[Gallic Dweller]

I've been looking for one of these for some time now. I have an excellent Azulle BYTE 3, it came with Windows 10 Pro and installed a 500GB SSD and am very happy with the performance. Maybe in the USA Azulle lives up to it's promises about good contacts with buyers but weeks ago I emailed a simple question - any chance of producing a silent mini PC with the above connection - no reply.

I have been looking for some time now to digitise around 400-500 LPs and around 150 CDS. Taking notice about noisy laptops, indeed any PC with moving parts. I am a very happy owner of a Marantz CD6007 which is really 3 pieces of gear in one box. The CD playback is excellent as is the h/amp. It comes with a very good DAC and can accept a flash drive. I have all the music I want so am not interested in any streamed music. So, if I can find a similar mini silent PC like the Azulle this is the route I want to follow. I may well find that I have to buy a digital music player in the future but for now the silent mini PC is preferred route - if anyone knows a model for me to check out i would be very pleased.

 

[Roseval]

As you are from France: https://www.bleujour.com/shop/en/computer/119-mini-pc-kubb-fanless.html

 

[m-i-c-k-e-y]

Its difficult to find a "modern" small fanless pc w/ spdif. Because manufacturers have now dropped the spdif in favor for more USB connection.

Why not add a good usb to spdif converter to your pc, cost less. Audiophonics.fr has it as low as 37eur.
What I have is a Singxer F-1 (has usb/I2S isolation and femto reclock), very happy with it. You could buy a new fanless pc like this one (link) and connect the Singxer F-1 (or any DDC or a good AD/DA Converter).

If you want the AIO route, maybe this fanless PC (link) and add a Pink Faun SPDIF Bridge or on a budget a EVGA NU Audio Card.

 

[Gallic Dweller]

Roseval,
merci bien. Expensive but well specced and I wouldn't get hit with import taxes. I will contact the company re. the audio connections.

m-i-c-k-e-y, Done a lot of research and for best sound laptops and USB connections are often noisy which is what I want to avoid. Also once I have downloaded either FLAC or WAV that's it, zero contact with the net so no possibility of corruption. Nor shall I be overwriting anything with the SSD. Of course it makes sense to have 3 copies and after 5 years make new copies. The only thing that stops me jumping on a Puffin is the volume control, if I can bypass that and use Chris Daly's - Stereo Coffee I'm ready. I used to use a shunted Alps Blue for many years but the S/C is so transparent and 3D.

Anyone with more suggestions would be welcome to input.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

I'm having trouble understanding what you want to accomplish. Most of what I'm reading is how you have decided to accomplish it, and that's ok, but it's hard to help based on that.

If you are concerned about noisy USB interfaces then your concern is shared by almost everybody. But you will not win by choosing an objectively inferior interface on the same board as your noisy USB interface. The way this problem is solved is not new, it's called DDC, and that is what many of us chose.

My big rig is driven by a Lenovo fanless M90n into an Audio-Gd DI-20 or Mutec MC-3+ USB, and from there to various DACs and digital recorders via AES. The DDCs also have coaxial and optical S/PDIF outputs. The DI-20 has IIS and a proprietary form of coax as well, but you need a compatible DAC

 

[m-i-c-k-e-y]

Done a lot of research and for best sound laptops and USB connections are often noisy which is what I want to avoid.

Hence the SIngxer F-1 for converting to SPDIF. Its has USB/I2S isolation as well as Femto reclocking. As @gimmeheadroom had said, am too using a DDC (Singxer SU-6) to clean up the USB signal from my source and connecting it to my DAC via HDMI I2S.

 

[Gallic Dweller]

I'm having trouble understanding what you want to accomplish. Most of what I'm reading is how you have decided to accomplish it, and that's ok, but it's hard to help based on that.

If you are concerned about noisy USB interfaces then your concern is shared by almost everybody. But you will not win by choosing an objectively inferior interface on the same board as your noisy USB interface. The way this problem is solved is not new, it's called DDC, and that is what many of us chose.

My big rig is driven by a Lenovo fanless M90n into an Audio-Gd DI-20 or Mutec MC-3+ USB, and from there to various DACs and digital recorders via AES. The DDCs also have coaxial and optical S/PDIF outputs. The DI-20 has IIS and a proprietary form of coax as well, but you need a compatible DAC

I avoid all the problems you are dealing with by not using a laptop or using a USB connection. The Puffin Phono preamp can be had with a Toslink or S/PDIF co-axial - I shall go for the co-axial I want to feed that into a mini silent PC using either WAV or FLAC. The PC will only be used for storing my music, that and nothing else. I shall use flash drives which I can then plug into my Marantz 6007. This has an excellent DAC which has been well implemented like the rest of 6007. It maybe that I find that using the 6007 for digital playback is limiting, I'll deal with that as and when.

