Hi all,
My son has started secondary school and needs access to the internet for homework etc.
The PC I built in 2003 and running Windows xp pro is at the end of its useful life now.
I shall go for a fairly big leap in hardware and software and seize the opportunity to build a PC suitable for music too.
I also want to get to grips with file types, compression etc to get the best from our music.
After a bit of hunting the internet I have found an Asus Z170-A motherboard may be my best option.
I shall also need to look into how the digital world of PC's will feed into my analogue amp etc.
My first question is what people think of the Asus Z170-A motherboard as a basis for my PC build?
My son has started secondary school and needs access to the internet for homework etc.
The PC I built in 2003 and running Windows xp pro is at the end of its useful life now.
I shall go for a fairly big leap in hardware and software and seize the opportunity to build a PC suitable for music too.
I also want to get to grips with file types, compression etc to get the best from our music.
After a bit of hunting the internet I have found an Asus Z170-A motherboard may be my best option.
I shall also need to look into how the digital world of PC's will feed into my analogue amp etc.
My first question is what people think of the Asus Z170-A motherboard as a basis for my PC build?
Asus and Gigabyte make excellent motherboards as do others. I was doing audio and HD TV recording on a 2004 single core Athlon but you would not want to do audio AND TV at the same time. Multiple core processors don't have that problem.
The analog output of the Gigabyte boards claim over 100 dB S/N and while I haven't measured it, I promise it's well north of 80 dB. The biggest problem with using analog is the potential for ground loops causing all sorts of noise.
G²
The analog output of the Gigabyte boards claim over 100 dB S/N and while I haven't measured it, I promise it's well north of 80 dB. The biggest problem with using analog is the potential for ground loops causing all sorts of noise.
G²
I use an MSI z170a motherboard.
It works fine with a Skylake 6700k.
However the BIOS is a bit strange to use.
It does odd things with my dual boot system where it sometimes doesn't show up the second boot drive as an option.
It took me ages to work out the overclocking system.
Finally managed to get 4.5GHz out of my processor.
I play music out to a USB DAC.
Never had any problems with that.
It works fine with a Skylake 6700k.
However the BIOS is a bit strange to use.
It does odd things with my dual boot system where it sometimes doesn't show up the second boot drive as an option.
It took me ages to work out the overclocking system.
Finally managed to get 4.5GHz out of my processor.
I play music out to a USB DAC.
Never had any problems with that.
[Slightly off topic]... have you considered using a raspberry pi for music alone ?
[Less off topic]... In keeping with the xp pro machine for audio, there might be a version of linux which you could install for audio only (or at least thats the impression that i have). If that works and nothing over heats (my old laptop had display driver issues & overheated with just about every linux distro)... with a quiet / silent power supply and cpu cooling you should be done!
Something like this : AudioPhile Linux | Quality audio on Linux
If the older PC was repurposed, you'd have a standalone rig. It takes hardly any CPU muscle for audio.
[Less off topic]... In keeping with the xp pro machine for audio, there might be a version of linux which you could install for audio only (or at least thats the impression that i have). If that works and nothing over heats (my old laptop had display driver issues & overheated with just about every linux distro)... with a quiet / silent power supply and cpu cooling you should be done!
Something like this : AudioPhile Linux | Quality audio on Linux
If the older PC was repurposed, you'd have a standalone rig. It takes hardly any CPU muscle for audio.
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Been building PCs for many years. Use Asus/Gigabyte mobos & graphics, Intel processors, Corsair memory and Western Digital HDD. They work. Obviously YMMV.
For streaming music, Raspberry Pi +DAC/Digi HAT board, NAS, Moode Audio/Volumio/etc. Any any tablet with a web browser is all you need.
For streaming music, Raspberry Pi +DAC/Digi HAT board, NAS, Moode Audio/Volumio/etc. Any any tablet with a web browser is all you need.
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Couple of choices.
Either use the PC to process the sound, either built in. or sound card, then send analogue to amplifier.
Or (better I.M.H.O.)
Stream (cast to device) a digital signal to a processor / DAC then amplifier.
