Copenhagen by Night

Thanks for a great review. I can only concur. I couldn't be happier with my Stello U3, which most certainly improved the sound quality in my system. Unfortunately i didn't have the chance to compare the performance of my Stello U3 with competing products like the Audiophilleo2 and alike, but i am nonetheless impressed with the increase in sound quality at the relatively low price of the Stello U3. I use my Stello U3 as transport between my Mac Mini 2011 and Beolab 5 speakers.

Of all the USB to SPDIF transports out on the market - Which model is considered to be the better in the approx usd 500 range? Brgds.

Hi everyone Thanks for all the good info and advise on this forum. I am in the market for a low cost music/media server as my main source for music playback, but also for movie playback and internet surfing. I will connect the computer to my flatscreen TV via HDMI and audio out to my powered digital speakers, hence I do not need pre/power amps to drive the speakers. I have a pair of Bang and Olufsen Beolab 5 speakers. These speakers have a build in DAC and 4 seperate poweramps to drive the speaker units and the speakers come with a remote to control the volume. I will connect the music server to the loudspeakers via Coax digital cable (Digital SPDIF). See spec/details here: http://www.bang-olufsen.com/specifications?productid=40 The Beolab 5 loudspeakers have only one digital input hence at some point I plan to buy a digital switch so I can connect multiple sources to the loudspeakers (TV and music server to begin with). Example: http://www.inday.com/da4x/da4x.htm My questions to this forum is as follows: 1) A cheap low powered computer like the Asus Eee box 1024 has all the computing power I need and it has a digital audio out connection(toslink). Being digital will such a connection yield high sound quality or is it better to connect a 'Stello U3 USB to SPDIF converter' to the computer in order to maximise SQ? I am keen on using a low powered music server/computer so i don't need to switch it off. I plan to use iTunes so I can use my iPhone/iPad as a remote. I have a 2TB NAS server connected to my WiFi router and all my music and movies are on that drive. My concern regarding a low price computer like the Asus Eee box is that the build in audiocard is of such poor quality that the computer is not ideal for high quality audio playback. But I reckon the build in sound card is for Digital to Analog conversion hence my question is, when using the digital out for audio playback will the quality then be okay or should I use a different setup in order to secure a high quality digital audio output for my digital speakers? 2) Will a digital switch have a negative impact on the SQ 3) Any other ideas for a media server that can be connected to my digital speakers? 4) Should I try another music server than iTunes? Thanks for your help and with kind regards, Copenhagen By Night