynx digital input into the server for ripping vinyl as well).

- I also need a CD drive for ripping as well (hard to pass up the $1 CDs at the local Goodwill - its amazing how much good music people throw out...). Would an external USB CD drive work best with the CAPS server? Or is there an advantage to an internal CD drive? If so , will it fit, how will it connect? Any recommends for brand / model etc?

Thanks!

 

Stupid question, but if you are not doing USB and you also want the machine to do ripping, etc...why did you come to the conclusion that a CAPS Carbon is it??