I also placed an order @9.4k.
Status is "Preparing for Dispatch".
You woudl be able to play the songs using WiFi...bluetooth does not support HD audio....
Intel NUC - Fully Loaded
- Thread starter gangasjith
- Start date
You woudl be able to play the songs using WiFi...bluetooth does not support HD audio....
pradeepkamat
Member
I am going to use blue tooth streaming for Bose Soundlink Mini, which is a blue tooth only device & hence require A2DP for streaming.
Intel NUC as a Music PC
This is a quick review (of sorts) of the Intel NUC used as a Music PC, in comparison with my current Music PC.
Intel NUC:
Broadwell Celeron DN2820FYKH kit (this unit was actually a 2830 at 2.4 ghz)
1 x 4GB Crucial DDR3-L RAM
500GB Toshiba 5400 rpm HDD
Win 7 Home Premium 64 Bit and JRMC v18
PSU: HDPlex 100w external Linear Power Supply
My Current Music PC:
Cabinet: Silverstone GD04-B
Mobo: MSI E350IA-E45 (AMD Fusion Board)
RAM: Corsair 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3
SSD: OCZ Agility 3 (60GB: OS and JRMC only)
HDD: WD Green 3TB
PSU: HDPlex 250w DC-ATX internal, with HDPlex 100w external Linear Power Supply
Software: Win 7 Home Basic 32 Bit, JRMC v18
Common components downstream:
- iFi iLink USB to SPDIF Converter (digital coaxial output used) with the USB cable that came in the box
- QED Reference Digital Coaxial Cable
- Rega DAC
- Nanotec #207 Music Strada Interconnects
- Rethm Gaanam Amp
- Rethm Raagam Speaker Cables
- Rethm Trishna Speakers
IMPORTANT: Do note that I used the Linear PSU with BOTH machines. I did not use the wall wart that came with the NUC to power it. I could power both machines at the same time from the HDPlex LPSU. The "XLR-5.5-2.5/2.1mm Dual Purpose Connector Cable" that came with the LPSU is to be used with its 12V output, and the NUC takes a 12V input (and not 19v) with a connector of the same size. This was a fortunate thing
Just for information's sake, it is to be noted that the OS on both machines was different (versions, as well as 64 bit and 32 bit). My current machine does not have any antivirus, and I tested the NUC without any antivirus.
I spent a few hours over 2 days listening to the same music from both my regular Music PC, and from the NUC. I switched the USB cable between the two PCs to compare. There was no blind testing involved, and all of my impressions are subjective.
Listening impressions:
I played "Nardis" and "Etudes" from Charlie Haden's Private Collection and "OC" from Charlie Haden's Duets many times back to back between the PCs. I used Carmen Gomes's "A 1000 Shades of Blue" and Norah Jones's "Those Sweet Words" to compare female vocals. I didn't quite bother with male vocals, heh heh. This was a quick thing over the weekend before the NUC was pressed into office duty.
Frankly, I was very hard pressed to make out a difference between the two sources most of the time. Substantially, the difference that I felt was that the NUC sounded a little bit less fuller (in terms of midrange and bass), and was perhaps a bit airier (not in a comfortable way). I preferred my current Music PC overall, as it sounded better bodied and perhaps more musical (if that is possible). But, I honestly doubt if I could make out a difference between the two in a blind test.
Form factor, cost and ease of setup
The NUC wins hands down in these 3 areas. The NUC was ready for install in 10 minutes from the time I unboxed it. All we need to do is to slot in the RAM and the Hard Disk. That's a far cry from ordering multiple PC parts, and then assembling it from scratch.
The NUC is just about 5" x 4.5" x 2.5" in size. It comes with bluetooth, wifi, a network port, an IR receiver, 2 USB 2.0 ports and one front USB 3.0 port. My Music PC is about the size of a small AVR, but with enough capacity for expansion.
A NUC 2820, installed with a 1 TB 2.5" HDD and 4GB RAM would make a fairly decent Music PC for about a third of what my current PC specced out to. Considering the cost to benefit ratio, a NUC makes a great value for money proposition as a Music PC for somebody with a fairly decent setup downstream.
I'll stick with my current PC for now. But, if I had been starting out into digital audio now, I think a NUC 2820 with an SSD, 4GB RAM, an outboard LPSU and a NAS to serve music files would be a far better investment than building a Music PC from scratch.
This is a quick review (of sorts) of the Intel NUC used as a Music PC, in comparison with my current Music PC.
