Apple Mini 'puter as a CD jukebox?

Before the Benchmark DAC-1,I was using an M Audio Firewire Audiophile. Results were Ok. The Benchmark, or course, was a great set up. The SPDIF output from the Audiophile created a hum, so I tried the Transit which solved that problem since the Toslink connection provided galvanic isolation. The Transit was OK, but I now have Empirlacal Audio's modified Transit (Turbo Offramp) which has taken the entire system up many orders of magnitude. The difference is not subtle. Highly reccomended. Here is a link to a review:http://db.audioasylum.com/cgi/m.mpl?forum=pcaudio&n=3083&highlight=nmcc0866&r=&session=. I am in complete agreement.

I too am running a MAC with iTunes as a digital source. I send the signal wirelessly to an Airport Express plugged into an aux jack in my preamp. The sound is pretty decent but far from the quality I get from my $100 Denon CDP. The DAC in Airport Express just isn't audio-grade.

My next step is to run optical out from the airport express into my new CDP, a Resolution Audio Opus which I chose because it offers a second digital in. This way, I will be able to use the DAC inside the Opus for the computer files and I am expecting a significant improvement in sound. I am now in the process of re-burning all my cds using the lossless format instead of the ACC compressed file format. Lossless offers a bit-for-bit exact copy of the music. You "read" the cd once so there is no concern about not getting a good read and the hard drive transmites a perfect signal. Issues with jitter and reclocking remain but, from what I am reading, solutions for those are at hand.

I think that digital files from computers will be the number one digital source within a few years. Those still using CDP and inserting cds will be a in a similar position to the minority who still prefer vinyl discs. Most of us will have the incredible convenience that computer-based song selection provides.

Going lossless, which you will want, requires ALOT of hard drive space. You'll need 1/2 the space of the native file (somewhere around 300 - 400 MB per cd) and the mini won't be able to hold many cds. But, you can get a 250GB external drive for about $250 so the cost of extra space is very reasonable.

Please post your results with your set-up as it progresses.

You need the airport or some kind of DAC in conjunction with either a USB or firewire audio device. The Mac Mini does not have an audio output or a digital coax. I have a very hard time believing that the performance of the airport going directly into a preamp will rival the quality of going USB or firewire into a decent DAC. There are also some oddball, but highly regarded, DACs like the Apogee that have a built-in USB port. My configuration uses a Waveterminal U24 USB device into a stand alone upsampler and DAC. The sound rivals my DV-50s.

If you are running in an Apple-only environment, you may want to see if you can convert your .wav files to Apple's lossless compressed format. I do not believe you compromise quality, since it is lossless, but you would save significant disk space. (You can then use your second disk as a backup of your first disk--see my thread on having four HD crashes in 2 years).

There is a new wireless remote that is pre-programed for iTunes. It is by a compnay called keyspan. I got my on amazon for like $59 (as I recall). It works through Airport Express. Very nice looking small and compact. It will be a better option than the remote control mouse I was planning to use.

Can you just run the sound from the speaker/headphone jack into DAC or on the cheap, straight into pre-amp?
I use bluebeat.com and run it that way into a tape loop on my Rotel, works good for casual music