Windows XP or Windows 7?

Thanks for the response Blindjim. As far as getting reams of info off of the Internet, ahhh thats pretty much where I got the Article from the prementioned Professor. The guy who claims that Windows XP downsamples everything to 16Bit/44.1kHz. He claims that Windows XP should be avoided at all costs when converting a PC for Music Storage. That is only one of a whole litany of his suggestions. His Article was Archived on the Website of a Major National Stereo Magazine. It was backdated only 8 Months ago.
The truth is that I have gotten damn little acurate and reliable info off of the Internet, Archived or not! It is mostly misinformation based on opinion, ego, bragging rights, and damn little science or reason. Can't get a straight answer out of no-one, and the Internet only increases the flotsam of choices in misinformation. Computeraudiophile please! Not another blogging Superbowl of opinion based Debate Showdown! I am here to try and learn, not pick sides. I have already recieved one Major Gross Conceptual Error, a fatal one, from THAT RELIABLE SOURCE! Look, if I can atleast find three sources that agree on one thing, that might be reasonably reliable albeit without any guarantee. NO JOY so far! The Vacuum of concensus is mind numbing, and the Manufacturers/Experts
/Technocrats don't know or could care less! It would seem that the whole concept of PC based Music Storage is one based on confusion, misinformation, obfuscation, and misdirection. Is there even one PC or Laptop Manufacturer that has designed even one device that is optimized for Music Storage? Before I get thousands of replies, is there one that utilizes a linear Power Supply instead of a Switching Mode Power Supply that creates EMI/RFI on the output to your DAC? Any takers? It is really simple, a SMPS costs 1/10th of a Linear Power Supply to Manufacture. A linear Power Supply is what you will find in some of the best sounding Stereo Equipment due to the lack of switching noise in the Power Supply. In Computer Equipment, not so much, how about even just one. You wondered why your Music first sounded like crap when you connected your Computer to your Stereo System. Hey, the Manufacturers aren't exactly beating down the doors to get the first Laptop/PC optimized with a linear Power Supply for Music Storage on the market, now are they? It is just going to be another decade of one expensive bandaid after another of tiny incremental improvement with SMPS. The Manufacturers said it best when they said, "the PC was never really designed for Music Storage"! What they failed to mention was that they would be damned if they would ever design a PC for Music Storage. Do Music Servers utilize Switching Mode Power Supplies? Has anyone even bothered to find out? I will continue to try and crack the Enigma that is PC based Music Storage. I am NOT very encouraged! Shoot, I could practically pay a Technician to build a Linear Power Supply and replace that piece of crap on my Computer right now. I will keep digging into the Technical aspects of this Application.

Blindjim, read it from an Article in a National Magazine.
Some Professor who is supposed to be an expert in utilizing
and upgrading PC's for Music Storage. It just goes to show the Misinformation Mine Field that Novices like me have to navigate. For me it is the biggest objection to utilizing
PC's for Music Storage. In other words, its a real drag
that is so wrong on so many levels. I only wish that
proponents would atleast acknowledge this instead of just bragging about the advantages. It is a SERIOUS PROBLEM, and the lack of addressing it turns most people off. Your
average Geek Squad is extremely knowledgable in ALL
applications of PC; but, knows next to nothing about Music
Storage and could care less. It is not how they get their Music. Is there ANY reliable source out there that can
answer ALL questions accurately? How about a step by step
process or proceedure so that even a Novice with a PC can
upgrade for Music Storage. Don't tell me that it depends
on what you want, that is the lazy mans excuse. There
should be a Reliable and Accurate source of Info that
covers many options. The fact that there is a vacuum is
telling. No-one is really serious about utilizing
downloading to replace the optical disk. Prove me wrong!

Thanks Blindjim! You have certainly helped enlighten a blind Pettyofficer. V.A., are you ex-military? I am 20yr.
Retiree myself. Yeah sure, that explains a great many things. Who would have thunk it, huh? There really is no other way to learn this except getting feet wet/trial and error. Hopefully it will not cost too much. Atleast this is the third time that I have heard of Fubar. What is the story on USB 3.0? USB/eSATA, is that a solid state storage device? I can see that I don't have the Hard Drive Storage or the Ram for High Resolution Music Storage application. This is going to take allot of time and upgrading of my current System. I am going to have to take it real slow one step at a time. I am going to have to keep reading and learning what I can. Thanks for the help.

Thanks for the info. I am a 20 yr retiree from Navy. My last Command was a Bird Farm, The U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln
based at Everett WA.
Do you know how many so called High End external
Computer DAC's claim that USB 2.0 can only handle Music
Files from 33kHz to 48kHz? They build the reciever chips
for USB 2.0 Input to only handle CD 44.1kHz for this
reason, or so they claim. It is just like I was told that
DVD ROM couldn't rip Multi-channel High Resolution Disks.
They can and Media Players DO exist for storing these type
of recordings. Still couldn't even get verification for this from DVD ROM Manufacturer, they were clueless or even didn't care!
You can understand why trying to learn about PC Music
Storage for the first time is such an uphill battle. Oh, but don't use Windows XP for Music Storage, so says some
so called Expert in PC Music Storage of a Major Nat'l
Stereo Magazine. One Gross Conceptual Error on top of
another. Contact PC Manufacturer to get the straight scoop.
High Definition? Multi-Channel? 24/96,24/192? What the hell is all of that! Hey Pal, it's just what ya see! Nice
vacuum, and convenient at that! You need the patience of an
Owl, and the dogged determination of a Pit Bull to wade
through this mountain of misinformation. Are these people
just purposely trying to deter anyone from using their PC
for Music Storage? It makes you wonder.
Thanks again, Blindjim. You are probably the first and
only reliable source of info I have found so far. I will keep working on this thing.

Blindjim, good advice. I do have a preference when listening to my Stereo via an optical Universal Player. I still listen mostly to CD. Can't stand 2 Channel SACD or 2 Channel High Resolution DVD Audio. IMHO..both lack dynamics
when compared to CD, even though they might have better resolution. There is also some kind of serious electronic haze with some of these SACD/High Res. DVD Audio Disks. I was completely blown away by Multi-Channel SACD, Multi-Channel High Res. DVD Audio (what the hell!) especially when downmixed to 2 Channels. I hear 1/3 larger and deeper
Soundstage with a complete absence of digititus in the upper frequencies when compared to CD. It sounds about as close to Analog Record as I have ever heard off of an Optical Disk. These Disks are no longer being manufactured I suppose due to Downloading (sad!). These type of Recordings are certainly my personal preference. I am also familiar with the improvement in sound quality when listening to Music Files via PC hard drive as opposed to CD version via Optical Drive. Alright, my only option for my preference will be Downloading , and Ripping the few Multi-Channel Disks that I currently have. Tried to play catch-up with PC and Multi-Channel High Resolution Recordings. Ended up finding myself stuck between misinformation Rock and Gross Conceptual Error Hard Place. Been spending weeks trying to study up on the subject, but more than half of what I have read is....well....you've seen it! It seems that we are all being driven like cattle towards Downloading by the Market, but no technical leadership with Music Storage on PC. Sound Quality becomes arbituary, lost in the 100,000 other applications for PC. Audiophiles put stock in Sound Quality, arbituary concern by PC Manufacturers for Sound Quality is confusing. Atleast when our CD's sounded God Awful, you knew who to blame! I will keep trying despite the apathy of PC Manufacturers towards Sound Quality, and the Market collapse of other alternatives. It is not like we have much choice!