[thoppa]

wow, that's a nice case....looks very good.

The Realtek hd audio is quite good eh ? I see there is a spdif out connector on this board too...probably has quite a bit of jitter though...?

Well I'm really jealous of that case - mine is a big ugly compared to that but I had to have a full pci riser....

Anyway, glad you got it going to your satisfaction !

 

[Punnisher]

I'm not using the realtek audio, I have a HT Omega Claro Plus in there. my Case (travla c158) comes with a pci riser card so that you can use a full size pci card which is positioned parallel with the motherboard.

 

[FraGGleR]

Looks great, Punnisher!

I am still torn between something like a Squeezebox or a full tilt HTPC. I might go HTPC route just so I can case it up in my old Nintendo.

 

[ROBSCIX]

Looks nice.

 

[linuxworks]

some old shots of a mini-itx system I used for myth-tv capture (and some audio work, too):

that's the VIA epia fanless system (1ghz and actually not very fast at all).

not fast but 100% silent (once I put a sata ssd inside).

 

[johnas]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FraGGleR /img/forum/go_quote.gif I am still torn between something like a Squeezebox or a full tilt HTPC. I might go HTPC route just so I can case it up in my old Nintendo.

For music playback I find the Squeezebox much more convenient than a PC/Laptop. Easy to add new zones (I am up to 4). Wife and kid friendly also if that matters to you.

FYI Logitech has a dented box sale on now for the Classic and Duet. Cheaper to add one of these than to build a silent PC.

Squeezeboxâ„¢ Classic - Dented Box

Squeezeboxâ„¢ Duet - Dented Box

 

[thoppa]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Punnisher /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm not using the realtek audio, I have a HT Omega Claro Plus in there. my Case (travla c158) comes with a pci riser card so that you can use a full size pci card which is positioned parallel with the motherboard.

Aiya, really jealous....

 

[Punnisher]

Squeezebox looks very cool. I may end up getting one in the future.

Though for this project I wanted an all in one solution. This is as much for mobile use as it is for home use. I will be taking this with me to headphone meetups as my primary source/transport.

 

[linuxworks]

I have a duet (its buggy as hell, though!). but I think the sb stuff is generally good. my ancient sb1 was nice for its day (no local flac decode, though).

I pulled the trigger on a 'classic' via your dented box link (thanks!). they really are good silent instant-on players. I don't like the duet in that you can't view the song data from a shelf. that defeats its purpose. there's a need for the duet to BROWSE but also for the remote display to SHOW. the duet is only half that

I think I can mix/match them; and I'll find out if the duet remote can control the classic base. I bet it can, though.

 

[FraGGleR]

Quote:

Originally Posted by linuxworks /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have a duet (its buggy as hell, though!). but I think the sb stuff is generally good. my ancient sb1 was nice for its day (no local flac decode, though). I pulled the trigger on a 'classic' via your dented box link (thanks!). they really are good silent instant-on players. I don't like the duet in that you can't view the song data from a shelf. that defeats its purpose. there's a need for the duet to BROWSE but also for the remote display to SHOW. the duet is only half that I think I can mix/match them; and I'll find out if the duet remote can control the classic base. I bet it can, though.

I'd really like the SB Touch, but that has been delayed for months since it was announced. Main reason is that not only can it stream (and I am a sucker for touch screens), it has a usb port so I could have it hooked up to a portable hdd with my music and take it on the go like Punnisher wants to do with his. Oh, and I believe you are correct, linuxworks, the remote works with any of the SB devices.

Punnisher, going back to your idea of a touchscreen for you system, have you thought about putting on a media front end like Meedio (some old, free versions are still out there) or something similar? Since they were designed to be viewed from the couch, they might adapt more readily to a touch design. Actually, also check out frontends for car pcs. Those are definitely designed to be touch friendly and would be perfect if you choose a 6-8" touch screen for your interface. I believe most of these front ends allow you to designate your preferred player so you can have a touch friendly interface for foobar.

 

[johnas]

Quote:

Originally Posted by linuxworks /img/forum/go_quote.gif I think I can mix/match them; and I'll find out if the duet remote can control the classic base. I bet it can, though.

