DIY Project High Performance Audio PC with high quality wiring

kelvinwsy · March 5, 2020

4 hours ago, StreamFidelity said:

The fis Audio PC fits my equipment quite well.

The next chapter comes:

2.2 Operating system

Opinions differ on the operating system. There are countless opinions on this. And even if the operating system of choice has been found, there are many versions and even more implementation and administration options. I tried a few things, but not most of them. Either it failed because of the knowledge, but much more because of the lack of time and also because of my ability to suffer.

I use Windows because I am very familiar with it. Windows has the big advantage for me that it is widespread. This means that updates and drivers are always available very quickly. I tried Windows Server 2019. It's very close to Windows 10 from the user interface. Stripped down with the Audiophile Optimizer 3.00 and in the shell replacement, it was very good in terms of sound. But ASUS RAMCache III was not running, I discarded this solution and went back to Windows 10 Pro. I also thought about a RAM boot solution during installation. And I also thought about installing an already stripped down Windows. There are tools like NTLite or WinReducer. I think it's a very clever approach.

The question I asked myself was how much time do I want to spend studying and trying out? I decided: none at all. My opinion can change at some point. With this project I follow the pragmatic approach:

- Install Windows 10 Pro via USB stick
- reduce with Audiophile Optimizer 3.00
- manual tuning

2.2.1 Install Windows 10 Pro via USB stick

I love simple solutions and that's one. Simply download the Media Creation Tool from Microsoft, insert a USB stick and let the program do everything for you. Finished! The USB stick is then bootable. During the installation I avoid logging in with the Microsoft account (it works without it) and deny all questions for better support such as voice control, etc.

When the installation is finished, I will set up remote access next. For remote control, I use my iMac and use Microsoft Remote Desktop Beta. When setting up, you must select Play sound: "On the remote PC". Otherwise there will be no sound from the speakers during the remote session.

After that, the latest updates and drivers should be loaded. This is very easy with Windows Update. Then the test is carried out in the Windows device manager. If all menu trees are closed as in the picture below everything is fine.

After successful setup, at least 140 processes are active. Far too much for audio operation. More on that later.