• Music Servers

    Home Entertainment Magazine Does Computer Audio 

    by
    The Computer Audiophile
    Published on 11-19-2008 02:28 PM
    1. Categories:
    2. Music Servers,
    3. Bits & Bytes

    In Home Entertainment Magazine's December 2008 issue Peter Roth writes Computer Audio 101: Revving Up A New Spin For CD Playback. In the article Peter covers some basics for those very new to the game. He also marches up the high-end ladder quite a ways with the Weiss Minerva and the Wavelength Audio Cosecant. Having talked to Peter about the article several months ago I was hoping he would give CA a nod in the article and he sure did. Roth says, "After picking the brains of several industry gurus and surveying on-point forums e.g. ComputerAudiophile.com and AudioAsylum.com..." It's great to see the site mentioned in print.


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    Apple Drops FireWire 400 On MacBook & MacBook Pro 

    by
    The Computer Audiophile
    Published on 10-14-2008 01:19 PM
    1. Categories:
    2. Music Servers,
    3. Bits & Bytes,
    4. FireWire Interface

    Just a quick update from the Apple notebook event. Apple has dropped FireWire 400 on its laptops. The MacBook Pro retains a FireWire 800 port, but loses FW400 connectivity. Getting high resolution above 24/96 from a Mac laptop just got a whole lot harder. ...
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    Mac Pro Quad Boot Reference Music Server 

    by
    The Computer Audiophile
    Published on 09-22-2008 09:47 PM
    1. Categories:
    2. Music Servers

    The reference music server that goes to eleven! Last month I published my reference music server article that continues to draw a very large audience. To date the article has received 122 comments and thousands upon thousands of views. I also published an article on my initial Mac Pro configuration with OS X and Windows Vista. Since then I decided to take it up a notch. That's right, all the way to eleven. My Mac Pro now runs OS X Leopard, Windows XP Professional 32-bit, Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit, and openSUSE 11 (Linux). Whether or not this is the best of both four worlds remains to be seen. However there is no better way to test applications and sound quality across operating systems than using the identical hardware. ...
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    Audiophile Reference Music Servers 

    by
    The Computer Audiophile
    Published on 08-17-2008 07:26 PM
    1. Categories:
    2. Music Servers

    I began the music server series here on Computer Audiophile with some very basic systems. These music servers were great solutions for readers looking to get in the game or upgrade an existing starter system. One of the problems with this approach was that readers often wanted more. I received countless emails from readers, manufacturers, and dealers asking what parts of these music servers I would upgrade to accomplish a specific goal. I have literally spent months testing different DACs, interfaces, operating systems, storage solutions etc... I've also been working with some very highly respected people in the high end audio & music industry comparing notes about ...
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    A USB Port is Not a USB Port 

    by
    The Computer Audiophile
    Published on 04-11-2008 02:10 PM
    1. Categories:
    2. Music Servers,
    3. Bits & Bytes



    This afternoon I was listening to a new DAC for review purposes. This DAC was connected via USB right next to a Benchmark DAC1 PRE. I was listening for a while on one DAC then switching to the other and back to the first etc... For some reason the sound was cutting out whenever I listened through the new DAC I was reviewing. I tried many things to solve the problem, but not the one thing that would have fixed it. I contacted the creator of this DAC and he soon reproduced the problem. He also told me how to solve the problem and that it was solely related to a design decision by Apple. Read more for the details that will effect every single USB DAC on the market.

    As you can see in the photo the MacBook Pro 17" and the MacBook 13" models have two USB ports side-by-side. I had a DAC plugged into each of the ports and the performance was vastly different. The DAC plugged into the front port sounded the same as it had the previous few months. But, the new DAC I am ...
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    Touch Screen Music Server Option 

    by
    The Computer Audiophile
    Published on 03-06-2008 09:50 PM
    1. Categories:
    2. Music Servers,
    3. Bits & Bytes

     
    I have been researching touch screen options for Macs in an effort to assemble a music server that competes with a Sooloos type of system for a fraction of the price. I found this company called Troll Touch tat offers a few different touch screen options. You can get a MacBook or iMac touch screen mac. Troll Touch also offers Cinema Displays modified into touch screen monitors. For a music server I can see great uses for each of these three options. One very appealing option to me is getting the Cinema Display only and connecting it to whatever Mac I want. I would also use a VESA mount on the display to mount it on a moveable arm connected to the wall behind my equipment rack. I can see it now, pulling the monitor forward to navigate my library and pushing it back when done. This all sounds very appealing to me. However, I have one concern. How good will the iTunes or Front Row navigation be using the touch screen? I am guessing it will be the same as using a mouse which is kind of disappointing. If I could scroll through the cover flow album view similar to using an iPod Touch I would click "Add To Cart" instantly. Read more for a video from Troll Touch. ...
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