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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
 
WAV does not support metatagging IIRC, as noted there are workarounds.

Wireless will(may) have difficulty streaming hi Rez due to bandwidth limitations.

So far for me AireWave is the best sounding Mac player. There is an open source OSX player Audirvana that is getting praise too. I am ever so glad that I did not bust out and purchase Amarra.

As noted, not all USB is created equal. Look into "About this Mac", it will note what ports are what...

Once again, if you are using a Mac, stay away from FLAC and use ALAC, WAV or AIFF. Some claim that WAV is the best sounding, and I think I agree, but the tagging is too much for me to pursue at the moment. I like XLD, but that Max and iTunes can batch convert files.

USB 1 or 2 cannot go past 24/96 without special drivers usedby some DACs IIRC.
jax2
3,031 posts
 
I would avoid WAV too. The metatagging issue is a royal PITA and will come up to bite you if you ever need to move files around outside of iTunes, or need to restore your library. I also have found no difference between WAV and FLAC that I can hear. I have heard differences between WAV and ALAC that I could hear, and I've also heard differences between files ripped by iTunes vs same file via EAC. If you are sticking with iTunes I'd personally go with AIFF (basically a Mac version of WAV)

I've had no problem at all streaming 24/96 via wireless using Squeezeserver to a Touch>24/96 DAC. The only hiccup is a brief initial buffering dropout, but once past that it streams without a problem.

USB 1.0 is more limited, and I'm pretty sure cannot stream 24/96...or at least that was the impression I was under. I was wondering about USB 1.1 myself - I think it has the bandwidth for 24/96.

I'm on a Mac using FLAC and have not had any problems at all using Squeezeserver. iTunes will only batch convert to one-format at a time. MAXX will convert to many different formats in one batch process. 4est - what problems are you suggesting that Mac has with FLAC files?
timrhu
2,779 posts
 
Free AyrePlay software from sbooth.org will also bypass iTunes' "contribution" and switch on-the-fly but unlike Pure Music, it needs OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard. (I'm stuck at 10.5.)
Tobias
Can you provide more info here? I looked at the referenced web site and did not find ayreplay. Also googled it and found nothing. Although I have finished ripping files as AIFF with itunes, if there is a way to insure bit perfect copies I'd like to test it.
I understood ripping with itunes to AIFF would render bit perfect files but I'm hearing otherwise. What I'm wondering really is if this is just audionervosa setting in?
joekapahulu
251 posts
 
OK I am a real NEWBIE on this one. So, I use Itunes to manage the music for my and the wifes Ipods. Other than that I dont care if I use it or not. I want to move towards pc based audio and have just started reading about it...here today actually. SO, given the constraint of the need for Itunes for Ipod mgt....can I still use one of these other SW pkgs to manage the issue of controlling pc audio or is there something which will mge my IPOD AND be useful for pc audio? BTW, I figure I will run this thru a stereo system both my main system and the office 2nd.
4est
507 posts
 
http://sbooth.org/AyreWave/

Jax2- I guess it runs FLAC now, it didn't used to. ALAC is the Mac version of FLAC. If you can hear the dif between FLAC and ALAC it makes some sense. I've been running AIFF for awhile now. It might explain why I heard a dif with ALAC vs AIFF.
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