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holo

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  1. still not too many comments about the performance of this DAC.Hopefully some reviews will start appearing soon.
  2. I have a chance to pick up a second hand Primare i30 Integrated Amplifier in budget at approx US$1600. http://www.primare.net/product.asp?ProductID=38 Would this be a suitable solution, allowing an upgrade of the DAC later if necessary ?
  3. thank you all for your suggestions. My speakers cost me approx US$3000 here in Australia some 6 months ago and that was on special ! So, whilst you get great prices in the US new speakers aren't currently on the menu for me. I agree completely with the comments though regarding the importance of source and speakers. This may also mean that the speakers *may* be the limiting factor in anything I do. I mentioned the Peachtree Nova in my op as it does interest me. It obviously has an ESS 9006 Sabre DAC which is (probably ?)better than my current DAC. In addition it has the other goodies to help me, ie pre amp, HT bypass. And yes, I have read the 2 x Chris reviews So, I suspect it comes down to an specialised integrated amp with HT bypass or say the Nova. As my speakers may currently be a limiting factor from your comments, I may get a better return on the Nova as the DAC should be better than my Snowflake as well as the other bits and bobs it provides. As for budget, if I am honest, I always find a way to indulge in toys, so $1700 probably becomes $2700 in a couple of months without too much effort. (Mrs holo, if you are reading this only joking !) Does this sound reasonable ? Thanks for your help. And yes, I have a back up of my ripped music and have recently bought a QNAP Nas for storage and will mirror the drives. Cheers Nick
  4. thank you for your suggestions Eloise. I presume that the addition of a 2 channel integrated amp will improve the sound quite a bit ? I have looked at JRiver, however will need some sort of app to be able to use our iPhones as we do currently. I note that JRiver has a demo option so will try it. (I love the iTunes control with the remote app in iPhone). Also we already have a Harmony all in 1 remote. I like the idea of Chris' server, however like all computers I anticipate it may need some ongoing tinkering ? Whilst I am happy with this, as mentioned in my first post, I need keep it super simple for my better half who just wants great music, simply and easily.
  5. Hi all, I currently listen to my digital audio with the following setup. Music ripped to AIFF, stored on an ext hdd connected to laptop. The laptop is connected to Yamaha 3900 receiver with a Devilsound Snowflake 2 DAC. My speakers are Def Technology BP7001SC floorstanders. I use an iPhone as a remote control and run iTunes on my laptop. I have also just bought a QNAP 219P Nas to store my music and video files moving forward. How would you spend say US$1700 to improve the sound ? I thought of say a Cullen modded Sonos, perhaps a Peachtree Nova or should I look at an integrated 2ch amp or something else ? As an aside I haven't got into anything higher resolution than CD. It need be wife friendly which kind of puts me off the CASH list music server as whilst I love playing with computers, my wife doesn't so this need be easy for her to use as well. I even wondered whether I should just save my money and try say a Popcorn hour C200 and use as a full media player. Any suggestions please ?
  6. For anyone else with a similar problem this is what I did. I did a batch convert from WAV to AIFF in DBPoweramp, I converted the WAV's only by using a filter and to convert took about 2 1/2 hours. I then did a clean install of iTunes and scanned the folder to which I'd stored the AIFF's. It all worked fine and all tags came across thank goodness. As for the Devilsound Dac, my computer audio files sound great played in pure mode through the Yamaha. Certainly much better than before. Being able to use the iPhone as a remote just makes it even more convenient. Thanks for your help all.
  7. Thanks silverlight. As I have started with a fresh iTunes install I figured I may batch convert in dbpoweramp my wav's to AIFF. Then I will uninstall iTunes and the library. Then I can reinstall iTunes and scan my folders for the AIFF files and the mp3's I still have. I tried a test in iTunes and they appear to import okay with correct tags when doing this. Hopefully it works okay ! I have about 5000 tracks to convert, I am retaining my original WAV files elsewhere, indeed I have 2 x copies on seperate hard drives to ensure i don't need re-rip. From what I have read the AIFF files are still lossless so still a great quality. Hopefully therefore i don't miss out much, other than perhaps manually tagging 5000 tracks in iTunes !
