In Home Entertainment Magazine's December 2008 issue Peter Roth writes Computer Audio 101: Revving Up A New Spin For CD Playback. In the article Peter covers some basics for those very new to the game. He also marches up the high-end ladder quite a ways with the Weiss Minerva and the Wavelength Audio Cosecant. Having talked to Peter about the article several months ago I was hoping he would give CA a nod in the article and he sure did. Roth says, "After picking the brains of several industry gurus and surveying on-point forums e.g. ComputerAudiophile.com and AudioAsylum.com..." It's great to see the site mentioned in print.

 Just a quick update from the Apple notebook event. Apple has dropped FireWire 400 on its laptops. The MacBook Pro retains a FireWire 800 port, but loses FW400 connectivity. Getting high resolution above 24/96 from a Mac laptop just got a whole lot harder.

The reference music server that goes to eleven! Last month I published my reference music server article that continues to draw a very large audience. To date the article has received 122 comments and thousands upon thousands of views. I also published an article on my initial Mac Pro configuration with OS X and Windows Vista. Since then I decided to take it up a notch. That's right, all the way to eleven. My Mac Pro now runs OS X Leopard, Windows XP Professional 32-bit, Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit, and openSUSE 11 (Linux). Whether or not this is the best of both four worlds remains to be seen. However there is no better way to test applications and sound quality across operating systems than using the identical hardware.

I began the music server series here on Computer Audiophile with some very basic systems. These music servers were great solutions for readers looking to get in the game or upgrade an existing starter system. One of the problems with this approach was that readers often wanted more. I received countless emails from readers, manufacturers, and dealers asking what parts of these music servers I would upgrade to accomplish a specific goal. I have literally spent months testing different DACs, interfaces, operating systems, storage solutions etc... I've also been working with some very highly respected people in the high end audio & music industry comparing notes about sound quality, library functionality, file formats, and everything else under the sun. All of this work continues and I can promise you some very big things are in store for computer audiophiles. Right now there are a couple solutions that I, and others, consider reference quality. These music servers sound better than almost any traditional transport/DAC solution available today. What's more, while increasing sound quality and taking convenience to a whole new level you can save tens of thousands of dollars in the process.

 
Windows fans can no longer say Computer Audiophile is too focused on Macs. I now have Windows Vista Ultimate 64 bit installed and I'm working on getting excellent audio reproduction as you read this. I picked up a Mac Pro for my main music server and I've been configuring it for what seems like 48 hours straight. Mac OS X is no problem to configure and in fact it was up and running about 10 minutes after power on. The time consuming part is Windows Vista Ultimate 64 Bit.

The Microsoft contingent of Computer Audiophile readers has been very vocal about the lack of Windows content around here. Well, it never hurts to ask. The CA04 music server is a Windows only machine that uses Apple's iTunes. Before all the Windows "diehards" get up in arms about using iTunes instead of something like Foobar2000, I suggest you all give this system a chance. The CA04 offers bit perfect output in a tiny package and allows audiophiles to use the best music server interface available today, iTunes.

This afternoon I was listening to a new DAC for review purposes. This DAC was connected via USB right next to a Benchmark DAC1 PRE. I was listening for a while on one DAC then switching to the other and back to the first etc... For some reason the sound was cutting out whenever I listened through the new DAC I was reviewing. I tried many things to solve the problem, but not the one thing that would have fixed it. I contacted the creator of this DAC and he soon reproduced the problem. He also told me how to solve the problem and that it was solely related to a design decision by Apple. Read more for the details that will effect every single USB DAC on the market.

As many of you know Olive recently announced its new OPUS Nº4 and MELODY Nº2 products. Instead of jumping on the standard press release bandwagon I thought I would talk to Olive myself to get the scoop for Computer Audiophile readers. The new OPUS and MELODY are all about simplicity, sound, and streaming. Read more for details.

Music Server Model CA03
 
Alright it's time to kick it up a notch or two. I'm not turning it up to 11 quite yet, but the CA03 music server is a significant step above the previous two in both functionality and sound quality. I am changing the computer this time in order to keep the price down. Driving the price up is a really nice DAC and quality disk storage that doesn't require any work-arounds, provides plenty of space, and 100% data redundancy. This is a music server that could make you happy for a long time with great sound and hard drive space for a large collection of music.

Music Server Model CA02

The "Build An Audiophile Music Server" series continues with some improvements to the Model CA01. Model CA02 is still a very basic music server, but addresses the major backup pitfall of the CA01 and improves the sound with an upgraded USB DAC. The CA02 is also a solution that seeks to serve music without a steep learning curve to operate it. In the previous article I said the CA01 was not a long term solution. Fortunately the CA02 is fully capable of being your long term music server solution. Don't get me wrong, long term certainly does not have anything to do with quality of sound and features. If you are happy with this system, I suggest keeping it until you're unhappy or when you're looking for a jump to the next level. If it sounds good to you, then it's good. With the CA02 your music will be backed up without any user intervention and allow you to sit back and listen without worry.