I say NO to SSD for music playback.

[BertD]

Why a 2,5 and not a 3,5? And which model you have?

It was the only high RPM I could find that could be fitted into my system but suited me well anyhow making less noise than the 3,5" drives usually do. I can't hear it spin... ;-)

Its a WD VelociRaptor IcePack 150GB, 10Krpm, 16MB, SATA2 (I could get the 300GB for a little more but I do not need the extra space and SATA3 is not an option).

Bert

[Gerard]

Why a 2,5 and not a 3,5? And which model you have?

It was the only high RPM I could find that could be fitted into my system but suited me well anyhow making less noise than the 3,5" drives usually do. I can't hear it spin... ;-)

Its a WD VelociRaptor IcePack 150GB, 10Krpm, 16MB, SATA2 (I could get the 300GB for a little more but I do not need the extra space and SATA3 is not an option).

Bert

Ok thanx!

[PeterSt]

Now that it seems that both the OS and XXHigEnd should be in a HDD in place of in a SSD for better sound, wouldn´t be a good idea to have it in the fastest possible HDD?, I´m thinking about something like a VelociRaptor. The 150Gb are now around 100€. http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=20

Btw ... I never saw (and still don't) whether this was about a 2.5" or 3.5" (because the link doesn't work on the PC I use here).
So, my earlier remark about the 15K RPM won't count for a 2.5". Well, not that I know of.


PS: Thank you Bert.

[manisandher]

THIS POST IS EXTREMELY PAINFUL FOR ME TO WRITE.

In the past 12 months, I've invested quite a bit of money getting my two music PCs and my work PC 'up to scratch'. Most of the expense can be attributed to my insistence on buying totally silent components with no moving parts. The three PCs in question are all totally silent - no cooling fans anywhere, no water pumps and no spinning disks. You know, it's an absolute pleasure sitting right next to my work PC in total silence - especially when I'm working late at night. And also listening to music late at night in my main room - I really think the background silence adds to the listening experience in some way. Ordinarily, I wouldn't change my 'totally silent' approach for anything.

HOWEVER...

With the introduction of the 'Minimise OS' feature came a new challenge for me - how to get my music files from my NAS to my PCs when the network adaptor has been disabled? Yes, I could disable 'Minimise OS', reboot, load the tracks/albums I want to play, enable 'Minmise OS' and then reboot... but this is a bit of a PITA really. So, I thought I'd 'kill two birds with one stone', get an HDD and fix my 'Minimise OS' problem and take the opportunity to compare the OS loaded onto the HDD vs. the SSD all in one go.

I really, really wanted the OS loaded onto the SSD to sound better than when loaded onto the HDD. This would be perfect for me. All my music could then be stored on the 3TB HDD (only 2TB used of course) and the OS/XX installed on the 90GB SSD. I could then set the HDD to spin down after 1 minute and listen to my music in total silence late at night. No toggling between 'Minimise OS' and rebooting required. Bliss.

BUT, BUT, BUT...

The HDD sounds better than the SSD!!! Period. It's more open-sounding... simply more 'alive'. Peter has commented that SSDs sound as if they're 'filtering' the sound in some way - I now totally agree with this. This is no placebo on my part - remember, I wanted and was hoping for the exact opposite outcome.

So, I now have to put up with the sound of a spinning disk. Late at night, I really can hear this, especially with classical music during quiet parts. I totally hate this, but the improvement in sound more than makes up for it.

Computer audio... what a total pain.

Mani.

[Bigear]

Hi Mani,

just curious, do you have posted somewhere a description on how you builded up (what components used) your (almost) total silent PC?

Thanks,
Quint

[PeterSt]

But Mani, maybe there is hope ...

First of all, and assuming that you used the 3TB for the OS this time, they are noisy beasts. Get superhot as well. So, wrong spinning disk for the job ...
That is, I can't imagine that you will hear the normal 2TB disks (or smaller ones). The 3TB though (at least mine) - you can already feel they make noise (vibrate).

Another kind of option might be to use some sort of eSata connection; the cable used for it can be longer. I don't know what it takes to connect it to the disk directly. And otherwise a dock could do it. What I don't know is whether you can boot from it this way (I just never tried, and/but would not know why it wouldn't work).
No matter you now might be able to dampen it inside of whatever it takes, again don't do this with the 3TB; too hot.

Lastly, knowing you have a basement, you could try to stuff the whole PC in here. Somewhere near the ceiling. Just extend the keyboard and monitor cables (can be 15m easily) and you could be done. Maybe let stick out some USB cable above to put in USB sticks.

