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EndersShadow
[H]ard|Gawd
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2008
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So currently I have about 4 hours of time on my hands while I have my Remicaide infusion. I felt it would be a good use of that time to finally document my entire Mini-ITX build from start to its current semi-finished state. Hopefully this can help folks from running into some of the problems I did. It is also a reminder to myself of just how much work and how far I have come.
I started this journey looking to get a higher fidelity out of my music at work than I was getting. I have a Zune HD and an iPhone 4. I had all my music on my Zune at 320 kbps and at 128kbps on my iPhone. I knew I could do better as my entire library was ripped in FLAC and Apple Lossless format. I had earlier in the year purchased a pre-build Objective 2 headphone amp from a guy on CL in MN. It turned out to need some work and thankfully a friend looked at it for me and repaired it. It was sold shortly thereafter as I didnt want to deal with it should more issues arise. The Objective 2 though showed me a dedicated headphone amp could make a big difference in sound quality however, so I knew I wanted to get one in the future, however I knew I would need to pay more for one.
I then started to think about building myself a Mini-ITX computer that was capable of playing back my entire FLAC library. This computer needed to be quite small, portable, not draw a lot of power. Perfect for a Mini-ITX. I figured I would re-use the 3.5 inch hard drive I had on hand, and would look to have the option of putting in a CD or Blu-ray burner so I could buy CDs rip them directly to the player and never need to take it home to update the library. So that part in my head was finished baring ordering parts.
The next thing to solve was how to run the system headless meaning without a monitor or keyboard or mouse. I started looking into all the different music players that allowed you to play FLAC or Apple Lossless (iTunes, Media Monkey, JRiver, and XBMC). After lots of searching and reading I dropped iTunes off the list as I planned on running Windows and the more I read about iTunes on Windows the more I realize its a flawed system. While using iTunes would allow me to interface easily with my music via the app on my iPhone, I would be making compromises elsewhere I wasnt ready to make.
The more research I did on the subject the more I realized I would have to have some sort of network capability built into the player in order to interface with my iPhone so I needed to add a wireless card, as well as ensure that the player supported the ability to do so. Media Monkey had an app, but you had to pay for it and I didnt want to do that at this point. I discovered a couple free apps that let you control your computer over the network, but none of those were really media based so they were thrown out. I am not familiar with JRiver and didnt want to mess with it so I didnt look too hard at it.
I then came back to XBMC. I had in the past messed around with it and was aware it could be run as its own OS or on top of Windows. What I stumbled across however was that an iOS app had been developed allowing music control and playback. I quickly installed this app on my iPhone and began testing it with my main system at home to ensure it would work. It did. It still has some functionality I need to dig deeper into but it worked and was great. As I am not very familiar with Linux I decided I would just layer it over the top of Windows 7 to make life easier and if I decided in the future to convert this to a HTPC it just made it easier.
Now it was time to figure out what headphone amp I was going to use as well as what Digital to Analog converter (DAC) I was going to use. I was also familiar with these items as I had read up on many of them. Since this system would live on my desktop at work I didnt have nearly the size constraints that many folks did so I could get something bigger and heavier. I quickly zerod in on Audio GD, Keces, Schiit as the brands I was going to go with. It was simply a question of what DAC and what amp. I could go with either USB or optical in. Of those two options USB seemed to be the more preferred, but I was still unsure. I was looking at purchasing a Keces 151 and then using a Schiit Asgard headphone amp combo. That looked to be around 600 bucks all said and done. Then along came an offer to purchase a Audio GD NFB-5 which was both a USB headphone amp and also was a DAC that had a set of RCA outs that were either fixed (straight DAC mode) or variable (pre-amp mode). This is what I ended up purchasing for about 300 bucks.
