cpuma

Great piece of advice Neil. Always trust your ears. In the end all that matters is that you are happy with the sound so you can get down to the business of listening to your music.

Yes the USB input is limited to 16/44. I have the same DAC and use the Bel Canto USB link which converts USB to coax S/PDIF. This allows you to play 24/96. For me the Bel Canto also really opened up the soundstage on 16/44 files.

I have had a lot of luck buying CDs for $2 or $3 from ads on Craigslist. You can build a digital library inexpensively.

I've recently switched from an older Dell laptop running Vista to a new (late 2011) Macbook Pro. Music files are Apple Lossless stored on FW800 connected 1TB Oyen Digital Hard drive. Bel Canto USB to S/PDIF connected to USB on Mac and feeds the Coaxial connection on a PS Audio Digital Link III Dac Just switching to the MAC has resulted in much better sound. That was before trying Pure Music which improved it even more. I do not have any objective measurements to offer but the difference is amazing.

I couldn't get past the headless operation of the Mini. The Macbook can also hit the road with me very easily. I am so pleased with the improvement in sound quality just using stock iTunes that I may change nothing for a while and just listen to music.

A friend has suggested Pure Music. He said it sounds great and integrates well with iTunes. I will try this first. For backup I'll be attaching an Apple Time Capsule to the network. If I understand what I read about it, it can backup the Macbook, the attached drive used for song storage AND also serve as a WiFi extender. Does anyone know if it indeed serves as a WiFi extender?

To close the loop on this thread, Santa left me a 13" Macbook Pro I7 under the tree. Next to it was a 1 TB Oyen Digital FW800 drive. I transferred all music files over to the new system and used iTunes to manage. The sound quality took a major leap forward. I have a pair of B&W 804s. The bass is fuller, the midrange jumps out, the soundstage is larger and more distinct. The highs are very crisp, cymbals sound very "fast". Hard to believe that just switching from an old Vista box to a new Macbook Pro can make such a difference. Happy 2012 everyone.

Thanks to Chris and everyone who contributes to this site. Digitizing my music, adding a USB to SPDIF converter and a DAC has brought a whole life time of music literally into the palm of my hand. It sounds much better than I can ever remember and has brought me, my family and friends much happiness throughout 2011 Here's to a great 2012. Thanks all.

I do all ripping and cataloging into iTunes on one pc and use iTunes Home Sharing functionality to transfer anything new to my main system. Does JRiver have an analog to Home Sharing? Thanks.

On a hunch I checked Amazon. They sell the drive and if you are an Amazon Prime customer the shipping is free. Enjoy.

I buy directly from the website. They may be available elsewhere. A link to the specific drive is below. The drive comes with cables. I had to purchase a power adapter though. I added a FW 800 card to my laptop and it did not supply power. The MAC folks will know better but I think MAC's FW 800 ports will also supply power. http://oyendigital.com/hard-drives/store/CB3-54-1000-BK.html Good luck.

I am using a windows machine. My current hard drive is the E: drive and the new one will be the F: drive. After connecting the new drive I'll change the location to copy files while importing to F:ITUNES instead of E:ITUNES. Any files imported will be added to the new F: drive. The metadata library, that iTunes stores separately, knows where each file is located so playback shouldn't be a problem. Does this sound doable?

I was on the Oyen website looking for 1 TB FW800 drive to daisy-chain to my maxed out 750 and came across this little beauty. Don't think I've seen an SSD this large before. http://oyendigital.com/hard-drives/store/CB3-SSD-480-BK.html

Curtis, I have the same DAC. There are a number of USB to S/PDIF converters out there that will get you to 24/96 for much less than the cost of a new DAC. I bought the Bel Canto USB Light Link and like it very much. Something to consider.

Hi Mike, You said you heard a nice improvement in sound after installing/configuring JRiver. What player were you using before JRiver, just Itunes?