musiciseverything

Thanks for the information. Any and all other opinions are welcome. Since I am leaving town for a while I am going to put the two RAID discs off site just to be safe and clone them when I return.

Thanks. So, the question is....what is the best method for backing up my music, which is on the RAID drives? Cloning? Time Machine? Buy a separate program for doing this?

I have read several conflicting opinions on this topic. I have a late 2009 Mac Mini and use two Seagate 500 GB USB drives in RAID 1. I want to create a backup that I can store off site in case both fail. How would you recommend that I do that? Also, how do I know if one of my RAID drives has failed? I have all my CDs in Apple lossless and they take up about 300GB. I have another Mac configured external drive I can use that is 500 GB and has USB/Firewire inputs that I can store off site, or I can configure another method if it is preferred. I don't want to re-rip my music, nor download the music again. Thanks.

I appreciate all the info. I have a monitor for the mini but can run it headless as well, so using the remote app (free) is a plus. I'll try bitperfect today and compare.

Thanks for your insights so far. All comments are welcome. I definitely hear a difference from itunes in Lion and Fidelia. The decay of sounds as well as the attack is better. Listening to percussion is especially vivid. Time will tell, as there is a lot of psychoacoustics going on. I have 15 days. I also like the interface and use of iTunes lists without opening iTunes. I also only use the Mac Mini for music, so I can leave it on all the time. I haven't used the Fidelia remote yet. I am waiting to buy the Fidelia program.

Chris, thanks for your reply. Do you have an opinion on Fidelia?

Please don't take offense. I don't have any computer experience but it would be better if the search included the following: 1. search word to match exactly, or any word or all words. 2. category for which category you want to search in (forum, equipment, show, etc.) 3. member's systems 4. date 5. relevancy score 6. sort by score or author or date I'm sure there are others. I'm sure there is a way to define the search to make it more relevant for the searcher. My search for "fidelia" turned over more than 500 hits. And, please don't take this personally. It wasn't meant to be harmful. I simply wanted to explain that I had tried to find the information by the search engine and resorted to posting to find the information because the search returned too many entries to sort through.

I have searched for more info and opinions about Fidelia but the search engine is crude and everything that ever mentions it, even in someone's system list, shows up. I have now updated to Lion and the iTunes in Lion now sounds better than Snow Leopard, but it may be my imagination. I then tried Fidelia and the sounds are more real and everything seems to "sparkle" with energy, sounding more like live music. I have had good results with Pure Music and Decibel, both sounding better than the previous iTunes/Snow Leopard. I am still in my trial with Fidelia and am curious about others experiences with it, especially compared to basic Amarra. Thanks!

Apple is just smarter than Microsoft. They make the hardware AND the software, they engineered their iTunes to play on any machine, they developed a webstore to sell music that only plays on their software, and they license other hardware manufacturers to use their proprietary hardware and software. It's a brilliant concept. Microsoft wasn't thinking ahead. They wanted to force end users to use their software only and expected all users to just give up and go with it. They are still the big dog on the porch, but when it comes to music, they're the puppy. I use both systems. MS for business. OSX for music. Works for me.

Audiodoctor, and others- How is that different from any other software/hardware company? I find it interesting that because of Apple's cult-following that many people think of it as different. Not so. They have shareholders and generate profit for themselves and others. We are a distinct minority. Hang on while you can. Pretty soon all we will have is a tiny group of expensive hi-rez download sites, a plethora of low-rez sites, and (hopefully) more LPs for those of us who want to listen to real music.

I think this article is pertinent. It appeared in StereoMojo and discusses mastering from the point of view of the engineer. Don't deride him, pity him. He wants to eat too.<br /> <br /> The Art of Mastering<br /> <br /> by<br /> <br /> BRUCE BROWN<br /> <br />

Barrows, You are correct that the Sabre doesn't like high amounts of jitter and beyond a certain level it cannot lock onto the signal. For that reason I use the M2Tech Hiface, and with fantastic results. A classic case of "garbage in, no signal". The Cambridge DAC on the other hand has a simpler chip and it will accept higher amounts of jitter, but with overall lower quality of output signal and a less real and sophisticated sound.

With my EE Tube DAC the Mac Mini optical was good with no dropouts. With my Oppo BDP-80 optical out the EE stuttered intermittently. With a Sony SCD-CE595 SACD player the optical works perfectly. I suspect the chip doesn't like high jitter sources but the Sony is a cheap but good player and it works fine.

So, Chris, did you like it? The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra has scheduled a performance of this but I was not sure if it would be worth it. Our symphony is truly first class but I pick and choose my concerts.