Ultimate Audiophile PC Setup!!!

[Starsky5000]

I am looking for the Ultimate Audiophile PC Setup!!!

I want a setup that would produce the most accurate detailed sound from the source (in my case...my cd's copied onto my pc hard drive encoded in Flac) when played through my PC.

I was looking at the web and I came across someone that asked this similar question on another forum and this is what someone suggested to him:

"best sound quality PC setup" for you:

Source (File format): FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Compression) ripped with EAC or (PlexTools if you have a Plextor drive)
Source (Software): Foobar2000
Source (Hardware): EMU 1212m (possibly modded but it sounds good stock).
Headphone & Amp: You can find some good reccomendations over at Head-Fi.

Okay can you guys tell me if this is really the best setup out there & are they others you can suggest or change anything.

Plextor Drives...can you suggest an extremely good one.

Headphone Amps...please suggest a really good one.

Headphones...I would take any headphones EXCEPT the in-ear one's...although some of the best earphones on the market are actually in-ear ones...it's just not comfortable for me...sticking something in my ear...plus it damages your hearing too.

Speakers...I heard a company Klipsch makes good speakers but what do you think of them and are they better alternatives.

Audiophile Cables...Cable Pro makes some pretty cables but are they best and what about Monster Cable & how do they compare?

I really appreciate any comment...good or bad.

One more thing...can suggest a desktop pc or laptop that would be suited for an audiophile.

Also I am willing to spend the money to get the best out there...since I don't want to buy something sub-par and regret my decision later on.

Thank You All.

 

[krmathis]

Welcome to Head-Fi and sorry for your wallet!

You should start by telling us your budget.
Cause the Ultimate Audiophile PC Setup can easily cost you $20.000.

Any computer with lossless files (Flac, ALAC, WavPack, ..) and a digital out will do.
Then match it with an external DAC, amplifier and headphones.

My suggestions for a very good headphone rig:
DAC -> Electrocompaniet ECD1 - $2000
Amplifier -> Singlepower ES1 - $11000 (maxed out)
Headset -> Sennheiser HE90 (~5-6000 used) or Stax Omega II ($1500 new)
Interconnect -> Nordost Valhalla XLR - ~$3000

 

[003]

I think a used HE90 would go for more than $6000. And personally I would just get an Omega II, as there is a growing number of people who perfer it to the HE90 on the ES1.

 

[tyloh73]

hehe...Ultimate audiophile pc setup?here ya go

flac/ape/other lossless format are fine,i can't hear difference between flac and ape.

foobar2000 is good.

emu sound card?forget the sound card.if ultimate audiophile pc is what you are looking for,get something like Ultimate USB DAC with optional silver transformer from wavelength(I never heard ultimate,but the brick usb dac impress the heck out of me.)

OR

get the battery-powered offramp from empirical audio and feed the signal to one of the high end DAC.

accurate and detail sound?akg k1000 comes to mind,or grado hp1/2/3(base on what i read.)

amp : best amp for akg k1000 is said to be ear v20,or some pass lab amp.
grado?may be gilmore reference,melos,singlepower...lotof choices here.

klipsch?horn speakers is alright,personally,i don't like them,but oh boy could they play LOUD!play metallica at 105++ db is FUN!!!

cable?acoutics zen make good cable,their holograph(??)speaker cable is the only cable that actually make a difference to me...the rest just sound the same(I guess i just have tin ears)

"....Also I am willing to spend the money to get the best out there...since I don't want to buy something sub-par and regret my decision later on."

don't bother with that,i said the same thing years ago when i first got into this hobby.....sold my first gear within 3 weeks.

 

[003]

Also, just to let you know, Foobar and Winamp will have the exact same sound quality when using ASIO output. And I perfer winamp because it's media library is much easier to use.

 

[CSMR]

First things first. Headphones and speakers are the most important things. Spend most of your money on them. But also with them it is a matter of taste. For headphones go to the headphone forum and look for recommendations from people with similar tastes in music. For speakers do the same but go to the Audio Asylum.

Among headphones that are considered good, you may find some wonderful and some appalling: it is a matter of taste. Whereas among computer sound cards are considered good there will be hardly any difference.
Quote:

Originally Posted by Starsky5000 Source (File format): FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Compression) ripped with EAC or (PlexTools if you have a Plextor drive) Source (Software): Foobar2000 Source (Hardware): EMU 1212m (possibly modded but it sounds good stock).

