Mac with USB Dac

I use both. In my opinion it is not a replacement, but another nice source to have.

I have had a few high end CDP's, the best of which was a modified Resolution Audio Opus 21. I now have a Mac Mini with a Wavelength Audio DAC. Do I miss the Opus? Not for a second! Does the computer/DAC combo sound better? I think so. And, as Eric mentioned, the convenience is really a treat.

Sammie,

I agree 100% as I had a Opus 21 and it was replaced with a Mini and Wavelength Cosecant V3. I'll take the Mini / Cosecant ANY day.

Add my itouch as my remote and there really is no comparison.

Agree with above posts.Went to a Mini Mac/Bel Canto Dac3,best move in years,good luck,Bob

JT,

I've been thinking of getting an iTouch to use as a remote. Um, is the thing bluetooth, or does it connect to the wireless network in the home? I assume you can dial up music from anywhere in the house, provided you have Expresses scattered about. But will the iTouch wake the computer like the little white remote can? Oh, and always to read about someone else enjoying Gordon's products!

Thanks.

Sammie

It connects to the Mini. Yes, you can use it anywhere in the house...it's great!

Don't know if it will wake up the computer. I will try.

I think the iTouch is indeed an '802 device.....so range should NOT be an issue.
That is my next project....an Express with optical out to the DA of my CA840c player to the stereo via balanced. Saving allowance money even as I write. If I spend another penny on this hobby, my head will end up on a stick.

If it wakes up the computer, that would be sweet. Talk to one of the experts at the Apple store. They will know or will find out for your, or even arrange a demo.

I use a Mac Mini with a Ultra Fi DAC [ Musicstream ] and Ridge Street Audio cable's and I just love the combo. I have not looked back on a CD player the ease of use and the sound I get has me hooked . The future is computer based and the Mac Mini is one great way to go this is such a fun time to be a audiophile . The internet with places like pandora to find new music than go and buy your new finds and load the CD'S in to the computer or download HiRes music files to your computer what a great time to be a music lover.

I made the move to a dedicated iMac + Wavelength Brick V.3. Haven't missed having a CD player--my old player was a VSEI Level 5+ SCD-777ES--and I listen to way more music now than I used to. That last fact alone is a compelling reason to switch.

With RWA Isabellina NOS DAC is very easy to stop & forget about digital source upgrades. It doesn't mean that it is the best ....... I just haven't heard better (at least at that price level).
I am using Mac Air with iTouch as a controler & iTunes (VLC with flac files) - works great.

Mariusz

I am using the Peachtree Nova connected to my Mac Book. I think it sounds way better than the cast off Sony CD player my brother gave me. But I have never owned a high end CDP. I really like the sound and the ease of picking up new music through i-Tunes. This simple system is really easy to live with and it integrates with your TV easily and Blu-Ray player through 2 toslink connections.

The drawback with i-Tunes is you cannot move into Hi-Rez music as you are limited to 16-44 play back. The best sound is probably coming from HDCD's 24-196 reference recordings. With Tera-byte drives costing less than $100 I don't see any reason not to collect digital masters which might become the new audiophile standard.

I sold my Cary 306-200 CD player and got a Mac Mini and Wavelength Cosecant V2 with no looking back. Although the Cary had plenty of detail the Mac Mini/Wavelength combo is much more musical to my ears. I listen to vinyl 90% of the time and find this combination much more analog sounding than my previous setup. I am sure the Wavelength has a lot to do with it. Hoping to upgrade to the V3 when I can but the V2 sounds great.

For those of you using the Mac Mini are you using a screen and keyboard with it or just the i-touch?

I actually use the good old heavily modded G4 Cube as a music server for Front Row and iTune. It is connected to my Pioneer plasma as well as to a 7' LCD screen. I have everything set up to switch back and forth between the two using my Harmony remote control and the Logitech DiNovo keyboard for the occasional internet navigation. The reason I am setting it up this way is that I don't want to turn on my plasma all the time. I also set up the screen saver such that the 7" LCD doubles as a digital photo frame when I am not accessing the Cube for music.

I would love to use the iTouch as a remote for my system but it doesn't do infrared, so that's a no-go.

I use the Apple LCD display to view Front Row. It's big enough to easily view album art, as well as title, artist, album, etc. from our listening area. It is actually quite beautiful! Along with the display, my Mac Mini, mouse, and small Apple keyboard occupy the top shelf of our audio rack.

For remote control I use the small white remote that at one time came packaged with Apple computers. I think it is a cost option now.

The little remote will wake the computer. I only use the keyboard if I am ripping, installing, updating, etc.

The ease of access on computer is a revelation.

I'm finding that I hit a wall though with Squeezebox and also Front Row, in that they go from category directly to tracks, bypassing albums. I select the classical category and instead of seeing a list of albums, I see a long list of all the cuts of all the albums, and they don't even show the album name.

Yikes.

Any solution other than backing off to using iTunes as the front end?

Artmaltman - In ITunes create smart playlist called for instance Jazz the set in the playlist settings that Genre is equal Jazz. After it is created i change name to add "-" in front. It will make your lists appear before other lists. Now you should be able to see all the CD covers on one screen. I created smart playlists for all categories.

Kijanki, very clever, thanks!