Computer/DAC combo sugestions

after some years of experimentation, i'm currently running the following system and it is the best digtal playback i've yet attained...

late 2009 Mac Mini w/ SSD and 8 gigs of memory
Audiophilleo USB interface
Modified Metrum Octave DAC
Audirvana+ playback software

i will be trying amarra in the next few weeks to see if there are any gains to be had over audirvana+. this system sounds very good indeed to my ears.

-scott

The best I have found for the money is:

Mac Mini Oct. 2009 SSD/8Gigs -> USB cable -> Off-Ramp 5 -> I2S cable -> Wired 4 Sound DAC2

Total cost is around $4499.00

This will beat 99.9% of transports, period. Supports up to 192. Killer SQ:

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=112012.0

If you want to spend more, you can do even better, but the W4S above is a giant-killer using I2S.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio

I am sure audioengr is right but in the mean time a Mac mini (mine is real old lol) via toslink to W4S dac2 sounds pretty good. You can set the mini to boot iTunes (or other app) on boot up so if you have an ipad/iPhone you don't even need a tv/monitor and just use the remote app.