GRAY AREA - Computers & Hard Disks in the listening room - Pictures

Posted by AbeCollins (A) on August 26, 2016 at 12:16:37

Some audiophiles will insist that hard disks and computers do not belong in the listening room. Yet some very high end and well reviewed commercial music servers include both. If the goal is to get computers and hard disks out of the listening room then these manufacturers clearly violate certain audiophile principles. The whole topic of whether a computer and hard disk should not be in the listening room is gray-area and not black & white.

Of course many of these music servers may be highly optimized by the manufacturers for audio and that's great. Some do a better job than others. But to think that only high-end audio manufacturers have a lock on optimizing computers for audio is not the case. DIYers are capable too.

A couple high-end commercially available music servers based on industry standard mini-ITX computer motherboards, a variant of the open source Linux operating system, and readily available disk drives are shown below.

Study the photos. You decide on the facts.

Aurender W20 music server: It consists of an industry standard fanless mini-ITX mother board underneath a custom Aurender digital board. It's internal hard disk is capped with what appears to be a 10-lb chunk of machined aluminum. It also incorporates a battery bank for power and a nice front panel display. Here we have an example of a very expensive music server that includes both a standard mini-ITX computer motherboard and a hard disk.

Aurender W20 music server:
Hard disk lower left in photo. Aurender custom digital board upper right. The industry standard mini-ITX computer motherboard resides under the custom digital board. Battery bank lower right.

Note the mini-ITX computer motherboard under the Aurender digital board. LiFePO4 battery bank removed.

mini-ITX motherbaoard similar to the one found in the Aurender. Note the bottom connectors and layout in both photos.

Note the long white PCI slot connector to the right on the mini-ITX motherboard and on the mini-ITX motherboard in the Aurender. Pretty much the same layouts. Here the example board is obviously not fanless but the point is to show that the very high-end Aurender W20 does in fact use one of many available mini-ITX computer motherboards on the market.

Antipodes DX Reference music server: Is based on a mini-ITX computer motherboard, a variant of the Linux computer operating system, and a SoTM PCI USB card

Antipodes DX Reference music server:
mini-ITX motherboard upper left, SoTM PCI USB card (white) plugged in horizontally on top of motherboard via PCI riser card, Samsung SSD with Antipodes label on it (black) left side up against the front panel. CD drive, power supply transformer to right of CD drive, bridge rectifier bolted to the chassis bottom, linear power supply board consisting of IC voltage regulator and two pass transistors bolted to chassis bottom.

For those who vehemently believe that COMPUTERS & DISK DRIVES have no place in the high-end listening room, perhaps these music servers should be scrapped for a minimalist streamer without a disk. Perhaps something like the microRendu. While you eliminate the disk in the listening room, you don't completely eliminate the computer but at least it's a very very tiny computer vs the motherboards found in the large and pricey music servers above.

I'm not a streamer fanboy trying to persuade folks that streamers are the only way to go. I thoroughly enjoy my Mac Mini COMPUTER in my office and my microRendu streamer in the basement listening room. Your choice for your specific situation and need is the best way.

Computers and disk drives near your listening room (Open in New Window)

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Topic - GRAY AREA - Computers & Hard Disks in the listening room - Pictures - AbeCollins 12:16:37 08/26/16 (28)

Acoustic noise is the problem... Not electrical... - Archimago 10:40:14 08/29/16 (3)

RE: Acoustic noise is the problem... Not electrical... - AbeCollins 11:04:03 08/29/16 (2)

RE: Acoustic noise is the problem... Not electrical... - soundchekk 02:41:14 09/01/16 (1)

RE: Acoustic noise is the problem... Not electrical... - AbeCollins 10:58:26 09/01/16 (0)

RE: GRAY AREA - Computers & Hard Disks in the listening room - Pictures - Duster 13:06:34 08/28/16 (0)

RE: GRAY AREA - Computers & Hard Disks in the listening room - Pictures - bean 13:09:51 08/27/16 (0)

No Computer in my listening room - Fitzcaraldo215 10:53:28 08/27/16 (1)

RE: No Computer in my listening room - Thorsten 08:28:26 08/28/16 (0)

? - bullethead 06:11:14 08/27/16 (0)

Computers and noise - Thorsten 03:43:17 08/27/16 (4)

RE: Computers and noise - fmak 08:00:34 08/27/16 (0)

RE: Computers and noise - soundchekk 05:25:15 08/27/16 (2)

RE: Computers and noise - Thorsten 21:02:01 08/27/16 (0)

Was it you a decade ago? - bullethead 06:18:48 08/27/16 (0)

RE: GRAY AREA - Computers & Hard Disks in the listening room - Pictures - Lesage 01:07:14 08/27/16 (0)

All I want - mbnx01 16:36:26 08/26/16 (8)

RE: All I want - Old SteveA 03:59:55 08/31/16 (0)

RE: All I want - BenM 10:35:36 08/27/16 (1)

I looked at the Bryston - mbnx01 11:00:30 08/29/16 (0)

I have the same - fmak 08:09:12 08/27/16 (0)

RE: All I want - AbeCollins 22:34:17 08/26/16 (0)

No Dac? Is that possible? nt - oldmkvi 16:39:47 08/26/16 (2)

RE: No Dac? Is that possible? nt - mbnx01 16:58:15 08/26/16 (1)

OK, I get it! nt - oldmkvi 17:55:40 08/26/16 (0)

It appears - E-Stat 13:17:37 08/26/16 (2)

RE: It appears - AbeCollins 13:56:01 08/26/16 (1)

+1 ................ [nt] - Cut-Throat 14:04:04 08/26/16 (0)

Makes my Squeezebox Touch seem very 'Hi End'.....................nt - Cut-Throat 13:09:43 08/26/16 (0)

GRAY AREA - Computers & Hard Disks in the listening room - Pictures

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