DIY Server beginners guide

[audiogurujax]

Hi, I am new to custom audio server, after playing around with the MicroRendu and then Ultrarendu, I am now interested in jumping into the dedicated audio server, I am a full time IT consultant, yes I know computers in and out and I can put together a PC with one hand behind my back, but I don't have the knowledge in terms of what to look on a motherboard for audio, what are the best options for MB, Case, PS, HD, Memory, ETC.. It will be nice if we can start a Topic where you can have the basics of DIY audio servers with links to the best MB, Cases, PS, OS, Software, components etc. Like a starting point for people interested in building their own servers. 

[ALRAINBOW]

Sorry I did completly read your post so I can do all you need.  

Ask away. 

The best operating system for sound is win SER 2016 data with gui edition 

down load the evail 180 day trial 

go to AUDIO OPTIMIZER website 

its 100.00 amd you get 5 codes for 5 machines it’s al in 100 purchase 

Main board needs to have win SER 2016 drivers for network jacks two is a must to have 

the size is fine if it’s full size atx or micro but full is better it has more slots 

Intel I7 and either 6600K or 7700K 

ram 8 but buy in two 4 gig sticks speed does not matter 

hard drives this gets sticky 

the new M2 drives are very fast but you need a main board that supports them and win2016 too. A really fast is drive is not needed and in fact slower sata 2 sound better 

but loads slow. But once it’s loaded it’s fine. 

Sata is more simple and you only need about 60 gigs as it’s only for the OS setup with what ever player you pick. 

Download the server to an iso and make a bootable thumb drive 16 gig min for thumb drive 

mince you up and running go into bios 

turn off any not needed perifials and any turbo or speed step or hyper threading. The point is keeping the cpu running the same and not being allowed to change 

then go into cpu , ram and dram. 

Make all you can non auto. Don’t change any parameters now. 

I can post psu and internal dc to atx Boards to use 

is this fine so far. ??  If you wish make a new post and I can fill

it in as asked or mod this one.  

[Lebouwsky]

Quality watts have a big impact on sound, but it’s expensive. A power supply like Sotm sps500 (50 watt) or Paul Hynes sr4 delivers that quality at an affortable price. If you don’t need the horsepower, go for a lightweight server. 

[One and a half]

A computer that uses off the shelf parts for audio is no better off than a fully assembled machine or laptop.

The main issue is power supplies and containment of RF and capacitive current paths that infest and corrupt DACs a not trivial undertaking.

A computer is a satisfying method to playback music to a limit and this needs to be realised.

On the other hand newer streamers have the hand on noise containment, with disadvantages of the software operation and limited file sample rate. I’m waiting for the right streamer to come along, still waiting.

 

There’s the challenge also of what treatment needs to addressed with AC power and a suitable signal to the DAC.

 

[audiogurujax]

Well I can get any version of windows for free I have an MSDN licence, what Motherboard would be the best one BTW I want to use the H5 box from HD plex, In terms of renders I would like to find an ethernet to i2s(hdmi) renderer. I totally dislike USB why are we using a format that is so susceptible to corruption that you can not run it longer than 20ft? At work we test data corruption and byte loss on cables specially cat 6A cables and damm USB cables are bad!!! there are more bit errors on a 2 feet USB cable than on a 200 ft cat 6 cable. And FYI guys I tested various HighEnd USB cables and only one of them was 90ohms  most of theme where 100ohm which is borderline acceptable but far from optimum. I now make my own USB cables using WL Gore RCN-9800 aerospace USb2 cable https://www.gore.com/sites/g/files/ypyipe116/files/2017-07/GORE-Aerospace-High-Speed-Data-Cables-Military-Catalog-071317.pdf

 

I measured less packet loss on 2 meters of this cable than on 1 meter of Audioquest Carbon. BTW Gore Ethernet cable is also amazing!

