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Music Server VS Laptop

I'm asking this question because I have no idea. Is there a benefit to buying a music server over just using a laptop? Today is my second day of streaming from a Western Digital 2 TB network drive with my laptop using Foobar 2000. Laptop is connected to my Audiolab 8200CDQ with a USB type A - type B cable. I'm able to play 24bit/96khz and I think it sounds great, but I have no idea if I'm somehow comprimising my listening experience with this set up. Any words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated.
donjr
4est
507 posts
 
There are dedicated music servers that are better than off the shelf computers for audio. One would need to have a pretty hot DAC and a well tuned system to hear it. I'd stay put unless you've got money burning a hole in your pocket.
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highend64
277 posts
 
When I didn't have a preamp in my system, I went and use my laptop with Lexicon Omega interface as a pre with great results. I use wav format for my music. What format are you running?
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,322 posts
 
Laptop is perfectly fine as a music server. The connection to the DAC is what matters in terms of sound. I like to use a wireless connection to a network player like Squeezebox and then run to DAC from there if desired. This helps isolate the devices making the music from the computer which is a good insurance policy.

donjr OP
1,335 posts
 
Thanks for the great answers. I've been using flac format. Not sure if that's what I should be using but it seems to be working fine.
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,322 posts
 
FLAC is a good choice.
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