Why are there so many Mac users?

Mac provides a far more stable, user-friendly platform. The OS is more reliable (10.5.x ). iTunes is native to the OS. MacMini provides a quiet, reliable, proven piece of hardware to run your music library from. Setup of wireless interfacing as well as all peripherals is far easier on a Mac. Everything about the Mac is far more instinctual and user-friendly. Every time I get on a PC I wonder why anyone would put themselves through this when there is a Mac option?! From a design standpoint, as well as a hardware integration standpoint (computer>base station>iPhone>iPod>anything and everything Apple makes) is seamless, simple and reliable, and beautifully designed. Customer services is second to none (Apple Store / Genius Bar / Tutoring / Phone Support / etc.). Music hardware and software and integration of all is a high priority for Apple and it shows in everything they do.

Disadvantages include: Software range is narrower than PC. EAC is a PC-only ripping software that is arguably the best available (better error-correction than itunes). Hardware can be less expensive - though one could argue Mac is better made and more reliable than most cheap PC options, and with the better PC options that price gap closes fast, especially when comparing apples to apples....er, that didn't come out right...two computers with similar features and add-ons. I think PC is still a bit cheaper. Gee, can't really think of anything else. I guess if you are a gamer you definitely want a PC.

Could I rip with EAC on the PC, store the files on an extarnal HD, and have the Mac play the tunes?

Someone correct me here if I'm wrong: You can rip using EAC, but you would then have to convert the files (I think from FLAC) to an iTunes-recognizable format like AIFF or Apple Lossless or WAV (In order of my personal preference). This method STILL sounds better (than the same file ripped in iTunes to the same format), to my ears, at least in the case of one experiment a friend and I conducted with one file on two systems. This was at the suggestion of Steve Nugent (Empirical Audio) - who has done a lot of work around this aspect of audio reproduction and makes some of the best devices out there to implement digital audio. He contributes here so perhaps he can chime in on this, as he may have something new to say or correct me if I've misstated anything. Anyway, I believe EAC is among a few PC ripping solutions that have superior error correction over iTunes. I think that actually hearing these differences will depend entirely upon the system/components you are using to listen to the files on. What may be obvious on a very resolving system, might not be on a less resolving one, for example.

Third by most credible sources the MAC platform is not more reliable than a PC. From a hardware standpoint there is nothing in it. The data is messy enough that a meaningful conclusion is frankly difficult. Bottom line on reliability is that a good PC and MAC will be about the same from a reliability standpoint. MAC should be better IMO as they not only get a premium price but have no off brands crudding up their reputation.

With due respect - In my experience, the experience of virtually everyone I know who has extensive experience with both platforms including many who write code exclusively for PC, and several who work at the Death Star across the water from me on the Redmond campus...your experience, in this statement, is entirely contrary to what any of these folks have to say, as well as my own experience. As far as the hardware is concerned - with the better PC's I might agree with you. As far as the software/platform is concerned, especially the current OS for each platform, I would completely disagree. The Mac platform is FAR FAR more stable than any Windows platform. Given an average user, with no other concerns other than ease of use, reliability and stability, setup, peripheral interface setup, integration of peripheral hardware as well as ease and stability of use of those peripherals, MAC is a universe away from PC...IMHO. I don't know what "credible resources", or what "data" you are referring to, but real-world experience, as you can very plainly see from the ratio of posts above confirming this, speaks something entirely different than what you seem to suggest. How much time have you spent using a MAC platform? I've been using MAC's since the early 90's for work, and PC's only peripherally for otherwise unavailable software, or troubleshooting other family members PC problems. Back then I would have concurred that the two were much closer in terms of stability. Since around MAC OS10.x I couldn't disagree more. I cannot even recall the last time my computer crashed or that I lost any important data, and I rely on my computer (MAC) for my career. I've never once had a computer virus or a worm on any MAC, ever. That said, I've heard good thingas about the new Windows platform (is it 7?). After Vista, you couldn't possibly do anything but improve on things. Wait a minute, we're talking about Microsoft!

Even though I have owned Macs from the beginning, it was Amarra, Weiss, and the use of Firewire that achieved a level of performance that I have not heard in any other digital. I just think it is ridiculous that USB is being used.

