Best Audiophile desktop for under $2500?

I have a Mac Mni and I hate it for audio. It kept crashing for a few years when updates were applied. The solution was to re-install the OS and then the updates. Though the Mini did not crash like this last year. Maybe Apple learned something.

During the last 2 days I switched between a $500 Dell low-end tiny computer running ROON Core and my $6000 Silent PC (client bought for me) that also ran ROON Core. The sound differences were 0.

Silent PC | Fanless PCs and Quiet Servers

The reason being that I ran fibre optical cable just before the DAC. I used a couple of Sonore Optical Rendu’s for 2 systems. I am back to the $500 computer. They reason for the computer switching was related to some issues I had with PowerLine data transfer that was unrelated to the computer audio processing. The reason I got the SIlent PC is that I use it in my office with 6 monitors and to do that with a regular computer would result in a noisy computer.

If you dig into the ROON web site of Community Forum, ROON themselves suggest using a cheap computer and sticking into a closet and then stream from that source. They do not mention fibre like I am recommending but the glass cable of a fibre setup cannot carry network analog noise into the DAC. ROON maybe not saying that today with the new owners and the need to sell the new ROON server machine.

A computer, especially a noisy one like the Dell Precision (I have a few), that is directly connected to the DAC via USB is sending the analog noise of the computer into the DAC. A RJ45 network connection is also able to carry noise, but likely not as bad as a direct USB connection.

Saying all of this I do have a PlayBack Designs Streamer-IF and that also supports USB directly from a computer. I do not use it like that, but I think there is some magical processing going on inside that unit because it sounds great on SPDIF even without any fibre in the pathway.

Look into what I posted about the Sonore OpticalRendu or even the non-fibre Rendu's. They will allow you to keep your computer far away from your music system (several rooms away).  If you use fibre, who cares about how noisy the internals of a computer are. That noise will not travel inside the glass fibre cable.

Using a computer in an audio system can be as good as anything else mentioned here. You just need to do it correctly.

I posted earlier about my $5k fan less PC. I run 6 monitors of it and it is a powerhouse machine. It does not make a peep of noise. However, that is not how I setup my streaming, I use a $500 DELL machine that is the size of my hand. I have it kept under a bed in the adjoining bedroom to my office. I have perfect streaming throughout the house from this little machine running ROON Core. 

Fibre cable (glass) is your friend in this scenario. My setup needs a bit of computer savvy to get setup and keep running. Send me DM if you want to discuss.