Pascal

Can anyone tell me where I can find either of the Oyen MiniPro or the OWC Mercury Elite-Al Pro mini in Europe? I'm looking for a 320Gb 5400 RPM drive version (or just the drive enclosure). Any suggestions for an alternative to one of these is also greatly appreciated, as long as it is 2.5" format and has an Oxford chipset. Thanks in advance.

Thanks for all the answers. It seems that I should just go with a cheap mini toslink -> toslink cable then. I have read others report that they hear a difference though (for example Dave Clark in Possitive Feedback), but who knows. I guess I have to try for my self to really find out.

Has anyone tried the following: Mac Mini (or a Mac laptop) -> optical out -> DAC compared to Mac Mini (or Mac laptop) -> usb out -> Trends UD-10.1 (or PopPulse PC Link II or similar) -> optical out -> DAC if so, what where your findings? I'm about to set up a Mac Mini mediacenter system, which will also be used for streaming music, and I am having a hard time finding a decent optical cable with a miniplug that will fit in the Mac Mini. I would like a Van den hul Optocoupler MKII, but I need at least 2 meters, and it seems they do not make them with a miniplug in this length. Therefore I'm considering running usb out to a Trends UD-10.1/PopPulse PC Link II and then getting a regular toslink - toslink Optocoupler MKII.

Has anyone tried the following:<br /> <br /> Mac Mini (or a Mac laptop) -> optical out -> DAC<br /> <br /> compared to<br /> <br /> Mac Mini (or Mac laptop) -> usb out -> Trends UD-10.1 (or PopPulse PC Link II or similar) -> optical out -> DAC<br /> <br /> if so, what where your findings?<br /> <br /> I'm about to set up a Mac Mini mediacenter system, which will also be used for streaming music, and I am having a hard time finding a decent optical cable with a miniplug that will fit in the Mac Mini. I would like a Van den hul Optocoupler MKII, but I need at least 2 meters, and it seems they do not make them with a miniplug in this length. Therefore I'm considering running usb out to a Trends UD-10.1/PopPulse PC Link II and then getting a regular toslink - toslink Optocoupler MKII.

Thank you for the input. I kind of had that feeling about it. I think I forgot to mention, that I would only be using the PS3 or Popcornhour as a transport, hence I would use the digital outputs to send the signal to a DAC.

I'm going to change to streaming audio, and I'm looking at different player options. I would like some video capabilities too, but musical performance is my main concern. I had hoped the Apple would update the Mac Mini this month, but since that seems not to happen, I'm looking at other alternatives until (hopefully) an updated Mac Mini will come out. Has anyone here tried either a PS3 or the Popcornhour A-110 for music? Are these devices any good? I should mention that I have been into Hifi for years, and therefore probably have a pretty high standard. Also I was wandering if it would be possible to use something like the Trends UD-10.1 with either the PS3 or the Popcornhour? Any input is appreciated.