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Confused With Options To Obtain BestQuality iTunes

I have been reading a lot these days and still confused on the plethora of options available in hooking up a computer based digital system and the pros and cons to each and every selection. I am quite new in this so please bear with me.

I have friends who stream wireless music(Itunes) via an Apple Airport Express that supported this idea and do know many folks are using this setup in their homes. Others who are into Logitech stuff advocated the Squeezebox Classic and Touch. However, another group who uses top-flight gears in their systems(upper range MBL and Revels) advised that wireless degrades sound quality, and the best option is to hook it all up with wires.

Suggested options to play Itunes in WAV or AIFF format are as follows.

1) iTunes in 1TB/2TB External Hard Drive => Mac Mini/Macbook => DAC (iPad to control music selection)

2) iTunes in 1TB/2TB External Hard Drive => Logitech Squeezebox Classic/Touch => DAC (iPad to control music selection)

3) iTunes in 1TB/2TB External Hard Drive => PC => Apple Airport Express => wireless => DAC (iPad to control music selection)

4) iTunes in 1TB/2TB External Hard Drives => wireless => Apple TV => DAC

Out of the four options above, is it a general consensus that option 1 will yield the best sound reproduction from iTunes followed by option 2? Will options 3 and 4 come close to options 1 and 2? Are there any other alternatives to do all this?

Basically my priority is to use an iPad to control playback from iTunes stored in 1TB/2TB external hard drives WITHOUT using a Mac/PC. Apple Airport Express and Apple TV were said to degrade sound quality. What other cost-efficient options do I have?

An advice would be most appreciated.
ryder
4est
507 posts
 
I would not use FLAC if you are going to run Mac. Use the Mac's version which is ALAC. Furthermore, iTunes is not limited to 16/44, but the AE or Apple TV may be. If you run PC, do not use iTunes at all, but some other player such as J River. With a Mac, you will get better sound using a different player as well, but the integration of iTunes with Mac is hard to beat. There are better players that use the iTunes database (Pure Music, Amarra)

FWIW, it do not trust wireless, moreover as thee previous poster stated, the direct connections are better. You are not indicating what DAC you will use or what type of comp (PC/Mac). I think your best bet would be to use an iPad to control a Mac mini that is directly connected to your DAC, preferably with a good wired connection.

Nice system and beautiful home BTW.
bwp
114 posts
 
Itunes does support 24/192 files via the USB output, just have to change audio midi settings in the system preferences. You can also output up to 96k I believe on the toslink output of a mac as well. If you decide to go the streaming route you will be limited to standard redbook as the AE does not handle higher than CD quality. If you are not going to have multiple systems using the same hard drive for music I would go with a mac mini wired directly to the DAC and Channel D's Pure Music program to playback the files. The original purpose for using the AE was to have use a laptop for playback so you could have your music at your fingertips. Now that the ipad and iphone have remote apps this is no longer necessary. I store everything in AIFF, larger than flac but natively supported by Itunes. Storage is so cheap I don't really worry about the loss of space. You can configure your mac mini to automatically open itunes on start up so you do no need a monitor. You can also install iteleport which will let you use your iphone or ipad as you monitor and control your mini from either device, useful if you need to restart or change some settings.
ryder OP
1,690 posts
 
4est, Bwp, thanks for the useful advice. I'm slowly moving in the direction of the Mac Mini + iPad now. It is certainly good to read similar opinions supporting the Mac Mini's choice which surely make things easier for me.

Cheers.
4est
507 posts
 
Ryder,

Might I suggest upping the RAM on your mini. Memory play is the ticket. For whatever reasons, lots of RAM and a solid state internal disk drive for the OS makes a difference. You may want to check out the "computer audiophile" site, there is lots of info there. I find it a little easier to understand than say audio asylum and such.
timrhu
2,779 posts
 
I am no expert in this field but having just completed the process, after much research, I'll share what I learned. BTW, when I say just completed I mean I finished ripping cds yesterday and hooked everything into my system last night. I can tell already that my cdp won't see as much use as it did.
All of my research pointed to a Mac Mini with external HD feeding a dac as the best way to implement the system. I ended up with:
Mac Mini (latest version)
ipod touch for remote control
Western Gigital HD
PS Audio DLIII dac
Choosing equipment was easy, it was deciding how to rip that gave me the most trouble. Trouble because after deciding which way to go I would read some contradictory information.
Cds were ripped to itunes with AIFF. I downloaded EAC software mentioned above to my pc and ripped some cds that way. If I were using a pc instead of Mac I'd go with EAC as you are assured of an exact duplicate.
I also downloaded the MAX software mentioned above but found it difficult to use. If I were to do it over I might chose WAV files instead of the AIFF, not for quality but because they seem to be used more readily by the other programs.
The ipod touch was chosen as remote because I had one. It works great.
The HD I purchased is only 500gb, may be a problem but my intention was not to rip all of my cds, only those I listen to. I ended up loading 453 albums, according to itunes, which is about half of my cds and I used 200gb. I don't know about you but I have cds that will never get listened to. If I really want to hear one I'll use the cdp.
At this point I have no intention of streaming music throughout the house so can't help there.
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