Jplay

[GuillaumeB]

It's not much work. Windows Server 2012 R2 installation doesn't differ much from Windows 8. The Audiophile Optimizer takes care of the system tuning and configuration. Only thing you have to do is install JPlay, JRiver/Foobar and a few hardware drivers (most are recognized by windows). From there it's set and forget, you turn the machine on and off using the power button. It boots in seconds from a SSD as it has to start very little.

JPlay Mini is an optional player provided by JPlay, you can keep using any player you like as long as it has an ASIO output capability. The JCat USB card is a PCI express interface card to which you connect the Devialet once. Don't see any family unfriendliness here.

No idea how the Totaldac d1 server compares to a fully tuned PC music server. I haven't read any comparisons. It has to do really well though to beat it. And this regardless of it's steep price of €4990. The Aurender W20 mentioned above is even three times as expensive, costing a mere €15.000€/$17.200

The thing is many of us on here simply don't have the knowledge and/or confidence to build our own PCs. That's why we outsource to someone like Vincent Brient at totaldac!

What is attractive about the totaldac solution is the combination of streamer and reclocker and also the attention to detail in the way that it's built. For example he has removed the LED on the ethernet port! Even his ethernet cable is so good it's replaced my AQ Diamond at the streamer end. This guy really knows what he's doing.

I have no doubt your computer sounds fantastic by the way! It might even be better that the d1 server, who knows?

Guillaume

PS I read on some of the other forums that the totaldac USB cable pretty much beats a lot of the competition. It has a network box that filters the cable of noise.