Absolute top tier DAC for standard res Redbook CD


Hi All.

Putting together a reference level system.
My Source is predominantly standard 16/44 played from a MacMini using iTunes and Amarra. Some of my music is purchased from iTunes and the rest is ripped from standard CD's.
For my tastes in music, my high def catalogues are still limited; so Redbook 16/44 will be my primary source for quite some time.

I'm not spending DCS or MSB money. But $15-20k retail is not out of the question.

Upsampling vs non-upsampling?
USB input vs SPDIF?

All opinions welcome.

And I know I need to hear them, but getting these ultra $$$ DAC's into your house for an audition ain't easy.

Looking for musical, emotional, engaging, accurate , with great dimension. Not looking for analytical and sterile.
mattnshilp
Steve, try Fubar as well....

Minimserver and Fubar are a bit basic for my tastes but they are as bare boned regarding processing as they come. I have not used the Linn software so have no experience. 

I’m SO deep into my footer/shelf comparison I can’t think about trying different software now.  I am still waiting for Sam and Mark to play with HQPlayer and a few others to fine tune them for my Memory Player before I go that direction. 

Thanks for reporting! It’s always good to hear what software is working for people. 

I tried Foobar on my Mac and could not get it to work.

Kinsky is a bit bare-bones, but if it gives the best SQ, that is what I’m after. Ease of use is secondary to me. That’s why all of my files are in .wav format.  Minimserver does allow one to change the displayed items and tags quite a bit.

Steve N.

Matt, please update us on the foot/shelf comparison when you can. This is another important subject that worth to cover.

Thanks.

Steve - you and I are after the same thing. Best sound, period. I’ll try the other apps when I get a change. Curious to hear the differences. But I do want a nice user interface if I can have that as well, it makes searching my library much easier and more pleasant. I think many feel the same way.
So far I have not found any sound quality problems with Roon - you may want to try it. I have known for a long time that most softwares (especially Amara Jriver and others) tend to colour the sound. I don’t know if Steve is aware but the SRC converters in Apple core audio are terrible - it is very important to make sure no conversion takes place in core audio (iTunes has its own much better SRC converter built in to the software). I used a software called Bitperfect to ensure Core Audio automatically matched the file sample rate back when I used iTunes. Even Tidal has implemented the ability to control Apple core audio to ensure good sound quality.

My overall approach is to totally avoid all SRC in software and to disable all software processing (even volume control) and filtering - perhaps that is why I don’t have all the typical problems everyone reports. Software engineers or programmers are like DAC designers - most haven’t a clue when it comes to digital signal time series processing (these are full semester courses in 3rd or 4th year engineering). Software can work one day and then an update comes along and trouble happens and one might not notice....best to turn everything off.