Music Server vs. PC vs. Transport vs. ?


I don;t really want to add another rack in my living room. If I do, I may end up sleeping on one of the couches. Ideally, I would like to do the following:

1. Either use a pc or a server to store discs and have them accessable.
2. Have a way for the kids/wife to hook up their ipods
3. Have a way to get digital radio (xm, sirius or even computer streaming, doesn;t matter)
4. Do all of this WITHOUT degrading the sound quality ( i know, the ipod, by definition will do this)

My understanding of most high end DACs is that they do not have USB ports, but that is the ideal port to use to negate jitter. As I was researching this, I got the latest issue of the absolute sound, and they address some of this a bit. My feeling seems to be that one pays a HUGE premium for a server, that both their DACs and PCs DACs suck, and one has to get a USB to AES or other adapter, and still use an external DAC. It also seems that if one is willing to use a lossless system, that the universal opinion is that a hard drive rivals or beats any transports.

So my initial thought would be to get a pc with an ipod dock, run lossless, get an additional adapter say from Wavelength, and use the current dac. That adds at least two pieces, maybe three.

Help?????
Thanks,
Chris

Help??????

Thanks,
Chris
128x128mount_rose_music

Showing 7 responses by audioengr

The first thing to determine is what interface you like and want to use, as well as your family. I would run the demo at:
http://www.sonos.com

The mass-produced music servers like the Sonos, Squeezebox and certainly the AirPort Express all have high level of jitter IMO. However, these can all be transformed into perfect sources with a device called a Pace-Car. It is a low-jitter reclocker. This way you get the great user experience as well as a world-class digital source. Then you will need a good DAC to feed the digital source into. There is a PAce-Car and AirPort Exress combo being given away on enjoythemusic.com. All you have to do is subscribe to their mailing list to be entered into the giveaway.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio
Manufacturer
Chrisla - the review you mention is an old one, using a USB driver from M-Audio, ASIO and SRC upsampling. This really taxes any computer. I think there might have been a bit of user error here also.

With newer Windows drivers and the USB firmware I implemented (very costly) this does not happen anymore.

If you have a really old laptop with a slow processor and .5Gbytes of memory, it may still happen with any USB converter or DAC. All USB interfaces have this potential. This is why I recommend fast CPU and 1-2GBytes of memory.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio
Tboooe - I also have a Sonos and controller. Great user interface, but the jitter from the stock ZP80 is quite bad, much worse than a typical transport. IMO, if you want something decent stock, the SB3 is it.

Steve N.
Chris - dont be surprised if the Sonos does not blow you away. It has a great user interface, but the jitter fromt he digital out is atrocious. It needs to be reclocked. The Squeezebox is a lot better stock, but not as much fun as the Sonos to use. I have all of them.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio
Chrisla - What type of jitter resolution does your equipment have?

Are you an engineer or tech?

I might be interested in paying you to do some measurements or otherwise horse-trading something for them. email me.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio
Chrisla - If you want to hear an amazing Sonos system, go to the St. Tropez (THE Show) suite 1203 when you are at CES.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio