Killer Specs for High End PC in 2006

First of all, the recommendations for a Mac OS X based system is a great start. It sounds like you want more than just a music media server. In general, Apple's OS X and their Mac computers are really better geared for handling digital media like audio and video than PCs.

There are some good guidelines for building a Windows XP PC and optimizing the OS for best audio performance. The first reference, I would go to is Tascam who manufactures professional audio products (http://www.tascam.com/Products/US-428/W2k_XP_Optimize.pdf). They have a great guide to optimizing Windows XP and Windows 2000 for professional audio applications. For the most part, the same recomendations would hold true for a music server as well. You can use Google or any other Web search portal to find out how to best build a quiet, or even silent, PC.

For a high end Windows XP system, I would recommend the following:

- 1 GB RAM minimum from reputable manufacturer
- Intel chipset-based motherboard with IEEE 1394 (FireWire) controller and port(s) and AGP support and room for at least one PCI slot for soundcard
- ATI Radeon or nVidea AGP graphics card with required video output
- Intel P4 (single or dual core processor) with Hyperthreading
- 80 GB hard drive for Windows XP and audio applications
- Additional quiet drives (i.e., Seagate Barracudas): 1 drive for audio (7200 rpm or faster, SATA), 1-2 drives for video (7200 rpm or faster, SATA). I recommend Glyph Technologies FireWire drive systems as they are encased in quiet enclosures and optimized for best performance for digital media.
- Plextor DVD/CD optical drive for playback and writing
- Prosumer-level PCI soundcard from M-Audio, Emu, ESI, Echo Audio, RME Audio or Lynx Technologies with S/PDIF and/or Toslink digital output
- Aluminum silent or quiet PC case
- Noiseless or quiet 350W (minimum) power supply and silent cooling like heatpipes or ultra-quiet fans. Zalman makes very nice products for this.

Since a high end PC is going to cost some bucks, I really recommend buying a pre-built unit rather than rolling your own. Let a qualified technician with professional test equipment and experience sweat hardware and driver compatibility issues. For custom builders, I would recommend companies that build pro audio digital audio workstations (DAWs) for starters:

http://www.adkproaudio.com/systems/Hometheatre.cfm
http://www.carillondirect.com/clnweb/index.jsp?country=US
http://www.centralcomputer.com/systems/Pro_Audio/system.asp
http://www.hushtechnologies.net/

Some of these builders have the flexibilty of building a PC with any HTPC case of your choice.

The Glyph Technologies FireWire drives work very well with both Macs and PCs. Most Glyph customers are musicians like Herbie Hancock who use Macs exclusively for music production. If you have a large budget for hard drives and even RAID systems, go with archiving your entire libraray in uncompressed files like AIFF or WAV (a.k.a. PCM files); otherwise, you can use the lossless file compression formats like FLAC, ALE, etc. Besides FireWire for connecting the computer to the outboard media drives, you could go with a Network Attached Storage (NAS) RAID or multi-drive appliance that can sit somewhere else in your home. I would use 100Base-T or 1000Base-T (Giga-Bit) Ethernet connections. Wireless is great, but it's not bullet-proof and not as secure as a wired LAN. How would you like a slacker to tap into your big dollar rig and destroy your archived music files? That's one reason why I am not thrilled with the Squeeze Box technology.

Again, by the time you invest in the hardware to make a Windows XP sing (and do it quietly), you could have easily saved a lot of trouble buying a Mac system that does the same thing straight out-of-the-box. iTunes on a Mac is far better than iTunes on a PC since iTunes on a PC relies on the Windows OS K-Mixer that can compromise streaming digital playback of your tunes. iTunes has a superior user interface and it works seamlessly with iPods which are great for portable audio.

For digital-to-analog conversion, get a good DAC with S/PDIF input that has a clock and circuitry for minimizing jitter. On the other hand, you could get a USB DAC like the Wavelength Audio's Brick USB DAC that also minimizes jitter through using USB bus technology. Be careful regarding USB audio interfaces, because some USB devices don't incorporate the same technology as Wavelength Audio to reduce jitter. As hard drive-based music servers gain popularity, I believe we'll see more USB DACs on the market.

If you plan on using nearfield, active monitors, you'll still need a preamp or passive volume control to control your volume via analog means and to serve as a source switching device if you plan to use more than a PC as a music source. Some active monitors only have balanced 1/4" TRS or XLR inputs which means you would need a preamp with balanced outputs to extract the best audio performance. One of the nicer active monitors I have heard were the Dynaudio BM6as, which I feel are every bit as good as anything I've heard from an audiophile stand-mounted monitor.

My pleasure. I should mention that with a Windows XP system, it is best to use a soundcard with ASIO drivers. Windows XP's kernel mixer or K-Mixer could adversely effect the quality of the output. For that reason, Foobar 2000 ends up being the best media player for music. Windows Media Player and iTunes for the PC cannot be altered to bypass the K-Mixer.