 

 

[tapatrick]

8 hours ago, audiogurujax said:

Well I can get any version of windows for free I have an MSDN licence, what Motherboard would be the best one BTW I want to use the H5 box from HD plex, In terms of renders I would like to find an ethernet to i2s(hdmi) renderer. I totally dislike USB why are we using a format that is so susceptible to corruption that you can not run it longer than 20ft? At work we test data corruption and byte loss on cables specially cat 6A cables and damm USB cables are bad!!! there are more bit errors on a 2 feet USB cable than on a 200 ft cat 6 cable. And FYI guys I tested various HighEnd USB cables and only one of them was 90ohms  most of theme where 100ohm which is borderline acceptable but far from optimum. I now make my own USB cables using WL Gore RCN-9800 aerospace USb2 cable https://www.gore.com/sites/g/files/ypyipe116/files/2017-07/GORE-Aerospace-High-Speed-Data-Cables-Military-Catalog-071317.pdf

 

I measured less packet loss on 2 meters of this cable than on 1 meter of Audioquest Carbon. BTW Gore Ethernet cable is also amazing!

 

 

Awesome! Aerospace starquad cables

[Cebolla]

17 hours ago, audiogurujax said:

DIY Server beginners guide

 

Hi, I am new to custom audio server, after playing around with the MicroRendu and then Ultrarendu, I am now interested in jumping into the dedicated audio server, I am a full time IT consultant, yes I know computers in and out and I can put together a PC with one hand behind my back, but I don't have the knowledge in terms of what to look on a motherboard for audio, what are the best options for MB, Case, PS, HD, Memory, ETC.. It will be nice if we can start a Topic where you can have the basics of DIY audio servers with links to the best MB, Cases, PS, OS, Software, components etc. Like a starting point for people interested in building their own servers.

 

Mmm - the IT consultant in me still cringes at the word "server" being hijacked this way by the general computer audio community, especially, when it often leads to the strange notion that the computer running the audio file player application is somehow "serving" those files to its USB tethered DAC!

 

How do you do it with no apparent second look, especially someone with your background and still new to computer audio?

[ALRAINBOW]

13 hours ago, tapatrick said:

Awesome! Aerospace starquad cables

What you want is win SER 2016 with AO 2.20 beta 5 running 

you want any main bOard that that has win SER drivers available. 

Usb 3.0 at the rear don’t bother with a usb Audio card unless you plan to use a ext usb hardrive for music 

buy the hd plex 200 watt psu with his 400 watt dc to atx supply 

use the cables supplied as follows 

the cpu 

the atx 24 pin 

the 5 volt output on the board for the OS alone 

use the ext 5 volt at the rear of the 200 watt psu for the music drives be it internal or external. 

If not ssd drives you need to use the 4 pin on the 400 watt dc atx board for spinning drives 

but only use it for one drive either OS or music 

don’t share the voltage buss.  

If you use a spinning drive for music this is fine if internal sata connveted 

I do Recomend a ssd drive for the os a simple 120 gig is more than enough space for Windows and any players you use. 

Do not use the same drive for music and OS it degrades the sound. 

Use the rear 5 volt buss for the ssd drive alone 

if you need or want a usb Audio card use the buss from the dc atx board. 

Once it’s up and loaded and all updated go into bios and Disable any hyper or speed step 

make all settings manual meaning no auto for ram ,dram , cpu and clocks. 

An Intel cpu I 6600 or 7700 k make sure you buy the K version it’s far better and of someone tells you it does not matter go away from them lol. 

There setup is not good enough to show it.  Main boards I like are MSI or Asus 

of you use roon in gui you will need a video card a cheap gt420 is fine and make sure it only a 25 watt model less power used from your atx board 

fanless or not. If you go fan don’t use the 12 volt buss from the atx it’s noisey power back to Main board 

if you go fanless don’t worry about heat so much but get a case that can get close to heat disapation needed. The point is your not going to use near its capacity unless your upsampling all the time to dsd 256 or 512. 

Ram buy two 4 gig sticks try 4 and 8 see what sounds better to you. 

hope this helps someone