2. pc-audio
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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

Showing 5 responses by 4est

4est
507 posts
 
Don't get too excited about AyreWave being free. It is only for another month. This is a beta, price to be announced.

USB 2 is good to 24/96 w/o drivers. The DAC may or may not be able to do 24/96 through its USB though.
4est
507 posts
 
Ryder,

Might I suggest upping the RAM on your mini. Memory play is the ticket. For whatever reasons, lots of RAM and a solid state internal disk drive for the OS makes a difference. You may want to check out the "computer audiophile" site, there is lots of info there. I find it a little easier to understand than say audio asylum and such.
4est
507 posts
 
I would not use FLAC if you are going to run Mac. Use the Mac's version which is ALAC. Furthermore, iTunes is not limited to 16/44, but the AE or Apple TV may be. If you run PC, do not use iTunes at all, but some other player such as J River. With a Mac, you will get better sound using a different player as well, but the integration of iTunes with Mac is hard to beat. There are better players that use the iTunes database (Pure Music, Amarra)

FWIW, it do not trust wireless, moreover as thee previous poster stated, the direct connections are better. You are not indicating what DAC you will use or what type of comp (PC/Mac). I think your best bet would be to use an iPad to control a Mac mini that is directly connected to your DAC, preferably with a good wired connection.

Nice system and beautiful home BTW.
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.
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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