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New to HiFi, need digital advice.

I am not an audiophile but I recently acquired a really nice high end system for free. (AR LS16 preamp, Madrigal Proceed HPA2 amp, Arcam CD92 CD player, Aerial Acoustics 7B tower speakers.  I have been learning as much as I can over the last week since I got it.

Now I'm trying to figure out how to put together a decent but not necessarily high end digital input system for as little money as possible.

So here is my plan. I know it is not high end and probably not commensurate with my system but hopefully will meet my needs:

Old iMac using iTunes to manage flac or alac files plugged into Schiit Modi 2 via USB cable and then into preamp via USB cable. I can us Apple's remote app on my iPhone to select/play music remotely (Works great).

Does this sound reasonable? If so it will only cost me about $100 for the Schiit DAC and $25 for a decent set of RCA cables (already purchased) and whatever I might need to spend on the USB cable. Anything I should know about the USB cable for this?

Thanks for the advice and apologies for my ignorance in all of this.

George
n80
n80 OP
2,112 posts
 
mahler, don't worry about being pedantic. I do know that CD's are digital (and that apparently my old Arcam player has a 'good' DAC) but otherwise all of this gets very confusing for someone new to it all.

And you may be right about not going down this rabbit hole. But there is an appeal to libraries of music, playlists, etc, right at your fingertips. But I agree, pursuing that appeal at a high level is probably beyond the limited budget I have for this hobby. I will probably spend the rest of it on CDs.

I think one audiophile trait that I have is that I do like to dabble and fiddle with stuff. I've got to put a lid on that. ;-)
lowrider57's avatar
lowrider57
5,403 posts
 
n80,
When the 'y' cable was plugged into the headphone jack, how was the Mac wired into your system?

I'm going to assume you checked System Preferences/Sound/ Output and it was set to Optical Digital Out Port.
  I use this method and audio files sound fine.
n80 OP
2,112 posts
 
lowrider, I don't know if you're making a wrong assumption about how ignorant I am about all this or a correct assumption about how gullible I am because I cannot find a setting for Optical Digital Out Port on my MacBook Pro (10 years old) or the old iMac (12 years old). But you did make me look. ;-)

I have not check the new iMac yet.
kalali's avatar
kalali
1,977 posts
 
Why go through all this trouble? A Bluesound streaming device like Node2 or Node100 - on sale for $199, will give you access to huge libraries of music right at your fingertips. It will even make your tuner obsolete by allowing you to listen to (internet) radio from all over the world. Take a look. It could be exactly what you need.
n80 OP
2,112 posts
 
Thanks. I will consider that as well but the question (because I'm new to this) remains, how does one of these interface with the pre-amp and how can I control it remotely? (Of course I can and will research this myself.)
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