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Richard, Thanks for another very thoughtful response. As I'm sure you're aware, 'less is more' is a great guiding principle for design, but less so for planning. I appreciate all the detail. I am ordering the Mac Mini and hope to assemble things in March. Regards, Chris

Thanks very much Richard. What you've described is what I'm after. A couple follow-ups: > I notice that you have a number of the other players and add-ins installed -- do you use any of them in addition to Amarra, or were they just experimental purchases? > Can you confirm that all the sample-rate converting, bit-perfect functionality of Amarra works properly when, for instance, new music is queued up using the Apple iOS Remote software? > I am planning to use the Mac Mini with no screen attached. I notice that you are using the (very lovely) 27" cinema display. Would you be able to operate your configuration effectively without it? ie, with the iPad as the primary interface. [i will use a monitor for setup but only VNC for ongoing tasks such as ripping/downloading, library maintenance, etc.] > I'm not familiar with the differences between Amarra Symphony and the other versions, but I will look that up. Were there particular features that led you to that version? > Do you have any experience that would lead you to recommend 16 GB over 8 GB of RAM? I agree with 'less is more' whole-heartedly. To that end the system will be: Mac Mini >usb> Berkeley Audio Alpha USB Interface >spdif> B&O BeoLab 5 (24/96 input) Thanks again for your prompt and focused response.. Cheers, Chris

Hey all. I feel like there's a lot of what they call tacit knowledge knocking around in these forums, and I'd like to tap into it. I'm building a Music Server that will feed via a USB magic box thing (probably the Berkeley Audio Design Alpha) directly into speakers that have a digital input. Here are the priorities: Sound Quality - Very Important (I am expecting bit-perfect redbook and HD at the speaker input) Convenience - Very Important (including remote control via iPad) Cost - Not So Important Appearance - Important (ie we don't want a bunch of boxes, and we don't want a monitor) My take on things from reading around is that a Mac Mini (configured as per Amarra's instructions) running Amarra and iTunes and not much else is the way to go. My concerns are: - gapless playback - 24/96 and 24/192 playback - remote control I'm looking for convenient, non-enthusiast usability for a widely varied iTunes library, including remote control. What are the things I haven't thought about? What will be the most difficult part of getting things working? I have some history doing computer config, etc., so I'm not overly worried about that part but I'm happy to hear about shortcuts and best practices. Here is the Mac Mini I will spec: * 2.6GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7 * 8GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x4GB * 256GB Solid State Drive * Apple USB SuperDrive * Apple Remote Music library will be stored on a small, external USB 3.0 1 TB drive. Thanks in advance for any help or references to existing sources. Regards, Chris Toronto