Hmmmm.
Think about what youÂve just said . Personal confuser makers donÂt make confusers dedicated to music . Nor will they . Maybe so. Maybe no.
Per se? youÂre right on. Can there be one made? Absolutely. ThatÂs what all the DIYÂing stuff online is all about. Some 3rd party sources ARE indeed making music server systems. Some even load your music into them.
The thing is audio nuts rate near nothing on the vast horizon of future PC buyers. Why then should the PC makers devote any time at all to our preferences, desires or needs? They shouldnÂt and they wonÂt. itÂs just good business sense.
Even if they were to offer some semblance of upper end audio machines, itÂs doubtful one size would fit all anyhow! Some audio nut is going to want an extra this or one less that in the mix somewhere! Consequently we have to roll our own and get exactly what we want or very darn well close to it!
IÂll not support nor deny the claims of a windows os altering or downsampling native resolutions of music files. I will say for certain there are ways to avoid or prevent this from occuring . if indeed it does. i alluded to this in my earlier posts too.
I also said you can delve into the rabbit hole as deeply as you wish. Tricked out power sups, 64 bit system w/water or gas cooling shrouds, internal or externally damped cases, etc. The skyÂs the limit, or your resources and imagination is your limit.
If at the Comp Audiophile website you simply read thru the FAQ section much info can be gained there. It is illuminated primarily by the sites host who is on the ball about comp audio on quite high levels. You could also refer to Gordon Rankins Wavelength Audio website. Lavry EngineeringÂs site too holds much wisdom. Those are where I began. OtherÂs of note are Weiss Engineering & Bel Canto. All of which are major players and have been doing this digital to analog conversion business for years and years. Rankin and Weiss philosophies take their bent on direct from pc audio streams via USB & Firewire, respectively.
BC & Lavry have long standing exp in just the conversion of digital audio streams taken from ANY such producing appliances. Lavry more so for the pro audio market until recently.
The media player you choose is important too. It must be able to accept particular input engines and as well outputs, in order to preserve pure audio streams from being affected by ANY OS . NOT just Windows.
The good news is that there are several which accommodate just these items. Fubar 2K, JR Media Center, Winamp, and some other one with Monkey in the title thereÂs more I believe.some are free some are not. An iTunes plugin called Amarra that handles high res file sampling rates and bit depths goes for hundreds of dollars and itÂs aimed directly at the Mac owners.
IÂve concerned myself with what matters first. Added in what I wanted to accomplish and how much of all that I could afford and just jumped into the fray.
In many HE Audio devices I emphatically agree power sups are of key interest during this trek. IÂve even upgraded my own PCÂs PS. I FOUND HOWEVER that is of such minimal benefit as to be no more than an afterthought of overkill. Especially IF all the processing is taking place outside of the PC itself . My setup does exactly that.
IÂve treated my PC sound system like any other source device. Better power cord. Galvonic isolation. Electrical isolation. Power line artifacts have been sufficiently addressed too. My box rests on a high mass well damped upper end audio rack. All the files are contained outboard of it and so is the digital to analog converter. Each portion of the signal path has received likewise treatment (s).
I currently use a broadband USB to BNC converter which passes unadulterated signals from 16/44 to 24/176.4 into a stand alone DAC thru an oyiade silver BNC cable.
I got the DAC for about $1700. The Hiface converter for $180. The oyaide BNC wire for $220. IÂll admit too my dual core PC was free, compliments of the V.A.. Otherwise that box runs about $400 - $500. A 1TB NAS server @ $250. A USB/eSATA enclosure for $25 and $110 for the 1.5 TB drive within it for 1:1 backups.
Power & interconnect cables are whatever one wishes to or not to spend. So to is the system all of this will ultimately feed.
So at about $3K (not including racks, cables, or power conds) IÂve surpassed many twice the price disc spinners in sound quality, versatility, and functionality. Other multi media functions are surely available too should I desire to pursue them . And I can use all the ancillary and mundane functions Bill Gates intended.
Another debatable step up here could be adding a Lynx AES 16 PCIe card and a reclocker. Another $1000 or so. But IÂve seen no concrete evidence nor subjective evidence that such a step would be a prudent or even worthwhile one to endure.
The better move is to upgrade my DAC or replace it. As the DAC is the keystone in the PC music based arrangement.
You could just reroute your Ethernet cable to a $300 Airport express and be done too.
ItÂs all up to you. IÂd not be to despondent or aggravated about the often perceived confusion surrounding the PC based array. IÂm sure you are smart enough to figure out whatÂs best for your needs along the way.
Any more pointed questions you have which I can answer for you feel free to E me privately.
Good luck....