I also started reading up on cables as I am of the mindset that cables, even digital ones can make a sonic difference. I read up and narrowed down my choice to either a Audioquest Carbon or WireWorld starlight cable. I like the WireWorld for the fact it keeps the USB power and USB data portions separate. In my case USB will not be powering anything so its one less variable that could introduce noise. With that said the color of the Audioquest Carbon matches my gear and I also can get it a bit below normal cost locally. I am hoping Santa brings me one or the other.
I knew going in what headphones I wanted as they have been on my mind for a long time. I wanted either the Audio Technica ATH-50s or the Beyerdynamic DT-770s. For work I must have close headphones so these are my best two options. Of them I prefer the Beyers for their comfort. For home I would love a set of Grado RS2i or the SR325is but they are both open cans and out of my price range. I am also hoping Santa brings me the Beyers for Christmas.
So now I was through the concept phase of the build. I had an idea of what I wanted the computer to do, what music playback program I was using as well as how to control it. Next up it was time to spec out the actual parts and begin ordering them.
I had previously done lots of research into Mini-ITX systems and was originally going to go with the Zacate platform and with a totally passive board from Asus which retailed for about 149 bucks. The more I researched things the more I realized there were other viable options in either the Sandy Bridge or Llano platform that had a much better price/performance ratio than the Zacate platform. In looking at the differences between Sandy Bridge and Llano it came down to if you needed clock speed go Intel and then add a GPU later on if needed. If you wanted decent GPU speed and could give up a bit of clock speed go Llano. Since I wasnt planning on ever having this decode ripped DVDs or blu-rays, and if anything just play them back via a drive I wasnt too concerned about giving up a bit of clock speed in return for a better GPU and one less part to order. Also the AMDs were cheaper than Intel chips as well. As such the Llano platform was the clear winner, so I dug in to do my research.
Now it was time for one of the pickiest PITA parts of the build, picking the case. I wanted something that was small, portable and looked like a piece of high end audio gear. I liked the Silverstone and Lian-Li cases but they were all too big, or the wrong size, or required a massive ATX PSU. I was pointed toward a case from Wesena called the ITX-2 originally. It looked good but didnt have an optical drive on it and I really wanted the option of using a built in optical drive. As such I ended up going with a ITX-6 case which had a slot loading drive in the front and had nothing else to distinguish it as a computer case (unlike the ITX-7 which has USB ports on the front). It had space for my 3.5 drive as well as another 2.5 drive in the future for expandability. It had one 80mm fan and I knew right away I would replace it with a much better fan from Noctua as I use those in my main computer and very much prefer them.
The only drawback to this case was that due to it being so small and compact finding a CPU cooler was going to be a chore. After lots of searching I narrowed it down to 3 possible options. The Sycthe Kotuzi, Silvertone NT-07AM2 or the Geild Silent Spirit. Of those I took the Geild off first as I wanted to be able to change the fan installed on it, and with the Geild it was built in, so it was off the list. The Sycthe I was concerned about it not cooling well enough and it was also taller than the NT-07AM2 as well and would be a possible issue getting it to fit. So I ordered the Silverstone. I planned to order another Noctua 80mm fan in the future to put on that heat sink in place of the stock one, but wanted to hold off on that till I was sure I liked it.
I also noticed the company with the ITX-6 offered a Pico PSU which had just enough power for my entire system in a very small form factor with no fans. In order to save on shipping costs I went ahead and ordered it along with the ITX-6 case. Then it was time to order the computer parts.
At the time the I was looking to buy the Trinity platform was just about to be released but I was unsure of how quick the motherboards and CPUs would be available and they were a bit more expensive than Llano as well so I went with Llano at a much reduced cost. With that said it was very hard to find ANY FM1 socket motherboards out there. I did a bunch of research and picked up an A6-3500 after some prodding from the guys on the XBMC forums, and a Gigabyte FM1 board from SuperBiiz. I also picked up some Kingston low voltage memory.
