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Hoots

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  1. I totally don't understand the strong bias here to Mac but I do understand the upgrade and price concerns to a fixed bundled solution. If I read Steve's site correctly they sound the same to the USB output port: "We compared a PC laptop to a G4/G5 powerbook and these were the findings in A/B tests using USB: The MAC at 24/44.1 is virtually identical to PC at 24/44.1 (PC unmapped with XP). Both PC (SRC) and MAC have good upsampling to 24/96." The parts you use after the computer seem to be of interest. Either should work. Windows may require configurations around kmixer but since I have extra windows PCs available I don't see the value in buying another computer just to have a Mac. If I had to buy a computer to start then both would be considerations along with some niche bundles like Music Vaut II and the future device Steve Nugent mentioned, but I would ask upgradability questions. I'm not against Mac I just don't don't see Mac vs. PC as important as selecting the DAC, etc. PC-audio beyond listening on a computer workstation or transfer to handheld seems infant so who knows who will emerge in getting the masses to use computer and/or internet solutions as replacements to CD players on their stereos. Most of the people I know using PC audio to a stereo are using existing or spare computers (which could be Mac or PC based on what they owned previously) or building something from parts. Most of the music lovers I know are still using CDs and records.
  2. I think a start would be to profile the home entertainment visions of Microsoft, HP, Sony, Apple, Cisco, Yahoo, Google. Microsoft clearly has been chasing the home music/video/picutre market for years and has solutions with OEM partners like HP that provide: Media Center server for * playing music, HD movies, HD TV * HD-DVR with CableCard * Transfers music to portable devices like Zune and 3rd parties like iPod Media Vault for central storage and bu of media Xbox360 for * access to MCE machine over the LAN for DVR, music, pictures on a TV/stereo in another room * streaming movies/TV content from Netflix, Hulu, etc. * games Apple has similar.... Sony is a MS OEM plus a content provider and as a consumer giant they probably have a strategy. Cisco has the LAN hw and who knows what else they are chasing (in addition to data center blades servers) Yahoo bought Meedio a small highly customizable MCE alterntive but scrapped it but clearly is thinking about the home. Google is a wildcare bringing content services into the home.... I would image the future will only need access and playback appliances in each room with content being streamed into the home from afar. There probbly will be a social element to the sharing and discussion of the content as well.
  3. I changed Digital cables and it seems to have fixed my biggest PC audio concern. I was using a 2M ~$5 Best Buy AR digital cable and now i am using a Monster 400DCX ~$63 (although I got it 40% off during Circuit city going out of business). The old cable seems to have been just too cheap. my Denon and PC seem pretty close and both would benefit from a nicer DAC....and even better connectivity....
  4. I created a thread on what my next upgrade might be so I'm open to ideas. My guess has been that I need an external DAC vs. using my Emotiva DCM-1 pre/pro. My PC setup still gives me the impression I'm listening to a PC vs my modest Denon 2900 CD player. I have been a/b/c testing between Denon>coax>pre-pro & PC>coax>pre-pro & Denon>R/L>Pre-pro in 8-channel model which I slightly seem to prefer. It's possible the first two are the same which is what I would expect. I double checked my Foobar ASIO setup (24/44.1, ASIO plub-in, Revo card selected, R/L mapped). I am using the latest version which has been said to sound worse (but I have assumed that is a minor delta). I am using FLAC but will try WAV. I'm not convinced I can hear the difference on my setup. I have cheap digital cables. My sound card is 44.1 and has been a budget recommended card...especially when not using it's DAC. I thought the pre/pro DAC was decent and equal or better than the Denon 2900 DAC. I tested it vs. a Perpetual Technologies P3a and it was very close but not 100%. I added a PT p1a interpolation DSP with SOCS (speaker only correction software). This reduces the SPL 6 db (so I have to turn it up). My current perception is that introducing the box (even when set to bypass it's DSP functions) is a slightly negative...maybe due to the more connections and now two cheap cables.... I love the ease of use of my PC setup but I seem to enjoy the sound of my CD player better which I don't think should be the case. Perhaps a DAC and new cables could make the PC better than the CDP....not sure if I need a new card or something else. I could borrow a SB3 and try it vs my soundcard & sw setup. I did stream a wmaLossless file from my laptop to my xbox360 connected with toslink to pre/pro and it sounded like a computer file (better than compressed wam but not CD)...not sure why.
  5. My HTPC is an HP Media Center PC w/m-Audio Revolution card running in a closet behind the wall my RPTV is located. I have cables through the wall to my pre/pro and TV so it's dead quiet in the listening room. I am trying to get better sound out of my PC-audio setup, though. It's an older MCE box so no HD therefore I have to use a rental HD-DVR/HD-tuner from my cable company. iTunes is my least favorite player so I deleted it and run Zune which I find easier to use and I also run Foobar (flac, more customizable) and have Media Monkey which I mostly use for tagging. For HT display and one handed remote I use Meedio which is more customizable for music jukebox organization than MCE and uese the same remote. I also use remote desktop from my laptop for headless operation....I like to watch sports and listen to music (and sometimes I "surf" my jukebox) I have a microsoft MCE wireless KB/MS which was a pain to learn but now I'm really got at using it and like the single item kb/ms. I played with DVD playback from my Media Center PC using high resolutions and a few different sw players now focus my videophile interests on BD from PS3 and HD-DVD from xBox360. I have watched missed TV episodes from the internet on my HTPC which was handy and before that I bought some LOST Season 1 on iTunes... I guess i could now use PlayOn to stream to my game console. i really like to stream netflix (especially CSI at the moment) to my xbox for easy viewing on-demand. I have a Seagate 1.5 TB usb drive for bu and two internal drives....one 250gb for os/apps and a 500gb data disk (soon to be 1tb). I don't store all my DVD's on HD because I would then need even more storage. I find it's easy to browse my collection using the Collectorz database on my PC and then pull disk #x out of one of my binders of DVDs. I don't watch stacks of disks or jukebox like I do music CDs.
  6. First I wanted to make sure I've optimized the setup of my current gear. Then I would like to get suggestions on a next upgrade (Dac? Soundcard/converter? tube-pre-amp?) Here is my setup: Hp p4 media center PC EAC ripped FLAC files m-Audio Revolution sound card set to 44.1 Foobar2000 w/ASIO: revo card selected, R/L mapped and bit debth at 24-bit. I assume I did this right. master volume tray icon slider bar has not impact on sound but WAVE slider bar can adjust volume. Emotiva DCM-1 pre/pro cheap Best Buy AR cable Emotiva MPS-1 amps Onix Ref 3 speakers I also have a PT P1a w/SOCs but I've taken it out of the loop for testing. My Denon 2900 in pure direct mode connected to pre/pro iin 8-channel mode is my benchmark. they are very close but I'm not sure the pc sounds equal or better. I've been comparing the Denon R/L connect vs digital coax vs Foodbar....all close but I'm not sold the PC is the best/equal...maybe equal. I thought my pre/pro DAC was better than 2900 but I may be wrong. WOuld cables make a big difference? I also have meedio which I tried to configure with winamp module and ASIO...would that bypass kmixer? I also have Microsoft ZUNE player...does that use kmixer? I'm trying to tell if I can hear a difference between the players. i would like to equal the Denon in 8-channel mode with confidence and ideally do better. My main concern is that I don't want my jukebox to sound like a computer (i.e. that compressed mp3 sound is an exagerated example). I'm trying to delay my eventual purchase of DAC, tube pre-amp, etc all which seem to be $1k+ upgrades.
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