Computer Audio Guys List Your Rig! [Archive]

AsSiMiLaTeD

06-26-2012, 10:44 PM

I'm curious what you other computer audio guys are using in your computer audio rigs. I figured it would be neat to get a list of rigs going: What platform are you on (Win/Mac/Other), what software are you running, and what's your audio gear?

I'll start

iMac OSX Lion
iTunes w/Amarra HiFi (runs on top of iTunes, replaces iTunes with much better sound engine)
Musical Fidelity V-Link
Peachtree Dac-IT
Schiit Calhalla tube amp feeding Sennheiser HD600 headphones
Woo Audio WA6 tube amp feeing Sennheiser HD700
Swan M200MkIII Speakers

I also own Pure Music, Decibel, Audirvana, and BitPerfect as alternatives to Amarra, but prefer Amarra over all of them. There rumor of JRiver coming to Mac as well...

coolsax

06-26-2012, 11:11 PM

for my main system I just run a Squeezebox Touch analog into a Music Hall A15.2 integrated into Ascend Acoustics Sierra-1s

for my head rig I just my windows laptop using Media Monkey into an HRT MS II into a Fiio E9 amp into Sennheiser HD 650s.

All music is on a Qnap NAS.

BlueFox

06-26-2012, 11:28 PM

iPod 120GB Classic - Apple Lossless files,
Wadia 171 iTransport
CIAudio VDC-9 PS upgrade
Pangea 14SE power cord
MIT Magnum digital cable
Bryston BDA-1 DAC.

Cambridge-Audio 840E pre-amp
Cambridge-Audio 840W amp, two in mono mode
Sony XA-5400ES SACD
Aerial Acoustics 7T speakers
Shunyata Triton power conditioner
Shunyata Anaconda Ztron 8' speaker cables
2 Shunyata Python CX power cords (for amps)
3 Shunyata Cobra Ztron power cords (SACD, DAC, pre)
1 Shunyata Python Ztron power cord for power condtioner
Shunyata Z-71 wall duplex
MIT S 1.3 XLR interconnects
2 Mapleshade 4" maple speaker plinths with brass carpet piercing footers
Mapleshade Micropoint brass footers under all electronics

heiney9

06-26-2012, 11:59 PM

This is my secondary office/computer room rig.

Dell Inspiron 580
Intel R-core i5/2.80Ghz
8GB RAM 64 bit Windows 7

USB only audio, no digital out.

DAC's I swap in and out
Keces DA-151 MkI (soon to have upgraded Clarity Cap output coupling caps) USB only
Audio GD NFB-3

Rotate one of these 4 tube integrated amps.
1) HCT HMS-100 (Dared MP5 clone) 15wpc tube hybrid. ECC85 driver tubes and mOsFet chipamp output and a cool Magic Eye tube.
2) Norh SE-9; 9wpc single ended EL34 power tubes w/12AX7 driver tubes and 5AR4 rectification.
3) Dared VP-16; 16wpc push/push 6V6 power tubes and 6SL7 driver tubes
4) Dared i-30 (Spirit in the sky) 30wpc push/pull 6L6GC power tubes; 12AU7 phase splitter and 12AX7 driver tubes.
about 60-70+ tubes to roll between them all, at all positions.

Cables:
speaker - Homemade double twisted run per channel Carare Star Quad 4S6 w/nanners on all ends
interconnect - MIT Terminator 2 ribbed gray boxes and gray techflex
USB - Media Bridge Gold series
power cable 1 - VR3 special (Trey homemade)
power cable 2 - Audio GD

Speakers rotate 1 of 3 pairs
1) Polk Audio 5B's w/RD0194-1's, modded w/ Clarity Caps-high pass, Solen's low pass, Mills, fuse delete, Mortite and Larry's driver and tweeter rings
2) Polk Audio RT25i's soon to be Clarity Cap modified
3) Polk Audio RTi38's soon to be in the FM as I don't need 3 pairs of speakers.

I use Media Monkey with the ASIO4ALL plugin for USB playback. DbPoweramp to rip and tag my files to FLAC.

I think that covers it

H9

AsSiMiLaTeD

06-27-2012, 12:30 AM

Anyone on the PC side using or tried JRiver?

audiocr381ve

06-27-2012, 12:47 AM

Anyone on the PC side using or tried JRiver?

Yep, it's great in that you can mess with DSP and dial in your room.

I have to brag a little bit about my comp first.

27" iMac 16GB Ram w/ the 2GB graphics card :D (LOVE this machine)
into my Keces DA-151 mkii
into my DIY Pass B1 Buffer
into my Parasound HCA-750a
into my Polk SDA-2BTL's

SUCH good sound :cheesygrin:

vcwatkins

06-27-2012, 02:00 AM

Computer:
HP Model #POS - Windows
MediaMonkey Gold v4 (WASAPI bitperfect)
Rip to FLAC with either MM4 or dbPowerAmp
USB out (Wireworld UV)

DACs: HRT MusicStreamer 2 or Audio-gd NFB-12.1

Pre: Dared SL2000a, Brimar, Telefunken 5965<> or ECC801 or Mullard 6201, splits to:

Amp-Speaker Combos:

Pass Labs Aleph 30
Polk CRS+ (dynamat & armacell only)
Brilliant detail, lovely sweet tone, effortlessly dynamic, amazing soundstage. Love this amp! Can roast marshmallows though.

