Battery powered PC ?

[percy]

Originally posted by sangram
..this is for an 'audio PC'

most likely yes

[percy]

however does it (quality and type of power supply) really matter if you are simply extracting digital audio (from spdif) on the motherboard or soundcard to an external dac ?

[sangram]

Actually, it would matter most then. When it would probably not make too much of a difference is if you have a good soundcard with SPDIF and/or you pull the digital audio through USB, which is better than a two-bit sound chip that is used on most motherboards.

I would get a good card with digital out, preferably an entry-pro level card like the audiotrak Maya or the m-Audio Audiophile, and I wold have probably spent less than battery + linear reg + heatsinking and cooling, as these are available around the $150 mark, and don't have issues of heat and/or noise.

I have two digital outputs on my PC, one from the motherboard and the other from my m-Audio delta, and there is a SQ difference between the two. Quite a bit actually.

[dfdye]

Interestingly, our electronics shop guys are making a full linear PSU for a computer to get rid of noise for a computer running a VERY sensitive instrument. The instrument is so sensitive to noise, it is going to be housed inside a full room sized faraday cage! (Imagine copper mesh for as far as the eye can see!!!)

The PSU is still under development, but if you are interested I can see if they would be willing to share the schematic for general use.

[Ouroboros]

You can get the low-power VIA Mini-ITX PCs with a 12V PSU option. These are sometimes used if you want to put a PC in a sailing yacht to provide the navigation computer.

Although the fastest VIA mini-ITX board is only 1.3GHz, they are very small and high quality boards. Have a look at www.mini-itx.com for ideas.

[percy]

Originally posted by sangram
When it would probably not make too much of a difference is if you have a good soundcard with SPDIF and/or you pull the digital audio through USB

yeah thats the idea, it would be either the soundcard spdif OR the motherboard - or a pci-usb card - usb port, depending on what DAC I end up building.
Currently I have a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz which isn't bad and also has spdif output.

Originally posted by dfdye
Interestingly, our electronics shop guys are making a full linear PSU for a computer to get rid of noise for a computer running a VERY sensitive instrument. The instrument is so sensitive to noise, it is going to be housed inside a full room sized faraday cage! (Imagine copper mesh for as far as the eye can see!!!)

The PSU is still under development, but if you are interested I can see if they would be willing to share the schematic for general use.

Would love to see it!!