Help to store hi-rez on external hard drive.

Here's how I do it. Dac connected with usb cable to mac mini, mini connected to outboard hard drive.
Use Itunes and rip in Applelossless, error correction on.
Use Itouch for remote using Apple's free remote app (you must leave your computer on to access your library)
Finally, use the PURE MUSIC application to run with Itunes.....the sound beats cd's and it's really nice not to run back and forth to a cd player or stand in front of the cd rack trying to select some music.
Suggest you check out computer audiophile and well tempered computer websites...very helpful. have fun!

This is very new to me. You both are a great help. Thank you. You made it sound real simple. Computers can be picky. I do like the idea of having a battery powered laptop for maybe better sonics. I will look for a used one, I like that idea because I think this part of audio will have some nice progress in the near future and I won't be to invested in it right now that way. I also like the idea of sending it to hard drive for back up for all that good hi-rez I hope to get. I am going to work at this. Thanks a lot. Do you have any simple thoughts on how to keep the best signal through download to music system. Will media monkey work best? Thanks, and enjoy your music.

If you are going the Windows route, I would suggest Windows 7 rather than XP or Vista. If you use a used laptop, check to see if it has Windows 7. One of things you would like to have is a clean system with very few other applications running. I use a Netbook with Windows 7 Starter, which is a very stripped down version which means very few things are running. I do not even run anti-virus software, since it is very rarely on the network. Some people think you need bigger systems, but I am happy with my little Netbook with very little overhead.

You need to have either a DAC with USB input or a USB to S/PDIF converted to feed your DAC. There are lots of options here, depending on whether you want to use an existing DAC or purchase a new one.

Marqmike, I believe I saved all the Chesky files in the FLAC format via MediaMonkey (which was recommended to me by Chesky) and when I play them on the W4S DAC-2 it displays the incoming resolution (usually as 24-bit/96k).

As Larryken suggested, it's best not to run a lot of other applications on the laptop you will be using for the music playback. It would be best not to use antivirus if you're not planning to connect to the Internet. But I use the free version of Avast antivirus because it's fairly unobtrusive and I like to stream Internet radio and be able to download music files.

I switched from the "Norton Security Suite" to Avast because the Norton was always running scans in the background. When I switched I gained back about 120Mbs of useful RAM.

There are CDP like Yamaha CDR-HD1300 or Numark HDCD1 with an internal hard drive. Could just play direct from that to your DAC.