Intel NUC:
Broadwell Celeron DN2820FYKH kit (this unit was actually a 2830 at 2.4 ghz)
1 x 4GB Crucial DDR3-L RAM
500GB Toshiba 5400 rpm HDD
Win 7 Home Premium 64 Bit and JRMC v18
PSU: HDPlex 100w external Linear Power Supply
My Current Music PC:
Cabinet: Silverstone GD04-B
Mobo: MSI E350IA-E45 (AMD Fusion Board)
RAM: Corsair 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3
SSD: OCZ Agility 3 (60GB: OS and JRMC only)
HDD: WD Green 3TB
PSU: HDPlex 250w DC-ATX internal, with HDPlex 100w external Linear Power Supply
Software: Win 7 Home Basic 32 Bit, JRMC v18
Common components downstream:
- iFi iLink USB to SPDIF Converter (digital coaxial output used) with the USB cable that came in the box
- QED Reference Digital Coaxial Cable
- Rega DAC
- Nanotec #207 Music Strada Interconnects
- Rethm Gaanam Amp
- Rethm Raagam Speaker Cables
- Rethm Trishna Speakers
IMPORTANT: Do note that I used the Linear PSU with BOTH machines. I did not use the wall wart that came with the NUC to power it. I could power both machines at the same time from the HDPlex LPSU. The "XLR-5.5-2.5/2.1mm Dual Purpose Connector Cable" that came with the LPSU is to be used with its 12V output, and the NUC takes a 12V input (and not 19v) with a connector of the same size. This was a fortunate thing
Just for information's sake, it is to be noted that the OS on both machines was different (versions, as well as 64 bit and 32 bit). My current machine does not have any antivirus, and I tested the NUC without any antivirus.
I spent a few hours over 2 days listening to the same music from both my regular Music PC, and from the NUC. I switched the USB cable between the two PCs to compare. There was no blind testing involved, and all of my impressions are subjective.
Listening impressions:
I played "Nardis" and "Etudes" from Charlie Haden's Private Collection and "OC" from Charlie Haden's Duets many times back to back between the PCs. I used Carmen Gomes's "A 1000 Shades of Blue" and Norah Jones's "Those Sweet Words" to compare female vocals. I didn't quite bother with male vocals, heh heh. This was a quick thing over the weekend before the NUC was pressed into office duty.
Frankly, I was very hard pressed to make out a difference between the two sources most of the time. Substantially, the difference that I felt was that the NUC sounded a little bit less fuller (in terms of midrange and bass), and was perhaps a bit airier (not in a comfortable way). I preferred my current Music PC overall, as it sounded better bodied and perhaps more musical (if that is possible). But, I honestly doubt if I could make out a difference between the two in a blind test.
Form factor, cost and ease of setup
The NUC wins hands down in these 3 areas. The NUC was ready for install in 10 minutes from the time I unboxed it. All we need to do is to slot in the RAM and the Hard Disk. That's a far cry from ordering multiple PC parts, and then assembling it from scratch.
The NUC is just about 5" x 4.5" x 2.5" in size. It comes with bluetooth, wifi, a network port, an IR receiver, 2 USB 2.0 ports and one front USB 3.0 port. My Music PC is about the size of a small AVR, but with enough capacity for expansion.
A NUC 2820, installed with a 1 TB 2.5" HDD and 4GB RAM would make a fairly decent Music PC for about a third of what my current PC specced out to. Considering the cost to benefit ratio, a NUC makes a great value for money proposition as a Music PC for somebody with a fairly decent setup downstream.
I'll stick with my current PC for now. But, if I had been starting out into digital audio now, I think a NUC 2820 with an SSD, 4GB RAM, an outboard LPSU and a NAS to serve music files would be a far better investment than building a Music PC from scratch.
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Thanks Hydra very crisp and interesting review. Hmm the Linear PSU I think is a well upgrade option in that case especially for the music only PC. Even I have a Foxconn Intel PC which came with the laptop kind of external power adapter which I think I can replace using the linear PSU but need to check the voltage requirement of the current adapter.
Yes, Manniraj, when I upgraded from my internal Silverstone SMPS to the Linear PSU, the difference was huge. The improvement in sound quality is very clear to hear.
I think the very first upgrade one should consider to a dedicated Music PC is a Linear PSU.
