barron

Wimp + pussy = Wuss or Wussy If the contacts aren't firmly touching, there could be an issue. But if the old memory works fine and you're putting it in the same way then it's probably seated correctly. The OWC memory I purchased is #OWC8566DDR3S8GP and heres's the link: http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/8566DDR3S8GP/ Is that what you're using? Barron

I have updated 2 2010 Mac Mini's with OWC ram and have had no problems. One thing you may want to check is that the ram modules are seated properly. As you know, they are inserted at an angle before being pushed down to their final position. Make sure you get them all the way in (push hard) when inserting them on the angle before pushing them down where they will click into place. Barron

I haven't seen one that spins on a pedestal but I have seen quite a few that you can add casters to and accomplish the same thing. Barron

I'm not too familiar with the Apple Time Capsule but from what I understand, yes, it can be used as a NAS. However, and I could be wrong here, not from the backup files. If you want to use the Time Capsule for both backups and as a NAS, you would need to attach an additional drive to the unit. One drive would be for backup (internal or external) and the other would be for NAS use. Barron

I use XLD to rip my CD's. When ripping (or converting files to other formats), XLD creates the file in a folder of your choosing. It then automatically copies the file to your iTunes library if you have selected that option. I'm not familiar with any library management program specifically for a Drobo. Some Drobo models do support the installation of apps and there is a Firefly DroboApp which will serve music to a Sonos system and iTunes but I've never used it. I use Pure Music to play my content and it uses iTunes for library management. I have two libraries, my iTunes library for use with Pure Music and my archive backup library. Barron

I don't know the official CA methods but what I do is... 1) For my archives/backups, I organize by Artist > Album > Format > Songs. For example, my Tom Petty music has a top folder/directory titled "Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers". Within that I have folders/directories titled "Damn The Torpedoes" and "Mojo". Then, within those, I have folders/directories titled "FLAC", "AIFF" and maybe "WAV". The songs of each file type are then put in each of those folders. I use Pure Music for playback which uses iTunes for library management so the above structure is just for backup and kept on a separate Drobo. 2) It sounds like your iTunes has set up its default library on your SSD. You can change it to your larger media drive by creating a new iTunes library on that drive. To do so, close iTunes and then hold down the "option" key while restarting iTunes. A message box will appear on your screen asking you to choose your iTunes library. One of the options/buttons is "Create Library". When you click it, another message box appears where you can name your new iTunes Library and choose where you would like it to reside. If you click the little down arrow button to the right of the "Save As" text box, you see the dialog box expand and it becomes easier to locate your larger hard drive. After making your choices, click the "Save" button. Then, move your music over to the new iTunes library. Barron

That's one of the reasons I switched from MAX to XLD for my FLAC to AIFF conversions. I didn't want to forget about switching the bit rate when I converted different rate files. XLD uses the bit rate of the source file so there's no need to select the bit rate. Barron

I asked the same question in another post and am still curious as to the answer. While doing a search of the forum for something else, I came across this post - http://www.computeraudiophile.com/content/PC-Performanceupgrades-impact-sound-Honest-Canvass-Opinion#comment-24376 - where the author, sandyk, states "This mad quest started when I read reports about the LG GGW-H20L Blue Ray writer, and how CD copies made using it sounded noticeably better than copies made using other writers. I had to have one ! I then found that .wav files ripped by this writer using EAC, sounded noticeably better than the same tracks ripped using my Pioneer DVR-111 writer,when played from the HDD via SPDIF and a highly modified Musical Fidelity X-DAC V3 , then into a wideband, low noise headphone amplifier. This was despite the checksums being identical!" I'd love to hear from some others who've experienced differences in sound due to the ripping hardware. Barron

Thanks for the clarification. The CD's do sound great, though. I have a Dusty Springfield K2HD and the tracks for the same songs sound better than the standard CD. Barron

I have a few CD's that say something like "Digitally Remastered Using 24 Bit Technology" or "24-Bit/100kHz Mastering" (K2 HD CD's). Yet, when I rip them, I get regular 16bit 44.1kHz files. I've tried using XLD and the native iTunes ripper; both give me 16bit files. Are there 24bit CD's? Will the standard rippers extract the correct bit depth? Thanks, Barron

I'm a Drobo user; I have six of them. The issue you have may be due to the Droboshare (device that sits under a Drobo to make it a network drive). I've had many problems with my Droboshares (2) and stopped using them. I don't believe Drobo even sells them anymore and has (had?) a promotion where they would buy them back for credit against a new Drobo. The two solutions that work for me are... 1) I connect my Drobo directly to a Mac Mini and make that available on my home network. 2) Upgrade to the newer Drobo FS (network Drobo). Works very well for me and is accessible from my Macs and PC. I'd like to move all my stuff over to Drobo FS's! Barron

I use XLD (http://tmkk.pv.land.to/xld/index_e.html) to rip my cd's and convert any FLAC files I've purchased to AIFF. I like XLD because it checks AccurateRip for file integrity, uses C2 error pointers, verifies suspicious sectors and creates a report for each cd ripped showing any problems. XLD will also automatically import the ripped files into iTunes as well as save a copy somewhere else of your choosing. Barron

I took a look at some of the conversations on dBpoweramp's site as well as the Linn site and a few others. What I gather from reading these, is that the drive can make a difference with difficult to read disks (scratched, damaged) but if your disks are in good condition, the drive doesn't really matter (except some maybe faster than others). Most current cd/dvd drives will rip accurately with good software that implements something like AccurateRip. I use XLD on a Mac Mini and its internal drive. XLD creates a report after every rip showing any errors that may have occurred. I rarely get any errors reported and when I do, I re-rip. What I'm curious about and didn't find in any of the forums I read, is that if two different drives rip a cd without errors, will those tracks sound different due to the ripping drive? Or is an accurately ripped digital file the same across drives? Barron

Does the CD drive matter for ripping? I've heard that external firewire CD drives are best but I don't know if that is anecdotal or somebody has actually compared the rips from internal vs external, firewire vs USB, and found true sonic differences. It seems that an accurate rip would depend far more on software and the drive wouldn't matter when making a digital copy of a file. Anybody have experience or thoughts on this topic? Thanks, Barron

Innertuber, I haven't tried streaming to different iTunes apps simultaneously. Are you doing this with the same song or different songs? I'll give it a try. - Barron