TommyTunes

I GOT IT WORKING WITH DSD. I had to change the embedded flag from AAAA to 05FA which the Pure Music manual tells you not to do because it can generate noise. I found a statement on the MSB site that they use the 05FA flag to trigger DSD recordings so I thought I'd try it.

I followed every step in the Pure Music manual but every time I attempt to play a DSD file it shows that it's being configured for 176 and the Benchmark shows the file is 24 bit/ 176. Once it starts playing no music is output. Any ideas?

I have used both however only in a Lion environment never running windows. Both were very close in spec's I7 processors, 8gb Ram, 256(SSD on the Mini) and 512gb(SSD on the Pro). If you go the Macbook Pro route you must run on battery power, using the external power supply produces a significant amount of electronic hash. I used mine with the big Hyperjuice power supply. I'm using an aftermarket Audioquest power cable on the mini, and I run it in a headless environment. IMO while close the mini seems a bit better in openness and dynamics.

Thanks to those who responded, after reading Jud's comments along with the link to the Diamond/Carbon review, I decided better safe than sorry, so I'll order another Audioquest Cable. After all I've already spent a small fortune on the Diamond and Wild, matter as well go for broke.

I'm using Audioquest Diamond and a Audioquest Wild AES to get from my computer to the DAC but the standard Firewire cable that came with my LaCie drive to attach the harddrive. Any benefit in upgrading the cable?

When I started branching into computer audio over two years ago, I bought a MacBook Pro with 8GB of Ram and a 512GB SSD. The only time I experience noise was when I had it plugged in and playing therefore I always used it on battery. As my library grew I had to go to external storage, using a conventional HD, the biggest problem I found was access speed, it was simply slower retrieving songs. When I switched DAC’s from an Ayre QB-9 to the Berkeley Alpha 2 and Alpha USB, I noticed that my battery was draining faster powering the digital side of the Alpha USB, so I added a HyperJuice external battery. This became more of a problem than it was worth. Last month I retired this setup and moved to a 8GB/256 SSD Mac Mini with the Screens VCN and Remote Apps running on an iPad, storage is a LaCie 4TB RAID and every digital item is plugged into a separate dedicated power conditioner. I use no Bluetooth keyboard or mouse and there is no attached monitor. Getting to the point, with this setup there is no noise present and the only sacrifice is in the speed of accessing an album as compared to everything residing on a SSD.

The music plays but the HDCD light does not come on

I just told delivery of an Alpha 2 and I cannot get it to recognize HDCD Ripped disc (the DAC is HDCD capable). I ripped several HDCD discs in Apple Lossless, AIFF and Wav the DAC fails to recognize that it's an HDCD stream in each of the formats. I have the DAC connected to a MacBook Pro via USB>VLink 192>AES. I ripped the discs using iTunes and I playing them back with Amarra HIFI and I also tried iTunes only. Nothing works. Any suggestion? Thanks

The copyright has expired in Europe so it is now in the public domain. Kind of Blue was available in 2004 as a DualDisc with the DVD side containing the audio in 24/48 5.1 AC3 surround. It would be my guess that the download is extracted from that release. Perfectly legal in Europe. The latest remaster of KOB done by Sony was for the 2009 edition.