Goodbye Sonos, hello ????

Tboooe_You can also get a windows computer - probably cheaper

You can download itunes for windows - its free - not sure if the windows version messes with the files like the Mac does, so you might not need something like Audirvana to deliver files that have been upsampled.

Yes - You can play flac tracks via Audirvana (playing one now) without itunes started - you nave to create playlists in Audirvana - not sure how good it is - suggest you checkout the manual on the web site

Damien (support) responds very quickly if you have questions or problems

There are other windows players out there - Aparantly the Windows Media Player works very well

The Audirvana manual tells you how to import flac to iTunes - the caveat is flac files and music files have to be on the computer and not a NAS drive
- it creates a proxy file that links to the music file - I had the proxy on the computer and the music on the NAS - once they were both on the computer all worked very well - rest of my files are on the NAS drive though

I've used several players in the past...
- hate Windows media player - getting stuff into the library is a pain
- not sure if Audirvana has the different views of tracks (see below)
_ I like the fact that itunes has seemless integration of music and radio
- I like the different ways you can look at tracks - tittle, composer, genre
- I like using Retune to control itunes

There are other remote control programs out there that might work with other players - ask Damien if he knows of one for Audirvana

Checkout other windows players - see
windows players review

Hope this helps

I built one of the CAPS server and I added the XONOR essence STX card for SPDIF out. My DAC doesn't take USB and I didn't want an external converter either. My CAPS server also has a 500GB solid state drive so all my music is local and I don't need a separate file server. Boots up in 5 seconds. I store my music in ALAC lossless so I can fit more. Should hold 1500 CDs. I run it headless and just remote into it when I need to do something on it (rarely). Works great and sounds spectacular. Control it with JRemote for JRiver.

If you want to do a lot of work and study to get a high-quality PC or Mac system together, this is worthwhile and will get you great SQ and hi-res.

However, if you just want your Sonos to sound great and don't want to invest a lot of time, do this:

http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/empirical4/1.html

Steve N.
Empirical Audio

Jaxwired, thanks for the headsup on the Xonor. My problem is that the CAPS I am going to build (v3 Carbon) only has 1 available pcie slot which I was intending to use for a wireless card because unlike you my media is stored on a NAS so that my other Sonos devices and HTPCs can access the music and movie files. I could use a USB based wireless dongle. Hmmm...just need to make sure the SPDIF output is great quality.

Check out the coming Olive ONE. I think it'll hit all your points.