Mezmo

Thanks again. Messed around and did it a couple dozen times at least as many ways. Think my best results were going straight from the MP4 into Audacity, cutting things up there, and then exporting to AIFF. Going through VLC forced the choice of a kb/s election, the max being 512 (ie, ~1/2 Redbook, at best). Not convinced going straight from MP4 to AIFF in Audacity did better behind the scenes (or that the audio codec on the MP4 had anything better to offer to start with), but pleasantly surprised with the results.

Many thanks. I'll have to whammie up the right program(s) (running as I do on OSX), but an excellent start. Cheers.

Oooh, I totally want to do this. Pretending I'm ignorant and haven't done this before, download from YouTube and rip highest-def audio possible, (OK, don't pretend), can you point me to a good reference regarding how to get this done with best results? Many, many thanks.

Yes, please. Running a 2tb minimax under a mini, and have to agree -- it's way too damn loud. Would love to hear about better options.

Senn HD600, original Headroom home amp, upgraded Cardas wires on the cans. Still a little dumbfounded by the degree of improvement with moving up from the stock wires on the cans - what now 7 years later - but not to be discounted. I've made my own wires, bought cost-no-object name brands, etc, but getting rid of the stock wires on the cans was the single most dramatic wire-based change i've heard in my system. 'Aint stumpin' for Cardas, lord knows, but consider something other than stock if you can, made a huge difference for me, at any rate. He'll, even convinced my then-No. 1 Special Lady Friend / now Lawful Chattel Property-Legally Binding Roommate that the whole wire mania wasn't total nonsense, and that's no small achievement. Currently have the headroom running off of the single ended outputs on the Ayre, with the preamp (and the whole speaker-facing side of things) running balanced. Seems to work well enough. Would use a tape loop or similar bits on the preamp if I had'em, but this seems to do the trick. Portable-wise, I've got some ultimate ears cans and a little battery powered headroom DAC. Sound plenty nice, but, honestly, find the whole deal way too damn fidgety and never actually use them. The cans never quite sit right and the DAC is just one too many bits of crap to lug around. But, hey, thats just me....

...you've just blown my mind. There's MORE? But, really, thanks. Very good to know. Think I'll let the new DAC settle in for a bit and become accustomed to the new sound before diving into the next project. I've found that too many system changes all at once leaves me with no clue what's really going on (or why) sonicly. Baby steps... Thanks again.

I'm relatively new to the whole computer conversion, and this is all very helpful. Thanks, all. For the past year, I've been running itunes to a MHDT Havana (USB), but recently went with the Ayre QB-9. (After a year of being somewhat afraid to A/B the Havanna with my older Meridian CDP, I did. And was not the least bit -- pun intended? -- pleased by the comparison, hence, in what might be accurately described as a fit of pique, the Ayre...) Anyway, very pleasant improvements, although still burning in. I too, like many posts above, had also convinced myslef that bits is bits on the software end, and it is only with deeply resigned dismay that I am now coming to terms with the fact that the transport/software fangle may be is yet another uncatchable dragon to chase. Alas. Yes, there is no excuse to pass up on (and no substitute for) a free demo. But with each various bit of software seemingly being updated nearly every 15 minutes, I am again thoroughly dismayed by the idea of throwing coin at what seems to be a very fast moving target. (Apologies, this has sadly become something akin to a confessional....I did have a question.) Question: are both Amarra and Pure Music controllable through the ipad remote app? That's one thing I will not do without. (Tried Plex, which has its uses, and their ipad remote, which appears not to...). My real question, which I seem to be dancing around, is really?!?! Is all of this necessary?!?! But, then, I have played this game enough to know in my soul there is only one answer: try it and decide for yourself. Rats.