Or be more creative than I am ...
Peter

[manisandher]

... just curious, do you have posted somewhere a description on how you builded up (what components used) your (almost) total silent PC?

Hi Quint. No, I don't think I've ever posted anything. You see, the three PCs in question are all built around Zalman TNN300 cases, which are pretty much unobtainable now. These place certain limitations on which mobo can be used that just wouldn't be valid with most other cases. For example, I have to use mini-ATX mobos... PITA.

Mani.

[manisandher]

... assuming that you used the 3TB for the OS this time, they are noisy beasts. Get superhot as well. So, wrong spinning disk for the job ...
That is, I can't imagine that you will hear the normal 2TB disks (or smaller ones).

Great, thanks for letting me know. I think the immediate solution would be to use the noisy 3TB HDD for storing music (I mean I have it now and may as well use it, but will set it to spin down after 1 minute), the 90GB SSD for galleries, and a new HDD for the OS & XX. So, can anyone recommend a low-capacity (100GB is enough), ultra-fast and ultra-quite HDD?

Another kind of option might be to use some sort of eSata connection; the cable used for it can be longer. I don't know what it takes to connect it to the disk directly. And otherwise a dock could do it. What I don't know is whether you can boot from it this way (I just never tried, and/but would not know why it wouldn't work).
No matter you now might be able to dampen it inside of whatever it takes, again don't do this with the 3TB; too hot.

Not sure about this option. It just seems too 'messy' somehow.

Lastly, knowing you have a basement, you could try to stuff the whole PC in here. Somewhere near the ceiling. Just extend the keyboard and monitor cables (can be 15m easily) and you could be done. Maybe let stick out some USB cable above to put in USB sticks.

I like the sound of this. Does anyone know of an easy way to switch a PC on remotely or would I have to physically go down to my basement whenever I want to do this?

Mani.

[juanpmar]

can anyone recommend a low-capacity (100GB is enough), ultra-fast and ultra-quite HDD?
Mani.

Hi Mani

The fastest HDD I know with around 100GB is the Hitachi Ultrastar C15K147 at 15.000rpm with 147GB and it looks quite silent. See Specifications: http://www.hitachigst.com/internal-drives/enterprise/ultrastar/ultrastar-c15k147

There are other Hitachi models and WD Velociraptor like the one I use at 10.000rpm and 300GB. To tell you the truth I hear more the air conditioning in my music room than the Velociraptor it self. Of course the fans in the case are a little noisier also than the HDD. But neither the air conditioning nor the fans in the case bother me too much, they are quite silent and the music is great. I´ve never tried SSD though.

Here I´ve found a link for you in case you´re interested on buying it: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/147-gb-hitachi-0b23723-ultrastar-c15k147-sas-6gb-s-15000rpm-64mb-cache-3-ms

Best regards, Juan

[manisandher]

Thanks for this Juan. I think this is a 2.5" drive right? Also, it's quite expensive for a drive first released in 2009. For this reason, I've ordered a Dell Hitachi HUS156030VLS600 300GB drive from Amazon, and saved £40 in the process!

Thanks again.

Mani.

[Gerard]

Mani,

I still use the SSD for XX.

So Win 7 on Velociraptor HDD. XX and the gallerie on SSD. And another "normal" HDD for the music.

Copy to XX-drive by standard ON

 

[Flecko]

Does anyone know of an easy way to switch a PC on remotely or would I have to physically go down to my basement whenever I want to do this?

In the BIOS there is normaly an option which is called "wake on keyboard". This should start your pc without going down to the pc...
Greetings
Adrian

[SeVeReD]

Does anyone know of an easy way to switch a PC on remotely or would I have to physically go down to my basement whenever I want to do this?

In the BIOS there is normaly an option which is called "wake on keyboard". This should start your pc without going down to the pc...
Greetings
Adrian

This is what I do too.  I have a bios setting that lets me start the computer (in a closet in an adjacent room) with either a keyboard press or mouse click.

How about this drive for fast ... I remember having one a few years back before i tried the ssd route... but I don't remember  how noisy it is.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136557

[music33]

Could someone attempt to explain technically why SSD sounds worse than a HD?  Same bits for the music, same DAC, same software.

thanks.

[Calibrator]

Could someone attempt to explain technically why SSD sounds worse than a HD? 

I'd just like to add that this notion is not supported by myself currently.

Cheers,

Russ