All the machine programs, including Windows, are stored on the solid state drive. The next piece was the built-in hard drive, for which Rich uses a solid state drive (“SSD”). Because the quiet fan was deeper than the stock fan, Rich had to create a new top for the device he chose to make it out of wood, which I find visually attractive. Having sat in rooms with noisy computers, I can attest to the importance of a quiet computer. Once Rich identified a suitable computer, he replaced the stock fan with one which is very quiet. For the latter reason, Rich eschewed laptops and notebook computers, as the attached screens tend to create considerable electrical noise. As a starting point for the MS-1, Rich sought out a small-profile computer (8” wide x 5” deep x 2.5” high) with adequate processing power, suitable connections, and low electrical noise. In producing the MS-1, Rich’s goal was to provide an affordable, plug ‘n play music server, that provides high-quality music playback. It soon became clear that the MS-1 was precisely what I had been looking for. As luck would have it, not long after we initiated these discussions, Rich produced his first commercial product, the HAL (“Hollis Audio Labs”) MS-1 music server. Rich knows a lot about digital audio and computers, and is very down to earth in his approach, so I began to pick his brain as to what sort of computer system would meet my needs. I was introduced to Rich Hollis by our mutual friend, speaker-designer Danny Richie of GR Research. While this may appeal to some, it is well beyond my abilities, and thus not something I could even consider I assume at least some readers are in the same boat. One possibility of course was to build a computer for example, Chris Connaker has published the “recipe” for his CAPS (Computer Audiophile Pocket Server) (). As is the case for most of us, difficult economic times was an additional fly in the ointment. I thus found myself in the position of understanding in theory what I needed, but unsure of how to actually implement it. A last issue that remained to be resolved was how I would handle back-ups, once my CD collection had been ripped. Because my computer skills are mediocre at best, this aspect worried me I didn’t want to purchase a good computer but have its performance as a music server compromised by improper set-up.Ħ. As I noted above, I was aware that for optimal sonics, a computer must be optimized, which largely entails selecting certain options, and shutting off superfluous functions. While some of the closed systems are reputed to have superb sonics, I didn’t like the idea of being locked into their system, especially in light of the rapid advances in software for computer audio the closed systems with proprietary software are also often quite expensive.ĥ. I decided to go with a computer with a flexible, open architecture, rather than a music server with a closed (i.e., proprietary) operating system. I opted for a PC rather than a MAC, both because of my familiarity with Windows operating systems, and because of PC’s lower costs relative to MACs.Ĥ. I knew that so-called silent PCs are commercially available, but that they tend to be considerably more expensive than traditional models.ģ. Because the computer would be on my equipment rack, it needed to be quiet. I opted to use a computer hooked up directly to a DAC, rather than streaming the music wirelessly, or via Ethernet from a computer to a Squeezebox, which would then pass the signal to a DAC.Ģ. Along the way there were of course numerous decisions that had to be made:ġ. See for example, my Interview with Chris Connaker, and Rob Robinson. As is my custom, rather than jumping in blindly, I read everything I could get my hands on, and asked numerous questions of those more knowledgeable. It was my belief that computer-based audio could sound as good, if not better, than that from optical drives, though I knew that achieving this was not trivial (more on this below) as something less than a computer expert, this worried me a bit. My goals were to lessen the clutter in my listening room, i.e., CDs scattered about, and to gain easier access to my music. This is not a review in the formal sense rather, it is a tale of my first steps into the world of computer audio, and of the device with which I took those steps.Ībout two years ago I decided to make the plunge into computer audio.
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