HCT HMS-100 (Dared MP5 clone) 15wpc tube hybrid, 60's RCA ECC85
Hartley H200's (early 80's, 10"-2.5"-1")
The NOS Siemens-made tubes I got from H9 are an excellent fit and took their time breaking in. They were sounding wonderful, I thought, at ~25hrs, but continued to improve up to ~96 hours. This combo is made in heaven. Mesmerizing, airy quality that envelopes and seems dead-on true to the source. It won't let you ignore it - I get nothing done when this thing is on. Better sub-40Hz and much better very HF (than the Polks) that adds to the airiness and realism without becoming tiresome. I haven't tried many other speakers here: HCT (nothing great), Mission 761 and 771 (harsh & unusually poor imaging). I plan to work on 5b's that are currently in storage, but I can't see anything supplanting the Hartley's. I also really like the sound of this headphone amp (usually Grado 80's) for late night.

Just bought a used Music Hall 2.2le TT and shopping USB preamps (likely Parasound zPhono USB) to rip vinyl at this station this summer.

Craig

doctorcilantro

06-27-2012, 02:44 AM

J. River MC17 with 64bit Native Convolution based on Audiolense (pending arrival of MP1r mic kit)

NAS - Synology 411j 12TB Raid 5 = 8TB

File Types - Mainly FLAC, some native DSD (for adding Mytek or SOtM down road)

System1:

PC - OrigenAE M10 with Zotac ION dual-ocre ATOM, SSD, mostly passive cooling
DAC - Peachtree DACiT
Amp - Miniwatt N3 (China)
Speakers - Audioengine A2

System 2:

PC - CoolerMaster SilverStone Fortress FT03 Mini-Tower, Quad-Core i7 at 4gHz (latency is so low on this one during playback using WASAPI Event Mode), 16GB RAM, memory playback, SoTM PCI USB card with 5v OFF after handshake with DAC
DAC - Antelope Gold w/ Voltikus (Virtue Audio USB cable)
Amp - Decware EL34.1 ("Rachel")
Speakers - Hoyt Bedford Type 1.5

falconcry72

06-27-2012, 05:41 AM

- PC (Vista 64bit, 8GB RAM, Intel Core 2 Quad)

- Foobar 2000 media player (configured in ASIO)

- USB out (Wireworld UV)

- Audio DG Digital Interface

- Custom silver digital cable by pepster

- Audio GD NFB-7 DAC

- Signal Cable Analog 2 XLR's

- Audio Research LS-15 tubed preamp

- Signal Cable Analog 2 XLR's

- BAT VK-500 power amp:twisted:

- MIT Shotgun S3 speaker cables

- Usher Dancer Mini 2's or Magnepan 1.6's

11tsteve

06-27-2012, 06:40 AM

AMD FX-6100 @ 4.55 ghz, XSPC liquid ... Win 7
crossfired 6970
Corsair 120 G ssd
HT Omega
Tributaries Series 5 optical
Matrix Mini DAC (which i would like to replace with a Keces)
Acurus RL-11
Parasound HCA 1200 II
Polk RTA-11T (updated Xovers, RDO-194, rewired, damped drivers, Armacell gaskets, spiked)

music is in AIFF format on a 1TB WD cloud drive.

i have tried Media Monkey and Foobar and haven't decided. my drives are due for a reformat, so i'll figure this out then.

currently in search of new cabling as most of mine is cheap crap....

CCNJ

06-27-2012, 07:34 AM

txcoastal1

06-27-2012, 10:09 AM

Computer-Windows 7-64bit, I5
Music-J. River MC17 ripped Flac/WASAPI
DAC-W4S-2 connected to PC via USB Cardas Clear cable
Pre-Melody Valve 101 Pure black
Amp-Pass XA-30.5
Speakers-Usher MD2

I like the J River MC17,
but I get slight noise from the PC, even mouse movement causes a slight static...would like to fix this.

DoctorC does your SoTM PCI USB possibly fix this
or you mac users or others experiencing any of these effects?

System is dead quiet using Sonos or CD player

Thanks

Jason_k

06-27-2012, 10:36 AM

Computer:
Windows 7
MediaMonkey

DAC: W4S DAC2

Pre: Dared SL2000;Telefunken 5965; Brimar on order

Cables: Signal Cable

Amp: Rotel RB-991

Speakers: Polk LSI 15. Dual JL's sub's soon.

steveinaz

06-27-2012, 10:40 AM

Asus Laptop
Motorola cable modem (asus hardwired to modem)
Squeezebox Touch w/Channel Island power supply--->Benchmark DAC
External USB HDD
LMS/EAC, and Mediamonkey
*.flac codec

rtart

06-27-2012, 10:53 AM

Anybody using Windows Home Server as a Tank?

I've used V1 for a couple of years on an old P4 machine. I have a separate dedicated PC that's used only for music and is wired into my Russound whole house audio system. (4 sources, 12 zones.) I use Win Media Player (V 11 I think) and Streamzap for IR remote control. The Russound system will accept IR remote commands through each keypad in each room and send them to the source device. IR commands are pretty basic - Play, stop, FF, RW, etc. Audio comes out via a Behringer DAC. I sometimes use Remote Desktop Connection and a small netbook on the wireless side of my home network to more completely control the tunes from anywhere in the house.

I'm not a huge fan of WMP, but have tried iTunes and don't like the restrictions on files and the complexity. BTW, I have 16GB in HDD capacity and well over 260,000 songs, most losslessly ripped. The scale of the files gives WMP problems some times, I think.