I went with the Gigabyte board as it had a better cooling on the board for the Northbridge and when put in the case I ordered would allow for better airflow between the case fan and the CPU fan than the only other alternative the ASRock A75M-ITX which had the memory running perpendicular to the case fan blocking a lot of airflow. It was also rated higher on a bunch of reviews I read online.
The parts all came in about the same time. I installed everything quickly and was impressed with how easy it was to get it to go together. The Silverstone heat sink and Noctua fan were on backorder so I had to use the stock fan and heat sink as well. I knew that there could be issues with it on the case, and I was right. With the stock AMD heat sink on, the drive bracket wouldnt fit back on. I knew that going in so it wasnt a shock. I was praying that with the Silverstone heat sink it would fit. Also there wasnt going to be tons of clearance between the heat sink and the 3.5 inch drive.
I went to turn it all on and NADA. The fans started to spin up but no boot. I reseated the memory, cleared CMOS, still nothing. After contacting Gigabyte directly they said it was the memory I put in, that it was too low voltage (despite being on their approved list for this board). So I tried 2 other brands of memory both on the approved list and still got nothing. So I RMAd the board (more on this later). I then ordered the ASRock board from Newegg. It came in and I installed the memory again, attempted to boot and again NADA. Well I figured the CPU cant be bad, the memory cant be bad, so that just leaves the PSU I got. I went to Frys and purchased a different PICO PSU and low and behold it booted with no issues. This pissed me off quite a bit as the Gigabyte board (which was the last new one in the world from what I saw) may have indeed been good the whole time. So I had RMAd 2 different sticks of RAM, and a motherboard all for nothing and was out those shipping costs for parts that were more than likely good from the beginning. But it was a learning experience.
So now it booted and right around that time my Silverstone heat sink came in. I was giddy with excitement so I put it in and of course IT DIDNT FIT. It was .05mm too high to allow the drive bracket over the top, which means with the 3.5 inch hard drive in there it wouldnt fit at all. So now I had to figure out what to do.
I decided to go ahead and order a bigger 2.5 inch hard drive since I had planned on doing that anyway as they are normally quieter than the 3.5 inch drives. I also needed to notch out a part of the 3.5 inch bracket to allow the Silverstone to fit. I also wanted to ensure if I replaced the stock 15mm fan with a 25mm fan that it would work as well. So I busted out the hacksaw and went to work. I found a 1TB Samsung 5400 rpm drive on sale for 70 bucks so I picked that puppy up to add to my list of parts.
When it came in I put it all together and everything FIT! I was ecstatic. I quickly installed Windows 7, updated it with all the Windows updates, installed XBMC and was rocking and rolling. I started to try to tweak the fans on the computer so they were dead silent from very close as I would be within 1 foot of the machine at all times at work. The more I messed with the Silverstone heat sink the more I realized the stock fan wasnt going to work at all. So I was looking into buying a Noctua replacement, however the way the Silverstone fan was attached to the heat sink was such that a taller fan wouldnt work at all.
So I was back the drawing board until I saw that Noctua was coming to market with a new heat sink targeted right at me. The Noctua NH-L9a. I was PUMPED. I waited and waited and waited and it finally showed up on their site, and of course IT WASNT COMPATIBLE WITH MY MOTHERBOARD. So I started looking at the pictures of the heat sink to figure out why and I contacted them directly. They told me that it was a result of ASRock putting some components in the keep out zone and as a result you couldnt use their backplate on the cooler. Being that I was in the modding mood I asked if you needed that backplate. They told me you didnt if you were careful with mounting it but you would need some sort of spacers for it. They recommended rubber over plastic due to the amount of heat in that area.
So I waited till you could get one off Newegg (we are now well into November) and ordered it. It finally arrived right before thanksgiving but I had a trip to leave on so it sat for 2 weeks. I got back and started messing around with installing it. A quick trip to True Value and 3 dollars later I was the proud owner of 8 rubber O-rings to use as spacers. They fit perfect and I was able to install the heat sink with no problems.
