Article: CAPS v4 Maroubra and Bundoran

[stuarth]

A SOtM SATA filter provides clean power to the SOtM card. The SOtM card then connects to the motherboard via USB. You can also power the SOtM card via the external power connector that bypasses the internal power with something like the SOtM batter supply or SOtM linear supply.

 

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Jesus R

 

OK, it hooks up direct to USB, where the previous SOtM cards used the PCI slot to connect to the mainboard.

A clever little package, and it gets round one of the main drawbacks of the NUC platform which is the lack of expandability.

 

I like.

[stuarth]

I'm sure I missed a thing or two in the explanation. Please let me know what questions you have in the comments below.

 

Chris, will you be posting any tips on tweaking Win 8 by disabling un-necessary services and suchlike? This was covered in some detail back with the CAPS v2 article, but that info was specifically for windows 7 and may no longer apply to the newer O/S. Thanks.

[stuarth]

I have a newbie question.

 

I currently use an Apple iMac running Audirvana+ 2.0 as my source, but I'm interested in replacing it with a C.A.P.S, particularly the Maroubra due to its price and form factor.

 

Could the Maroubra be used as a dedicated music server only, or also as a personal computer? In other words, if I have a PC monitor, keyboard, mouse and printer, could I use it as a full-fledged desktop PC running Windows that I can not only listen to music with, but also use the Internet via Wi-Fi, watch videos, perform word processor task (such as MS Word) and stuff?

 

Also, does the Maroubra have a CD drive? Or do I need to purchase a separate drive and connect it to the PC? If the above is possible, I would like to use dBpoweramp to rip CD's.

 

Maroubra does not have a CD drive due to its tiny size but you could use a USB connected portable CD/DVD drive for ripping. That may not be a good idea however as ideally the music server does not have an Internet connection which you'd need for pulling down metadata for the disc in the drive. Likewise not a good choice for everyday computing, as for best sound you will disable firewall, windows update service and avoid using antivirus software. All a gamble if connected to the net.

[stuarth]

USB audio power supply, galvanical isolated, audiophile USB Power supply, isolated USB low noise transformer, USB DAC power supply, audiophile power supply

 

If you want a lower cost outboard USB power supply, try this one. Another advantage is that it requires only one USB cable as the power injector is a USB-B female to USB- B male end.

 

I currently use it with my Bel Canto U-Link with excellent results.

Thanks for that, I was looking at the iFi iUSB but this Aqvox unit may be better value.

[stuarth]

I could turn on the Wi-Fi when ripping CD's to pull down metadata, and turn off Wi-Fi and all other features and optimize system while listening to music, couldn't I?

Not sure if this has wifi capability out of the box. It's assumed you will be using a wired LAN.

If you did want to switch between audio-optimised and General use mode, something like Fidelizer could be the way to go. Recently reviewed here Fidelizer Pro 6.5 | AudioStream

I have used the freeware version with no problems and may pony up for the 'pro' version.

[stuarth]

Also, it may be worth waiting for the Intel NUCs with the Broadwell chips as it likely the dimensions will be similar to the ones in the review.

These are now on the market but three things holding me back:

1. No fanless cases available yet (plenty for haswell)

2. No SATA connectors, cannot add a second drive or that trick SOtM card

3. Uses a new generation SSD (mSATA replacement), not that widely available just yet in all capacities.

[stuarth]

I kind of have to figure out what the best sound source approach might be without making an audio Rube Goldberg setup. As of right now, I'm thinking about external NAS disks connected via Ethernet to a small size, sound only computer with an SSD of some sort for hosting the OS and JRiver, and have a "front end" system for ripping and downloading that connects to the same NAS, and use that for serving up wireless music, and the occasional HDMI video source.

 

Does that sound like a reasonable way to divide the labor?

 

Sounds like a good plan. Your i7 machine can act as a NAS at the back end, and a (headless) NUC up front to connect to the DAC. You will want a wireless network so you can control playback remotely using a phone or tablet though?

 

Just to clarify my post, the Haswell system as described by Chris would work fine. My comments were on the new Broadwell NUCs and are not necessarily show-stoppers. The fanless case may not be necessary for example.