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Recommendation for Computer/Digital

So I've been doing research into various solutions to my issue- most of my music is on my computer. I don't have a pretty low-end CD player right now and instead of spending money on a decent player I have been exploring computer based audio solutions- Squeezebox, Roku, new soundcards (M-Audio etc.). I have a laptop and its internal soundcard is all I have.

I've been getting caught up in the idea of a squeezebox right now, and with the cost of mods it's getting out of my range. I'm looking to spend up to $500 max. An M-Audio transport, which is the basis of the Red Wine Audio USB Select solution (a $500 solution) costs $99. I'm having a huge problem in figuring out how the variety of solutions compare and where the most bang for the buck lies. I've even been using my XBOX as my digital music player for awhile now.

My request- your views on the best way to get great sound in my price range from a computer with a crummy soundcard. Personal experiences are greatly appreciated. Is a stock Squeezebox a good thing? It seems that all the raving is from the modified end.

My system so far: I have a McIntosh MA500 Amp and B&W Nautilus 803D speakers (I think that's the right Nautilus model- I'm away from home for several months for work). Any suggestions to improve that would also be appreciated. I'll admit I bought without knowing too much- my wife's ears were the main reason we ended up with what we did, even though I'm more of the music lover.

Thanks for any responses.

Nick
uzelacn4bc2
karavite
36 posts
 
Can I jump in here please?

I am also looking for a $500 ish solution to use a Mac iBook g4 as a music server (no fans on this puppy and I have a few extra 300 GB very quiet firewire drives as well), but I am confused about a few things. First, what about jitter? I read about it, but is it a problem I need to consider? From what I have read (or comprehended) only a USB DAC is "jitter free"? Alas, seems USB DACs are either $200 or $1000+ - nothing in the middle no? Should I be jittery about jitter (sorry, that was a bad pun) or at my $ point am I dreaming? Also, am I letting super discrete audiophiles scare me off? I have a decent system and it sounds very nice to me - HH Scott 222 integrated, Rotel 1070 CD player, Omega Super 3R speakers and decent interconnects, speaker cables and stands. Sure, this isn't the pinnacle of audio, but it sure sounds better than most (everyone notices right away) and the thing I do not want to have happen is for a music server solution to not sound as good as what I have now with the CD player. Advice and knowledge appreciated in advanced! Thanks.
ckorody
643 posts
 
Don't sweat the jitter. You remove so much grunge by dumping the electro-mechanical-optical complexities of real time playback that what's left is simply not an issue for most folks.

There are some USB DACs in the middle, notably from Scott Nixon. SB2-3 is the other standard choice. There is a clear upgrade path available starting with a $20 linear power supply.

Since you are a Mac guy and will be using iTunes and ripping Apple Lossless, the choice between USB and SB really comes down to lifestyle and convenience. USB is great if you want it in the room where the system and the computer are. If you want to wire the house or access the computer from another room, SB has the advantage as it is a network device.

Either way you are looking at plug and play. The big effort will be ripping your CDs.

Have fun
karavite
36 posts
 
Thanks Ckorody - also for the advice to have fun! After I posted this I was reading all night about the SB3 and mods. I think that is the way to go for me.

Can I ask one more dumb question? What about Apple Lossless? Seems the rest of the world is all about FLAC, and I could get some software to rip all my CD's as FLAC (puts iTunes out of the picture, but...), but since both are "lossless" I am having to assume I won't be losing anything - except maybe hours of my life re ripping all of my CD's some day in the future.
ckorody
643 posts
 
Hi Karavite -

Ya know, there are Mac people and there are PC people. EAC/FLAC/Foobar is clearly a good way to go but it puts a certain onus on the user to make it all work. iTunes on the other hand does the work for you. There is an ongoing debate about whether Apple Lossless (ALAC) or any lossless format for that matter which would include FLAC, can be as good as an uncompressed, unprocessed WAV or AIFF file - this seems to come mostly from the PC side because there is some evidence that ALAC doesn't work as well on PCs as it does on a Mac. As best as I can tell, these are very small differences, not gross ones - I have no first hand experience since PCs give me a rash...

If you are truly persnickety and have a highly resolving system you might compare ALAC and WAV and decide for yourself. The problem actually comes with the way the various file formats handle metadata (called tags) such as album info, artwork etc. ALAC integrates beautifully with iTunes - you have a single, easy to use application that makes it easy to manage every aspect of the experience.

For my part I'll leave the rest on the table.
karavite
36 posts
 
Hi Ckorody,

Yes, I just discovered the inability of .wav files to contain metadata. Good thing I found out before ripping all my CD's! :-) One thing confuses me - I do have a few CD's ripped into iTunes as wavs (I have iTunes set to import as wav) and yet, these CD's have information on them within iTunes (album, artist...). Is it that iTunes does some type of propiertary "meta tagging" when importing CD's as WAV (or any format), but that the same information would be lost when those same wav files are accessed by something like the SqueezeBox software?

I'm going to do it. When I get my modded SB3 all set up, I will try a "blindfold" AB between ALAC and wav just for kicks. Do you think any human could tell the difference? If ALAC is lossless, then I am not sure how that could be.
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