Is there a Rosetta Stone for digital speak?


Trying to transition from CD transport and DAC to computer HD based system without making horrific mistteps. Running into a hail storm of tech speak and different formats which keeps me on the fence indefinitely waiting for the whole thing to reach some sort of stability.

Willing to invest a respectable amount for longer term viability of the components, but which direction?

Purchased and then returned without using the Mojo system as I started counting up how many separate pieces to make it all work. Ridiculous!!! And I'm not just picking on Mojo. Make fun of Bose as we all do, but a simple two box solution would be welcomed.

Does some manufacturer have this figured out? Thanks for understanding the rant.
celtic66
Jonathan1257: I didn't take it as patronizing. However, I am wondering why I need anything but iTunes to do playback, etc. since I have no files higher than CD's that I imported. The Fidelia tech people I was in contact with when their software kept crashing say that up sampling has no benefit at all! Again, why do I need Fidelia or Audirvana unless I buy hi-res files?

I'm not interested in re-buying my CD library as hi-res files, so I guess I'll stick with what I have. If I want to play songs via the Sabre's in my Oppo 95, I have a 32gb thumb drive I can download them to.
While iTunes sounds fine, many find sound quality improvements using players like Audirvana, Fidelia, JRMC, and Amarra. My personal favorite is Amarra Symphony w/iRC. Each program has a free trial you can take advantage. If you hear no difference over iTunes you, haven't wasted a dime.
ADM - I agree with WTF. iTunes is a rather poor playback software. The upgrade programs like Amarra make a significant difference and they have features like Cache mode that play from memory rather than disk that improve performance even more. I also use Amarra on a 2009 Mac Mini and have gotten a number of best of shows using it.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio