philwright

You remember when a 70Mb hard drive was the size of a washing machine. Guilty as charged

I have 2 x 1Tb drives in a Synology NAS unit (using RAID), which contains my main music folder. This is accessed, via iTunes, by both my Mac mini (dedicated to the hi-fi) and a Windows 7 PC. Both wirelessly. The problem is they can't agree on how big the music folder is. Windows has it at 518Gb, the Mac Mini at 550gb. In terms of files the Mac thinks it has 4,000 more files on it. Baffling. So I setup a completely new iTunes library on both computers, adding the Music file on the NAS drive to each (done separately, so they were't interfering with each other). Same result, the Mac mini says iTunes has about 300 more albums than the Windows PC. Anyone got any idea what's going on? Surely setting up new iTunes libraries and linking to exactly the same file should have given the same result? If it's relevant I didn't copy the music over to each computer - I didn't think it would make a difference and I don't have enough spare hard drive capacity.

Barrows Are you saying your (made in China) Macbook is of questionable quality then?!! :-)

I've had an rDac for 6 months or so and think it's an audiophile bargain - better than the Meridian DAC I was using. More than able to hold its own in my Mac Mini / Ayre / Harbeth system. <br /> <br /> I heard elsewhere on the web about the VN10L linear power supply from Maplins (Radio Shack of the UK). At £19 I bought it on the basis that if it didn't help I hadn't lost anything. Bit fiddly to set up - it's variable voltage so make sure you set it to the required 6V. And it doesn't play to any of our audiophile sensibilities - it's basically a big heavy brick. <br /> <br /> But it does make quite a difference to the sound quality, in line with what people say power supply upgrades do. Even better value than the rDac itself, and that's saying something. It would be interesting to compare it to the Teddy Pardo's and their ilk; my guess is they would sound a bit better. But at 10-15 times the price they should (and I was considering one, so am not saying they are silly prices). <br /> <br /> I'm sure you could find something similar in the States, most probably from Radio Shack. Bottom line is that it's a no-brainer upgrade.<br /> <br /> http://www.maplin.co.uk/ac-dc-multi-voltage-20w-power-supply-32754

Pretentious, moi?! :-)

http://www.classicalbumsundays.com/ Same idea, with friends, on a Sunday morning, on decent gear. ps apologies if it's already been mentioned on this thread, I haven't read through it all yet (but will, good idea - have just suggested it to my 19 year old son as something to do together) pps yes I know they use analogue - it is all about the music isn't it?

I have one. My Mac Mini (iTunes & Pure Music)connects to the rDac via USB, then into an Ayre Ax7e amp and Harbeth Compact 7/2 speakers. It replaced a Meridian 566 DAC (20 bit), which cost more second hand than the rDAC did new. The sound is similar in style but goes one or two steps further - another couple of the proverbial veils have been lifted, it really is superb. I haven't tried the QB9 or anything of a similar ilk, but I certainly don't feel wanting at all. I think it's best to look at it as a high end component first and a bargain second. And you can always upgrade the power supply if you want better (have managed to resist the Teddy Pardo one so far but it's probably only a matter of time). I don't use it in wireless mode though - not felt the need.

A Tivoli PAL radio? I've had mine for 8 or 9 years now and apart from a new battery it's going as strong as ever, and still sounding great.The battery lasts for ever before needing recharging ( I think I've gone a week's holiday on one charge). Sound quality is remarkably good (as a benchmark I use Ayre / Harbeth in my home system), certainly up to providing musical enjoyment on a trip. It's nice and small, and doesn't weight a lot. And the rubberised finish is hard wearing; mine is starting to look a bit tatty now, but in a favourite-old-leather-suitcase sort of way. It's got an auxiliary input on the back, and the bonus of a free FM radio thrown in. I'd honestly go as far as to say it's the most satisfying piece of audio kit I've bought in nearly 40 years. I'm now keeping an eye on eBay to see if I can pick one or two spare ones up for when mine does finally give up the ghost. I think it's the simplicity of it coupled with good sound quality that does it for me

Can someone please explain the difference between what Air Display is doing and what a VNC (VLC?) programme does. I've got an iPad2 arriving within the week and want to use it to control my Mac Mini. I currently use a wireless keyboard & mouse, with my TV screen as the monitor. <br /> <br /> Main applications are iTunes / Pure Music and Spotify<br /> <br /> (the latter being the trade off for no HD Tracks in the UK)<br />

Is an obvious solution, unless I'm missing something. It meets all your criteria and sounds damn fine - I have one sitting between a Mac Mini and an Ayre AX-7e amp, which drives Harbeth Compact 7/2's. It really does sound wonderful and was a doddle to setup - plug n play. If you want to upgrade it there is always the Teddy Pado power suppy for it - not tried it yet but am sorely tempted. Not sure how ubiquitous the rDAC is in the USA; I'm in the UK. I think it's available there though. It costs £300 over here, which to my mind is the audiophile bargain of the decade. In my system it replaced a Meridian 566 DAC, which was certainly no slouch. Hope this helps. ps I mean to say that the USB is asynchronous - the code is licensed from some small outfit - think they are called DCS!

Mike You will probably get lots of responses saying do this, do that, this widget is critical, Amarra is great etc etc. My suggestion would be to keep it simple, get a Mac Mini and iTunes, plug it into your Denon receiver via an optical cable (I'm assuming it has a digital in, my argument falls apart if not) and see what you think. You can always add things later. Actually, if you don't have a digital in buy a used DAC from eBay to get you going - I did and haven't looked back. I've started with an old Mac Mini from eBay. Yes it needed an Airport Express for networking as it wasn't built in - fortunately I already had an AE. And I did need to buy an M-Tech thingy to get an optical out. If you buy new you will have neither of these issues. For a display I just hooked it up to my 37" tele - via VGA, which is fine for the time being. A £30 OEM wireless keyboard / mouse completes the setup, which enables me to control everything from the sofa. For a hard drive I am quite happy with an external 1Tb drive plugged directly into it. On the plus side it's nice and simple, and I can't hear it in operation at all, which is one of the arguments levelled against directly connected discs. Only negative is that you can't automatically share the music as you would be able to if it was a NAS drive. I may go that way in the future, but given the cost of storage at the moment (around £60 for a 1tb drive), then it's not a big issue to change later on, even allowing for buying 2 of them so you have a backup drive. The only thing I'm not sure about is the DVD side of things - I don't know if getting 5.1 sound is possible - it may be, I just haven't tried as I'm more focused on music. My setup is slightly Heath Robinson-ish, but even with a low powered Mac Mini the sound quality is the same as my CD player. My system is pretty reasonable - Meridian 508, Meridian 566 DAC, Ayre 7 amp, and Harbeth speakers. To say I forget about all things hi-fi and just lose myself in the music would be an understatement. My DAC limits me to CD quality at the moment, and yes, I would like to try high res. And a new Mac mini would simplify things, if nothing else with fewer cables. But for now it's fine, and having spent around £250 for kit I didn't already have it has been a low cost way of proving the computer audio is really viable. The main benefit has been re-discovering CD's I'd forgotten about - I have about 1400 compared to your 1000-ish - so you are likely to go through the same experience. And don't forget Spotify if you are in Europe -£10 a month for the higher quality premium version, with instant access to endless muisc. And I mean endless. I quite often find I've only listened to Spotify for the last 2 or 3 days. So in the first instance forget fancy ways of getting digital out of the PC, forget add-ons to iTunes, even the lower cost ones, forget fancy digital cables, forget sophisticated NAS solutions, don't worry about a Touch to control it all (I have one but prefer the keyboard). Just get going at the lowest cost and realise that this gives you 90% of the sound quality. Bit like hi-fi generally, we spend far too much on getting the last few % rather than enjoying the music. Now excuse me whilst I go back to eBay to look for my next 2 or 3 upgrades :-)

Or your favourite music service of choice............rhetorical question Not a comment about the Naim per se, just as easily levelled at other bespoke music servers. Meridian's Soolos has Rhapsody I believe, recognising the potential importance to the user of music services. But even if some are included a computer will always be more flexible in this regard. You do of course have to do more work to get them working though, so you pays your money and makes your choice. Good to see hi-fi companies finally accepting the use of external drives though, less likleyhood of having to pay exhorbitant amounts for what under the skin is no doubt a pretty standard component. ps I know Spotify isn't yet available in the USA - as and when it is have a look asap, it really is fantastic for trying new music or for background mode (which is how I do most of my listening, - or am I being contentious there?). ps ps blueixis - $24.99 is expensive for an App - you should try Amarra - oh, you have!! :-)