To a certain extent, I agree with Ultraviolet on overspending on a music PC. It doesn't take a mega-processor to run a trouble-free processor, and that's why I didn't recommend a dual core Xeon motherboard. It doesn't take muc h processor power, but the system and OS should be optimized for best performance. For me, I am waiting for the Intel-powered Mac Mini to be introduced (hopefully at Macworld Expo next week). A current Mac Mini with Bluetooth and WiFi runs under $700. My main investment is in Glyph Technologies drives, which I do feel is worth the investment if you're going for a high end PC hard drive digital transport (and I am).

On the other hand, there is absolutely nothing wrong with climbing to the pinnacle of PC music server nirvana. If I had the bucks to buy a G5 Power Mac or an ultimate custom-built Windows rig, I would do it. The spec's I have provided earlier simply serve as a guide to those who want to pursue an excellent system. Who knows, I still might buy an A-Tech Fabrication HTPC HeatSync Case 6000 and roll my own, just to build a fanless system.

Kana813, I am not sure there would be a difference between Foobar on a PC conected to a DAC versus iTunes on a Mac connected to a DAC provided that the PC is using kernal streaming (i.e., bypassing Windows' k-mixer).

My point has always been that to get a PC to "sing" like a Mac, you have to invest in the necessary hardware and software to get bit-perfect audio out of a PC to feed to a DAC, so why not get a Mac and save money and frustration? Not only that, but as far as I know, Foobar 2000 and iPods don't exactly work together as seamlessly as iTunes and an iPod. I'm with Quadophile and other Mac enthusiasts in recommending a Mac.

By the way, the new Intel-powered iMac and MacBook Pro have built-in digital audio optical outputs, so there is absolutely no need for an external digital conversion device to send digital audio straight into a DAC with digital optical inputs like the Benchmark DAC-1 or the Apogee Mini-DAC. It will be interesting to see what other great products Apple will be introducing throughout this year. I'm going to Macworld in San Francisco later this week to talk to one of Apple's techies about digital audio. If anyone is interested, I'll post my findings.

I went to Macworld 2006 at San Francisco's Moscone Center. For Mac enthusiasts, the place was buzzing with the new dual core Intel-powered iMac and MacBook Pro. These machines are beautiful and do move fast. They are overkill for sole use as audiophile music servers, but they do have the power for those who are interested in transferring their vinyl collections into high resolution digital audio file formats. Unfortunately, the show didn't have much going for high end audio, but I wasn't expecting much either. What I did find was the following:

Maxtor had a Network Attached Storage (NAS) device connected via 100Base-T streaming high definition video to a very sharp plasma screen from a Mac. The Maxtor rep said this same NAS hard drive (250GB in this case) could easily stream high resolution digital audio signals as well.

LaCie and G Tech displayed their beautiful Aluminum-clad FireWire hard drives and FireWire RAID arrays. LaCie displayed their "mini" hard drives and hubs. The hubs combine a single hard drive with additional FireWire or USB ports. They were designed to stack perfectly underneath the Mac Mini PC with clearance to allow adequate ventilation to the Mac Mini. G Tech's hardware have that cool-looking G5 Power Mac perforated Aluminum enclosure. Since there was so much noise on the expo floor, it was very difficult to gage just how quiet these hard drive products could get.

JBL had their clear plastic-shelled speakers on display, but you can only imagine what the sound was like (not good at all). There was also a small booth promoting ADS Technologies' low cost DAC for vinyl and tape transcriptions into the digital format. They were touting the device as a high end audio application, but I wasn't impressed.

I spoke to an M-Audio representative who was at the Guitar Center (pro audio equipment retailer) exhibit. He said that M-Audio should be releasing drivers their digital audio interface products for Intel-powered Macs by this Summer. He explained that their Audiophile 192 soundcard does output bit-perfect digital audio through the S/PDIF coaxial output jack and that it fully complies with Max OS X's Core Audio. Of course, for Windows PCs, they offer ASIO drivers to bypass the Windows k-mixer.

There were numerous purveyors of iPod accessories like Griffin Technolgies, Shure, Eytomotic Research, Altec Lansing, JBL, manufacturers of multicolored Silicone iPod skins, high fashion cases and other neat little gadgets.

What was most disappointing was that there seemed to be fewer exhibitors than in previous years. Macworld used to take up both sides of the Moscone Center--North and South. The creative section that would normally feature many pro audio equipment manufacturers was dramatically trimmed down from what I remember. I know NAMM will take place in Southern California next week, and perhaps pro audio equipment manufacturers don't want to be stretched thin on expo expenses. I am sure that the CES Show in Las Vegas was probably a better forum for PC audiophiles anyway.

Prior to going to Macworld, I contacted a local Wavelength Audio dealer in Northern California, Synergistic Sound in Rohnert Park. Jim said he may try and setup a demo booth at next year's Macworld to show off Wavelength Audios's Cosecant and Brick USB DACs with an SET setup using a Mac Mini as an audiophile music server.