I'm pretty sure Firewire's been used in Pro-audio since before adopted by PC-audio high-end manufacturers. There are implementations of USB that are better than others (USB>I2S, and asynchronous USB). As I understand it, using Firewire requires custom plug-in software that is proprietary to the device used, whereas USB can be implemented more simply and universally without plug-in software. A recent review of Empirical Audio's OffRamp and DAC in TAS (FWIW) claimed that the USB combo of the OffRamp and Empirical's new DAC surpassed the performance of the Weiss Minerva with Firewire interface. In that same article (again, you throw in as much grains of salt as you see fit) the reviewer claimed that using the Empirical USB Offramp with the Minerva improved on the direct connection of the Minerva via Firewire. Details in the Feb '10 TAS.

Rwwear - sounds like your GF needs a new MacBook :-) I actually use a Macbook, but NOT for a music server (I use my tower for that) and would not recommend the base MacBook for that purpose. Especially not older ones...they will not run the current OS (10.6) well at all. It's the same planned obsolescence with PC's - my brother and I just replaced my Mom's PC (only 3-4 years old which is a lifetime in the PC world - this is not exclusive to either platform) for similar reasons. The hardware has to keep up with the software and eventually it will clog up and bog down. The new OS for both platforms requires more RAM, more HD free space and more processor power than ever (even though streaming music is not really processor/memory intensive). FTR - I would definitely choose a MacMini or iMac as a music server over a laptop.

"The new OS for both platforms requires more RAM, more HD free space and more processor power than ever (even though streaming music is not really processor/memory intensive)."

No, new Snow Leopard requires 100MB less disk space than Leopard. Also Snow Leopard runs faster - check here: www.macworld.com/article/14242...

Thanks for the link, Kijanki. I was aware of the improvements there. To be clear, I never said it was slower or inferior in any way. Just that the requirements were different. I don't use SnowLeopard as my tower is a dual-core PowerPC and they dropped support for the older processor. I did not say anything about how fast the OS ran. I also did not mean the actual space it requires the OS takes up, if that's what you are referring to (100mb is nothing these days anyway)...I meant that all the new OS run much better with more free space available on the native drive. Minimum requirements are just that (minimum does not mean optimum), but when you start filling up that native drive everything may work, but the OS slows everything down. That's been my experience with all versions of 10.5.X - and I'd bet had something to do with Rwwear's GF's laptop bogging down. That's another good reason to store your music library on an separate drive (among other reasons).

Snow Leopard Minimum Requirements are 1gb RAM and 5GB free HD space, and of course a 64-bit processor. Since it's optimized to take advantage of the processor it does not surprise me that it's faster. That's double the RAM required by the previous 10.5.8 OS, but indeed less HD space than 10.5.X required (9GB vs 5GB). Again, I'd caution that "minimum" and "optimum" are very different in my experience...then again, music streaming is not terribly demanding at all. I speak from experience of dealing with very large graphics files on a regular basis. I don't think it's unique to the platform... in general, the more bells and whistles they include with the OS (Windows or MAC) the more demanding they'll be of space/memory. Correct me if you think this is inaccurate, but it certainly follows the progress of the OS 10 development in real-world use.

As for firewire - in general firewire is peer-to-peer network where devices are inteligent and can negotiate bus conflicts. USB is a Master-Slave architecture where devices are dumb. Firewire has separate processing unit and can make transfers without loading main processor while USB always slows down processing (depends on main uP).

I am not worthy! Thank you for the lesson - You clearly know way more than I do on this subject. So how does that apply directly to streaming music where a buffer and reclocking is likely going to be involved? Would it suggest one were better than the other for that purpose? What about the implementation of asynchronous USB? And what of the conflicting observations in the review I cited, again, FWIW. Ultimately the proof is in what's coming out of your speakers I suppose. It would seem like most folks using a box for their music server are probably dedicating it to just that service. So I wonder how much processor demands, or bus conflicts come into play - perhaps I'm misunderstanding.

I will have to read the article, but Minerva has no USB port.

Indeed, you are correct - the Minerva has no USB. The improvement was reportedly made using an Empirical Offramp which would have fed the Minerva via SPDIF or I2S if it has that option. That was said to be superior to the Minerva fed by its native Firewire interface. The Offramp is a USB device.