Hard Drive versus Optical Drive

I've been struggling with this one for a while. I don't own a lot of CDs, less than a few hundred overall and no more than 50 or so that I access for playback at any given time. I still tend to buy CDs here and there, but mostly vinyl. So while I have what I consider to be a very nice transport/DAC combo, I've often wondered whether I should go to a computer or hard drive based system. I am interested in online music down loads so there is a benefit to not having to burn CDs, but the whole aspect of which method is better, HD or computer, firewire, ethernet, USB, or wireless, totally confounds me.

I've been very interested in the Transporter and like the idea of the Squeeze Touch (or other options that let me use my existing DAC). However, if that isn't enough you have the discussion Tbg started on SSD vs. optical drives. Go over to the Computer Audio asylum on AA and there is enough information to rattle your brain for days.

Granted, I think the computer and HD systems can offer better reads, possibly better sound, but more convenience? It certainly hasn't been very convenient for me to figure this all out.

That's the thing Tony, we are not exactly computer illiterate or phobic and yet we (I agree) feel confounded; it seems like audiophiles are going to have difficulty with this until they make it really much simpler, and with some standards for best performance. I think the Olive HD as a platform looks great, just don't know how it would sound compared to my EMM CDSA-SE (yup, I sold the AA Transport and DAC).

Paul, I was wondering about your transport/DAC combo.

There is another thread here where Kijanki talks about using Airport Express with optical cable connected to the Benchmark DAC1. Now to me that is pretty simple. Of course my DAC only has SPDIF input. I may have to give the Benchmark a whirl.

Luckily CES starts Thrursday and since I live 8 miles West of the Venetian and Flamingo (THE SHOW) I'll be able to get some more of my questions answered this week. What I have determined so far is that USB is not the answer and unfortunately firewire is being phased out by Mac (otherwise the Weiss Minerva would be very attractive to me). There are some good things said about wireless and ethernet, but then like all the other options, sorting out the hardware is another matter altogether. The Olive HD is nice, so is the Zero One. Unfortunately with the Zero One you can't stream, the Olive can. For $2k it may be a viable option.

Think I'll go spin a disc now.

Clio -- My understanding is that firewire is not being phased out by Mac. What has happened is that firewire 400 has been superseded on Mac products by firewire 800, which uses a different connector. However, adapter cables are readily available which will interface a fw800 connector to a fw400 connector, and backwards compatibility that is designed into fw800 will allow it to work perfectly well with fw400 equipment (at fw400 speed) through that adapter cable.

Also, I have seen no indication of fw400 being abandoned on non-Mac pc's, and I would expect it to be around for a long time considering the plethora of digital video camcorders and other products with fw400 interfaces that are out there.

Regards,
-- Al

Al, thanks for clarifying that. I can't recall exactly, but I thought I read where the new MacBooks would not have firewire ports, leading me to my conclusion.