New Lampizator Level 4/ Version 4 DAC in the house

During the CD era, I used to hear people say that the transport was as or more important than the dac itself. I think I agree with that statement. The debate as to why is fairly involved.

I have used computers since the late 70s and used Apple products for past 10 years, including mac minis and wireless receivers. The mini is nice since it is small and fanless and not as "audibly noisy" as a chunky pc with a fan. The advantages beyond that are relatively minor. They are both cesspools of electromagnetic radiation. A PC is a hell of a lot easier to mod than a mini. I have broken a few adding RAM and fiddling when I should not have been.

For the utilitarian neophytes (most of the folks on this thread), a mini is not a bad choice as it can do other household duties. For the mini users, this is a good device to pick up (http://www.digitalaudioreview.net/2013/04/amr-ifi-announce-ilink-usb-spdif-converter/). Also, believe it or not, the USB cable does make a difference. Rrrr.

Bill, I have done shootouts between my current wifi source and software only tweaked mini and various dacs and it was not close. Not a perfect test though for obvious reasons.

Mr. Gary "Glory" Anderson used to fill my ears about how his Lampi transport killed his Mini. We need to hear more about that. From memory, he did not ditch the transport due to performance but due to finance another cable purchase.

I find it amusing that philes who spend an enormous about of psychic energy gnashing their teeth and obsessing over certain parts of their systems then settle for less when it comes to transports. Trust me, dedicated digital transports are here and they are the future. The Memory Player seemed like such a goofy entity when it first appeared, and many people ragged on it only to copy them later. With recent release of the new ac wireless standard, streaming any file resolution you could desire is right at our fingertips (http://www.computeraudiophile.com/content/537-extending-audio-network-using-802-11ac-wireless/)

Howard, CAPS is a Windows-based product. My guess is that it will best a mini, modded or not. Against the Lampi transport? Who knows. If you really want to go the whole hog, consider the Sonore transport which is also tossed around on Computer Audiophile. More $$ but Linux based. Another product of some interest to me in the past was the cMP which was a Windows-based DIY attempt at a memory player that you could use with and without a dac.

Have a friend with CS and his '09 MM with LPS and MM is as good as the CS.

Hi Andrew, my MM is anything but stock and so much more than what you compared it to. Steve N of Emperical audio is no neophyte on this subject and I follow his best of show advice on my MM ..... Pretty much every single detail. To make the MM sound as mine does does take the kind of attention to detail you mention in your post.

Oh yes the USB cable matters big time! The USB port used on the MM also matters and on and on the small details go!

I built a CAPS and now use a Mac Mini. Followed Nugent's advice as well. Have to say both are very good and could have lived with either. I just prefer the Mac OS. That being said Sonore Audio has the right approach with Linux.