  8. Hi Guys I have a laptop, WIN XP, connected to my receiver. I have an ext HDD attached to the laptop which has all my CD's ripped in WAV. I have a Devilsound snowflake dac attached from the laptop to the receiver. I tried a clean install of iTunes and obviously my WAV's appeared as individual songs but with no tags. Only some mp3's had tags found in iTunes. I realise now WAV doesn't support tagging per se in iTunes (or perhaps it is the other way round). I looked at Monkey Media but my wife especially wants to stick with iTunes. Also I found the remote on the iPhone works better than the Media Tunes app for the iphone. Now, I need hopefully convert all my WAV's to a format that is going to be automatically tagged. ie, if, in iTunes, I change import settings to AIFF and then in iTunes click all my WAV's, then go to iTunes advanced settings and convert to AIFF, will it auto batch convert and automatically apply artist, album, track name etc to show up correctly in iTunes ? I originally tagged them in DB Poweramp (free version) I am trying to avoid ripping 300 plus CD's again ! Also, is AIFF the best format to use ? Space isn't really an issue. I know Chris used to be a fan of AIFF. I haven't set up playlists yet as it is a clean iTunes install. Therefore I can delete iTunes and batch convert with something else before installing iTunes again and importing all again if this works better ? Finally, when installing the Devilsound Dac all I did was select it from the hardware list under sounds and connected it. In iTunes all levels, mixing options are de-selected, I presume they are the only settings I need to maximise sound quality ? I appreciate you reading this far Cheers Nick
  9. So, I am thinking. If I get a HiFace and say a Cambridge Dac Magic and have these between my laptop and Yamaha receiver that will improve sound significantly ? I realise the Dacmagic is at the lower end of the Dac scale, but as you see below, $900 - $1000 is a reasonable spend at the moment. Any more and I'd investigate Sonos but hopefully there is no need. I propose attaching Chris' recommended Samsung Go ext USB HDD to the laptop on which I will have stored my music ripped in WAV. I propose using Mediamonkey on the laptop, perhaps Mediatunes on my iPhone as a remote. Does this sound a reasonable solution for say AU$1000 or US$900 ? Or, what else would you do ? Thanks a lot.
  10. Hi Eloise I am currently using my ASUS laptop, linked above, as my media player. I propose using mediamonkey as my player. Cheers
  11. Hi Guys I have been doing a lot of reading here as I was referred to this site as being a must for digital music ! There sure is a lot of knowledge here. I would appreciate some advice. My question could probably go in a couple of forums, however the main crux is the benefit of a DacMagic, so here goes. I currently store my music in my Asus S6f laptop http://www.asus.com.au/product.aspx?P_ID=9FhWmMVpI4Q97BxX&content=specifications I connect via spdif to my Yamaha 3900 receiver into the cd inputs on the receiver http://www.yamahamusic.com.au/products/avit/htavreceivers/RX-V3900.asp I play my music, mostly rippped in iTunes lossless, through my receiver to my speakers, Def Technology BP7000sc speakers. However I find the quality is not as good as when playing the cd directly in my Oppo Bluray player http://www.oppodigital.com/blu-ray-bdp-83/ I really want to retain the benefits of digital music. Perhaps even use my iPhone as a remote. Therefore I am thinking of a DAcMagic. I am considering adding a usb external hard drive to the laptop, adding a dac magic between the laptop and receiver and perhaps buying some good analogue cables for the connections. I would rip everything in say Flac or Wav and use Monkeymedia for playback. Finally as my laptop is connected to my wireless network I am considering Monkeytunes or similar to enable me to use my iPhone as a remote. Hence when enjoying a social at home I can control the music from wherever I am at. So, is my proposed set up, which will cost some money and a fair bit of time, a reasonable upgrade bearing in mind my current set up ? Any other recommendations gratefully received. Thanks for reading this far
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