Computer music server PC or Apple????

Rbstehno - I am in communication with JA about this review. He did not know that with the Centrance firmware one needs to send either 24/44.1 or 24/96, but never 16/44.1 on the USB connection. I know this because I use similar firmware on my products. I believe with 24-bit data, the sound quality of the USB should be better than the Toslink or Coax input.

I'm sure there will be a follow with more listening tests. He alluded to this.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio

hi steve, i wouldn't say that just because its 24 bit that it will be better than the 16 or 20 bit dacs. when i did evals of dacs around 2 years ago, i liked the 20 bit dacs more than the 24 bit ones. i evaluated a few 24bit and a few 20 bit and ended up with an audio research 20bit dac. i have seen other threads stating the same. Bottom line, an eval needs to take place using their own equipment and whatever sounds the best to them, they should pursue it.

Rbstehno - You dont understand. What I am saying is that the USB firmware that Empirical and Benchmark uses needs to have 24/44.1 streamed over the USB cable rather than 16/44.1. Has nothing to do with 24-bit DAC's. This has to do with how Windows and Vista handle the USB interface with audio streaming and getting bit-perfect playback.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio

So if you were putting together a system today, it appears the overwhelming choice is a Mac over a PC?

I was thinking of having a pc built with an audio case,(this puts your pc into a case that looks like an audio component, it looked much more like something an audiophile would have, much better than the Mac look) with a blue ray multi function transport that supports DVD Audio(I think), and Redbook CD. I would also have several drives built in for backup and 1 gig of memory, from what I've read I should pick Vista as the operating system. This would be used for my audio system only. I was going to use ITunes with the new Touch Screen Ipod to control this then use a USB converter into my Levinson DAC. Will this work as well as MAC Apple TV system as outlined in the Absolute Sound which consists of a MAC, Apple airport Extreme, Apple TV, and DAC?

I'm not out of the 20th century in terms of audio gear (late 90's Adcom) but I've recent experiences with PCs I'd like to share.

About a year ago I decided to replace the XP machine in my home office with a machine that could handle general computing chores (something it did quite well) and povide better audio. I decide on a MacMini but never got one and eventually replaced the XP with an almost new Vista machine.

The Vista machine's audio was dramatically better than the XPs. But it was too unrelialbe and unstable for me to use for everyday home office chores. So I did a clean renstallation of Vista, disabled most of the Windows programs that are a permanent part of Vista, and installed various third party audio software. Now it is a reliable (so far), good sounding, music player and music server. And I've ordered a MacMini to serve as a general purpose machine in my home office.

I know many people have not had difficulty with Vista. I had a great deal of difficulty with Vista and am not going to use it for anything other than audio (not even other media).

The only experience I have with Apple computers is with my son-in-law's all Apple home infrastructure. It does everything I would want a system to do and sounds great on his high end Denon HT rig. And there are several computers sharing various files including audio and video and includes an Apple TV and a couple of Airports. This system is completely reliable. I'm not an Apple fanboy, but this system's performance is impressive.

My personal bottom line (based on my own experience): I'm very pleased with my dedicated Vista music server/player but I'm migrating to Apple.

JPO