Guys, I'm looking build (or buy, possibly) a very low power PC to stream music to my AVR from my server. I would like to use SPDIF instead of analog as I would prefer to do the D/A conversion with my AVR (picking up a Onkyo 1007 or 3007 soon) DACs.
Before someone suggests a squeezbox or something similar, I have a couple of reasons to go with a PC; I am setting up an ipod touch to control all my AV equipment and I plan on using either XBMC or VLC, both of which have ipod apps. So far I have been playing with VLC a bit and like how it works. Ideas here?
Basically I want to get fuctionality similar to the squeezbox with two way feedback (seeing what is playing and searching for music on the remote).
I also just like having the versatility of the PC versus a single purpose device.
I've thought about using the onkyo's network abilities for this, but I really don't want to have to use a monitor to play music.
That being said, here is what I am looking at currently:
MB - ZOTAC IONITX-B-E
Case - HEC or M350
Memory - A-Data
HDD - WD Blue
The above (using the HEC case) would be around $270. I already have a spare XPPro license, so I am not adding that in.
I would love to hear opinions or alternative ideas. I've been trying to find a cheaper MB with SPDIF but haven't had much luck (I would like to stick with Atom/Ion CPU for low power consumption)
I don't care about video as I won't be streaming any video with this. I don't know if using HDMI for audio would make sense here for my use...?
Thanks in advance!
Before someone suggests a squeezbox or something similar, I have a couple of reasons to go with a PC; I am setting up an ipod touch to control all my AV equipment and I plan on using either XBMC or VLC, both of which have ipod apps. So far I have been playing with VLC a bit and like how it works. Ideas here?
Basically I want to get fuctionality similar to the squeezbox with two way feedback (seeing what is playing and searching for music on the remote).
I also just like having the versatility of the PC versus a single purpose device.
I've thought about using the onkyo's network abilities for this, but I really don't want to have to use a monitor to play music.
That being said, here is what I am looking at currently:
MB - ZOTAC IONITX-B-E
Case - HEC or M350
Memory - A-Data
HDD - WD Blue
The above (using the HEC case) would be around $270. I already have a spare XPPro license, so I am not adding that in.
I would love to hear opinions or alternative ideas. I've been trying to find a cheaper MB with SPDIF but haven't had much luck (I would like to stick with Atom/Ion CPU for low power consumption)
I don't care about video as I won't be streaming any video with this. I don't know if using HDMI for audio would make sense here for my use...?
Thanks in advance!