I stream to a Marantz NA 6005 network server via wired ethernet.
To an F6 clone.
Storage will ideally be a solid state drive, plus at least two backups if you have a lot of files.
Music stores as FLAC files on the PC.
There are many other ways of doing this.
Either use the PC to process the sound, either built in. or sound card, then send analogue to amplifier.
Or (better I.M.H.O.)
Stream (cast to device) a digital signal to a processor / DAC then amplifier.
I stream to a Marantz NA 6005 network server via wired ethernet.
To an F6 clone.
Storage will ideally be a solid state drive, plus at least two backups if you have a lot of files.
Music stores as FLAC files on the PC.
There are many other ways of doing this.
Asus, Gigabyte, MSI, and ASRock are all reputable manufacturers, "bang for the buck", I'd have to give to ASRock- they are affiliated with Asus somehow. CPU's are very competitive right now, AMD is back in the game in a big way, and while Intel is great, AMD has some very compelling offerings both in price and very strong performance. Memory, while I tend to stick with Corsair, others such as Crucial, GSkill, Kingston, etc., are also acceptable. The most important part is to match memory specs to the motherboard. The motherboard specs will have memory speed and voltage parameters, pay attention to them, they can save you some headaches- and, no, you don't necessarily need THE fastest memory. Currently, I would say 8 gigs of memory is the minimum, if you can spend more go with 16, or even 32! have a party. The boot drive must be solid state, an SSD of reasonable size is now pretty affordable, Samsung is probably my top pick. A mechanical spinning drive is super cheap now -(2 terabytes $60 -$80), I have now stepped away from both Seagate and Western Digital as I reliability has dropped in both camps. HGST (Hitachi) seems solid, and is building a good reputation even among server farms. Install operating system on the SSD, with the other drive disconected, when done install the mechanical (if you need the storage space) and set it up as the data drive. SET UP A BACK UP PLAN!!!! -External drive, cloud, offsite server, all of the above maybe. Video cards (discrete) NVidia and AMD are both good, AMD does not have the driver problems of the past -so don't worry about that. Figure out your usage, games?, heavy /light, movies, then figure out your budget and go from there. Some motherboards have improved audio with vishay caps or a sound chip from cmedia or creative, but you may not even use that part, instead you may use (if the motherboard is equipped) the optical out, depending on what you want to connect to. You may prefer a DAC connected via USB or a discrete sound card, like an HT Omega (the C-media equipped products), I stay away from anything equipped with or made by CREATIVE- software and driver problems- and yes-I do hold a grudge against those people! There are many good choices for music software, Foobar is good and popular, I use Jriver Media center, I'm going to come out and say it-iTunes sucks- six ways from sunday, let the arguments commence. However, you may end up using a streaming service like Spotify, Tidal, Slacker, or Pandora primarily. Choice of Operating system, there is of course WIndows 10, and Linux flavors like Mint, PClinuxOS, Ubuntu, Kubuntu and about a thousand others (really), many people recommend a Rasberry based mini solution, they work, they are not as powerful as a full fledged pc, and there will be a learning curve, of course coming from Win XP, there will a learning curve with any of the above! Get a good case with fans, you don't have to spend a ton. PCmagazine and Maximum PC have build recipes at different price points, and you can always save a little now and upgrade later. Good Luck, Have fun.
BTW, that board is looks pretty nice, and feature packed, It aint cheap, that's for sure!
Anandtech review ASUS Z170-A Conclusion - The ASUS Z170-A Motherboard Review: The $165 Focal Point
Anandtech review ASUS Z170-A Conclusion - The ASUS Z170-A Motherboard Review: The $165 Focal Point
Why not re-purpose the old PC and install Daphile? If the old girl will run XP, it has more than enough grunt to run Daphile and, bigo, you have a PC-based music system better than most, if not all.
As you can see from my signature, I use an old PC from the tip (rubbish dump) and I have not ever had a problem.
As you can see from my signature, I use an old PC from the tip (rubbish dump) and I have not ever had a problem.
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