AsSiMiLaTeD

06-27-2012, 11:55 AM

Computer: iMac running OSX Lion
Player: iTunes
Music: ripped to flac and apple lossless
Connection: belkin gold USB into Musical Fidelity VLINK
DAC: Rega
Speakers: Harbeth P3ESR sitting on Primaccoustic Isolation pads
Integrated Amp: LFD LE IV
Connectors: Audioquest Type 4 and Audioquest King Cobra interconnectsAre you not running anything on top of iTunes? If not I'd highly suggest you look into doing so, even the $10 BitPerfect is a significant improvement over the iTunes sound and handles sample rate conversion as well, which iTunes does not (you have to do it manually in the audio midi setup). I'd take a look at the few programs I mentioned in the OP and see if any of those interests you, you really are missing out on the best possible sound using iTunes playback engine.

nwohlford

06-27-2012, 12:12 PM

Home office -
Mac Mini (still playing with the best way to get audio out)
Denon DVD-5000 (primarily used as DAC)
M&K BMC Mini
Aragon Soundstage
Proceed AMP2 -> LSi9 or NAD 2400 -> SDA CRS+
Micropro 2000

Work office -
Dell Optiplex 760 (decommissioned work computer)
Sonos ZP 90 (also a Pure i-20 for iPhone listening)
Benchmark DAC1
Denon AH-D2000
for low level listening without headphones I have a Cambridge Soundworks BaseCube 821 with Blackstone TL3s

Music in both systems is primarily ALAC.

renowilliams

06-27-2012, 12:49 PM

PC- Intel 2600K custom build on Asus Maximus Extream-Z motherboard,Corsair Obsidean 800d case,4 TB of storage.
Audio: HDMI out to 54" Panny and optical to my Athem Pre, referberd Carver TFM-35 and SDA 1B's.
Media Monkey and dbpoweramp. I also use media player classic for video.

codyc1ark

06-27-2012, 01:12 PM

Nice thread, now lets see some photos of these rigs!!

brianle

06-27-2012, 01:12 PM

Getway slim desktop squeezebox server -> Squeezebox Touch -> Eastern Electric DAC -> Unison s6 SE tube integrated amp -> Usher Dancer Mini 2

renowilliams

06-27-2012, 01:21 PM

Heres a pic of mine.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/renowilliams/7148444943/in/photostream

LuSh

06-27-2012, 01:33 PM

Laptop - 500GB hard-drive. CD's ripped in AIFF (2TB backup HD)
Squeezebox Touch running Squeeze Pad (Best iPad app ever)
iPad 2 for control

SimAudio Moon 300D Dac
SimAudio Moon I-5 Integrated Amp
Dynaudio 52SE Speakers

I still purchase 3-4 CD's a month from Amazon and then rip to my laptop. Spend most of my time on music websites such as Pitchfork and Stereogum looking for new tunes...

dkg999

06-27-2012, 01:46 PM

Dell XPS Desktop with i7
QNAP TS-459 Pro II NAS with Samsung Spinpoint drives, RAID5 Configuration

Computer PC system
NuForce iDAC2
Cambridge Audio 550A Integrated
Polk Blackstone TL-3 speakers
Polk MicroPro 2000 sub

I use DBPoweramp and MediaMonkey to rip, store and manage my digital archive

Music Distribution to 2 ch and HT systems
Logitech SqueezeBox Touch (3 of them) and a SqueezeBox Boom for distribution
Music Hall 25.3 and PS Audio DLIII DAC's

I prefer Cabo Wabo or Blue Moon or Abita as further enhancement to any of these systems.

thsmith

06-27-2012, 03:48 PM

Mac mini 2.3GHz dual-core i5 8g RAM 1.5 TB HDD Music Server Amarra Mini (memory play) - USB - W4S DAC 2

11tsteve

06-27-2012, 06:47 PM

my AMD rig... soon to be an Ivy bridge... and the 6970s are going up for sale. but its what it is right now.

72159

Drenis

06-27-2012, 07:05 PM

Dude, that watercooling setup is way overkill. Nice rig.

Face

06-27-2012, 07:29 PM

Bedroom rig:

Custom PC(Win 7x64, i7, water cooled, etc...)
J. River
W4S mINT Asynch USB DAC/Pre/Head and Power Amp
Hifiman HE-6 (Open Headphones)
AKG K550 (Closed Headphones)
Tannoy Revolution DC4 Speakers

I'll post my other computer rigs later.

11tsteve

06-27-2012, 07:33 PM

Dude, that watercooling setup is way overkill. Nice rig.bulldozer is a hot chip at 4.55, and i was doing some team benching. got her up to 5.3+ ghz under chilled water, benchable.

Face

06-27-2012, 07:39 PM

bulldozer is a hot chip at 4.55, and i was doing some team benching. got her up to 5.3+ ghz under chilled water, benchable.Impressive! Tempted to see what I can get a i7 2600K (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115070)(3.4) up to with a Corsair H100 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181017). Without any OC'ing yet, temps barely move at all, even during gaming.

11tsteve

06-27-2012, 07:46 PM

Impressive! Tempted to see what I can get a i7 2600K (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115070)(3.4) up to with a Corsair H100 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181017). Without any OC'ing yet, temps barely move at all, even during gaming.a lot of folks on the overclocking forum i frequent will even say air is good enough for the 2600k as temps do not really rise too badly since it is a fairly low voltage chip. hopefully you have one of those -one-in-a-million cpus.
i personally think going the extra mile with cooling is just insurance. but i have also spent hours just trying to get 25 mhz more...:cheesygrin:

i have not had an intel rig since P-4 days, and i am kind of anxious to give it a whirl.... if i could just stop buying amplifiers, cables, wire, caps...... sigh.

