LC

Hi Chris,<br /> <br /> I have a DS 1010+ with 10To, it's really a nice NAS.<br /> No problem, very easy to configure.

I use a WD 2.5" 1To, autopowered USB on my mac mini, with a firewire Weiss DAC 2 No problem. Completely silent. And a back-up on another HD for security

And ? the best for you ?

Bryston BDA1 You have a lot of inputs and one coaxial digital output with a pass-through mode. I use it to output a Dolby Digital or DTS signal from my mac mini to my pre-pro (Bryston SP1.7). Best regards Laurent

At first, my words will be sometimes inappropriate, english is not my mother tongue. I took the time to do critical listenings the last week-end, with very different types of music : classical : Mozart : clarinet quintet (I'm a clarinetist), Carmina Burana (Carl Orff), Saint Saens : Carnival of the animals : aquarium bossa nova : Stan Getz (a lot) ; Luciana Souza : the new bossa nova : waters of march modern : Joe Jackson : you can't get what you want, Katie Melua : Piece by piece, Francis Cabrel : La corrida, David Gilmour Live in Gdansk : shine on your crazy diamond , Marillion : Kaleigh-Lavender Blue-Bitter suite jazz : concierto de Aranjuez, kind of blue (Miles Davis), Roy Ayers : searchin' (live at Ronnie Scott's club) ; Phil Collins Big Band : a hot night in Paris : chips and salsa , Randy Crawford : everything must change (live) My system : Mac Mini : 2Ghz, 4 Go DDR3, internal Samsung 500 Go, External Drive FW 800 : case AluIce XXL 2xHDD with 2 HDD Seagate 1,5To ST31500341AS, Network : Apple TimeCapsule 500Go, Files : AIFF 16bit/44.1Khz, some 24/96 Bryston : DAC BDA1 (optical), preamp SP1.7, amp 4B SST, speakers : Infinity Kappa 9.2i, Mogami cables To begin with, I secretly hoped I could'nt hear significant differences, I was quite happy with iTunes, especially with its convenience. From the first minutes, I was able to hear a real difference between Amarra and iTunes. And clearly Amarra was better for me. After, I tried to isolate with specifical tracks where was the differences : Soundstage : no difference from my point of view Musical Informations : I never heard a note with Amarra that was lacking with iTunes, but sometimes, it was more difficult to perceive some notes or background instruments that were clearly audible and precise with Amarra. Some instruments were very easy to listen with Amarra when it was a bit confuse with iTunes. For example : triangle was clearer ; saxophones very realistic, superb female voices, cymbals precise and delicate , drums very precise... lot of details that improved my musical enjoyment By switching between Amarra ans iTunes, by comparizon, iTunes was a bit flat, less precise, and a little lifeless. One time, I was very sceptical because I hear no difference : in fact, it was an ALAC track and I understand that Amarra was transparent with ALAC and mp3. I am not qualified to explain why Amarra and iTunes sound different, but they clearly do WITH MY EARS. Best regards Laurent

Paolo, what is the result of your tests ? I actually use toslink between my new macmini and the BDA1, I only found a basic plastic minitoslink-toslink cable (I live in a small island in indian ocean and no Van de Hul or Wireworld dealer near). In several weeks, I plan to by a Van den Hul OptocouplerII with minitoslink-toslink during my next travel in Europe). The Weiss AFI1 seems very interesting, but the question is : a huge improvment in audio quality or not ? In fact, I find a toslink cable very usefull in my system, because it transports also DD or DTS sound and the BDA1 has a digital coaxial bypass to my Bryston SP1.7 processor. Cheers Laurent

Robert, I want to try your Poiema or Alethias USB but my emails send to you are considered as spams !

Hi Daniel, I am planning to have a Firewire interface AFI1 (between a macmini and my DAC). Will you deliver it with this Amarra player or after, and how will you integrate commercialy this software in your products ?