Someone please 'splain me

Just to be clear, you only would need the USB/SPDIF converter you were
talking about getting if you were planning to connect your music server to
your audio system by a cable. You don't seem to be contemplating that.

I don't know much about the SB, but I'm not sure it's the best choice for the
last configuration you've talked about. The SB is designed to give you a user
interface for music playback, and like the AX, it also does the data conversion
to SPDIF and DAC (if desired) functions. If you're using iTunes on a computer
as the user interface, one of the main features of the SB is superfluous. The
AX is cheaper. A difference, if it matters, is that the connection for the SPDIF
signal from SB to DAC is coax, whereas for the AX it's Toslink.

P.S. I've come back in and added this as an edit. Actually, I do see a role for
the SB. Since you can't put your laptop in the music room, having a SB there
would let you use your music server while you're listening there. You haven't
said that's a factor at all, but it wouldn't cost much to make that service
available. Ckorody talked earlier about looking down the road at the big
picture. 'Course, if I were looking down the road, I'd be looking at getting a
wireless laptop to devote to your music room.

Thank you for the info. This is for background music only. I will not be spending time in the listening room, as we are launching a business that will have me out of the house for most of the day & evening. My wife will ONLY be listening as she works downstairs. She will have the music on upstairs only, NOT downstairs at her desk.

So, I just purchased a 320MB hard drive, with the specs you noted above, Ckorody. Also was able to pick up a Buslink USB 4-port PCMCIA card so I'll be able to keep the older laptop connected directly to the external hard drive, in the room with the audio system.

So, what I still need to know is will the SB and/or AX do the same thing that the USB/SPDIF converter would, thus making it superfluous. And if I'm not going to use the DAC from the SB, I can spend less and just get the AX, correcto?

Finally, do I need to be concerned about the caliber of cable running from the SB/AX to the DAC? Please keep in mind that we are of the camp that hears big differences between one IC and another. I'm not looking for tip-top audiophile quality, but I don't want it to sound thin either.

Thank you,
Howard

Let me guess at what you're envisioning. With the new and fast USB ports you've installed in your laptop, you can connect your new hard drive to the laptop and connect the laptop to the wireless adaptor you mentioned in an earlier post. The wireless would let your laptop communicate with your network.

To answer your question about the AX directly, yes, that would do what you want. Like the SB, the AX has a built-in DAC, which you will bypass. The SB also has its own user interface, which you don't need. The SB and the AX, like the USB/SPDIF converter you were thinking of buying, convert data into the SPDIF format--the only function you need.

If you use the AX, you'll go wireless from the laptop to the AX. If I'm not mistaken, the AX only performs its music function when it is serving as a wireless receiver for iTunes. (It has an ethernet port, but that is for use when the AX is serving as a wireless base station. And it has a USB port, but that is for connecting to a printer, with the AX serving as a wireless printer connection.)

Be as concerned about the cable from AX or SB to DAC as you would a cable from any transport to your DAC--but, then again, your wife will be listening from downstairs. If you go with the AX, I don't think "thin" will be the issue with a plastic Toslink. It will be more like extension and resolution. But there are some very reasonable glass Toslinks, like Sonicwave.

Shazaam! You've cracked through my thick skull, and now I understand. Hopefully, by the end of next week, I'll have all of the pieces and be up and running.
Thank you all again for the input. My wife also thanks you!
Howard

Thanks again to all of you for the help. Ckorody, you've been indispensable in so generously responding to my questions both here and privately.

I put iTunes on the computer in our upstairs bedroom so I could avoid having the unwanted computer noise in the listening room. I put a 300GB hard drive on the same system, and the Squeezebox sits in the listening room. The wireless arrangement between the two works perfectly. We have about 400+ CD's loaded onto the hard drive, and even with the SB DAC the sound is decent. Tomorrow, however, we will be picking up our CDP, which is having a digital input installed, and we'll run a digital cable between the SB and our DAC, which sounds dramatically better than that of the SB...as it should, considering the price difference.

Nothing like having the convenience of the hard drive. We end up listening to CD's that might not otherwise find themselves into the rotation. This is a lot of fun, and my wife is thrilled at the ease of using this setup.

Thank you all again.
Howard
P.S.--It should be noted that if you are using the SB with a PC, you can rip to an external hard drive VIA iTunes, using the iTunes editing software, etc., but as far as I understand, you can NOT 'drive' from iTunes. In other words, you must use the SB remote OR Slim Server in order to control the playback, not iTunes. If anyone knows differently, please say so.