Building a music server - newbie

Wow, Sounds like a bunch of options. OK, I give up on the sound card and will try to DAC. Have never used or bought one. What about an external hard drive? Looks like I can get one for $100.00. I only have 1,000 cds , so, from what I understand, I could store them all on it in the original file format. And buy a second one for backup. What's the advantage of a NAS? I only have one room where my stereo is and will just run the audio through the one system.

Thank each of you for taking the time to share your thoughts.

Hello All,

Any one can explain How will be the noice/jitter level while playing laptop as the transport? Is there any other way to play the music to avoid such problems.

Rabbani

Has anyone used Windows Home Server to set up they're computer based system? How well does it work?
Sgr

I'm in in this process now, with MAC. I'm really happy I made the move. A few thoughts (although there are lots of helpful threads here already).

1. I had bad luck trying to set up a Buffalo Technology NAS; poor customer service. I'm currently ripping to a Lacie Quattro hard drive; quiet and relatively attractive, a bit under 150 for a TB.

2. The USB cord from PC to DAC seems to matter; it's worth considering upgrade from stock.

3. The PS Audio Perfect Wave DAC is worth a look; I'm enjoying mine.

4. ComputerAudiophile is an extremely helpful site, though somewhat MAC-centric.

John

My MAC Book Pro computer is connected to the Furman AC-215 power conditioner. The MAC has 4 GB RAM and the 120GB solid state drive. I am using the Seaport Free Agent Go Pro 500GB external hard drive to store my music files (a 2nd one for backup). The Furman is required so the MAC does not interfere with the audio components. See www.furmansound.com/product.ph.

The MAC USB output is connected to my Ayre USB DAC. Wow! I was very impressed with the way it sounds. It is better sounding then my Ayre CX-7e CD player. The highs are better and so is the bass. The music is clearer and more engaging. The unit still has to burn in and so do my new Synergistic Research TESLA Quad speaker cables. Music Lovers Audio (Berkeley, CA) said everything will sound better after some time.

I am using the Transparent USB Cable from the computer to the Ayre DAC. My retailer reports the Synergistic Research's Tesla Tricon USB cable is excellent but the Synergistic Research USB Cable is $550. He said my Transparent USB cable is an amazing performer and the Synergistic USB is the next step up and it provides significant improvement. This is a very expensive cable so I am going to keep the Transparent USB Cable and review again in 4 months.

I have about 60 CD's loaded into my MAC Book Pro computer and many more to go. It takes between 3 to 5+ minutes per CD using the AIFF format. This is a very boring time consuming process.

I followed Ayre's MAC Book setup instructions and they worked. The Audio MIDI setup was a little different from their instructions but we finally figured it out. The QB-9 is connected (balanced cables) to my Ayre AX-7e Integrated amp connected to my Sonus Faber Auditor M Speakers.

The major issue was the computer in terms of what model, how much RAM, hard drive and external drives. Ayre was very helpful (http://www.ayre.com/) and so was my audio store, Music Lovers Audio in Berkeley, CA.

I checked and double checked everything to ensure I made no mistakes. Everyone I talked said to get the MAC and not a PC. Ayre recommended I use the external drives for better music quality and not the hard drive on the computer.

If you decide to move in this direction, I suggest working with a high quality audio store to help you configure the needed components.

I am a PC person and this is my first MAC computer. It is very easy to use and iTunes does a great job of managing the music. Please email me if you have any questions.