Help me set up new stereo system

I'm beginning to make sense of things now. Since there are a few absolute things on my listening list, I will purchase them on CD. I'll research on how to put these various recording formats (SACD, DTS, 5.1 mixes, etc) into my harddrive, whatever that may be in the future.

For now I am going to connect my computer via USB and use iTunes for playback. I will also connect my Oppo BDP83 via optical to the Hegel and listen to the CD's I just purchased. That will give me a bit of instant gratification and a few days to listen to the system and figure out what to do.

I'm really thinking of going the Mac Mini and external HD route and connecting via toslink optical to the Hegel. Then I will use Jriver and distance myself from iTunes.

Another questions. I keep reading about the ability to EQ and adjust levels...that is exactly what I do not want. I'd like to listen to the recording as intended, not with some wild personal house mix added. Will all my music be required to be EQ'd and thus changing the sound?

Some of the software packages like JRiver come with EQ and other DSP capabilities but you do not have to use these features. I did not use them but I occasionally used the up sampling features.

Your plan sounds excellent. Does your DAC hanle DSD? If not you can still get great sound without the DSD
I actually use I tunes with a Mac Air which has a thunderbolt output. I have a FireWire DAC, and use a thunderbolt to FW adapter. Redbook CD
Sounds great and downloads (24/192) as well. My Oppo 105 is used for my SACDs, DVD-A and Blu Ray and the grand total of my 2 DSD downloads. I tunes works for me but I don't use it for High res downloads, which I keep on a separe USB drive and use Decibel for playback . It all works, sounds great, and I still play vinyl and CDs.

Congratulations on the new system! I had a very similar setup a few months back (Hegel H300, 2012 Mac Mini). The best results I experienced with that setup was running USB to the Mac Mini and a Firewire drive. Amarra was/ still is my preferred playback software. Audirvana is nice as well. There are a ton of tweaks available depending how crazy you want to get (i.e. booting from SD card, better USB, etc.). The USB DAC's downside is that it only does 24/96. It still sounded great with whatever was thrown at it. Taking the time to rip the CDs will yield a worthwhile improvement in my experience. In terms of DSD you will have to have the playback software convert to PCM at the DAC's sample rate. Feel free to PM me for specifics if you would like. Good luck!

I decided to try and make this simple for myself so I bought a Gen II Salk StreamPlayer, will connect via USB and will use my Oppo bdp83 for the few DVD and SACD's I own. I'll download mPod and mPad apps to control the Salk unit.