View Full Version : How to get the best out of Computer: A Easy guide to Computer Audio
A few days ago a friend reminded me that a lot of people still find using computer audio a complete mystery. So i decided to write this
I am not a computer expert but can make my way around a computer so I hope this helps
A computer can be a useful transport or even player in obtaining decent sounds, but for some it still remains a mystery, This is a simple guide in how to get up and running with a computer.
Most of what I am writing is based on a windows based systems but a lot of the principles remain the same no matter what system you using.
1) First of all you need a computer I would recommend a system with good memory 500gb would be suitable for a lot of people and good ram if you using JPLAY so you can use it in extreme version. I quite like using notebooks due to the quiet fan but most towers made are pretty quiet these days. So the choice is wide.
2) The next step is having a place to store music on your computer. You can use players like Itunes, Jriver and media monkey for this or you can just store them on a file. This players can be downloaded on the internet and some you will have to pay for.
3) Once we have a place to store music we then need to put some music on your computer. A) By downloading from a music site such as Itunes or HDTracks or Amazon, a lot of bands will now allow you to download from their site also B) By ripping a CD using something like perfect rip http://perfectrip.cdfreaks.com/ or EAC http://www.ehow.com/how_8351904_rip-wav-eac.html I use WAV as my choice of recording format but you could use FLAC, the main bit is not to use compression I personally choose not to use lossless it means less storage space on my computer.
We now have music stored on our computer so now we need a way to play it back. This will depend on your soundcard; some come with RCA outs but most come with optical out. Another means to play music is via a USB output. Once you decide what output to use you will generally need a DAC to convert the music into analogue and then sending this signal to your amplifier.
Another method is to stream your music. This allows you to put your music on a external hard drive and then send the music to a transporter/server like the logictech touch and them use a DAC as above.
Getting the best out of the player you choose
JPLAY: I use Jplay as my preferred choice and here is a quick guide to getting the best out of it. Use it in Jplay mini, to play music right click and copy and when in Jplay mini press the space bar to play the music.
To alter the controls for the best sound I use the following parameters. This is done by pressing the letters to change the parameters
a to set audio interface Kennel
b to set Buffer size Direct Link
e to set engine Extreme
h to set Hibernate mode Fullscale
o to set memory 500gb
s to set blitscreen Native
To get the best sound out of Itunes
Convert files to WAV to do this right hand click track and then press Create WAV file. If recording CDs Go into edit then press preferences, then click import settings use wav encoder and then go to custom settings and set to 44 100khz for general CD recording. I leave the equalizer on off if just using Itunes for playback but these days I would rarely use Itunes as I prefer the playback of Jplay mini.
I hope others can add advice about how to get the best out of other players
Also remember to back up your files
John,
Thanks for the info, and suggestions.
Regards,
Jim
John,
This looks like a suitable candidate for the Library/Knowledge. If you could expand on some points and perhaps add some screen shots, it could be a very useful addition.
Regards
Ok Barry I do that at the weekend Do I email you with full works first Barry as I tend to make few mistakes
Ok Barry I do that at the weekend Do I email you with full works first Barry as I tend to make few mistakes
Yes, either PM your draft to me or to any of the Fount Masters.
Cheers
1) First of all you need a computer I would recommend a system with good memory 500gb would be suitable for a lot of people and good ram if you using JPLAY so you can use it in extreme version.
If it is intended for people with not much computer knowledge, I think you do need to be a lot clearer I'm afraid. Your first point seems to recommend 500Gb of RAM..
2) The next step is having a place to store music on your computer. You can use players like Itunes, Jriver and media monkey for this or you can just store them on a file. This players can be downloaded on the internet and some you will have to pay for.
I didn't understand point 2 either and I've been mucking about upgrading PCs since 286 days. I store my music on the hard drive personally :(
I take it you meant that you can use those programs to organise your music for you or you can just organise the individual music files and folders on the hard drive manually?
