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Music Server vs. PC vs. Transport vs. ?

I don;t really want to add another rack in my living room. If I do, I may end up sleeping on one of the couches. Ideally, I would like to do the following:

1. Either use a pc or a server to store discs and have them accessable.
2. Have a way for the kids/wife to hook up their ipods
3. Have a way to get digital radio (xm, sirius or even computer streaming, doesn;t matter)
4. Do all of this WITHOUT degrading the sound quality ( i know, the ipod, by definition will do this)

My understanding of most high end DACs is that they do not have USB ports, but that is the ideal port to use to negate jitter. As I was researching this, I got the latest issue of the absolute sound, and they address some of this a bit. My feeling seems to be that one pays a HUGE premium for a server, that both their DACs and PCs DACs suck, and one has to get a USB to AES or other adapter, and still use an external DAC. It also seems that if one is willing to use a lossless system, that the universal opinion is that a hard drive rivals or beats any transports.

So my initial thought would be to get a pc with an ipod dock, run lossless, get an additional adapter say from Wavelength, and use the current dac. That adds at least two pieces, maybe three.

Help?????
Thanks,
Chris

Help??????

Thanks,
Chris
128x128mount_rose_music
ckorody
643 posts
 
Thnx for the kind words.

I would like to clear up one misconception. That is, if you use USB you do not need an internal soundcard. The whole point of both USB and Squeezebox (Ethernet/WiFi) approaches is that you remove the conversion of data to audio formats from the computer environment which is filled with all kinds of nasty stuff (drives, power supplies, video cards etc)

That is why most people after some experience opt to spend their money "outside" the box.
hdomke
40 posts
 
This is a great discussion, but it has left me with a few questions.
If anyone could help me out with these as I go about turning my Mac into a "Music Server" I would appreciate it.

1. What is the right DAC to get?
2. What is the right format to import files into iTunes for the best sound?
3. Is there other software out there besides iTunes that should be considered on the Mac?
4. Is the drive on the Mac optimal for importing music to the drive?
5. Does transmitting the music over a wireless Internet (Airport) degrade the music in any way?
6. Is Ethernet superior to Wireless for music transfer?
7. Are there any good websites to learn more about this?
rbstehno
1,493 posts
 
1. get the best dac you can afford. i use a non-usb dac. if this is for your critical listening room instead of just background music, i would look at dacs from : audio research, mark levinson, classe, bel canto, and there are others.
2. do some experimenting. some people might hear the difference and others might not.
3. if you want to use the ipod, you are pretty stuck with itunes. you also want to look at who provides the airport express options that others might not have. i like itunes myself.
4. a hard drive is a hard drive. if you are going to have a large repository of tunes and if you will be serving possible multiple macs/pc's in your house, i would look at raid network attached devices as an option.
5. i use it with good success. i also use an audio alchemy DTI device to clean up the jitter from the airport express toslink output, then i go into an external dac from the dti.
6. wired is already better if you can use it. i use wireless to an airport express device with good success. i use 802.11g, i wouldn't want to try this with anything less, 802.11n would be better.
7. your on it now.
sammie
220 posts
 
7. Wavelength Audio -or- Empirical Audio

Both sites offer good products and are good sources of information.
sammie
220 posts
 
7. Wavelength Audio -or- Empirical Audio

Both sites offer good products and are good sources of information.
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