I re-installed everything, booted her up and bam SILENCE. I kept tweaking with settings to keep it even quieter and I am almost there. I also realized I had an old Windows 7 media remote as well as a USB IR receiver. I installed the IR receiver in the case near the existing IR window and it works decently enough. I plan to purchase 2 USB motherboard headers to USB adaptors, one for the IR receiver, and one for the USB wireless card I will install.
So I still am not totally done with the build but I am so close I can taste it. The CPU idles at about 40C with the fans going at a near silent speed. So I am 90% of the way there.
The list of the last cosmetic things I need to do is below:
-Purchase and install USB motherboard header to USB adaptors
-Purchase wireless card (need suggestions here)
-Cover the inside shell of the case with noise dampening AcoustiMat foam (3mm thick)
-Cover the bottom of the case where possible with Acoustimat foam
-Cover the drive bracket with Acoustimat foam
-Sleeve everything
-Purchase a USB cable
-Purchase Headphones
I hope you have enjoyed reading my journey with this little system. I will be uploading pics in the next day or so as I get them moved to my computer.
Some lessons learned worth sharing:
Always expect things to not go as planned: I cant tell you how many hiccups I have had building this system
There will always be something newer and better on the horizon, sometimes its worth waiting for, sometimes not: I cant tell you how many times I wondered if waiting for Trinity would be better or not, but in the end I am VERY happy I didnt as it wouldnt really net me anything right now
Buy what you want from the beginning so your not chasing your tail at the end: Originally I was going to go with the standard Apex MI-008 case and just deal with the ugliness. I am VERY glad I went with the Wesena case as it was about 2x the cost but was well worth it.
Research, Research, Research, the Research some more: I cannot tell you the number of threads I have read at head-fi.org, polkaudio, avsforum, hardocp and here about small form factor/mini-itx systems, xbmc, headphone amps, usb dacs, cables, etc. It pays off to do your homework as I am very familiar with my entire system now as a result.
And lastly Be Flexible: I have had to make tons of adjustments to my plans along the way and sometimes its very easy to get frustrated and just give up. Remember that there is ALWAYS a solution to the problem it just may require you to re-think things to make it work.
I started this journey looking to get a higher fidelity out of my music at work than I was getting. I have a Zune HD and an iPhone 4. I had all my music on my Zune at 320 kbps and at 128kbps on my iPhone. I knew I could do better as my entire library was ripped in FLAC and Apple Lossless format. I had earlier in the year purchased a pre-build Objective 2 headphone amp from a guy on CL in MN. It turned out to need some work and thankfully a friend looked at it for me and repaired it. It was sold shortly thereafter as I didnt want to deal with it should more issues arise. The Objective 2 though showed me a dedicated headphone amp could make a big difference in sound quality however, so I knew I wanted to get one in the future, however I knew I would need to pay more for one.
I then started to think about building myself a Mini-ITX computer that was capable of playing back my entire FLAC library. This computer needed to be quite small, portable, not draw a lot of power. Perfect for a Mini-ITX. I figured I would re-use the 3.5 inch hard drive I had on hand, and would look to have the option of putting in a CD or Blu-ray burner so I could buy CDs rip them directly to the player and never need to take it home to update the library. So that part in my head was finished baring ordering parts.
The next thing to solve was how to run the system headless meaning without a monitor or keyboard or mouse. I started looking into all the different music players that allowed you to play FLAC or Apple Lossless (iTunes, Media Monkey, JRiver, and XBMC). After lots of searching and reading I dropped iTunes off the list as I planned on running Windows and the more I read about iTunes on Windows the more I realize its a flawed system. While using iTunes would allow me to interface easily with my music via the app on my iPhone, I would be making compromises elsewhere I wasnt ready to make.