Face

06-27-2012, 07:59 PM

i have not had an intel rig since P-4 days, and i am kind of anxious to give it a whirl.... if i could just stop buying amplifiers, cables, wire, caps...... sigh.Opposite here, nothing but AMD for a while but switched over to Intel when the first i7's came out. And I definitely hear you on the rest. :mrgreen:

11tsteve

06-27-2012, 08:15 PM

Opposite here, nothing but AMD for a while but switched over to Intel when the first i7's came out. And I definitely hear you on the rest. :mrgreen: it all started with hauling my RTA 11T's out of the basement and finding this place... which has given me nothing but 100% satisfaction. i just dread the day i finally buy my first tube pre/amp/whatever. been through it with guitar gear looking for that perfect tube.

to be more accurate... that P4 intel rig was my only intel rig. i have been AMD since my first K-6 300 mhz ... so there is a little part of me that feels i am going over to the dark side.:redface:....

CCNJ

06-27-2012, 08:21 PM

Are you not running anything on top of iTunes? If not I'd highly suggest you look into doing so, even the $10 BitPerfect is a significant improvement over the iTunes sound and handles sample rate conversion as well, which iTunes does not (you have to do it manually in the audio midi setup). I'd take a look at the few programs I mentioned in the OP and see if any of those interests you, you really are missing out on the best possible sound using iTunes playback engine.

Thanks for the suggestion. I am running BitPerfect on top of iTunes. It was the cheapest option and works pretty good I also tried a demo version of Pure Music but decided not to buy it. At some point I may look at other alternatives again.

jmwest1970

06-27-2012, 09:46 PM

My computer rig is really just another source on my 2 channel setup. One day when I have some extra money again I'll set it up properly, but for now it's as follows:

Storage: Dell Optiplex 745 with a 2TB SATA drive running VortexBox 2.0 wired to my router
Source: Mac Mini 2.4Ghz C2D, 8GB running XBMC 11.0 wireless that sends A/V through HDMI to Insignia NS-L32X TV then audio out to an Arcam Alpha 9 pre, Parasound HCA1200 amp, and Totem Rainmaker speakers.

It works. The sound quality is leaps and bounds better with XBMC over iTunes with and without Amarra. As I stated earlier I'll remove the TV from the mix via a USB DAC when I can afford it.

Gaara

06-27-2012, 11:01 PM

PC consists of:

CASE: Fractal Design Define R3
MB: Asus P8P67 PRO (REV 3.1)
CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K w/ Cooler Master 212 EVO
MEMORY: Corsair Vengeance 8GB DDR3 1600
BOOT HD: Crucial M4 64gb SSD
STORAGE HD: Samsung Spinpoint F3 (1TB)
GPU: GIGABYTE GV-R687OC-1GD
BDP: Asus BC-12B1ST
PSU: SeaSonic X750 Gold
OS: Windows 7

System consists of:

MONITOR: Dell U2311H
DAC: DIY Paradise USB Monica 2
PRE: Promitheus Audio Ref 1 TVC
AMP: Monarchy Audio SM-70
SPEAKERS: SIA Rothschilde A2s

hertz9753

06-27-2012, 11:32 PM

a lot of folks on the overclocking forum i frequent will even say air is good enough for the 2600k as temps do not really rise too badly since it is a fairly low voltage chip. hopefully you have one of those -one-in-a-million cpus.
i personally think going the extra mile with cooling is just insurance. but i have also spent hours just trying to get 25 mhz more...:cheesygrin:

i have not had an intel rig since P-4 days, and i am kind of anxious to give it a whirl.... if i could just stop buying amplifiers, cables, wire, caps...... sigh.

When it was cooler outside I could do this on my 2600k with a Corsair H50. Down to 4.6 now. This a 24/7 Folding@Home rig.

72171

Fongolio

06-28-2012, 01:42 AM

Asus P5Q mainboard
Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700 - 2.66 GHz Quad-Core @ 3 GHz
Corsair water cooling on CPU
8 gigs ram
Auzentech X-Meridian 7.1 2G sound card with swappable op-amps (currently Burr-Brown 627's)
Logitech Z-5500 on desktop but this rig is used mainly as a server to my main rig
120 gig OCZ Agility 3 SS drive for Windows 7 64 bit
Storage:
120 Gig ata
160 Gig ata
500 Gig sata
1TB sata
2TB usb
3TB usb

Foobar2000 1.1.13
J River Media Server 17

Coaxial digital out to DAC @ 192/24 via coax cable
Cambridge Audio DacMagic Plus
Carver C-1 pre-amp and one of several turntable and cartridges for vinyl ripping using Steinberg WavLab

11tsteve

06-28-2012, 06:05 AM

When it was cooler outside I could do this on my 2600k with a Corsair H50. Down to 4.6 now. This a 24/7 Folding@Home rig.

it is screenshots like that which make me want to go intel. sandy and ivy bridge already kill at stock speeds out of the box.... pretty nice cpu there hertz!

renowilliams

06-28-2012, 09:48 AM

I have the H-80 and have had my 2600k stable at 5.2 GHZ. I mangaged to get to the desktop at 5.3 GHZ but not stable. I am going to get a H-100 at some point. I have it running now at 4.6 GHZ as it seems to be the sweet spot.