Sorry for being critical.. If it really is for people who don't understand computers much, it needs to be written for them in mind rather than needing the knowledge beforehand to work out what might be being said.
I'm going to cause a stir now :lol: If using a computer is a less than relaxing, then why would you want to allow that to creep into your enjoyment of music? For some, it might be better to stick to plugging a tablet directly into your hifi via an audio out or using a media player with a docking station or, dare I say, stick to traditional means. Perhaps, if you're feeling wealthy, there are fancy ready made streaming devices out there that need no real technical knowledge..
Hi Nat
I written one with images etc that will be added to the libary latter so that should make it eaiser to understand
How you organise music will very I have mine in a music folder (which is on the hard drive) and also on media monkey and Itunes I cannot hear a difference between media monkey and Itunes and whilst I played with Jriver I do not use it myself. When setting these players up they will ask to import your music files
I do not see using a computer as hassle based, once set up, the hassle is setting up your files and this may not be something people want to do, listening to music is simple/hassle free
Ammonite Audio
23-11-2012, 08:38
If anyone wants to build a small and quiet (silent, even) PC music source that does not break the bank, then I recommend taking a look at Item Audio's recipe at http://www.itemaudio.com/index.php/forum/32-computer-audio-recipes/68-third-generation-basic-t1-recipe.html . This recipe has been the subject of an immense slagging-off over at PFM but I cannot understand why anyone should object to such good advice being published for free - it's not as though anyone has to buy any parts from Item. I also recommend J River Media Centre software, which costs $50 but, importantly, takes care of accurate ripping and organising the music library. More importantly, to my ears, music sounds better played via J River than Foobar. I'm not familiar with JPlay but J River is a really good option for anyone who wishes to have something stable, well supported, and which just gets on with the job, with minimum faffing around.
Yes been very tempted and what they reporting makes a lot of sense around striping non essential parts. I think the approach Tim has taken or using Jplay really pays in terms with performance.
Today I had a quick listen to Jplay 5 and was pretty impressed I report my findings elsewhere when I fully get to grips with it my system. I will try it with one and two netbooks and I let you know my findings
If anyone wants to build a small and quiet (silent, even) PC music source that does not break the bank, then I recommend taking a look at Item Audio's recipe at http://www.itemaudio.com/index.php/forum/32-computer-audio-recipes/68-third-generation-basic-t1-recipe.html . This recipe has been the subject of an immense slagging-off over at PFM but I cannot understand why anyone should object to such good advice being published for free - it's not as though anyone has to buy any parts from Item. I also recommend J River Media Centre software, which costs $50 but, importantly, takes care of accurate ripping and organising the music library. More importantly, to my ears, music sounds better played via J River than Foobar. I'm not familiar with JPlay but J River is a really good option for anyone who wishes to have something stable, well supported, and which just gets on with the job, with minimum faffing around.
Seems a good little guide. Interesting that they sell a cut down version of XP for people. I've seen cut down versions before but you never know what they're cut down for exactly.
Edits aside, I think John's guide is spot on, particular for the budding technophobe. For those looking to build their own there's already some v.good examples here on AOS (Gazjam, Keiths and Tim for example).
I wouldn't like to see the slanging match at PFM repeated here, but I don't think the “Item audio” recipe is entirely good advice and appears to contain some contradictions. Added to that are some ideas which are hard to take at face value e.g, “Its.USB3 port is driven by the Renesas chipset which has proved to be one of the best-sounding implementations available” or “Basically, OOE trumps HyperThreading”.
A clear(er) statement of design goals might have helped, but it seems to me the choice of hardware is predicated on these two things in particular: (a) it will be used with USB output to a DAC and (b) the best PSU is a multi rail linear PSU.
The first means using a very expensive SoTM USB card to get the “best” results according to Item Audio, which AFAIK can only be bought from Item Audio in the UK. I think AOS members have shown you can get excellent SQ from standard m/board USB ports.
