Somebody went to a lot of trouble to build a HTPC "from scratch," starting with the case. (The case itself weighs about 20 kilograms.) Many of the parts are really "tweaked out," and I'm wondering, how much return does one get for the time and money invested in tweaks like these? For example:
Cast iron feet on the case.
Copper tape and a glob of glue from a glue gun goes to these capacitors on the MB.
Aluminum covers over the video and sound cards.
Poor guy couldn't control his excitement with the hot glue gun again, this time on the capacitors of the sound card.
Notice the capacitors and resistors added not only to the 5VDC/12VDC power connectors, but also to the fan of the power supply.
There are others, but you get the idea.
What I'm curious to know is, how different is the quality of the resulting sound/video likely to be compared with a compilation of unmodified versions of the same components?
Thanks!
cdwitmer
Cast iron feet on the case.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Copper tape and a glob of glue from a glue gun goes to these capacitors on the MB.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Aluminum covers over the video and sound cards.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Poor guy couldn't control his excitement with the hot glue gun again, this time on the capacitors of the sound card.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Notice the capacitors and resistors added not only to the 5VDC/12VDC power connectors, but also to the fan of the power supply.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
There are others, but you get the idea.
What I'm curious to know is, how different is the quality of the resulting sound/video likely to be compared with a compilation of unmodified versions of the same components?
Thanks!
cdwitmer
Can't hurt?
I think this guy is on the right track, computers are full of radiated digital noise, noise on the power supply lines and physical vibrations. I always try to use a seperate power supply cable for the HD and CD drives, reasoning that the surge from the CD spinning up and down and the laser off and on can't help the HDs circuitry. Similar theory as bi-wiring speakers?
Physically dampning the caps seems like a good idea. Shielding the cards makes sense too. I wonder if there is a way to terminate the unused PCI slots? A reason to use a mATX motherboard instead, since it would have less slots?
Since this appears to be a Home Theater PC, I'm sure noise from the PC is a big concern.
I'm hunting for a USB 2.0 to SPDIF 24/96 (or 192!) for the purpose of getting a cleaner digital signal outside of the PC.
David
I think this guy is on the right track, computers are full of radiated digital noise, noise on the power supply lines and physical vibrations. I always try to use a seperate power supply cable for the HD and CD drives, reasoning that the surge from the CD spinning up and down and the laser off and on can't help the HDs circuitry. Similar theory as bi-wiring speakers?
Physically dampning the caps seems like a good idea. Shielding the cards makes sense too. I wonder if there is a way to terminate the unused PCI slots? A reason to use a mATX motherboard instead, since it would have less slots?
Since this appears to be a Home Theater PC, I'm sure noise from the PC is a big concern.
I'm hunting for a USB 2.0 to SPDIF 24/96 (or 192!) for the purpose of getting a cleaner digital signal outside of the PC.
David
Onkyo makes a nice cheap USB DAC: SE-U55X
I don't know if Onkyo's "Wavio" SE-U55X is being sold outside Japan yet (I know the SE-U55 is available outside Japan), but if it is, it might be worth checking out. That has some pretty nice specs. They have something they call Vector Linear Shaping Circuitry to eliminate pulse noise and smooth out the analog signal. They claim a 110 dB S/N ratio. I don't know if that applies to the inputs as well as the outputs. It also comes with an IR remote controller.
I don't know if Onkyo's "Wavio" SE-U55X is being sold outside Japan yet (I know the SE-U55 is available outside Japan), but if it is, it might be worth checking out. That has some pretty nice specs. They have something they call Vector Linear Shaping Circuitry to eliminate pulse noise and smooth out the analog signal. They claim a 110 dB S/N ratio. I don't know if that applies to the inputs as well as the outputs. It also comes with an IR remote controller.
High grade case parts for HTPC / Audio computers
This website is entirely in Japanese, but they manufacture an incredible array of case components for serious HTPC and audio computers. They will even machine a fan entirely out of aluminum if you want it! All kinds of materials for deadening vibrations, as well as for absorbing radiation and noise of all types. Plus every conceivable kind of heat sink. I'd post links to all the pictures, but there are just too many.
"Japan Value Co., Ltd."
This website is entirely in Japanese, but they manufacture an incredible array of case components for serious HTPC and audio computers. They will even machine a fan entirely out of aluminum if you want it! All kinds of materials for deadening vibrations, as well as for absorbing radiation and noise of all types. Plus every conceivable kind of heat sink. I'd post links to all the pictures, but there are just too many.
"Japan Value Co., Ltd."
Radical
This one is radical, but changing that poor noisy switching PSU by some toroids would have some big effects.
Problem is you would have to stabilize all the voltages, and the +5v is usually around 20A.
Audio boards with external dacs and analog stages (the professional ones) is the way to go too.
This one is radical, but changing that poor noisy switching PSU by some toroids would have some big effects.
Problem is you would have to stabilize all the voltages, and the +5v is usually around 20A.
Audio boards with external dacs and analog stages (the professional ones) is the way to go too.
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