Good choices. An 0404 would be fine too; then you have a bit of money left for everything else.
Quote:

Plextor Drives...can you suggest an extremely good one.

I have the Plextor Premium which works well for me. Maybe other drives might have a greater tolerance for scratches. There is a new one out the Premium 2 but I don't know much about it. What I can say is Plextor software is excellent.
Quote:

Headphone Amps...please suggest a really good one.

Need a price range really.
Quote:

Speakers...I heard a company Klipsch makes good speakers but what do you think of them and are they better alternatives.

Good speakers you buy separately and attach to an amp (or in the case of powered speakers a preamp but there are not many of these). Speakers that are advertised as computer speakers are not in this category.
Quote:

Audiophile Cables...Cable Pro makes some pretty cables but are they best and what about Monster Cable & how do they compare?

There is a lot of nonsense here because firms can make money out of hocus pocus. I have Blue Jeans cables recommended here and they have good build and shielding and are not overpriced. You have not to mind the colour blue though because that is what they are.
Quote:

One more thing...can suggest a desktop pc or laptop that would be suited for an audiophile.

If you want a laptop you should look for a USB soundcard. There are some good ones out.
The important thing with a computer is noise. For my desktop my solution is to take a relatively quiet computer and put it in another room from where I use it. A long USB cable and a long DVI cable connect it to the monitor, mouse, keyboard, sound card, etc.. (That's the plan; currently long RCA cables to the sound card.)
Quote:

Also I am willing to spend the money to get the best out there...since I don't want to buy something sub-par and regret my decision later on.

You can never get the best. Put your effort into getting something you like. You probably will need to try a few headphones and speakers to find what suits you.

 

[thomaspf]

since money is of no concern I would also recommend Jriver media center as the player.

Support for ape,flac,wma, aac and the most flexible UI if you plan to get a larger mdia library.

Cheers

Thomas

 

[Rambaud]

Quote:

Originally Posted by thomaspf since money is of no concern I would also recommend Jriver media center as the player. Support for ape,flac,wma, aac and the most flexible UI if you plan to get a larger mdia library. Cheers Thomas

I have WinAmp and Foobar, but prefer jriver media center - it has asio too.

 

[Konig]

When you say ultimate, do u mean u are gonna have a sound card? Sound card is generally not as good as taking it out of PC due to the EM interference inside the PC so here is my suggestion.

Get the empirical audio offramp I2S and ask steve to create u the ultimate one ( im not sure if he can still improve on it) then get a zanden signature 5000 dac and tell steve to mod its I2S to fit the offramp.

The easier way is to buy a wavelength crimson dac silver version from gordan ranking. $15000 If you dont like TDA1543 chip u can tell him the chip u like and he will make it for u.

Amplifiers and headphones is all abt preference.

 

[milkpowder]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Starsky5000 Speakers...I heard a company Klipsch makes good speakers but what do you think of them and are they better alternatives.

Wilson Audio Alexandria-X2. That would be my dream come true.

Please tell us how much you would like to spend. The sky's the limit with high-end audio.

 

[thomaspf]

Speakers are very much a matter of taste since they are by far the weakest link in a playback chain. Second is room interaction and then then far below that come any effects from the electronic.

For a very realistic sound, which is hard to come by these days, you might want to listen to some Harbeth speakers.

Cheers

Thomas

 

[tyloh73]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Konig The easier way is to buy a wavelength crimson dac silver version from gordan ranking. $15000 If you dont like TDA1543 chip u can tell him the chip u like and he will make it for u.

holy moses!$15000?just got my brick silver version and absolutely love it.i am thinking about cosecant with volume control and this comes along.....

 

[Konig]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tyloh73 holy moses!$15000?just got my brick silver version and absolutely love it.i am thinking about cosecant with volume control and this comes along.....

is there significant diff in the sound?

 

[Bones13]

The silver one has an upgraded PS and output board if I remember him telling me right. I just went simple and ordered a Lavry. I could not get one of the shops that sells the Brick to get interested in selling me one.

 

[tyloh73]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Konig is there significant diff in the sound?

i only listen to wavelength brick standard version via super t-amp/k1000 and silver version via flying mole ca-s3/k1000,all i could say is the latter setup sound much better.there are definately more details,sound is cleaner/clearer and refined.image is more palpable too.