Mojoman

So this may be a dumb question from a computer audiophile newbie, but.... If I were to purchase a new Mac mini - there are only 4 USB 3.0's and thunderbolt. So, as I understand it, it would be detrimental to have both my iFi micro iDSD and my external hard drive both plugged into the USB's. So how would you effectively wire this up for best audio performance? Thanks so much.

So I was checking out the Microsoft Surface Pro and wondered if anyone had yet attempted to create an audio system around this. Any thoughts on why it may not be a good option? Overall, the product is intriguing for the application.

Thanks for all the opinions - will definitely be checking a few of these out.

Alright, so I am curious. If you had to choose the best sounding album you have downloaded, what would it be?

This entire discussion has been extremely helpful to me - thank you all. Over the past few days I did dive into the Wiki/Forums for the VB as Firedog suggested - and I feel pretty confident I can handle it if necessary, so I believe Small Green Computers will be receiving an appliance order from me this week.

Thanks so much for the reply - very helpful.

Thank you all for your replies...I will definitely take the advice to check out the Vortexbox forums.

Sorry, one more question that may clarify things for me - with a CAPS based system, what would a normal system flow look like?

Thank you so much for the reply - extremely helpful. I was looking at the Small Green Computers Vortexbox Appliance.....though your comment about not knowing what a 'Command Line' is does have me concerned - as I do not know! - So how difficult would it be to become comfortable enough with that? - If I did go the CAPS route - do you just plug a monitor directly to it to access Windows etc? Again, apologies for me very basic questions.

Hello all - very excited to join this community - so much great information. I am a total newbie with all of this server / digital in my main system thing. I have really only utilized CD and LP's in my main system, but am very interested in making the switch over - got a Logitech Squeezebox Touch that I have yet to open too. During my research, I came across the Vortexbox, which looks like an intriguing option. My questions (some may be really newbie of me, so my apologies): 1) How much computer tech knowledge do I need- I am more than willing to learn, but I do not want to make any huge mistakes. 2) Can the FLAC files created through the Vortexbox be transferred to a portable player that allows FLAC for my portable system? 3) What is the difference between the Vortexbox and these CAPS systems everyone here seems to be building - is that a better option? Thanks so much for any and all insight.