Music Server/DAC in Same Box

thanks for the replies.

David, no I have not compared the Mach2Music to the basic Mac Mini.

Markemark, I check out the Micromega 400. Interesting indeed, but the amp may be the weak link and I am not willing to compromise in that important part of the chain.

if you don't have to store the music on the same machine you should look into a Windows Home Server running Squeezebox software and pickup a Touch or Transporter. The Transporter has a very good DAC section stock and there are many folks who have modded the Touch with good results.

What is your budget?

what is my budget? I don't know, I'm a crazy audiophile, I will make it happen. :-). Really though. At the moment, I have about 5 grand to spend, but not sure if I want to spend it on a source/server/DAC at the moment. May want to spend it somewhere else in the system. With things changing so fast, I almost wonder if it is better to wait, but still I guess I wanted to know what options were out there.

Modwright Transporter and a NAS for storing your files.

No way I want some appliance in control of my music collection. I want to rip, tag, organize and backup my music files my way, not some set of compromises someone else came up with so they can mash everything into one box. I'm also perfectly happy with the playback control software options available.

I also think that because most of the dollars were invested in hardware quality, not software and storage that you get better sound quality.