I think the very first upgrade one should consider to a dedicated Music PC is a Linear PSU.
pradeepkamat
Member
In today's news paper, I saw advertisement of Micromax Laptab, which appears to be much superior to NUC and cost very cheap Rs.14999/-
1. Windows 8 included
2. Touch screen 10"
3. Built in 32Gb memeory
etc etc.
Micromax Canvas Laptab |Touch Screen Laptops | The Smartest Laptop Ever
Only it does not have HDMI port.
Is it not better than NUC?
1. Windows 8 included
2. Touch screen 10"
3. Built in 32Gb memeory
etc etc.
Micromax Canvas Laptab |Touch Screen Laptops | The Smartest Laptop Ever
Only it does not have HDMI port.
Is it not better than NUC?
NUC cannot be compared to any laptop in terms of power & features.
NUC justs takes mere 7W to max 20W at idle & heavy load condistions.....
NUC is ideal solutions for many things :-
1. Very small form factor HTPC...almost plays all the formats..with all the subtitles format you can think of.
2. Can utilize msata & Sata slots to act as powerfull NAS.
The normal NAS have weak processor and cannot handle mutliple request smotthly. You need to slot in SSDs to get this kind of NAS performance though. The performance possible is 80-90MB/s. For 3GB movie File this is under a minute.... You will be copying Blu ray rips and large files in no time... .. Check out FreeNAS or other linux free distrubution for managing NAS.
3. Can act as low power all time on P2P server ..like torrenting...with very low power intake...it woudl take only take 20W max. THere are software you manage all through the web interfaces. You can active or deactivate downloads remotely through phone...etc
4. Attach a USB Blu burner and it will play all region locked Blu rays, rip them and as store them in the disc for latter playback....You can as well get a slot loader and house the board and player in another casing to look like normal blu ray player.....
5. You can put any OS or codec or players and not worry about getting outdated for next two to three years..
6. You can use a remote for NUC. Or use your phone as mouse & keyboard to type. Forget typing or scrolling using the normal remote.
7. Other possibilities it to mask the IP & use vpn and make use of Netflix ,Hulu which provide 5.1 movies online.....need a good broadband for this.
But you can watch movies as you like.
The possibilities are endless with NUC.
Thanks,
Danish.
NUC justs takes mere 7W to max 20W at idle & heavy load condistions.....
NUC is ideal solutions for many things :-
1. Very small form factor HTPC...almost plays all the formats..with all the subtitles format you can think of.
2. Can utilize msata & Sata slots to act as powerfull NAS.
The normal NAS have weak processor and cannot handle mutliple request smotthly. You need to slot in SSDs to get this kind of NAS performance though. The performance possible is 80-90MB/s. For 3GB movie File this is under a minute.... You will be copying Blu ray rips and large files in no time... .. Check out FreeNAS or other linux free distrubution for managing NAS.
3. Can act as low power all time on P2P server ..like torrenting...with very low power intake...it woudl take only take 20W max. THere are software you manage all through the web interfaces. You can active or deactivate downloads remotely through phone...etc
4. Attach a USB Blu burner and it will play all region locked Blu rays, rip them and as store them in the disc for latter playback....You can as well get a slot loader and house the board and player in another casing to look like normal blu ray player.....
5. You can put any OS or codec or players and not worry about getting outdated for next two to three years..
6. You can use a remote for NUC. Or use your phone as mouse & keyboard to type. Forget typing or scrolling using the normal remote.
7. Other possibilities it to mask the IP & use vpn and make use of Netflix ,Hulu which provide 5.1 movies online.....need a good broadband for this.
But you can watch movies as you like.
The possibilities are endless with NUC.
Thanks,
Danish.
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gangasjith
Member
gangasjith
Member
Thanks for that info as well..
pradeepkamat
Member
So far the experience is excellent. I have windows 7 loaded.
Has any fm used bluetooth from this NUC to stream music on Bluetooth speakers?
I have tried but failed to get the results.
The screen shows my Bose Soundlink Mini (i.e. it has recognized the device) but when click the connect button on the screen , it starts the process but fails to connect.
Can some one on the forum point out where can be the problem ?
Has any fm used bluetooth from this NUC to stream music on Bluetooth speakers?
I have tried but failed to get the results.
The screen shows my Bose Soundlink Mini (i.e. it has recognized the device) but when click the connect button on the screen , it starts the process but fails to connect.
Can some one on the forum point out where can be the problem ?
For excellent sound that won't break the bank, the 5 Star Award Winning Wharfedale Diamond 12.1 Bookshelf Speakers is the one to consider!
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