The more research I did on the subject the more I realized I would have to have some sort of network capability built into the player in order to interface with my iPhone so I needed to add a wireless card, as well as ensure that the player supported the ability to do so. Media Monkey had an app, but you had to pay for it and I didnt want to do that at this point. I discovered a couple free apps that let you control your computer over the network, but none of those were really media based so they were thrown out. I am not familiar with JRiver and didnt want to mess with it so I didnt look too hard at it.
I then came back to XBMC. I had in the past messed around with it and was aware it could be run as its own OS or on top of Windows. What I stumbled across however was that an iOS app had been developed allowing music control and playback. I quickly installed this app on my iPhone and began testing it with my main system at home to ensure it would work. It did. It still has some functionality I need to dig deeper into but it worked and was great. As I am not very familiar with Linux I decided I would just layer it over the top of Windows 7 to make life easier and if I decided in the future to convert this to a HTPC it just made it easier.
Now it was time to figure out what headphone amp I was going to use as well as what Digital to Analog converter (DAC) I was going to use. I was also familiar with these items as I had read up on many of them. Since this system would live on my desktop at work I didnt have nearly the size constraints that many folks did so I could get something bigger and heavier. I quickly zerod in on Audio GD, Keces, Schiit as the brands I was going to go with. It was simply a question of what DAC and what amp. I could go with either USB or optical in. Of those two options USB seemed to be the more preferred, but I was still unsure. I was looking at purchasing a Keces 151 and then using a Schiit Asgard headphone amp combo. That looked to be around 600 bucks all said and done. Then along came an offer to purchase a Audio GD NFB-5 which was both a USB headphone amp and also was a DAC that had a set of RCA outs that were either fixed (straight DAC mode) or variable (pre-amp mode). This is what I ended up purchasing for about 300 bucks.
I also started reading up on cables as I am of the mindset that cables, even digital ones can make a sonic difference. I read up and narrowed down my choice to either a Audioquest Carbon or WireWorld starlight cable. I like the WireWorld for the fact it keeps the USB power and USB data portions separate. In my case USB will not be powering anything so its one less variable that could introduce noise. With that said the color of the Audioquest Carbon matches my gear and I also can get it a bit below normal cost locally. I am hoping Santa brings me one or the other.
I knew going in what headphones I wanted as they have been on my mind for a long time. I wanted either the Audio Technica ATH-50s or the Beyerdynamic DT-770s. For work I must have close headphones so these are my best two options. Of them I prefer the Beyers for their comfort. For home I would love a set of Grado RS2i or the SR325is but they are both open cans and out of my price range. I am also hoping Santa brings me the Beyers for Christmas.
So now I was through the concept phase of the build. I had an idea of what I wanted the computer to do, what music playback program I was using as well as how to control it. Next up it was time to spec out the actual parts and begin ordering them.
I had previously done lots of research into Mini-ITX systems and was originally going to go with the Zacate platform and with a totally passive board from Asus which retailed for about 149 bucks. The more I researched things the more I realized there were other viable options in either the Sandy Bridge or Llano platform that had a much better price/performance ratio than the Zacate platform. In looking at the differences between Sandy Bridge and Llano it came down to if you needed clock speed go Intel and then add a GPU later on if needed. If you wanted decent GPU speed and could give up a bit of clock speed go Llano. Since I wasnt planning on ever having this decode ripped DVDs or blu-rays, and if anything just play them back via a drive I wasnt too concerned about giving up a bit of clock speed in return for a better GPU and one less part to order. Also the AMDs were cheaper than Intel chips as well. As such the Llano platform was the clear winner, so I dug in to do my research.
Now it was time for one of the pickiest PITA parts of the build, picking the case. I wanted something that was small, portable and looked like a piece of high end audio gear. I liked the Silverstone and Lian-Li cases but they were all too big, or the wrong size, or required a massive ATX PSU. I was pointed toward a case from Wesena called the ITX-2 originally. It looked good but didnt have an optical drive on it and I really wanted the option of using a built in optical drive. As such I ended up going with a ITX-6 case which had a slot loading drive in the front and had nothing else to distinguish it as a computer case (unlike the ITX-7 which has USB ports on the front). It had space for my 3.5 drive as well as another 2.5 drive in the future for expandability. It had one 80mm fan and I knew right away I would replace it with a much better fan from Noctua as I use those in my main computer and very much prefer them.
