HTPC as an Audio server - Blu-ray Forum

hoogoosedmoose41 · 03-28-2008, 04:40 PM

Im thinking about this unit off of ebay to use as a dedicated audio server. I have the ps3 set to stream audio from my computer but i find the sound lacking.
all it needs to do is display correctly on my tv and produce good sound quality. I wasnt sure which forum to put this under but heres a link to it
its a custom made HTPC on ebay.
to me the price looks good and it looks like it belongs in an entertainment center.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWA:IT&ih=014

glogrono · 03-28-2008, 08:19 PM

At that price, it's a pretty good deal. It should sound good too especially if you used the SPDIF out.

Brian Cash · 03-28-2008, 08:21 PM

thats a great deal i jsut purschased one for my theater room for close to 3g's

kpkelley · 03-28-2008, 08:25 PM

The price is ok, but you are going to want to upgrade the cpu and offload the audio decoding to a dedicated card. For that matter, it is a vista machine so you would want to increase the memory to 3gb or more. That will cost you at least another $250.00.

glogrono · 03-28-2008, 08:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kpkelley

The price is ok, but you are going to want to upgrade the cpu and offload the audio decoding to a dedicated card. For that matter, it is a vista machine so you would want to increase the memory to 3gb or more. That will cost you at least another $250.00.

My HTPC has a P4 2.8ghz, 1gb ram, ATI HD-3450, 2 x 160gb hard drives. I run vista ultimate with ease. Of course, more memory would be even better, but it's definitelly enough. I play blu rays at 1080p with the cpu at around 35% and memory at about 40%. I have turned off the Aero feature to help performance. If he'll be using the SPDIF output, then he'll be fine. The music will be sent digitally so the crappy onboard sound won't ruin the audio.

ryoohki · 03-28-2008, 09:04 PM

I would get a Ethernet HDD with 1 TERA (RAID 1) they sell around 200$-300$ on Ebay. They are standalone and most of them have a multimedia server in them. You can use it as a normal HDD as the system just see it as a big drive. Save the assle of installing an OS and manage it.. imho..à

For example this unit

http://www.lacie.com/us/products/product.htm?pid=10994

or this one

http://www.lacie.com/us/products/product.htm?pid=10843

hoogoosedmoose41 · 03-28-2008, 09:59 PM

I think im gonna skip that unit at this time after thinking about it without the computer having an OS on it I have to get one and there might be compatiblity issues that i might not know about with the drivers being its a custom built job.

03-28-2008, 04:40 PM	#1
hoogoosedmoose41 Senior Member Member since:Feb 2008 Blu-ray collection:308 DVD collection:103	HTPC as an Audio server Im thinking about this unit off of ebay to use as a dedicated audio server. I have the ps3 set to stream audio from my computer but i find the sound lacking. all it needs to do is display correctly on my tv and produce good sound quality. I wasnt sure which forum to put this under but heres a link to it its a custom made HTPC on ebay. to me the price looks good and it looks like it belongs in an entertainment center. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWA:IT&ih=014

03-28-2008, 09:04 PM	#6
ryoohki Blu-ray Samurai Member since:May 2007 Home Theater Gallery:6 Blu-ray collection:6 Blu-ray reviews:8 Trading Score:5	I would get a Ethernet HDD with 1 TERA (RAID 1) they sell around 200$-300$ on Ebay. They are standalone and most of them have a multimedia server in them. You can use it as a normal HDD as the system just see it as a big drive. Save the assle of installing an OS and manage it.. imho..à For example this unit http://www.lacie.com/us/products/product.htm?pid=10994 or this one http://www.lacie.com/us/products/product.htm?pid=10843 Last edited by ryoohki; 03-28-2008 at 09:09 PM.

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03-28-2008, 08:19 PM	#2
glogrono Active Member Member since:Jan 2008	At that price, it's a pretty good deal. It should sound good too especially if you used the SPDIF out.

03-28-2008, 08:21 PM	#3
Brian Cash Special Member Member since:Dec 2007 Location:Chicago Blu-ray collection:13 Blu-ray reviews:2 Trading Score:3	thats a great deal i jsut purschased one for my theater room for close to 3g's

03-28-2008, 08:25 PM	#4
kpkelley Blu-ray Ninja Top contributor Member since:Aug 2007 Location:Framingham, MA 4K collection:385 Blu-ray collection:2478 Digital collection:113 Blu-ray reviews: 152	The price is ok, but you are going to want to upgrade the cpu and offload the audio decoding to a dedicated card. For that matter, it is a vista machine so you would want to increase the memory to 3gb or more. That will cost you at least another $250.00.

03-28-2008, 09:59 PM	#7
hoogoosedmoose41 Senior Member Member since:Feb 2008 Blu-ray collection:308 DVD collection:103	I think im gonna skip that unit at this time after thinking about it without the computer having an OS on it I have to get one and there might be compatiblity issues that i might not know about with the drivers being its a custom built job.

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