The second enforces the SMPS bad versus linear PSU good mantra and so excludes the alternative option of basing your hardware choice on one of the small number of Atom based m/boards with a 12V DC input that can be powered from an external AC power adapter, some of which, like the Seasonic or FSP make, operate very efficiently at level V. These may generate no more noise than a PicoPSU. The later is suggested for use by Item Audio who then goes on to say this type of supply is particularly bad for noise.
The DH61DL in itself is a decent m/board, there a several posts over at silentpcreview about its low power consumption etc. But then Item Audio picks a 35W TDP Celeron as the preferred CPU. TDP is not the same thing as power draw, and if you do as is suggested and use such a CPU with a fanless tower cooler then that immediately restricts your case choice. It's not going to fit in one of those pretty Streacom cases. Your case and cooling solution needs to be based on real world power and heat figures not just Intel's quoted TDP figure. Some analysis done at xbitlabs about Intel “T” part CPUs and Sandybridge Celerons might help:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/core-i5-2500t-2390t-i3-2100t-pentium-g620t.html
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/celeron-g540-g440.html
One person at least over at PFM seemed to get concerned that they couldn't find a “T” part Celeron to buy. At no point does Item Audio attempt to analysis the minimum computational power needed for high quality audio playback, and this must take OS and over software into account. If you add computational power needed to the case/cooling solution of your choice, the answer isn't necessarily a “T” part dual core Sandybridge Celeron.
Both Keiths and Tim have shown an Intel ATOM system can be used for an audio server, either with Linux or Windows software, and the CPU is hardly stressed. I had an old Thinkpad T22 with an ancient single core 900MHz Celeron CPU which could run WinXP, and was OK to surf and do basic office stuff on. A modern single core G440 should knock spots off that and be fine for use in an audio server, particularly if using Linux with it's low resource demands.
I was going to get a Transporter from Item audio but because Jplay has improved so much in the last few weeks I no longer feel the need. Jplay 5 with Foobar in full hibernation mode is very impressive its another leap in playback as soon as it becomes commercially available I update the guide and add screenshots
If anyone wants to build a small and quiet (silent, even) PC music source that does not break the bank, then I recommend taking a look at Item Audio's recipe at http://www.itemaudio.com/index.php/forum/32-computer-audio-recipes/68-third-generation-basic-t1-recipe.html . This recipe has been the subject of an immense slagging-off over at PFM but I cannot understand why anyone should object to such good advice being published for free - it's not as though anyone has to buy any parts from Item. I also recommend J River Media Centre software, which costs $50 but, importantly, takes care of accurate ripping and organising the music library. More importantly, to my ears, music sounds better played via J River than Foobar. I'm not familiar with JPlay but J River is a really good option for anyone who wishes to have something stable, well supported, and which just gets on with the job, with minimum faffing around.
Thanks for the heads up Hugo, I'm thinking of going down that road.
Paul
I wouldn't like to see the slanging match at PFM repeated here, but I don't think the “Item audio” recipe is entirely good advice and appears to contain some contradictions
Agreed.
There is a lot in the Item Audio 'recipe' I would personally probe further, I don't necessarily disagree with it, but their advice on boards and CPU's is as you point out flawed. There are many, if not thousands of people using Atom's quite happily, mines playing right now and it's load is between 2~3% on a D525 1.8 GHz Intel Atom Dual-Core CPU. I don't know of any commercially produced streamers that use performance CPU's, in fact if I am honest mine is overkill. I have had good results from single core 1.0GHz processors, so see no need for a dual core Celeron.
I think sufficient RAM of high quality and low latency are far more important points than the CPU, as is the power supply.
I can't really comment on the USB SoTM as its not something I have tried.
It's not a bad list and for the uninitiated it could be a start point, but like anything many will take it as gospel and follow it thinking its the only way, which we all know couldn't be farther from the truth. Its a guide, nothing more than that and should be treated as such. Just like a SatNav you can follow it blindly if you wish, but you should still be able to read a map and make an informed choice about which route you take.
