m_maloney

Thanks so much ! This worked like a charm !! --Michael Maloney

Sorry if this has been covered already. I couldn't find anything via search but I'm sure others have ran into this problem. I'm a Mac user and have mac formatted external drives for my media. Eventually I plan on adding a Mac Mini to my stereo setup but for now I'm playing flac (redbook and hi resolution) files via an external drive on my Oppo BDP-93. The issue is the oppo will not read mac formatted drives so I'm forced to keep a master drive Mac formatted and a "working copy" drive as Fat32. Backup apps like SuperDuper won't allow me to mirror or backup using Fat32 due to the 4GB max file size limitation so keeping my master media drive and working drive in sync is a pain. Any mac users having similar issues and have found solid working solutions? Many thanks, Michael Maloney

Thanks wgscott, Sorry I should've clarifed. My receiver has analog inputs but all inputs become digitized though the receiver. According to Anthem the MRX doesn't have a way to bypass it. This may not be a bad thing its just there's no way for me to test it. Thanks for the advice... Its easy to get lost in getting all the best toys before actually listening to them with your own ears

I'm also a newbie interested in doing many of the steps recommended on this thread, but I'm a little confused on the external DAC bit. The AVR I have is an Anthem MRX 500, which I purchased primarily for its great reviews on its audio room correction (ARC) features. The downside I'm learning to this is that it is a purely digital receiver. Is it silly to purchase an external DAC if its only going to be re-converted to digital when going through my receiver? This has also been a concern of mine between purchasing an OPPO BDP 93 vs 95. The DACs in the 95 seem to be getting rave reviews but if the signal is going to be re-digitized then is there a point? Thanks for any advice. I have a strange feeling I'll be purchasing a new amp in the near future

Guess this doesn't completely apply to just the oppo but also the discussion of DACs in general. I'm comfortable with using analog outputs for the oppo 95 if it gets me better sound (2 channel music is my priority) However I realize I have much more of a mid-fi rather than hi-fi setup compared to most on this forum. The biggest jump in audio performance I've found actually resides in using the room correction (arc) available through my anthem receiver. As of late I've been so concerned in what DAC I use but does it defeat the purpose if I'm essentially going back to digital once fed into my receiver? Will I get a benefit from using a higher end dac on the 95 only to go analog out then back to digital through what I assume is an inferior dac? At this point does it make sense to go with the 93 and reserve the 95 for a more pure analog setup? Does this same rule apply to the use of all external DACs ? Sorry if these are noob questions just trying the learn the ideal setup with my existing equipment

Wow... thanks for all that info... I guess my next question would be, at what price point would an excellent DAC fall under to compete with the OPPO 95? The Electrocompaniet DAC as mentioned in the link is 2 grand. Would it be safe to assume the DAC/analog out components in the 95 better than what's in my receiver (Anthem MRX-500) ? With a toddler and baby #2 on the way its pretty safe to assume that I won't be able to justify spending 2 grand or up on a DAC

I'm debating whether or not to go the route of a mac mini + external DAC or get the OPPO BDP-95. I don't have the money to purchase a DAC over $1000 and from what I've read sub-1k DACs don't compete with the analog out audio from the BDP-95. Has anyone compared the stereo output (analog) of the BDP-95 to the following DACs? Cambridge DACMagic Arcam rDAC Benchmark DAC1 The receiver I'm using is an anthem MRX-500. I haven't read much about the DAC in my receiver but I'm assuming the BDP-95 would be superior to that as well? Thanks ! Michael Maloney

This is what I assumed (although I thought I heard airplay supports 24/96 but guess not yet)... Thanks for the responses. In the end I'm happy with what I'm hearing, but its great advice to not spend lots of money on high resolution downloads with a setup that is not getting anything out of it. The audio system I have directly connected to my computer doesn't do the 24/96 files justice. So I'm assuming a dedicated computer (mac mini for example) is the best way to go for 24/96 flacs at the moment?

Apologies in advance if this is posted elsewhere (actually I've seen several posts with very similar threads but just haven't found my specific question). I'm a newbie to all this hi-fi audio stuff and just learning about the process. The idea of downloading hi resolution audio excites me but to be honest I'm not sure if I'm getting the most out of it. Here's the chain of my audio currently: 24/96 flac audio download (from say a source like HDTracks) - playback through Amarra Mini on my iMac - streaming wirelessly via Airfoil to two rooms: Room 1: - Zeppelin Air Room 2: - AppleTV to Anthem MRX500 So overall I'm really happy about the sound and ultimately that matters the most. But just for my education what is happening to the audiofile through this stream and where is the digital to analog conversion happening? - If I'm playing through Amarra does it matter since the "data" is being streamed via Airfoil and using the Zeppelin Air DAC? - Does airfoil/airplay stream 24/96 or is it being downsampled? Many thanks.