Glad you were able to take advantage of the sale, I can't as I am not in the USA

Also for those looking at a really small silent music server to pair with the Squeezebox, the Sheevaplug (99$) works well, draws about 5w.

 

[linuxworks]

when 'pads' become very common and cheap and work well, we'll see a whole new rebirth in remote music selection and playlist mgmt. it will be good when that happens.

a netbook makes a nice cheap close 2nd. the new atom notebooks are fanless, I think (ion based). they don't have touchscreens but they nice touch pads and can do remote mice or bluetooth devices.

when the new ions become cheap and available, this may negate any need for a mini itx. a fanless netbook is all you really need.

 

[Punnisher]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FraGGleR /img/forum/go_quote.gif Punnisher, going back to your idea of a touchscreen for you system, have you thought about putting on a media front end like Meedio (some old, free versions are still out there) or something similar? Since they were designed to be viewed from the couch, they might adapt more readily to a touch design. Actually, also check out frontends for car pcs. Those are definitely designed to be touch friendly and would be perfect if you choose a 6-8" touch screen for your interface. I believe most of these front ends allow you to designate your preferred player so you can have a touch friendly interface for foobar.

That sounds fantastic. I will look into that. Thanks.

I wasn't sure what to search for but your comment will point me in the right direction. I basically want an interface just like a touchscreen mp3 player. Start with a full-screen display of artists, select one, screen changes to full-screen display of albums etc.

The $150 7" touchscreen displays seem to be the most cost effective.

 

[FraGGleR]

Quote:

Originally Posted by linuxworks /img/forum/go_quote.gif when 'pads' become very common and cheap and work well, we'll see a whole new rebirth in remote music selection and playlist mgmt. it will be good when that happens. a netbook makes a nice cheap close 2nd. the new atom notebooks are fanless, I think (ion based). they don't have touchscreens but they nice touch pads and can do remote mice or bluetooth devices. when the new ions become cheap and available, this may negate any need for a mini itx. a fanless netbook is all you really need.

And at least for earlier models, adding a touchscreen can be done for under$100. Since thin is in, I don't know it will be as easy.

 

[thoppa]

Hi,

Here are some pics of the finished HTPC. Sigma11 power, Onkyo SE-200PCI sound card with LME49720HA op amps and Blackgate NX coupling caps. I'm using a remote but I'd like a small screen - what did you decide to get Punnisher ?

The Sigma11 uses three FC 4700uF 25V caps to reduce pre-reg ripple, which could get quite high under a heavy load. It also uses five 2.4 deg/W heatsinks. The mosfets are running at 37.2 degrees so there's plenty of 'extra' for more current/heat. I didn't use electrical pads for the mosfets cos they add 3.3 deg/W so I've isolated the whole Sigma11 from the PC. There's plenty of space around it. The toroid in the top also has clearance to avoid a shorted turn. The toroid is 0-15V 50Va, so that's 3.4A max and a safe limit of 80% is just under 3 amps.

With a notebook hdd the peak current demand (during boot) was 1.8A. This included a usb notebook dvd , wifi, 2gb memory, Onkyo, keyboard, mouse, vga 1920x1200. It is about 1.3 amps steady state now because I'm using the ssd and no dvd. I left a space and SATA cables to add a 3.5" HDD in the bottom, which I'll get when 2Tb drives become more affordable. Rubber/wood/foam mounted of course....

I got the heatsinks from a local shop but they are available here :

http://hongkong01.rs-online.com/web/...uct&R=490-7135

I bolted all five together with heatsink compound and cut the front one up a lot to mate it with the mosfets, board, caps etc.

The PC case is only slightly warm at the top and cold at the bottom so the case is well ventilated enough.

There's a bit of copper board to screen the sound card from the mobo.

Noise on the 12v line on the mobo/ssd shows there are dc converters at work. My dmm says 1.5mV AC but a scope shows a broadband of fuzz that is about 4mV wide and there are noise spikes up to 20mV. Although this is a shame, it is much better that what I got running from an smps psu. 'm content for now, but sometime in the future I'll see what sort of noise there is on the sound card caps and see if I can knock that down a little too. I'll also add a resistor to the front led - it's way too bright.

BTW, it sounds great !