pdurham

Yes, you're right. I'm only getting 44.1 kHz at the DAC-2, regardless of the sample rate of the original file. Apparently it's the Airport Express that's responsible for that? I'm using Pure Music because I also have a desktop system with a DacMagic Plus connected by USB to the iMac. But you're right -- when streaming to the Airport Express, I don't need the automatic audio output switching capability of Pure Music and could just as well leave the audio output setting at 16/44.1 since it's going to get downsampled anyway. I haven't done the comparison you suggest -- comparing PM and Airfoil on the one hand with iTunes alone on the other hand. I'm either not enough of a hobbyist/tinkerer to spend the time on that, or just haven't found the time for it yet. Probably the real reason is that the Airport Express is temporary and before too long I'll have a Mac Mini connected by USB to the DAC-2. FYI, if I recall correctly, Wyred4Sound recommends the USB connection with their DAC, but at the very least, they consider it superior to an optical connection from an Airport Express. I believe they also recommend the USB connection over a toslink connection directly from an adjacent computer.

Just reread your question. Maybe you're asking about the process of importing and managing HD files using iTunes as well as the playback process? I import HD files (after using XLD to convert them from FLAC to Apple lossless if necessary) into iTunes just as I import all other music files. iTunes manages and organizes those files just as it does all other music files. Put another way, the process of managing, organizing and manipulating your music library, and importing files into it, isn't affected at all by the inclusion of HD files in the mix. But for playback, that's where Pure Music comes in handy. By automatically adjusting the sampling rate, it simplifies things considerably when you're playing music files with different sampling rates. Did that address your question?

Forgot to address the HD files question. This is where Pure Music is extremely helpful. I often play a mix of HD and CD-quality files. Pure Music takes care of switching back and forth between 44.1 and 96 kHz or whatever. Without Pure Music or something like it, you'd have to do that manually (a big drawback of iTunes running alone, which I hope Apple (are you listening?) will address someday). I suppose that process would be even more of a hassle on a headless system.

As you've no doubt read, I started this thread to address my concerns about whether switching to a headless music server arrangement would complicate the process of importing files and managing my music library. I wasn't concerned about controlling the system during playback because I already had experience with that part of it. I haven't acquired the Mac Mini yet, so I'm continuing to play music from the iMac in my study. (I think I'll wait to see what the 2012 Mac Mini looks like.) I stream the music over wi-fi to an Airport Express connected to my Wyred4Sound DAC-2. I use iTunes, Pure Music and Airfoil on the iMac. We often control the playback from the living room where the stereo system is located using the Remote app on either an iPad or iPhone, depending on what's handy. So in those situations, it's as if we had a headless server providing the music. To finally address your question -- it works fine, though not quite as perfect as iTunes running alone. It doesn't work to move forwards or backwards within a track by using the slider. I just seem to lose that capability when controlling the Pure Music/iTunes combination from the Remote app. But everything else works normally, selecting playlists or individual tracks, skipping to the previous or next track, moving to the beginning of the current track, etc.

A thousand thanks for your thorough explanations. Your experience will be my roadmap! I promise to stop asking questions, and I hope this is the last. The current minimum configuration Mac Mini comes with 2 GB RAM and a 5400 rpm hard drive. Did you start with something other than that? The reason I was thinking of the SSD is so that boot-up time would be fast. PureMusic loads the complete music file into memory when the track first starts, so access time is not an issue for the music files. Perhaps you keep the Mini running all the time, or perhaps bootup is fast enough anyway since there's not much to load at bootup. I had just started doing research regarding high capacity hard drives and have eliminated some because they have fans. Since the audio system components aren't isolated in my case, noise could be an issue. What hard drives are you using, and are they quiet? Thanks for the tip about CrashPlan. I didn't realize that unlimited online backup was available for that price. Again, I hope that this is my last post on this chain so that I don't take any more of your time. Many, many thanks!

On reflection, I now see that Home Sharing is a key part of the process of managing the music library remotely. I too would be ripping CDs on the remote computer (the iMac in my case) or would be downloading purchased files (such as HDTracks high-resolution files) on the iMac. I had envisioned I would then need to move the files to the music library to the Mini, and that that would add an extra step. But iTunes takes care of that, using Home Sharing. Am I right?

Very helpful. Thank you for taking the time to reply. I'm also using Home Sharing so other family members can access the music library, and using Remote on an iPad to control playback. Did you purchase the Mini specifically for use as a server? If so, how did you configure it? SSD? It is tempting to me to spend more on the Mac Mini than might really be necessary. Your 3TB hard drive must be external? Is it configured as RAID 1 or do you have another backup method for the music library? I'm not interested in spending megabucks on purpose-built media servers, or even on the expensive music-server modifications to the Mac Mini that I've seen offered.

There's only one concern preventing me from acquiring a Mac Mini to use as a dedicated music server to be located with my main stereo system -- will it be as easy to manage and organize my music library (now in iTunes on the iMac in my study) if I move iTunes and the music library to the Mini (or a connected external hard drive). At present, I frequently add files to the music library, reorganize and clean it of files I don't want, remove duplicates, add and edit playlists, etc. from the iMac in my study. I know, screen sharing should do it, but is anyone managing their library this way and if so do you have advice? Currently I'm using Pure Music, iTunes and Airfoil to manage, play and broadcast music over my home wi-fi to an Airport Express connected to the main stereo system in the living room. The living room system includes a Wyred4Sound DAC-2 connected via XLR directly to a Counterpoint SA-20 amp. I'm able to hear infrequent and very minor split-second interruptions in the music flow. (Most people don't hear it, but I do.) I believe they are dropouts, and that this may be the result of jitter attributable to the Airport Express. I suppose it might also be due to other computing activity occurring on the iMac. Wyred4Sound has advised that a USB connection directly to a computer would be preferable. That, combined with the benefit of freeing up the iMac for other uses, and the ability to shut the iMac down when I'm only using the stereo system, is my main reason for adding the Mini as a dedicated music server. Will the music library be as easy to manage with a separate Mac Mini music server as I've described? Does anyone have advice for the best way to organize and manage such a system?