I have been using a dedicated PC as my main source for about two years. These are some of the tweaks I have used to improve sound quality in my Windows XP system.
1. Using high quality PSU. I recently upgraded to the Corsair HX850 with great results. You can read a review at HardOCP.com regarding the excellent DC output from this unit. Others suggest using a linear PSU but that usually means modifying and/or building your own.
2. Minimizing power draw by underclocking cpu (1.2ghz works for me) & going fanless. I also put my HDD in an external enclosure and use the esata port so that I am not using the PSU for power. At this point I only have the motherboard and CD-Rom drive plugged into the PSU. Going fanless can cause some heat related issues so you will want to use a high quality cpu heatsink. I have been a Thermalright fan for a long time so I use the AXP-140.
3. Remove all but necessary services (done in msconfig). Black Viper's website is helpful in determining which services are useless. The biggies are Themes, Remote Access & Indexing.
4. Use a media player that supports ASIO/Bit Perfect output. I use the JRiver Media Jukebox 12 because it has a GUI that I like along with support for ASIO. Foobar2000 is another great choice if you like a stripped down look with lots of configuration options and plugins.
These are just some of the basic tweaks I would recommend to anyone just getting started in the PC audio realm.
My System
Custom PC -> Tascam US-144 -> Benchmark Dac1 -> McIntosh MC7100 -> Proac Reference 8 Signature w Sub (Cardas/Audioquest Cables)
1. Using high quality PSU. I recently upgraded to the Corsair HX850 with great results. You can read a review at HardOCP.com regarding the excellent DC output from this unit. Others suggest using a linear PSU but that usually means modifying and/or building your own.
2. Minimizing power draw by underclocking cpu (1.2ghz works for me) & going fanless. I also put my HDD in an external enclosure and use the esata port so that I am not using the PSU for power. At this point I only have the motherboard and CD-Rom drive plugged into the PSU. Going fanless can cause some heat related issues so you will want to use a high quality cpu heatsink. I have been a Thermalright fan for a long time so I use the AXP-140.
3. Remove all but necessary services (done in msconfig). Black Viper's website is helpful in determining which services are useless. The biggies are Themes, Remote Access & Indexing.
4. Use a media player that supports ASIO/Bit Perfect output. I use the JRiver Media Jukebox 12 because it has a GUI that I like along with support for ASIO. Foobar2000 is another great choice if you like a stripped down look with lots of configuration options and plugins.
These are just some of the basic tweaks I would recommend to anyone just getting started in the PC audio realm.
My System
Custom PC -> Tascam US-144 -> Benchmark Dac1 -> McIntosh MC7100 -> Proac Reference 8 Signature w Sub (Cardas/Audioquest Cables)