Building a DIY Music Server

[Ianderson]

Nenon - You mentioned shooting higher than an Innuos Statement, so this unit would sound better? Curiously if you were to produce another, what would one of these cost?

[Ianderson]

@Nenon

 

What a fabulously informative and detailed post - thank you! 
 

Where you commented...

“I am not sure what thought process triggered your question. But if you are wondering if someone else can build you a DIY server that sounds better than the Statement and costs less, I don't really know if that's easily achievable. I feel like you can only pick two items from the list below but not all 3: 

1. Someone else to build it.

2. Cost is no more than the Statement.

3. Sounds better than the Statement. 

And lastly don't forget that a DIY server does not have a good resale value and you don't have support and warranty from a well-established company. 

 

Sorry for the long answer to what seemed like a simple question.”

 

Reading the tread I suspected the builds were will north of 10k in parts. Where I’m coming from is this... I’ve been a strong proponent of Analog, yet my Esoteric spinner has been a good 2nd place. I have a Mac Mini and DAC and never liked the SQ, and it sat. Hearing the Digital has come a long way I borrowed an Aqua La Scala Optologic DAC and the Antipodes Cx / Ex. For the first time digital has pulled deeply into the music. This I can live with, the cost I can’t. 
 

I also thinK the digital will improve immensely and that products will depreciate considerably as a result. Therefore buying used appeals. 
 

I picked up a decent deal on a almost new Innuos Zen Mkiii and dipped my toes in the waters. It’s no where near the price points of the Antipodes I listened to. This along with my Ayre Codex are just ok, my Esoteric is vastly superior.
 

Important context for me is, the intrinsic market value of the Esoteric is perhaps $1500 these days, and when I put the Innuos / Ayre combo up against it worth perhaps $2700, the Esoteric is better. 
 

The other part Is my financial priorities, I’m looking for a used Aqua DAC, that doesn’t leave me with Innuos Statement kind of money. After reading your wonderful tread, I though perhaps I can build something that might get close to the SQ of a Statement (or the Antipodes) for 30% of the cost. By the sounds of it, it will be well higher than that!

 

 

 

[Ianderson]

16 hours ago, StreamFidelity said:

@Nenon Thank you for your very interesting considerations.

 

For me, the advantages of DIY music servers are the transparency and the easy interchangeability of the installed components. There are many standards for computers. For example, one USB PCIe card can easily be exchanged for another. Or a RAM memory stick is exchanged for an ECC RAM. I agree that power supply is one of the keys to increasing SQ. Good external LPS are expensive. The nice thing about DIY is that you can start with an inexpensive power supply and later buy a high-quality one - if the budget allows it.

Agreed, that is a great reason to rationalize going the DYI route!

[Ianderson]

In the grand scream of things a higher priced case of a) better quality b) more room is universally advantageous. If one is shooting for great SQ, the price is secondary. Besides, the case is chump change compared to the rest of the BoM. (particularly the LPS’s)

 

As an aside I heard a rumour that Innuos was going to release a audio grade Network Switch for around $3k. Not sure how valid that might be.