Glad it helped.
I started with computer audio about 3 years ago. I'm not a computer guy, and I took a step by step approach to see what it was all about. Eventually I found myself only listening to the computer and decided to dispose of the other sources. Yet I don't believe computer audio is the best source for everyone, so I like encouraging people to try it out and then decide. Which is what you have been doing.
I think your next best step is a dedicated, optimized laptop. It doesn't need to be super powerful, but if quad-core, the better. Even a used one will do. I believe it's very important that it will be a dedicated to audio only. 4 GB RAM would be enough.
As a non-computer guy it took a bit of a leapfrog to install Windows Server 2012 as it was the first time I ever installed an operating system on a computer. Go to highend-audiopc.com, click on "manual" and read through the pdf for the Audiophile Optimizer Setup Guide. I followed this to install WS2012 and Optimizer.
Then you will need to install the Optimizer, which is easy. In my system the Optimizer made a very significant impact. The maker, AudioPhil, is a great guy and very willing to help. I highly recommend the guy and the Optimizer.
If you like what you hear you can then consider further optimizing the hardware. Some of the optimizations to consider:
- Disable wifi. This creates electrical noise in the computer.
- Avoid USB for an external hard disk drive.
- Disable the screen for playback. This probably sounds ridiculous, but it's easier to use than you might think.
- Turn Windows Server to core mode.
- Use a small solid state drive in the laptop instead of a HDD, just for WS2012 and JRiver or whichever player you choose. If you were buying a laptop it would be nice to get one with a SSD. Any SSD will be bigger than what you need, so no worries with size.
- Buy an audiophile USB cable.
- Maybe a linear power supply for the laptop. Not sure about the impact of this on a laptop. It had a significant impact on my desktop.
I hope this was not overwhelming. The goal was just to provide perspective.
Cheers!
I started with computer audio about 3 years ago. I'm not a computer guy, and I took a step by step approach to see what it was all about. Eventually I found myself only listening to the computer and decided to dispose of the other sources. Yet I don't believe computer audio is the best source for everyone, so I like encouraging people to try it out and then decide. Which is what you have been doing.
I think your next best step is a dedicated, optimized laptop. It doesn't need to be super powerful, but if quad-core, the better. Even a used one will do. I believe it's very important that it will be a dedicated to audio only. 4 GB RAM would be enough.
As a non-computer guy it took a bit of a leapfrog to install Windows Server 2012 as it was the first time I ever installed an operating system on a computer. Go to highend-audiopc.com, click on "manual" and read through the pdf for the Audiophile Optimizer Setup Guide. I followed this to install WS2012 and Optimizer.
Then you will need to install the Optimizer, which is easy. In my system the Optimizer made a very significant impact. The maker, AudioPhil, is a great guy and very willing to help. I highly recommend the guy and the Optimizer.
If you like what you hear you can then consider further optimizing the hardware. Some of the optimizations to consider:
- Disable wifi. This creates electrical noise in the computer.
- Avoid USB for an external hard disk drive.
- Disable the screen for playback. This probably sounds ridiculous, but it's easier to use than you might think.
- Turn Windows Server to core mode.
- Use a small solid state drive in the laptop instead of a HDD, just for WS2012 and JRiver or whichever player you choose. If you were buying a laptop it would be nice to get one with a SSD. Any SSD will be bigger than what you need, so no worries with size.
- Buy an audiophile USB cable.
- Maybe a linear power supply for the laptop. Not sure about the impact of this on a laptop. It had a significant impact on my desktop.
I hope this was not overwhelming. The goal was just to provide perspective.
Cheers!