The point being that nowhere in this chain are any moving HDD (noisy) parts, fans or USB connections. a mini silent PC with the right inputs is the last piece I need to go forward. If Azulle had a model with the right inputs I would buy without hesitation their BYTE 3 model with an internal 512GB SSD performs without any problems, is so small you can unplug it and put it in your pocket and uses just 15W.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

USB noise ceases to be an issue when you use a DDC in between. Toslink has additional jitter, coax is subject to noise just as USB. And neither toslink or coax are specced for anything better than 24/192 and often don't even perform that well.

 

[Gallic Dweller]

USB noise ceases to be an issue when you use a DDC in between. Toslink has additional jitter, coax is subject to noise just as USB. And neither toslink or coax are specced for anything better than 24/192 and often don't even perform that well.

The out on a Puffin is not USB. This originally only had an analogue out but then there was a mod shown on the Park site to provide for a digital out. You can now buy a Puffin with either Toslink or co-axial out. All replies fail to take account of the fact that I will not be using a laptop or desk top - the digital converted signal has to go directly to a silent mini PC, only Roseval has grasped this point. At no time will I be streaming music, I have all I want. If nec. I will look for a co-axial/USB converter.

TNT-Audio is a site I have a lot of respect for, I have never seen any snake oil or b/s reviews on there. There is a review there on the Puffin, it was reviewed using top class equipment and noise was not a problem.

 

[Gallic Dweller]

Oh dear just been looking and co-ax to USB is a no-no. Back to looking for a mini PC with co-axial input. Co-ax is 2 channel and that is exactly what I want.

 

[Gallic Dweller]

At last thanks to Shannon Parks/Puffin phono pre I have solved The problem of not finding a small silent PC with a Toslink input. I contacted him and he gave me the link to a Facebook post from February last year. He saw someone (Bruce Kinsh) mention the - HIfime UR23 SPDIF OPtical to USB converter. He bought one and tried it. It permits recording to a PC @ 24/96 (good enough for me). It's DC isolated due to the optical connection, so no noisy computer leaky currents. There's no ADC or DAC to alter the sound input at all and it works perfect with Windows or macOS, he tested it on both.

Here's my final questions - I want to make digital copies of around 350-400 LPs and around 150CDs. I do not need or want any visuals of the artwork/details, only info on the actual LPs/CDs and of course sorted into Jazz/Rock/Folk and Classical.. I may get away with 256GB but would it be better to play safe and go for 500GB? I do know that you shouldn't use more than 80% of an SSD. Also very important as I found out on a discogs thread is that SSD uses electrons and if not powered up at least twice a year if some electrons are lost then the whole disc is corrupted and the info cannot be retrieved.

I don't intend to take any chances here by using 2 SSD copies and keeping one permanently 'on' using my present Azulle BTYE 3 - it only uses 4W so the cost is minimal. I also am aware that 5 years is the safest limit for life expectancy. How much RAM should I need? - remember this mini PC is only going to be used to hold my digital music files and nothing else. Once I have downloaded any programmes I need it will not be connected to the net

If I get a mini PC with Windows 10 installed apart from Audacity and FLAC or WAV what other downloads if any do I need. Any cheap monitor will do, I only need visual confirmation of what music I have selected.

 

[tjl5709]

I would go FLAC as it allows for tags to keep associated info for each file to manage them better. Why not go with a small 2 disc NAS to hold your files as a server? It could feed your fanless PC with the files. You could mirror the drives for redundancy.

 

[Gallic Dweller]

I would go FLAC as it allows for tags to keep associated info for each file to manage them better. Why not go with a small 2 disc NAS to hold your files as a server? It could feed your fanless PC with the files. You could mirror the drives for redundancy.

Could you explain further and costs involved, not that I'm bothered at costs involved but want to know how portable such a system would be. I intend to buy something like a class B or C motorhome to spend 3-4 months a year up in the mountains to escape the summer heat, which is getting worse year by year. There is also the possibility that I might live full time in m/home - there are lots of benefits in mobile living.

 

[Roseval]

I intend to buy something like a class B or C motorhome

Use SSD instead of a NAS. No moving parts, no network needed and very easy to transport.

 

[tjl5709]

Could you explain further and costs involved, not that I'm bothered at costs involved but want to know how portable such a system would be. I intend to buy something like a class B or C motorhome to spend 3-4 months a year up in the mountains to escape the summer heat, which is getting worse year by year. There is also the possibility that I might live full time in m/home - there are lots of benefits in mobile living.

I put up the NAS as a way to protect your library. The amount of time you will spend "ripping" your physical media to digital will be extensive. With built-in redundancy, you are less likely to loose your data/info having a NAS. You then bring up portability. SSD would be much more portable. If your going to have a set library when you travel, the SSD would be way more convenient. At a minimum, I would get a USB HDD dock station and "back-up" your library to a HDD to store/archive. A 2 drive NAS would not be much bigger.

For reference, I have ~1.5T of FLAC audio files in my master library. I started ripping my original CD library back in the early 2000's. Many of those go back to the mid 80's. My digital library resides on a dedicated HD on my multi-media PC in my cave. I then can create various "sets" from it for putting on my DAP's and phone. The PC is hooked up to a simple 2 drive NAS for back-up. Again, I'm just presenting options for protecting your "investment" in time and effort. You can't buy time.