Need help moving from CDP to Mac Mini music server

First off, anything fed to the Benchmark DAC will sound as good as anything you can buy, so don't worry about sound quality. Or jitter, for that matter. The Benchmark can fix the worst bitstream you can throw at it.

I would advise against the Airport Express if you can help it, however. WiFi is subject to interference, and won't necessarily play well with your microwave, cordless phone, etc. Better USB out to some converter that can hook up to the Benchmark. I don't think you can go USB or Ethernet straight into the Benchmark, but M-Audio must make something that will allow the connection.

Finally, you do not want a 500GB HD. You want TWO 500GB HDs. One's a backup. Ripping 500GB of music is time-consuming. You don't want to have to do it a second time.

Even with the 2nd HD, you can't really spend more than $3000 on this without wasting money.

I have a first generation mac mini connected to an lcd tv and a usb apogee mini dac with lacie hard drives that look like lego's (one is a back up) I really like this set up. People really like the Benchmark and compared to the apogee it probably comes down to personal preference but the apogee does sound better via usb than its spdif inputs and can be improved another notch by using a 12 volt battery.

I'm using a setup with some of the elements that you're considering so I'll pass along some of my experience and observations.

I have an iMac G5 and my music is in Apple Lossless format on an external Firewire drive. The music is streamed wirelessly to an Airport Express near my main system and the Express is connected by a glass optical cable to a Benchmark DAC-1. The Benchmark analog output goes to a Simaudio I-5 integrated amp and on to Merlin TSM-MM speakers. (Or my backup speakers while the Merlins are off for a repair.)

None of my gear is of the quality of yours and I can't compare the Benchmark output to anything like your SCD-1 but in my system the quality of the output from the hard drive is indistinguishable from the output of various transports I've tried with the Benchmark.

In theory, the Benchmark will take care of any jitter problems, regardless of the source. I don't have any way to verify that but that's one of the advantages Benchmark claims for their DAC.

The Benchmark is beautifully made and I really like the convenience and versatility of it. I have a DVD player that I use as a transport for discs and the front panel switch on the Benchmark lets me switch easily between the input from the transport and the hard drive system.

I'm sure there are other good options but LaCie is generally regarded as a good source of external hard drives. I've had good luck with Seagate branded drives, as well.

I'm sold on the combination of convenience and sound quality from this setup. I'm sure there are ways to improve it but what I like is that I'm finding myself listening to music I hadn't listened to in a long time simply because the iTunes interface makes it so easy to pick something new. I'm finding that it's much faster to walk to the computer and click on a new selection than to switch CD's, and being able to create playlists is an added bonus.

I have not had good luck with consumer drives (Maxstor, LaCie) in a environment where they are on 24/7. I'd suggest looking at something like the 1TB Buffalo Terastation or a similar thing called the Big Yellow Box or something like that. You get NAS and RAID in the same small footprint and its quiet...

You may also want to take a look at the Wavelength Brick USB tube DAC $1750.00