The only drawback to this case was that due to it being so small and compact finding a CPU cooler was going to be a chore. After lots of searching I narrowed it down to 3 possible options. The Sycthe Kotuzi, Silvertone NT-07AM2 or the Geild Silent Spirit. Of those I took the Geild off first as I wanted to be able to change the fan installed on it, and with the Geild it was built in, so it was off the list. The Sycthe I was concerned about it not cooling well enough and it was also taller than the NT-07AM2 as well and would be a possible issue getting it to fit. So I ordered the Silverstone. I planned to order another Noctua 80mm fan in the future to put on that heat sink in place of the stock one, but wanted to hold off on that till I was sure I liked it.
I also noticed the company with the ITX-6 offered a Pico PSU which had just enough power for my entire system in a very small form factor with no fans. In order to save on shipping costs I went ahead and ordered it along with the ITX-6 case. Then it was time to order the computer parts.
At the time the I was looking to buy the Trinity platform was just about to be released but I was unsure of how quick the motherboards and CPUs would be available and they were a bit more expensive than Llano as well so I went with Llano at a much reduced cost. With that said it was very hard to find ANY FM1 socket motherboards out there. I did a bunch of research and picked up an A6-3500 after some prodding from the guys on the XBMC forums, and a Gigabyte FM1 board from SuperBiiz. I also picked up some Kingston low voltage memory.
I went with the Gigabyte board as it had a better cooling on the board for the Northbridge and when put in the case I ordered would allow for better airflow between the case fan and the CPU fan than the only other alternative the ASRock A75M-ITX which had the memory running perpendicular to the case fan blocking a lot of airflow. It was also rated higher on a bunch of reviews I read online.
The parts all came in about the same time. I installed everything quickly and was impressed with how easy it was to get it to go together. The Silverstone heat sink and Noctua fan were on backorder so I had to use the stock fan and heat sink as well. I knew that there could be issues with it on the case, and I was right. With the stock AMD heat sink on, the drive bracket wouldnt fit back on. I knew that going in so it wasnt a shock. I was praying that with the Silverstone heat sink it would fit. Also there wasnt going to be tons of clearance between the heat sink and the 3.5 inch drive.
I went to turn it all on and NADA. The fans started to spin up but no boot. I reseated the memory, cleared CMOS, still nothing. After contacting Gigabyte directly they said it was the memory I put in, that it was too low voltage (despite being on their approved list for this board). So I tried 2 other brands of memory both on the approved list and still got nothing. So I RMAd the board (more on this later). I then ordered the ASRock board from Newegg. It came in and I installed the memory again, attempted to boot and again NADA. Well I figured the CPU cant be bad, the memory cant be bad, so that just leaves the PSU I got. I went to Frys and purchased a different PICO PSU and low and behold it booted with no issues. This pissed me off quite a bit as the Gigabyte board (which was the last new one in the world from what I saw) may have indeed been good the whole time. So I had RMAd 2 different sticks of RAM, and a motherboard all for nothing and was out those shipping costs for parts that were more than likely good from the beginning. But it was a learning experience.
So now it booted and right around that time my Silverstone heat sink came in. I was giddy with excitement so I put it in and of course IT DIDNT FIT. It was .05mm too high to allow the drive bracket over the top, which means with the 3.5 inch hard drive in there it wouldnt fit at all. So now I had to figure out what to do.
I decided to go ahead and order a bigger 2.5 inch hard drive since I had planned on doing that anyway as they are normally quieter than the 3.5 inch drives. I also needed to notch out a part of the 3.5 inch bracket to allow the Silverstone to fit. I also wanted to ensure if I replaced the stock 15mm fan with a 25mm fan that it would work as well. So I busted out the hacksaw and went to work. I found a 1TB Samsung 5400 rpm drive on sale for 70 bucks so I picked that puppy up to add to my list of parts.
