High-Rez Music Server

By Scott Wilkinson • Posted: May 13, 2011

I'm interested in building a music server for high-rez audio files. I'd like something such as a Mac Mini but with more drive space and lower cost. Dell Zino perhaps? Most importantly, I need a player that will handle all music file formats, including lossless. Also, I need a DAC for under $1000. Any suggestions on how best to pull this off?

Scott Kaplan

I don't know that much about Windows-based music servers, so I asked Chris Connaker, founder of ComputerAudiophile.com, a great resource for this subject. He says the Dell Zino computers are very good, but for high-resolution audio, you should probably use USB rather than the built-in S/PDIF output, which is likely limited in its supported sample rates. He also recommends using eSATA rather than USB hard drives, because eSATA doesn't share the USB bus; using USB hard drives with a USB DAC can cause frustrating problems.

Then there's the software. Connaker recommends J. River Media Center as the best Windows app by far.

As for DACs, Connaker says there are many choices under $1000. He thinks the Wavelength Audio Proton is a great choice with support for resolutions up to 24/96 and a built-in analog volume control that can be adjusted via software. Other options include the new DAC*iT or iDAC from Peachtree Audio. Stereophile editor John Atkinson recommends the Cambridge Audio DacMagic, Rega DAC, and Musical Fidelity M1DAC.

If you have an A/V question, please send it to askscottwilkinson@gmail.com.

Comments

Submitted by aopu.mohsin on May 14, 2011 - 3:14pm.

Scott,

What do you think about NuForce uDAC-2? It is cheaper and has 24-Bit/96-KHz over USB.

Any ideas or suggestions?

Thanks.
// Aopu Mohsin

Submitted by aopu.mohsin on May 14, 2011 - 3:15pm.

"using USB hard drives with a USB DAC can cause frustrating problems"?!!

Submitted by Computer Audiophile on May 16, 2011 - 1:32pm.

Hi Aopu - Using devices that share the same USB bus as a DAC can cause drop-outs while listening and many other weird issues that may not seem related. For example, I had a 17" MacBook Pro in 2008. When I had a USB DAC connected to a couple specific USB ports the sound would drop-out whenever my keyboard woke up from sleeping. The MacBook Pro keyboards light up and go dark when not in use. The cause of the issue was the keyboard shared the internal USB bus with my DAC. Thus, keeping a USB hard drive off your system is one way to assure you aren't sharing a USB bus with a DAC.

Chris Connaker

Founder
Computer Audiophile