Audio PC

I have not used Euphony Stylus or any of the Linux implementations.  Sorry.  I'm running Windows 10 PC because it's used as a multi-purpose computer, gaming computer and sound system.  I'm running an AMD 5900x based system with a Pink Faun S/PDIF card using AES/EBU as connection type.  Farad Super 3 as linear power supply for the Pink Faun.

@snratio,

Good post. I've got a real quiet Noctua CPU fan in my PC, but I'd certainly want to go fanless next time.

As for the power supply fans, there's some pretty good low-noise units available at reasonable prices nowadays.

Any decent PC nowadays should be virtually noiseless. 

I like these HP Business mini’s. Lots of processor choices and a long warranty. They are built solid. Only going to work for USB out. If you are worried about power, they use an external supply so ya can do what you want. No fan and quiet. https://www.hp.com/us-en/shop/mdp/business-solutions/hp-elitedesk-805-mini#!&tab=vao

@auxinput if you’re not interested in going dual boot, and are happy with Win 10 as your OS, maybe you aught to check out a trial version of Phil’s Audio Optimizer for free? There is a large PC music community and the information is quite good.

14 day trial for free
https://www.highend-audiopc.com/audiophile-optimizer
** If you do try it, please give some impressions? There will either be an immediate improvement heard in your system or not, there will be no waiting for it to run in. **

Fanless CPU heatsinks are good if you have a relatively low powered processor:

https://www.fullysilentpcs.com/product-category/cpu-coolers/?v=7516fd43adaa

These are actually HUGE heatsinks.  However, they are not good enough if you're running a 12-core CPU for gaming (like me).

I tried Fidelizer a long time ago and it actually did weird things to the audio on my desktop (in other words, it did not improve it).  It did however improve audio from my crappy laptop, so verdict is out.

I have found that running Windows with stock kernal timings seem to be the best.  In some cases, the windows WASAPI drivers sounded better than kernal streaming from JRiver. lol.  If I was doing a dedicated music server, then I would look at Euphony Stylus and doing a closed silent PC with a relatively lower power cpu.  However, I have specific needs for a general use computer that has to server as a miscellanous platform, gaming platform and music playback along with data redundancy for all my personal financial data (quickbooks, etc.).  So I had to pick very specific parts when building this.

So now I focus on how good the sound card is and how good the power supply is.  The Pink Faun S/PDIF with Farad power supply is just excellent!  I will eventually add on their custom OCXO clock, which should give me significant improvements.

NOTE ON PINK FAUN:  There appears to be a compatibility issue if you run Pink Faun card on a Linux platform using Intel CPU (sound breakup problems).  This is a weird problem with the chipset used in the Pink Faun card.  Pink Faun engineers and Linux engineers have worked on this issue for many years but nobody can figure out the root cause.  Intel CPU with Windows appears fine though.  There is no issue with AMD processor and general consensus is AMD actually produces better sound as a digital transport.