Check out the Apple TV. I rip all my Cd's into Itunes apple lossless, then Itunes Syncs with the apple Tv which has an Internal 160 GB Hard Drive, then use the optical out on the Apple tv into my DAC. Then from the apple tv into television (home theater setup as well) and then you can scroll through your cd collection with all the artwork etc.. on your tv with the remote. Also of mention the Apple TV has no Volume control, so it's just a digital feed. This Setup has worked EXTREMELY well for me. Compared to my Arcam FMJ cd-23T with the famed Ring Dac it of course is not quite as good, but that is probably due to the dac i'm using in my pre/pro vs. the quality coming off the Apple Tv. Anyways, it's much easier to me than setting up an actual computer as a music server. Also of mention, it's completely Silent, which was of great concern for me. I can't even describe how great it has been not to have to dig through hundreds of Cd's!!
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
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