When it came in I put it all together and everything FIT! I was ecstatic. I quickly installed Windows 7, updated it with all the Windows updates, installed XBMC and was rocking and rolling. I started to try to tweak the fans on the computer so they were dead silent from very close as I would be within 1 foot of the machine at all times at work. The more I messed with the Silverstone heat sink the more I realized the stock fan wasnt going to work at all. So I was looking into buying a Noctua replacement, however the way the Silverstone fan was attached to the heat sink was such that a taller fan wouldnt work at all.
So I was back the drawing board until I saw that Noctua was coming to market with a new heat sink targeted right at me. The Noctua NH-L9a. I was PUMPED. I waited and waited and waited and it finally showed up on their site, and of course IT WASNT COMPATIBLE WITH MY MOTHERBOARD. So I started looking at the pictures of the heat sink to figure out why and I contacted them directly. They told me that it was a result of ASRock putting some components in the keep out zone and as a result you couldnt use their backplate on the cooler. Being that I was in the modding mood I asked if you needed that backplate. They told me you didnt if you were careful with mounting it but you would need some sort of spacers for it. They recommended rubber over plastic due to the amount of heat in that area.
So I waited till you could get one off Newegg (we are now well into November) and ordered it. It finally arrived right before thanksgiving but I had a trip to leave on so it sat for 2 weeks. I got back and started messing around with installing it. A quick trip to True Value and 3 dollars later I was the proud owner of 8 rubber O-rings to use as spacers. They fit perfect and I was able to install the heat sink with no problems.
I re-installed everything, booted her up and bam SILENCE. I kept tweaking with settings to keep it even quieter and I am almost there. I also realized I had an old Windows 7 media remote as well as a USB IR receiver. I installed the IR receiver in the case near the existing IR window and it works decently enough. I plan to purchase 2 USB motherboard headers to USB adaptors, one for the IR receiver, and one for the USB wireless card I will install.
So I still am not totally done with the build but I am so close I can taste it. The CPU idles at about 40C with the fans going at a near silent speed. So I am 90% of the way there.
The list of the last cosmetic things I need to do is below:
-Purchase and install USB motherboard header to USB adaptors
-Purchase wireless card (need suggestions here)
-Cover the inside shell of the case with noise dampening AcoustiMat foam (3mm thick)
-Cover the bottom of the case where possible with Acoustimat foam
-Cover the drive bracket with Acoustimat foam
-Sleeve everything
-Purchase a USB cable
-Purchase Headphones
I hope you have enjoyed reading my journey with this little system. I will be uploading pics in the next day or so as I get them moved to my computer.
Some lessons learned worth sharing:
Always expect things to not go as planned: I cant tell you how many hiccups I have had building this system
There will always be something newer and better on the horizon, sometimes its worth waiting for, sometimes not: I cant tell you how many times I wondered if waiting for Trinity would be better or not, but in the end I am VERY happy I didnt as it wouldnt really net me anything right now
Buy what you want from the beginning so your not chasing your tail at the end: Originally I was going to go with the standard Apex MI-008 case and just deal with the ugliness. I am VERY glad I went with the Wesena case as it was about 2x the cost but was well worth it.
Research, Research, Research, the Research some more: I cannot tell you the number of threads I have read at head-fi.org, polkaudio, avsforum, hardocp and here about small form factor/mini-itx systems, xbmc, headphone amps, usb dacs, cables, etc. It pays off to do your homework as I am very familiar with my entire system now as a result.
And lastly Be Flexible: I have had to make tons of adjustments to my plans along the way and sometimes its very easy to get frustrated and just give up. Remember that there is ALWAYS a solution to the problem it just may require you to re-think things to make it work.
