The Hi-Fi PC Vision

Basically I am trying to build a PC for use in a Hi-Fi/Home Theater set-up.

Current Compromise Solution

After some soul searching gadget decisions, I have put the final solution off until I get a new house. Instead I bought a 2GHz Microwave VideoSender and a 26Gb hard disk. This means my current PC stays upstairs and I can see either DVD or PC pictures downstairs on the TV with surprisingly high quality pictures and sound. The Unit I bought a Response VideoSender Plus (£80 from Homebase) also has a Infrared function so I can control the PC from downstairs. This along with my new Philip Universal remote means that my gadget appetite has temporarily been sated.

The current downsides of this approach are

	No surround sound as the VideoSender only sends stereo
	Having to play around with cables to change from PC screen to DVD
	Sound is only pretty good (about the same as chrome tape) rather than what this stuff is capable off
	Picture has interference when using remote which will be annoying for the music interface
	Using the microwave screws it up completely

A bit of History

My quest started when I bought a new Dan PC about a year ago and then bought a Creative DVD and DXR2. After a certain amount of playing about I got it hooked up to the TV and the my existing Hi-Fi gear. The picture was great even without an S-Video cable. The sound I got out of my SoundBlaster 64 was pretty bad though, loads of hiss and a "muddy" sound. But, even worse was the noise my PC makes, it totally drowned out some of the quieter dialog. Since I live in a terraced house, I can't turn the volume up too loud so the way forward seemed to be make the PC quieter. The other main problem is the lack of remote, using a keyboard from the sofa is not really an option.

The next set of upgrades were a SoundBlaster PCI128 (pretty good sound and a lot less hiss than the old one) and a Hushkit from Silent Systems. This was a hard drive cover, a quieter processor fan and a quieter power supply from PC Power and Cooling. This has made my PC a whole lot quieter but it still way too noisy for use as a replacement for a normal CD player or DVD player.

After much searching it seems that quiet PC's (I mean really quiet like a normal CD player) are not something people have given too much design time to. So I now have a wish list (not in any sort of priority order) of the things I want from my new PC which it looks like I'm going to have to build myself.

As near total silence as Possible Read about my thoughts on this
Digital sound output for link into Surround Amp as I'm a bit of a hiss hater. This problem seems to have been solved now as there are several card with digital outs coming out now.
Same external appearance as Hi-Fi i.e. Matt Black, or hidden in a box to keep the noise down. This would be a nice to have, the low tech solution is to get out the spray paint.
Windows 2000 running Winamp, DVD software or hardware. I'm running beta 3 at the moment and it seems very stable and has everything I need, DVD, USB etc. Linux would be an option although it looks like there will be no DVD support for a while :-((
An easy to use remote. I will probably use IRMan and IRMan OCX as part of my overall control program (still vapourware) which will use all the other components I have written to make the whole thing work. Or a IR keyboard but that will be too bulky to use for simple stuff. I think I won't need a keyboard if I can get the interface right.
Large hard disk for storing MP3's or AAC's (if the encoders get better). I will probably end up with about 200 hours of music. My current compromise encoding is Xing 160 kbps VBR. I did a test with that rate, taking a song and burning a CD with the original and the song encoded and decoded and tried to play through my normal CD player to see if I could tell the difference. The results were very impressive, there is only the vaguest of senses that there is something missing, a certain cloudiness in the image and slightly less attack to some instruments but it was pretty subtle.
TV out for DVD, Web access, song selection WinAmp visualization. The LCD on the front that some people go for is also a good idea for remote feedback and for when I don't want the TV on.
ADSL internet access with a simple interface for browsing. I should be connected to ADSL in February sometime, at last!.
Small, Basically I want a slim desktop box. NLX looks like the best bet although there are not many people in the UK selling cases, I am going to need 2x 5 1/2 inch for the DVD and the Silent Systems Hushdrive.
A Front End to access all the stuff inside. At the moment I'm thinking about some sort of Active Desktop type interface with a dynamic menu built from all the files on the PC and automatic disk detection

Current Hardware Thoughts

	I'm waiting to see what happens with the Crusoe chip
	The Videologic SoundVortex2 soundcard seems to have everything I need, so I'll probably go for that.
	The Matrox G-400 seems to be the best card for TV out at the moment.
	I need to find out what the quietest DVD player is. The Creative 5x one is way too noisy for me, and now has the dubious honour of being my loudest component. Any experiences? I now have an A-Open slot loading DVD at work this seems pretty quiet to me.

Your Experiences

Please email me with products that you have had success with

Last Update 22nd January 2000