AsSiMiLaTeD

06-28-2012, 10:21 AM

Thanks for the suggestion. I am running BitPerfect on top of iTunes. It was the cheapest option and works pretty good I also tried a demo version of Pure Music but decided not to buy it. At some point I may look at other alternatives again.I did not like Pure Music very much. I used it for a while, especially when I first found Amarra and it was still $500 and glitchy as hell.

The problem with Pure Music is that it's kinda expensive and very complex. The fact that you can fine tune the sound is neat, but ultimately it was just too complicated for daily use. Amarra used to be the same way, but now the HiFi edition is super simple and relatively cheap at $50.

If I want to play my native flac collection without interacting with iTunes (which is very rare these days) I use Decibel or Audirvana+. If I want to use iTunes (99% of the time) I use either Amarra HiFi or Audirvana+. The mix in the last week or so has primarily shifted to Amarra HiFi since it now supports gapless playback from memory. IMO right now Amarra is the absolute best you can do getting sound out of iTunes and it's superb.

Drenis

06-28-2012, 11:55 PM

MADGSF

07-02-2012, 11:17 AM

Here is my modest PC setup. I only do near field listening with music streamed from Pandora (192k) and am happy with this setup. About the only change I am thinking of is moving to MOG for my music service. The N22 does well with the TL-3 but it runs out of steam quickly so if you want very loud this is not the amp for you. However it has more power than I need in my office and is clear at all volume levels.

PC: Home built Core i7 with Win7 Pro 64 bit
DAC: MusicStreamer II
Amp: Audioengine N22
Speakers: Polk TL-3
Sub: Polk PSW111
Cables: Audioquest

Fongolio

07-03-2012, 12:03 AM

Why do you swap op-amps if you use digital out? Those are for the analog outputs.
For when I'm using the desktop speakers....Logitech Z5500 with 12" sub.

MillerLiteScott

08-04-2012, 08:02 AM

I use a Gateway Netbook as my music server running iTunes wirelessly connected to the Fios modem which is connected via Cat5 to my stock Squeezebox Touch. I have a Blue Jeans coax cable to a Jolida FX Tube DAC with Psvane reference 12AX7 tubes. MIT S3 interconnects to a MF 308 Integrated with Mundorf power caps. MIT S3 speaker interface to SDA 2BTL with the Sonicap and Mills crossover upgrade and dreadnaught isolation transformer.

I now have a MacBook Air but I cannot successfully get my music on to it from my Netbook. While it sounds pretty good it is just not cutting it for me anymore and I am maxed out with my computer knowledge. It seems that some of these better music programs could offer me better sound quality, I just have not been successful in implementing them when I have tried before. Life changes have also forced less time for me to be as involved as I was before and listening is very limited. I believe digital/computer source is the way to go for me in the future albeit on a cheap and cheerful budget.

blairfrischx

08-04-2012, 08:29 AM

PC Parts-
CPU: Core i5 2500k @ 4.4GHz
Cooler: Noctua NH-D14
Motherboard: ASRock Fatal1ty Professional P67
Power Supply: Seasonic X650
Video Cards: ATI Radeon HD 5870 x2 Crossfire
System Hard Drive: Corsair Force GT 60GB
Storage Hard Drives: 4x Hitachi 1TB (RAID 5)
Case: Corsair 400R
Case Fans: Noctua NF-P12-1300 x4
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate Edition 64bit

Rig-
DAC: Recently sold; in the market for another
Preamp: Belles 55, if I ever get back to NC and go pick it up
Headamp: Recently sold; in the market for another
Headphones: Sennheiser HD650, Denon AH-D2000
Power Amp: Adcom GFA535
Speakers: Harman/Kardon HKB4

My desktop system is actually pretty scarce right now. I have been looking to get a DAC with XLR output and probably a Little Dot MKIII. I almost bought a Stello DA100 Signature (http://app.audiogon.com/listings/april-music-stello-da100-signature) last night, but somebody else got to it first. :(

mdaudioguy

08-04-2012, 11:03 AM

MillerLiteScott

08-04-2012, 02:04 PM

Thanks Ed. I will give vortex a try this weekend.

dorokusai

08-04-2012, 02:15 PM

Pure Music in conjunction with iTunes thru a generic sound card with digital output into a Skunkworks BelCanto DAC into QUAD Active 12L loudspeakers. No outboard pre-amp, no outboard amplifiers and useless clutter. It sounds perhaps confusing but its just a couple cables with a very small box the size of two cigarette packs....result? Priceless.

strider

08-04-2012, 02:42 PM

Thanks Ed. I will give vortex a try this weekend.

I'd also recommend removing the jacket from the CAT5 and twisting the pairs counter clockwise. This, coupled with a homebrew cryogenic process I came up with, has expanded the soundstage between 18 and 22%. Highly recommended.

EndersShadow

08-04-2012, 03:06 PM

Mark I would love to see some pictures of that

doctorcilantro

08-05-2012, 12:49 AM

Nice collection of integrateds there Heiney.

I'd be interested if you could try the J. River 17 trial and see if WASAPI [Event] sounds noticeably different. Probably not, but I'm curious.

This is my secondary office/computer room rig.

Dell Inspiron 580
Intel R-core i5/2.80Ghz
8GB RAM 64 bit Windows 7

USB only audio, no digital out.

