[Voyage-linux] Hardware advice: Soekris net5501 + Voyage + MPD

[(spam-protected)]

On Tue, Jun 28, 2011 at 07:46:55PM +0000, Muffinman wrote:
> Dear all,
> 
> Currently I am trying to decide on what machine I will run Voyage + MPD to feed
> my QB-9 with music. I've set my eye on the Soekris net5501, 500MHz, 512GB,
> USB2.0, Sata. I think this is my best option as I want to connect a 3.5"
> sata-hdd to it (just for the music files not the OS). Since I am a newby on this
> type of hardware I am wondering if anyone sees any pitfalls I am not seeing
> before I set the order.
> 
> Thanks in advance, Maarten

Hi Maarten,

I'm using since a few years several Alix 3D3 boards with success.
These have a VGA output and I used them for different purposes,
one is feeding my DAC, but also as thin client to workstations
or as full noiseless computer for lightweight tasks. I have also used it
for applying a room correction filter on the fly while playing music.

You can get Alix boards for about half the price of the Soekris boards:
  https://shop.bytemine.net/komplettpakete.html
The only point for the Soekris I can see is the SATA controller (for 2.5"
disks it says, not sure about connecting 3.5"). But with respect to speed
a cheap external USB disk is more than enough for mpd. The Alix have
only 256MB RAM, but that should already be more than enough for mpd.

After getting my QB-9 running with voyage, I did some experiments to
optimize my setup. Despite the "theory" of asyncronous USB-audio, the
quality of the computer transport to the QB-9 can make an audible 
difference. My (crazy audiophile) setup now uses two Alix boards:
The one connected to the QB-9 has an "audiphile grade" power supply
and I use a USB cable from Aqvox to connect to the QB-9. This computer
is only running 'nc' to receive the raw music signal via ethernet
and pipes it into 'aplay' (less than 4% CPU load with 96/24). The other 
Alix is in another room and is connected to a cheap external 2TB USB 
disk, which holds my music (raw or wavpack with room corretion precomputed). 
I would not want a spinning hard disk in my music room. (I'm not using 
mpd, but that would run on the computer with the disk).

If you want to connect a single computer with a hard disk to the QB-9 it
is a disadvantage of the Alix that you have to connect the hard disk via
USB. For "audiophile" reasons it would be better to not connect any other
USB device but the QB-9.

Best regards,
  Frank