douglas frost

hi seta, i'm planning to audition a calyx in the next few weeks and wanted to ask if your views on the kingrex psu2 addition were for s/pdif input only or for the usb input as well? if i end up getting this dac, it will be fed by a mac mini. kind regards, douglas

i have a mac mini arriving today (replacing an old winxp laptop). all of my music is on a 1tb usb drive, and i'm using a ps audio dlink 3. i also plan to get a v-link soon. i have read on other threads that if you are using the usb from mac to dac, it is better to run a firewire hard drive? are you doing this? initially i could just run the optical out from the mac to the dac, but was wondering how to best connnect when i get the v-link. regards, d

The airport express is used only to get the digital output from the laptop to the dac. <br /> <br /> This is exactly the answer I was looking for! I'll look at getting the V-Link first, and see how that goes. Next step will be to upgrade the netbook to win7, and see how that goes. <br /> <br /> I've got a decent optical cable already, and will get a good usb cable when i get the V-Link. <br /> <br /> Thanks again! <br /> Douglas

Thanks again Paul.<br /> <br /> I do have a dac (PS Audio Digital Link 3). Ideally, I would like to get rid of the airport express, and I thought the V-Link would provide a cost-effective alternative whilst also giving better sound. When I originally put this system together a couple of years ago, everything I read here highlighted that a direct usb link from laptop to dac would compromise sound quality as windows messed around with the output through the usb, and this was the reason for using the airport express. So does the V-link eliminate the problem of windows messing up the digital output?<br /> <br /> I have also realised that i have an Atom N280 based netbook lying around, that I think I could upgrade to Win7. Do you think that this running itunes into the V-Link / PS Audio combo would work well?<br /> <br /> Regards, Douglas

Thanks Paul - Always good to have someone looking from a different angle. <br /> <br /> The 'dropouts' are not during playback, but simply that the laptop can't find the airport express on wakeup, and takes a bit of fiddling to remedy. Otherwise, the laptop seems fine if I use it without the airport express (not for music) ie. if I use a different ethernet or wireless connection etc.<br /> <br /> But I think you're right - time for a new computer. Am I correct in assuming that a laptop running itunes on win7 will need something like the V-Link?<br /> <br /> Regards, Douglas

Hi all,<br /> <br /> A question from a non-tech head (I have searched a number of the articles and comments here, but have mainly succeeded in confusing myself)... <br /> <br /> I am currently running an old winXP laptop with itunes, feeding an airport express via ethernet that then feeds a PS Audio Digital Link 3. The combo of my network card and the airport express causes regular dropout problems. If I substituted the V-Link in for the airport express, will the V-Link control the usb output of the laptop to give bitperfect sound, or would I still need to switch to J River (or similar)?<br /> <br /> Thanks in advance (and apologies if i have missed an obvious explanation of this).<br /> <br /> Douglas

congratulations on the first year chris!<br /> <br /> i only found the site a few weeks ago, but it (and your personal help) have already helped me set up a music server at home. i think you are at the forefront of a new wave in audio!<br /> <br /> best regards<br /> douglas

i'll let yo know how i go once i have it all set up.<br /> <br /> kind regards<br /> douglas

hi chris,<br /> having spent a lot of time today reading through the site, i suddenly realised i have an 3 yr old xp laptop sitting around doing nothing. it is a 1.6ghz centrino with 1.5gb ram running xp home sp3. if i were to use this instead of buying a mac mini, could i simply take the usb out into a usb dac? <br /> <br /> ideally, i would like to use itunes. how would i need to configure the laptop? i have tried to read some of the posts etc. on windows pc's as servers, but it's late and i'm just getting confused.... can i avoid the dreaded kmixer with itunes?<br /> <br /> if i can use this laptop, it means being able to spend more on the dac, and i also took your point about a laptop (with inbuilt monitor) being a more convenient choice than a mac mini.<br /> <br /> later edit: i went throught the posts for the ca-04 music server, and now understand the method using the airport express. my question now is: would you venture an opinion on how the ca-o4 (using my old dell laptop instead of the stealth) sound compared to the mac mini through something like the new dacmagic? if the laptop/airport express can give me similar quality digital output to the mac mini, i can then spend more on the dac (probably the ps audio).<br /> <br /> as you can see, the more i read on this, the more i question exactly what do i want from the system - basically, the convenience of itunes, bit still good quality audio. <br /> <br /> btw, my current system is krell kav250cd - krell kav300i integrated amp and jm lab (focal) electra 905 speakers.<br /> <br /> once again, thanks for a great site and all your advice.<br /> <br /> kind regards<br /> douglas

hi chris,<br /> <br /> thanks for the quick response!<br /> <br /> i may just start with the mac mini and use the analogue out for a few weeks until the dacmagic is available here (looking forward to your review!) and then decide between it and the ps audio DL3. i really don't want a dac that generates so much heat (bad greenhouse karma...).<br /> <br /> kind regards<br /> douglas

hi chris,<br /> firstly, thanks for the great site! after deciding last week to go down the music server path, it has been a tremendous help.<br /> <br /> i'm looking to get a mac mini and either a dacmagic, stello da100, stello da100 signature or the ps audio DL3 (i already have a seagate freeagent 1tb hdd - usb only). this is intended to replace a 10 year old krell kav250cd that is starting to give trouble.<br /> <br /> a few questions if i may:<br /> 1. bearing in mind your comments on the mac - usb issue, do i need to get an alternative hdd that has either firewire or ethernet, or alternatively use a toslink cable?<br /> 2. in your opinion, do the balanced outputs on all but the da100 offer any significant advantage?<br /> 3. is the heat from the da100 signature really that great? and does the standard da100 suffer the same issue?<br /> 4. i'm unsure of the specs for the dac in the krell, but given it's age, do you think any or all of the above dacs cam match/exceed the krell?<br /> <br /> any advice would be greatly appreciated! btw, any auditions are a bit difficult - i'm in sydney, australia and the dealers are a little reluctant to give at-home demos.<br /> <br /> kind regards<br /> douglas