Seasonic as you point out make some extremely efficient and high quality powers supplies. Its been mentioned before that SMPS does not always = bad. Small Walwart plugs or cheap laptop bricks yes, but there are some very efficient and electrically silent SMPS's available as well.
I fitted the SotM card in a recent PC build and I can say its EXTREMELY good.
Good upgrade over Mb USB ports. Expensive but worth the money IMO.
I fitted the SotM card in a recent PC build and I can say its EXTREMELY good.
Good upgrade over Mb USB ports. Expensive but worth the money IMO.
I was wondering if anyone at AOS has used one of these SoTM cards. In what sense is it "EXTREMELY GOOD"? What's the rest of the USB audio chain (cable/converter/DAC)? Was it the PCI or PCI-E model, and was it powered independently, or not? Did you compare it to £20 standard powered USB card?
I'm at AOS Chris and I've used one? :)
(Check my posts I've been 'ere a while)
It was fitted as a potential upgrade to the digital source and it improved it.
Compared to the standard USB connection from server it sounded a LOT better.
What Dac etc is irrelevant (to me) as it was a direct comparison between server WITH card to server without.
After the source the equipment was exactly the same, no change.
As a control I fitted a USB3 card to the same PCI socket and it didn't sound any better than usb ports on the motherboard.
Ammonite Audio
04-12-2012, 16:43
One potential downside of the SOtM USB card is its incompatibility with certain DACs and USB converters, particularly M2Tech HiFace 1.0 models (like my Evo). Apparently the HiFace 2.0 is compatible.
I'm at AOS Chris and I've used one? :)
(Check my posts I've been 'ere a while)
Yes that's obvious, but until today has anyone on AOS posted about actually using a SoTM card? You seem to be the first.
Compared to the standard USB connection from server it sounded a LOT better.
Can you expand on what "better" means in this context?
It was fitted as a potential upgrade to the digital source and it improved it.
What Dac etc is irrelevant (to me) as it was a direct comparison between server WITH card to server without.
After teh source the equipment was exactly the same, no change.
Different DACs impement USB in different ways, that info might be relevant.
As a control I fitted a USB3 card didn't sound any better than usb ports on the motherboard.
Fair, enough.
cool.
Yes that's obvious, but until today has anyone on AOS posted about actually using a SoTM card? You seem to be the first.
Can you expand on what "better" means in this context?
It sounded better playing music mate.
Different DACs impement USB in different ways, that info might be relevant.
Wouldn't want to comment honestly on how it might sound with different dacs Chris, only piped up to tell how it improved the sound quality of the server I fitted it with.
From the server it was a Async usb/spdif converter into a non async 24/192 dac.
...
Well is it 5%, or 10% better? Or, is it such a revelation I should rent my arse out ASAP until I could pay for one?
So that was USB in on v-link 192, then S/PDIF co-ax out to co-ax in on Rega DAC?
What about straight USB to USB in on the Rega DAC?
Well is it 5%, or 10% better? Or, is it such a revelation I should rent my arse out ASAP until I could pay for one?
So that was USB in on v-link 192, then S/PDIF co-ax out to co-ax in on Rega DAC?
What about straight USB to USB in on the Rega DAC?
No idea mate, my ears are different to yours.
You can get the card on home trial, see what you think yourself.
I'm happy not to have your ears, I've no idea what's been in them.
So no feedback on the straight USB chain then?
Sorry pal.
This of any use? http://bit.ly/SK4ExI
http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?p=389283#post389283 :)
Sorry pal.
This of any use? http://bit.ly/SK4ExI
What you've put your personal experience of the SoTM on google?
I'll not bother to ask next time, pal. Or, should that be muppet?
Aww..somebody needs a hug.... :D
Did you not check http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?p=389283#post389283 I linked for you?
Its opinions of the Rega usb direct input, you were asking about that?
I just got the official release of Jplay 5. This is a another big step in audio performance, a lot bigger soundstage and detail yet no fatigue. Even if you tried it before its worth another try just to see is it makes a difference.
I will update the original article as soon as I get time
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