OK, can someone give this to me in baby steps? I am having a Keces 152 USB DAC/headphone amp delivered tomorrow. I have a Media Center XP machine that I will be using for storing my music files (ripping CDs, right?). I also have an ipod nano that I would like to still be able to w i-tunes. What do I use to rip the CDs and what do I use to play them back, and how do I or should I bypass the infamous k-mixer. The DAC is strictly redbook, 16 bit 44.1 khz.
Foobar 2000 or MediaMonkey v.3?
My PC runs Windows XP 2000 w/ Service Pack 3. My music library, so far, contains tracks dowloaded from Amazon.com. My audio player is WMP.
Audio out is via Behringer U-Control (dedicated USB cable, 16/48 DAC); RCA's from Behringer to Parasound pre (analog inputs only, no internal DAC) to NAD amp. I will soon upgrade from the Behringer to an Edirol UA-1 EX (24/96). I'd love to get something like a used Bel Canto DAC, but do not have the bucks.
I'm wondering if Foobar 2000 or Media Monkey will afford better sound than the WMP. I don't care about all the bells and whistles - just the sound. If yes, which is better - Foobar or Media Monkey? Where does J River fit in?
If I download one of these, should I also get ASIO and/or Kernel Streaming?
Thank you. Mike19
Audio out is via Behringer U-Control (dedicated USB cable, 16/48 DAC); RCA's from Behringer to Parasound pre (analog inputs only, no internal DAC) to NAD amp. I will soon upgrade from the Behringer to an Edirol UA-1 EX (24/96). I'd love to get something like a used Bel Canto DAC, but do not have the bucks.
I'm wondering if Foobar 2000 or Media Monkey will afford better sound than the WMP. I don't care about all the bells and whistles - just the sound. If yes, which is better - Foobar or Media Monkey? Where does J River fit in?
If I download one of these, should I also get ASIO and/or Kernel Streaming?
Thank you. Mike19