DAC's I swap in and out
Keces DA-151 MkI (soon to have upgraded Clarity Cap output coupling caps) USB only
Audio GD NFB-3

Rotate one of these 4 tube integrated amps.
1) HCT HMS-100 (Dared MP5 clone) 15wpc tube hybrid. ECC85 driver tubes and mOsFet chipamp output and a cool Magic Eye tube.
2) Norh SE-9; 9wpc single ended EL34 power tubes w/12AX7 driver tubes and 5AR4 rectification.
3) Dared VP-16; 16wpc push/push 6V6 power tubes and 6SL7 driver tubes
4) Dared i-30 (Spirit in the sky) 30wpc push/pull 6L6GC power tubes; 12AU7 phase splitter and 12AX7 driver tubes.
about 60-70+ tubes to roll between them all, at all positions.

Cables:
speaker - Homemade double twisted run per channel Carare Star Quad 4S6 w/nanners on all ends
interconnect - MIT Terminator 2 ribbed gray boxes and gray techflex
USB - Media Bridge Gold series
power cable 1 - VR3 special (Trey homemade)
power cable 2 - Audio GD

Speakers rotate 1 of 3 pairs
1) Polk Audio 5B's w/RD0194-1's, modded w/ Clarity Caps-high pass, Solen's low pass, Mills, fuse delete, Mortite and Larry's driver and tweeter rings
2) Polk Audio RT25i's soon to be Clarity Cap modified
3) Polk Audio RTi38's soon to be in the FM as I don't need 3 pairs of speakers.

I use Media Monkey with the ASIO4ALL plugin for USB playback. DbPoweramp to rip and tag my files to FLAC.

I think that covers it

H9

doctorcilantro

08-05-2012, 12:57 AM

Yes, it sounds like J. River is committed to bringing the platform to the Mac according to Jim. I applaud it but wonder how Apple will take to such a contender.

I'm curious what you other computer audio guys are using in your computer audio rigs. I figured it would be neat to get a list of rigs going: What platform are you on (Win/Mac/Other), what software are you running, and what's your audio gear?

I'll start

iMac OSX Lion
iTunes w/Amarra HiFi (runs on top of iTunes, replaces iTunes with much better sound engine)
Musical Fidelity V-Link
Peachtree Dac-IT
Schiit Calhalla tube amp feeding Sennheiser HD600 headphones
Woo Audio WA6 tube amp feeing Sennheiser HD700
Swan M200MkIII Speakers

I also own Pure Music, Decibel, Audirvana, and BitPerfect as alternatives to Amarra, but prefer Amarra over all of them. There rumor of JRiver coming to Mac as well...

mesquitehead

08-28-2012, 12:36 AM

Swee****er built pro-tools recording PC with windows 7 64 bit and I7 quad core, Audioengine amp, energy monitors and an 8" Energy sub. Getting ready to get a NuForce Icon IDo DAC. I'm still a rookie at the PC audio rig thing.

EndersShadow

08-28-2012, 08:19 AM

Well this is just the testing phase, but here it goes:

Custom PC: ASUS P5E | Intel Q9650 @ 3.6 | 8 Gig Dominator 1066 | ATI 5450 | 2 WD Black 640 | Samsung 1TB | Corsair VX450 | Antec P182
XBMC
Audio GD NFB-5
Polk Ultrafocus 8000's (demo pair)

Soon to be:
Custom PC ordering parts soon
XBMC
USB Cable undecided on brand
Audio GD NFB-5
Beyerdynamic DT-770 80ohms (tenative choice)

helipilotdoug

08-29-2012, 10:11 AM

Y'all put me to shame with all that good stuff!!!
Anyway, here is the humble stuff I'm using in my shop system. I'm happy with the sound :)
An old Mac Powerbook Titanium G4 running Mac OS 10.3.9 with itunes 4 that was sitting here doing nothing for years.
Storage is a WD my book hard drive
DAC is a HRT Music Streamer II+ connected by USB to the computer, and analog out to pre.
Pre is a Carver C-11
Amp is a Carver TFM-45
Speakers are Monitor 10A's

EndersShadow

01-14-2013, 12:36 PM

Just updated my setup in the office YIPPEEE!!!!

Source: FLAC files played back via XBMC and sent out via a stock USB using the WASAPI driver to...
DAC/Pre: Audio GD NFB-5 set to variable out sent to a Fisher tube amp via a set of Audioquest G-Snake IC's
Amp: Fisher 460 tube amp sending power out via some Monoprice SC's to...
Speakers: T90e

This setup is VERY NICE. Now looking into saving my pennies for a tubed pre amp with phono stage and then getting another DAC for the setup.

PrazVT

01-14-2013, 05:01 PM

PC (Core i7 970 6-core @ 4.2GHz, liquid cooling w/ triple radiator, 12GB RAM, Windows 8 x64 / Mac OS X ML "hackintosh" dual boot)
Synology DS413 NAS (4 x 3TB 7.2k RPM disks, 1 USB 3.0 2TB 7.2k RPM disk)
gigabit hardwired network
Creative X-Fi Titanium HD (spdif out to W4S DAC1, audio creation mode, bit-matched output mode)
JRiver player (WASAPI, play from memory)

thsmith

01-14-2013, 05:21 PM

Question, What would or could I use to stream from my Mac Mini to my office and connect to my Pioneer SX-950 receiver? I may add another DAC later but for now could stream and analog out to Pioneer.

I would need to be able to control it from my iPad or ANdroid phone.

