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Re: Cplay & cMP2 custom computer music player
ClubNeon #373560 04/17/12 11:43 PM
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Originally Posted By: ClubNeon
In my experience the worst things about using a PC for media playback are:

1. The fan noise.
2. The optical drive noise.
3. The hard drive noise.
and way down the list
4. The quality of the internal soundcard.

Solution: turn the music up a little more. Seriously. I can not hear my pc from 8' away and this is with a stock cpu fan. Once the music is playing, its a non - issue

Now, if I were using an Intel CPU with stock fan, that might be another story, though nothing a $40 tower cooler with a quiet 12 cm fan could not solve.


Fred

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Re: Cplay & cMP2 custom computer music player
b7fLuid #373575 04/18/12 03:58 AM
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For many years now I've only had a PC, AVR, TV and speakers in my HT.

I can record TV (cable card), play CD's and audio files, play DVD's and BD's (physical or mounted ISO), other video files, home videos, display pictures, etc etc. In fact the only thing I can't do with it is SACD.

I think the audio/video quality of it is great and I just run Media Center (and PowerDVD for BD playback). No sound card, just send the audio over HDMI.

Re: Cplay & cMP2 custom computer music player
b7fLuid #373589 04/18/12 01:57 PM
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Agreed, If my receiver is already receiving the direct 1080p and the pure HD audio tracks via digital HDMI, what else can more expensive components do to improve it. Even with ripped CDs or CDs themselves, it stays as digital data until it hits my receiver. It's either 100% accurate digital data or it's broken.

I would agree that care in component choosing becomes very important for heat, noise, compatibility etc. This takes time and research and it sounds like you are doing a good job and being very meticulous. Great work.

Also, if you are designing in analog outputs, well that is whole other discussion and I'm not knowledgeable enough to comment.

I'm very happy with ambient sound levels on my unit. The Antec Fusion case seemed very smartly designed for air flow and it's fans were very quiet on low to medium. I've tested heat levels at low speed to be surprisingly good with my new MB and chip coolers but I keep the fans at medium, just cause I can, without any additional noise. I considered upgrading the fans to MB controlled units but after several months of usage now, I don't see the need.

The Bell Expresvue HD receiver/PVR is the only annoyingly loud item on my AV shelves. Works fine but very poorly designed for heat and noise. The engineers probably had a budget, but I'm sure they could have done better.

Last edited by Murph; 04/18/12 02:06 PM.

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Re: Cplay & cMP2 custom computer music player
b7fLuid #373591 04/18/12 02:14 PM
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FYI for any who are interested. The Antec Fusion Remote case I bought came with adjustable air flow dividers that allowed you to fit them according to the parts you put in it. Although that's not the interesting part. Lots do.

For fun, I tested the box with these removed and opened the adjustable baffle that closes over any remaining space in the cabling hole between the PSU section and the MB section. After roughly 15 minutes of playing a BluRay, this resulted in a 7 degree increase on the CPU and an 11 degree increase on the GPU that put it into the yellow, caution, range on low fan settings.

See Bell Expressvue! A few pieces of inexpensive plastic and a good idea and you get a quieter box. You may want to headhunt some Antec engineers.

Last edited by Murph; 04/18/12 02:16 PM. Reason: clarity

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Re: Cplay & cMP2 custom computer music player
INANE #373610 04/18/12 09:43 PM
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Originally Posted By: INANE
For many years now I've only had a PC, AVR, TV and speakers in my HT.

I can record TV (cable card), play CD's and audio files, play DVD's and BD's (physical or mounted ISO), other video files, home videos, display pictures, etc etc. In fact the only thing I can't do with it is SACD.

I think the audio/video quality of it is great and I just run Media Center (and PowerDVD for BD playback). No sound card, just send the audio over HDMI.


Hey INANE,

I think you have the same line of thinking as I do. I think the computer can do it all...er, I think some blu-ray players can play SACD or am I wrong?

I'd love to run a cable card, but that's only for you guys in the States. Canada is slow with the uptake. Damn you bell/rogers! =(

Whereas I like my music to be flawless (i.e. lossless), I can live with blu-rays compressed to 4.37gb. Heck 1.4gb is ok as well. Maybe I just have a greater appreciation for music?


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Re: Cplay & cMP2 custom computer music player
Murph #373612 04/18/12 09:45 PM
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Originally Posted By: Murph
FYI for any who are interested. The Antec Fusion Remote case I bought came with adjustable air flow dividers that allowed you to fit them according to the parts you put in it. Although that's not the interesting part. Lots do.

For fun, I tested the box with these removed and opened the adjustable baffle that closes over any remaining space in the cabling hole between the PSU section and the MB section. After roughly 15 minutes of playing a BluRay, this resulted in a 7 degree increase on the CPU and an 11 degree increase on the GPU that put it into the yellow, caution, range on low fan settings.

See Bell Expressvue! A few pieces of inexpensive plastic and a good idea and you get a quieter box. You may want to headhunt some Antec engineers.


We are talking about Bell so there's no incentive to be better since they're pretty much in cahoots with Rogers to bring the lowest common denominator to the Canadian public.

I can probably toast bread on the roger's box at my mother's place. I can't believe how hot that thing gets!

Last edited by b7fLuid; 04/18/12 09:54 PM.

M80 v2
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Re: Cplay & cMP2 custom computer music player
ClubNeon #373613 04/18/12 10:00 PM
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Originally Posted By: ClubNeon

So to reiterate: Build a quiet PC, and connect it via HDMI to a receiver. Or you can get an external audio interface with at least 8 output channels and connect them directly to power amps. Add a network server as an option.

PCs can't be bad for audio, because every CD/DVD/BD released these days is mixed and mastered on a PC (or Mac).


Thanks ClubNeon,

my intention is to build a very quiet PC. I'd like to use a passive cooler, but this may not be the best option for the Intel CPU that I use. I've got a Fractal Design XLT case and things are pretty quiet and acceptable. On a side note, those Playstation 3's and Xbox's are much louder than any PC I've built. Don't know why that's the case.

I agree that everything is pretty much mastered on a computer these days, but man there's a lot of PC audio bashers out there. Those guys also tend to have the most expensive audio equipment. Correlation coincidence?


M80 v2
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Emotiva USP-1
2x Outlaw Audio M2200 (vertical bi-amp)
Re: Cplay & cMP2 custom computer music player
b7fLuid #373624 04/19/12 12:30 AM
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I believe the word you're looking for is "snob."


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Re: Cplay & cMP2 custom computer music player
b7fLuid #373643 04/19/12 03:34 AM
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Originally Posted By: b7fLuid
...
my intention is to build a very quiet PC...


Great resource for silent computing.


Fred

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Blujays1: Spending Fred's money one bottle at a time, no two... Oh crap!
Re: Cplay & cMP2 custom computer music player
b7fLuid #373648 04/19/12 04:10 AM
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Originally Posted By: b7fLuid
I think some blu-ray players can play SACD or am I wrong?

Some stand-alone BD players can do SACD, but there's nothing on the PC that can read a SACD.


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