CD transport vs streamer?

Why is it that most people prefer to use a Mac over a PC when making a music server?? I would like to purchase a PC notebook and make it into a music server, BUT everyone seems to be using a mac instead. Why???

Thanks,
Matt

Thanks Rich,
Yes I do have an AES EBU input on my Theta Gen VIII V2 dac and that's what I would use.
It is good to hear real world experience on the differences between the TP and the DUET into an external dac.
Happy 4th!

"Why is it that most people prefer to use a Mac over a PC when making a music server?? I would like to purchase a PC notebook and make it into a music server, BUT everyone seems to be using a mac instead. Why???"

They don't know about J. River? MAC or PC, you can get great sound; I can't settle for iTunes especially when compared to what's possible with J. River.

DC

I potential buyer of a Toslink cable I had a while back claimed that the standard Mac actually downsampled to 44/48kHz out of the digital out. I think the MacBook Pro does not downsample. Sort of like Apple's version of K-mixer ???

DC

"I am presently using a squeezebox unmodded and streaming via ethernet (not wi fi) uncompressed files from a Mac. I am feeding this into my Weiss Medea DAC (tried both Toslink and coaxial). However, comparing it to using my Jason transport, the sound is significantly worse. eg in Jazz at the Pawnshop, I can hear the liveness of the recording, on the streamed music it sounds like it was recorded in an anechoic chamber. Same when i stream from my apple TV via toslink.

Has anyone found a way of streaming that actually can outdo a high end CD player?"

Technically we're not streaming when using a computer based hard-disk solution for playback, not trying to be picky, but the jargon matters. Yes, you are using an ethernet cable but streaming implies a telecommunications network, and it seems the only main distinction we can make nowadays is wired vs. wireless. A wired "ethernet" connection should offer no bandwidth concerns.

FLAC, ALAC, APE all have to be decoded upon playback, not transcoded (converted from one format to another FLAC>APE). Transcoding is a full cycle of encoded file>decoded>re-encoded.

I find it interesting that you have discovered such a marked difference with your wired connection. What is the front end software producing playback? iTunes?

Are you using the digital volume control on the squeezebox in excess?

How old is the squeezebox?

DC