New PC help please

[Zoidburg]

Afternoon all,

I have just pushed the button on a new PC to use as a media centre / music system in my living room. It will be mainly used for downloading / streaming TV & films (connected to 50 inch HDTV) and listening to Music (via hi-fi system).

I will be running Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit) and was wondering how to get the best out of it for music. Currently my old soon-to-be retired pc is connected via usb to my CA dacmagic and I was not planning on changing this connection due to the simplicity of it mainly. Usually I listen to mp3's and FLAC's via VLC media player but wondered if I would be better suited using a dedicated music programme. can anyone offer any advise?

Also are there any settings within windows I should be looking to tweek that might improve the overall music performance of my machine?

Any advice is much appreciated.

cheers,

[WAD62]

Hi Ben, I think the main thing with W7 in terms of audio quality is that your player should support WASAPI, this bypassed the windows kernel, and any chance of unwanted resampling.

I've no experience of VLC, but my guess is that doesn't, as it's a video processor too...

A lot of folks use Foobar, myself I use Winamp which is fine if configured correctly, there's some useful info on this thread...

http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?20686-Software-media-players-tricks-and-tips

As for the USB connection there are a few tweaks you could make there, at a wide variety of costs...but it mainly boils down to isolating the DAC from the computer's RF interference, so at opposite ends of the scale I give you...

http://hifimediy.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=122

...or at the other end of the scale!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/iFi-Micro-iUSB-Power-Supply/dp/B00AU07NZA

Then there're different USB cables, well certainly in cost...and now the raging arguments begin :eyebrows:

P.S. One very cheap option is to remove the 5v pin from the USB cable, as your DAC is self powered

[purite audio]

JRiver media centre is a complete solution,everything from ripping, to tagging to album art to playback.
Keith.

[Zoidburg]

Thank you both I will have a good read up now!

[brian2957]

+1 for JRiver .

[Ammonite Audio]

+1 for JRiver .

...... and from me too. A bargain at $50 and IME results in better sound quality than Foobar.

[Mark Grant]

another +1 for JRiver

http://www.jriver.com/

Before you start tinkering with a new PC its best to make some recovery discs or even better install Acronis True Image or similar and save an image of the hard drive then you can easily start again by restoring the image.

[.mus]

Yup, JRiver is excellent, and it partners really nicely with JRemote on Apple devices, or JRiver's own Gizmo on Android devices - very good remote control, so no need to have a screen and other peripherals attached.
Some good info on setting JRiver up here (http://www.computeraudiophile.com/content/436-jriver-media-center-17-detail/), though some bits will be a little out of date now.
For OS setting up and tweaks, consult The Well-Tempered Computer (http://www.thewelltemperedcomputer.com/) - not the easiest site to navigate, but some useful info. Also, for easy (and easily reversible) tweaking, Fidelizer (http://www.windowsxlive.net/fidelizer/) is great.

[John]

It really depends what you looking
JRiver is a great all round player that gives you a great interface and sounds
If you want to get the best from audio you have to go a lot more extreme but its not straight forward

[Zoidburg]

I think by the sounds of it jRiver will do everything and more I need especially when combined with some general system tweeking. Thanks for all the advice I will digest it all over the next week or so.

I cant wait to get the new 'puter now. I will report back as soon as I can (new 'puter wont be here for a week or 2 yet though).

[Gazjam]

+100 for Jriver.

Main area you want to get right is in Jriver Audio options, where you set up Jriver to get the most out of your Dac and other audio setup options.
As John said above, its not straightforward to get the best out of it.

Happy to help with Jriver setup as well as a few windows tweaks when you get set up Ben. :)

[Zoidburg]

cheers dude, will take you up on that generous offer.


+100 for Jriver.

Main area you want to get right is in Jriver Audio options, where you set up Jriver to get the most out of your Dac and other audio setup options.
As John said above, its not straightforward to get the best out of it.

Happy to help with Jriver setup as well as a few windows tweaks when you get set up Ben. :)

[Gazjam]

cushti

[Rothchild]

Foobar
XBMC
Sub/Madsonic

Sorted!

I used to go big on tweaks but as Windows has matured and the hardware has become more ubiquitous the only one I apply now is to turn off all system sounds (they're annoying and tend to mess with sample rate settings).

[Zoidburg]

I've downloaded a 30 day trial version on JRiver to my current pc and have had a little play with it the afternoon for about an hour.

I'm impressed with it so far, straight out of the box it seams it will provide me with exactly what I want for music playback. The whole package certainly looks far better especially in theatre mode giving it a more HTPC look I wanted.

I swear it even sounds better than vlc media player............

[Andrei]

Several things can be done to get good sound from the PC. One that is vital is to get Windows out of the way - so use some solution that supports ASIO or WASAPI. Foobar, or J River and others support WASAPI. Also have a look at Fidelizer http://www.windowsxlive.net/fidelizer/
This program does an on-the-fly windows optimization for music playback.

[Zoidburg]

I'm gonna have a play with fidelizer tomorrow hopefully if I get time

cheers,

[Zoidburg]

New PC arrived this morning and is sitting here waiting to be unboxed, once set up I will purchase a full Jriver download.

I have also just bought an MF v-link II usb to spl/diff converter and intend to have a mess around with that to see if itmakes any improvements to the system. Picked it up cheap off the wam so if it proves to do nothing im sure I can move it on without loss.

[Gazjam]

The Vlink is a very nice bit of kit, USB is (to me) the best way to get audio from your computer to your DAC.
Had the same Vlink as you and the better 192 version, both were great.

Only snag needing a USB/spdif converter to get music to your DAC is putting in another link in the chain, with the variable of the digital cable you need to hook it up.

Nice bit of kit though, sounds great.