dbw1

I bought a Rega Dac-r. No DSD, but I think it can handle whatever I download, and it should sound good with my CDs, which I must get to ripping. Thank you everyone for your thoughts. The argument has been entertaining (and informative). I got a great deal on the dac, so I'll be able to upgrade without too much pain if and when the needs change or if I do that back to back experiment with a borrowed dsd-capable dac and it's a revelation. This forum has been really helpful for me, being new to computer audio. I really appreciate it. Please feel free to continue arguing.

Thanks Tom! I'll use XLD to rip them. I suppose Jriver or Audirvana to play them, based on the recommendations here.

How do I know if the software does one of those things? For example, does itunes? Or if I'm going to play the music with audirvana or jriver, do they? I suppose of xld is not expensive, I can put it on the laptop I"ll use to rip the cds and be done with it. Several people have recommended that software to rip.

What's A+?

I have just purchased my first computer-based audio system and am wondering what software to use. I have a mac mini (2014 version, no moving parts), a Rega Dac-R, and a Seagate personal cloud. I hope to run the mini headless and use my ipad to control the music system, though I could just plug it into my TV as I have wireless keyboard and mouse and it's a combo stereo / HT system, but being able to control it from the ipad with the TV off and in a different room would be nice. Questions: 1) What software to use to play the music? I've had jriver, audirvana, hq player, and roon recommended to me by local audio dealers. I know almost nothing about computer audio. I've been told I should use something that buffers the track into memory before playing it but that's about all I know. 2) Does it matter what software I use to rip my redbook CDs? One dealer said it does, others have said it does not. It is most convenient to use an older mac laptop with itunes as I can carry that around the house with me and I've got 300 CDs to rip, but this one dealer said I should get a USB superdrive and use the new mini to do it as that will give me a better quality recording. I could not understand the technical details of his explanation of why that would be the case. 3) Everyone has said the lossless format doens't matter, any of them are equivalent, except that same dealer who said that AIFF is preferable to apple lossless b/c it is uncompressed. Does that make sense? Thanks in advance for the help. The folks who run this website and participate in the forums are saints. Really, thank you. -Dave

Still thinking over a Rega dac-r, a gungnir, a chord mojo, a couple models from teac. I'll use a mac mini I just got and a seagate personal cloud NAS. Not sure if I need DSD. I don't understand the technical aspects of it. If a dac can receive a signal at any current format frequency and decode it, how come it can't do it if it's streamed? How does the dac even know it's streamed? Doesn't the music player pull the signal into its memory and send it from the ram anyway? (I'm planning on using software that does that). And do I even care? That is, is DSD really the future? I've read such positive things about the rega and the gungnir but they don't do DSD. Thanks for helping out the new guy. -Dave

Thank you all for the suggestions. As there seems to be no consensus, I suppose I should keep my eye out for all of them and see what comes up for sale? Thanks.

I was looking for a Rega DAC-R after reading some posts here but then I saw that it doesn't do DSD. I don't think that that is a problem for right now but wondering if it will be in the future? This is my first foray into digital audio and I know very little about it. I'll be digitizing all of my redbook CD collection and mostly listening to that (and Pandora) for now but who knows what I'll be doing in the future, so wondering what DAC to get. If it matters, the rest of the system is Simaudio P5 pre-amp, Theta Dreadnaught-2 amp, Snell XA90ps speakers. Suggestions? Thank you. -Dave

Please keep in mind I am new to digital audio and know almost nothing about it. Looking for a used mac mini (ebay, craigslist etc) to plug into a dac (I need a dac but I'll post that separately) and wondering: 1) Do I care USB 2.0 vs. 3.0? That determines whether I can get a 2012 or need a 2014 mini (doing mini so I can control the software from my ipad3). 2) From reading these forums it looks like I want a solid state drive so there are no moving parts. Is that right, or will the DAC somehow re-clock or otherwise fix the signal so it doesn't matter how I send the signal to the DAC? (I'm looking to spend <$1k used on a DAC but also know nothing about those). 3) Seems like I should use software that buffers the files (from a NAS) into memory before sending to the DAC, so is 4g ram enough or should I get 8? 4) Anything else I need to know about the specs for the mini? Thanks everyone. -Dave

Thanks so much everyone for the responses so far. Does itunes play from memory as well? (i.e. does it buffer first). For either itunes or jriver, if they buffer the music and then play it from memory (if I'm even saying that right), then the specs on the mini do matter, right? (I'm thinking processor speed and ram). -Dave

When you say "keep the USB ports clear," do you mean that I shouldn't have anything else plugged into any of the other USB ports (other than the DAC)? If so, I'm assuming that when you refer to the Seagate PersonalCloud, that is a device that is not directly connected to the mini, but rather the mini steams the data from the device over the network. Does streaming like that not affect the sound quality? Thanks. -Dave

I need to get a computer and a dac. A friend who spent some time on this site said that many/most go with a mac mini and that a Rega Dac-R is a good choice. I'd like to go used for both and would love to use my ipad3 to control the system, though I'll hook it up to my tv and use a wireless keyboard and mouse as well. If that makes sense, what minimum specs (and how old) am I looking for in the mini? Secondarily, am I just using itunes to rip the music and play it back? Is Apple lossless OK or should I do wav or flac? I can get an external drive with whatever storage amount I'd need (are there issues I should think about there, like what type of drive and how to connect it?). Thanks in advance for helping out someone completely new to computer audio. -Dave

I'm looking to buy a computer as my first music server. My DAC is old (Theta Probasic IIIA) and has only coaxial digital inputs (and a balanced, but no optical, bnc, or usb). It can't read higher than 16/44, but my primary goal is excellent playback of my redbook cd collection that I will rip to the new computer. The dac goes to a simaudio p5 pre-amp, theta dreadnaught2 amp, snell xa90 speakers. My limited understanding is that I have the following options: 1) find a computer with a digital coaxial output. Any suggestions? I can't tell on the hp and dell websites if those machines have them. Also I've heard the quality of these outputs are questionable. this would be simplest though. 2) get a usb to coaxial converter. Is there a reasonably inexpensive way to do this? I can't afford a Berkeley audio unit and I think that would be crazy anyway vs. replacing the dac. 3) I have a logitech squeezebox that I've never used and could connect that directly to the dac. I'd love to just control the computer directly though rather than doing it with the squeezebox if I can. I'm totally new to this and appreciate any guidance. Thanks. -Dave