Thanks,

Tbone289

01-14-2013, 05:52 PM

Desktop/nearfield rig:

Source: WinVista64>foobar2000>FLAC>WASAPI>USB

DAC: Musical Fidelity V-DAC II powered by Pyramid VS7KX>MIT ICs

AMP: Yaqin MC-10L w/Genalex 6922 preamp & Electro-Harmonix 6CA7 output tubes

Speakers: Polk RT25i (xover mods: Clarity PX poly, Mills resistors), Polk PSW202

mantis

01-14-2013, 06:14 PM

Apple Macbook Pro
2.4g Dual core
4g memory
500g 7200 HD
Running Channel D software with Itunes , HD tracks cuts from 44.1 to 192k.
Dell Laptop
2.3 icore 5 quad core
4g memory
500g 7200 HD
J River Software
HD Tracks from 44.1 to 192k
Audioquest Forest USB cable 1.5m
Pioneer Elite SC-68 using internal USB DAC @ 192k
Audioquest NRG3 3ft Powercord 15 amp.
APC J15 Battery Back up
Audioquest NRG3 3ft power cord to wall
PS Audio Power port 20Amp
20 amp dedicated Circuit
Cardas Crosslink speaker wire
Audioquest dual HD1 custom sub cables , 1.5% Silver
Definitive Technology Mythos ST main speakers.

sk88

01-15-2013, 06:38 PM

I have a Soundblaster X-fi Titanium installed on my PC with input/output via a Yamaha MG82cx mixer and connected to a pair of Lsi7 via an old Sony receiver. However, I don't consider the PC hardware nor Windows environment good for serious music listening becasue they are not stable and there are electrical noises from time to time. Things like harddisk, fans, power supply and other devices on the same power cord can all contribute noises. Drivers and system updates can mess up with the soundcard and music software as well.

As shown on my signature, I use a Saffire unit to feed into a pair of Focal monitors without a need for a pre or an amp. I can also do the same via the USB DAC interface on the SC-68 to enjoy the other Lsi speakers. Anything that I can play on my laptop can go into either system.

I run jRiver on all the laptop and PC at home and I have all my digital music centrally shared on my main PC. JRiver has so many features. Via DLNA, I can choose any music on SC-68 or I can make my choice on jRiver and play it out to SC-68. Either way, it's all done via the wireless network. I have found DLNA a very convenient way to connect my laptop/PC wirelessly to SC-68 for digital music listening.

Besides DLNA and USB DAC, I like Spotify very much. There are so many selections avaialble, and I don't need to listen to just what I own anymore. So my laptop is either connected to the Focal or to Sc-68 most of the time, but if not, I'd just play via DLNA over wireless.

KellyMic

01-15-2013, 07:08 PM

System: Home built i7 quad core, 18GB RAM, 5TB (2TB SSD, 3TB Sata 3 RAID), nvidia Geforce x660Ti
Output: Schiit DAC on order, mean time X-Fi Platinum output to Pioneer DJM600 Mixer into a DBX Driverack PA into Crown CE2000 amp, then to Polk LSi25's.

Sounds amazing and Battlefield 3 is a blast! Soon to hook-up my Polk RT1000p's for back surrounds, then just need to find a good Center now.

SCompRacer

01-16-2013, 12:08 PM

For now, works and sounds great.

Dell laptop w/Vista32/foobar 2000
foobar ASIO, WASAPI, SACD modules
ASIO for DSD
Amanero 1.056 device driver
1 TB USB music drive

Amanero OEM Combo384 USB to I2S module in DIY Buffalo III dual mono DAC (ESS Sabre32 Reference, ES9018's).
44.1Khz to 384Khz sample rates, Native DSD 2.8224 Mhz - 6.144 Mhz
http://amanero.com/

Connected to main system in sig.

Tbone289

01-16-2013, 12:16 PM

foobar ASIO, WASAPI, SACD modules
ASIO drivers

I'm curious as to the benefit of using ASIO and WASAPI together. It's my understanding that they both accomplish the same objective.

SCompRacer

01-16-2013, 12:24 PM

I'm curious as to the benefit of using ASIO and WASAPI together. It's my understanding that they both accomplish the same objective.

I need ASIO for native DSD (SACD) channel mapping support.

EDIT: There is a custom channel mapping thing going on to swap the R and L channel DSD reversal versus PCM playback. It is done in software versus a hardware switching solution. I had to do hardware switching to correct the SACD channel swap in the Denon 3910 I modded to export CD/SACD to the DAC via I2S.

Details here, cause I am not smart enough to come up with this on my own.
http://hifiduino.wordpress.com/category/computer-hw-and-sw/

http://hifiduino.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/dsdoutput.png?w=893&h=648

Tbone289

01-16-2013, 01:47 PM

That makes sense. Thanks for the info!!

EDIT: Are you having to switch output formats each time you go from SACD to other encoding?

SCompRacer

01-16-2013, 02:36 PM

That makes sense. Thanks for the info!!

EDIT: Are you having to switch output formats each time you go from SACD to other encoding?

You are most welcome!

In order to have the SACD channels correct, yes I have to switch output format. I am fairly sure WASAPI will do DSD too, but you would still run into the R and L channel swap using it with my setup.

In players, some DAC chips share PCM (CD) and DSD (SACD) circuits into the DAC chip from the transport. So you connect to your external DAC and can play CD and SACD via I2S out (I2S separates clock from data where clock is embedded in the SPDIF signal). What happens is DSD uses individual circuits for R and L channel. If they don't follow the connection order you have at the external DAC, your R and L channels are swapped when playing DSD. I had to use a digital swich in my modded Denon 3910 to correct that for output to my external DAC. It is controlled by a manual switch on back of the Denon.

