[ingenious28]

im currently in the process of looking for high end headphones/amp combo for use on my computer for listening to audio (dispite the name of this thread, these tracks will namely be ogg format, or even perhaps mp+ format ive been hearing about).
ive heard this is a bad source to be using, as it will have a lot of interferance from the rest of the computer.
this has given me the idea of building a "mp3" mini server for myself. this would only contain a hard drive, soundcard and mobo/proc.
my questions are these:
first, does anyone have a setup like this they are currently listening to and does it help improve sound quality
second, what is really the main component(s) responsible for producing interferance
thanx

 

[LobsterSan]

Well, I don't have a system like that set up, but I can tell you it will probably not alleviate any of the signal interference you may be getting from within the case. The only thing you are really leaving out is a video card.

Electrical signal aside, I believe the biggest culprits of noise within a computer case are the various cooling fans involved, such as the power supply fan, the cpu cooling fan, and the case cooling fan. For those interested, below is a link to some soundproofing of these computer fan parts. I have not had experience with these yet, as I need to put aside my lil' headphone hobby for awhile and get back to basics... but they look like they will work reasonably well.

http://www.quietpc.com/products.html

 

[Ruahrc]

It is not possible to have a computer with just a mobo/cpu, soundcard, and hard disk. The computer requires a video card to even boot.

Like it was said- you've still got lots of other components to make electrical noise. If you want to try it out- one way would be to try and construct as good a faraday cage around your sound card as possible. It might take some ingeneuity- but I swear I've heard of some guy trying this before.

Also, another site to help quiet that beast down is:
www.7volts.com

But if mp3 playback is all you're after- you might want to just assemble a PC with components that don't require fans- a VIA C3 processor or an old pentium that only requires a heatsink will decode mp3s fine... stuff like that.

Ruahrc

 

[Gergor]

What is the motivation of going into all the trouble of building a dedicated computer just to play MP3? Wouldn't it be easier/better/cheaper just to buy a HDD based MP3 player?

 

[andrzejpw]

Quote:

It is not possible to have a computer with just a mobo/cpu, soundcard, and hard disk. The computer requires a video card to even boot.

Hmmm, I don't think so. With linux, I'm pretty sure there are ways to boot w/o a vid card. Don't remember how though. . .

 

[Andrew LB]

From my knowledge you can't boot any PC without a video card or integrated video chip. The operating system doesnt matter if you can't boot past the bios. Pull your video card and see what happens. It will emit a series of beeps when you turn the power on which tells you your video card isnt installed properly.