djtek

Very interesting read. I've been a subscriber to Stereophile for a few years now, and always found Fremer to be knowledgable and articulate.

Right now my music collection just consists of ripped CDs with no hi-res content although I plan to explore that some more so 24/96 is definitely something to consider. As for S/PDIF, I have both S/PDIF and TosLink connections on my DAC but I'm also in the process of saving for the Bryston DAC which audtitioned and loved, so I'm not looking spend alot on this (at least for now). Thanks for the advice guys.

I posted my question earlier in another thread, but I didn’t want to hijack it so here it goes again. I have an iMac I use as both my personal computer and music server. I am content using the toslink optical out to connect to my DAC (which is approximately 20 feet away). The iMac has a combination headphone/optical out 1/8” jack. Once I plug in my toslink cable the built-in speakers are disabled. I want to be able to switch between the optical output and the built-in speakers in software depending on what I am doing, but this does not appear to be supported. An earlier poster suggested that I go to System Preferences->Sound->Output to switch between the two, but when the toslink cable is plugged in only the optical output is shown; the internal speaker option disappears. I called Apple directly and they confirmed that you can not switch between these in software and the only solution is to plug and unplug the cable as needed (at least that is what the told me). I don’t know how to say this except that this kinda sucks... Okay so I know this is computer audio and there is more than one way to skin a cat. I found some devices called USB Audio Interfaces. In particular there is one made by Behringer UCA202 which is small and bus powered: http://www.zzounds.com/item--BEHUCA202. I am hoping that a USB device will appear selectable (somewhere) and that this could be a solution to my problem. Only questions I have is are these devices bit-perfect as far as their optical output go and do they add jitter or harm sound quality in any way? I am a little wary of adding a thirty dollar device between my mac and my uber hi-fi system Any advice appreciated, Thanks!

I am using an iMac for both my desktop and music server via optical. I don't think it's possible now (if it is someone PLEASE explain), but it would be great if I could switch between my built-in speakers and the optical out connection. When I insert the toslink cable the built-in speakers are disabled, but to get them working again I have to remove the toslink cable. It would be much nicer if I could just configure iTunes for example to use the inserted toslink cable and everything else my built-in speakers. I don't think the built-in speakers are electronically disabled when I insert the toslink cable because when I boot up my mac I here the initial mac sound coming from the speakers and then everything else is redirected through the cable. Anyone else have this issue?

Very nice video, I enjoyed watching it. Thanks.

I agree with jky999 that there will be many changes in the next few years. I'm just planning on connecting my iMac to an inexpensive DAC via optical (as my computer shares the same room, but is 20+ feet away). I don't feel a strong need to buy an expensive dac for 24/192 files as 1) most of what I own is on CD 2) I don't see much 24/192 content available. This may change, but as I upgrade my toys often anyways I'm content to wait and see what happens. Sorry if I'm a little off topic

Thanks for the response. Anyone know if using a USB extender can adversely affect the sound quality? I could also go the Toslink route. It seems that the maximum length for toslink is much longer then 5m.

Hey all, Been thinking quite a bit about how to move to a computer audiophile solution the past few monthes and this is what I would like to do. My listening room also doubles as my office. I want to use my iMac + a firewire raid device to a USB DAC. I believe the maximum USB cable length is 16'. I measure it and without completely rearranging everything I need about 18' from my computer to my audio rack. I believe there is some repeater tech I can buy, but I'm not sure if that is a good idea or not? Also not sure how important the quality of a USB cable (and whether or not it is practical to buy 'audiophile' cable of this length). Any advice/suggestions?

Hello all, Recently I've been considering upgrading my CD player, but now thinking about a music server and DAC instead. Currently my stereo room doubles as my office, so I have a computer in here, but it is very loud (fan noise). One approach is for me to rebuild my Windows Vista computer system making it as silent as possible and stream my music to my stereo. Another I was considering is to buy a Mac Mini and external hard drive and just have a second computer for my stereo. The cost for the Max Mini seem about the same as 'upgrading' my computer. The one thing about the Mac Mini solution is it seems a little redundant to me to have two PCs in my office, one for music and one for everything else... I was considering the Bryston CD player as my CD player upgrade, but now considering the Bryston DAC instead (I see it's own you CASH list). If I were to go the DAC/Mac Mini route is there any limitations I would have? Currently I listen to only regular CDs which are 16-bit I think. I like the idea of listening to higher resolution music and I'm not clear if this combination would allow that. I'm still learning I guess and will continue reading the forums. Any advice is appreciated. My stereo is as follows: Parasound A21 2-channel amp Parasound JC2 preamp Vincent CD-S6 CD player (no digital inputs) Columbia interconnects PSAudio power cables/power conditioner Focal 826s speakers Thanks!