This is my first USB to DAC thing, and I made it more complex with all the options.:eek::cheesygrin: Before I was just SPDIF coax out or I2S out from a modded SB Touch.

falconcry72

01-16-2013, 02:51 PM

PC rig update:

- now using a Stello U3 USB converter via AES/EBU out.

This thing kicks major butt.

ThirdWorldGuy

05-23-2013, 11:26 PM

My Rig,
Custom built PC Windows 7 32bit
GeForce GTX 560 Ti HDMI to Receiver
MediaMonkey WASAPI Output through HDMI in Exclusive Mode with tweaked settings to prevent crackling and distortion during playback and switching between songs. Bitstreaming.
All FLAC library

I would like to apologize for digging an old thread but I really need to know somethings.
I'm a complete noob at this but does anyone here use HDMI for output to their receiver? I went through most of the rigs here but couldn't seem to spot a single rig that uses this. Almost everyone is using USB DACs and optical out etc.

hertz9753

05-24-2013, 12:31 AM

Habanero Monk

05-24-2013, 09:52 AM

Foxconn E-350 based NTA350. Has a SSD drive. Win7 using ASIO. FooBar

85527

Focusrite Scarlett 2i4
85528

Yamaha P2500S

85529

For sub duty I use another out on the Scarlett and feed a Behringer EPX2000

85530

And sub (DIY dual opposed Infinity Kappa 120w.9)

85531

And LSi 9's. Looking at seeing if the PSB Stratus Silvers on CL near me will be an upgrade. I can sell these and maybe break even. The seller is asking $275 for them.

EndersShadow

05-24-2013, 11:48 AM

Office setup
Custom PC: ASUS P5E | Intel Q9650 @ 3.6 | 8 Gig Dominator 1066 | ATI 5450 | 2 WD Black 640 | Samsung 1TB | Corsair VX450 | Antec P182
XBMC
Audio GD NFB-5
Polk Ultrafocus 8000's (demo pair)

Thought I would update my first post as most of this is done...

Office Rig:
Custom PC:

Motherboard: ASUS P5E (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131219R)
CPU: Intel Q9650 @ 3.6 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115130)
Memory: 8 Gig Dominator 1066 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145214)
GPU: ATI 5450 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125313)
Hard Drives: 2 WD Black 640 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218), Samsung 1TB (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152102)
PSU: Corsair VX450 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139003)
Case: Antec P182 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129025)
Extras: Noctua NH-U12P Cooler (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608002)
5 x Noctua NF-P12 case fans (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608004)
NZXT Sentry LX fan controller (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811992004)
Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-2250 Tuner (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815116036)

Interface: XBMC streaming FLAC and hi-rez audio, Pandora, etc
DAC/Headphone Amps: Audio GD NFB-5, Meridian Explorer
Pre-Amp: Sunfire TGA-II
Amp: Fisher 460a tube amp
Speakers: Polk RTA 11TL's
Headphones: Beyerdynamic DT-770's 32 ohm

[/LIST]

Soon to be:
Custom PC ordering parts soon
XBMC
USB Cable undecided on brand
Audio GD NFB-5
Beyerdynamic DT-770 80ohms (tenative choice)

Work office setup:
Custom PC:

Motherboard: ASRock A75M-ITX (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157273)
CPU: AMD A6-3500 2.1GHz FM1 65W Triple-Core APU (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103951)
Memory: 4 Gig Corsair DDR3 1333 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145278)
Hard Drive: Samsung 1 TB 2.5" (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145278)
Case: Wesena ITX-6 (http://www.shop.perfecthometheater.com/HTPC-ITX6-Black-Mini-HTPC-aluminum-chassis-HTPC-ITX6-B.htm)
PSU: City Net 150 watt pico psu (http://www.frys.com/product/5974914?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG)
Extras:

Noctua NH-L9a heatsink (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608030)
Noctua NF-R8 80mm case fan (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608028)
Silverstone Noise dampening foam (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811999222)
Silverstone 80mm fan filter (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811999223)
2 x Startech internal USB header to USB adapter (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812200294)
D-Link DWA-160 USB card (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=33-127-247&IsVirtualParent=1)
IR Sensor
Windows Media Center Remote

Interface: XBMC streaming FLAC and hi-rez audio, Pandora, etc
Headphone DAC/AMP: Audio GD NFB-5
Headphones: Beyerdynamic DT-770 32 ohms

j1mmy

06-12-2013, 03:50 PM

Custom built HTPC
- Silverstone Grandia case
- Gigabyte MB - i5 3.1Ghz, quad core cpu, plenty of RAM, plenty of disk
- Fanless Zotac video card
- vm-ware desktop - several virtual pc's
- XBMC 12.2 Frodo
Denon 3808
- PA SDA-2B
- Paradigm 12" sub
- Paradigm reference center channel
- Paradigm di-poles in the back
- Epson 6500 projector
- 120" Carada screen

Apple TV Gen 1 160 GB
- running xbmc crystalubuntu
- streams content from HTPC over home gig network
- Panasonic 42" LCD TV in MB

Apple TV Gen 1 160 GB
- running xbmc crystalubuntu
- streams content from HTPC over home gig network
- Sharp Aquos 46" LCD TV in FR

Raspberry Pi
- not running yet but plan to use xbmc and attach to another TV in LR