Anyone using i tunes as a computer based jukebox?


The write up in the October Stereophile caught my interest. So I picked up a discontinued G4, 15" monitor and a 100Gb hard disk. I also ordered an RME soundcard with both RCA and AES/EBU digital outputs. I'm currently ripping my CDs onto the HD as uncompressed files and I foresee that I'll eventually need 3 or 4 external firewire HDs to hold the majority of my music collection. What grabbed me is the idea that I will be able to instantly access any song, or combination of songs, in my collection and maintain them as custom playlists.

Just wanted to know if anybody else is also pursuing a similar route? I would like to know your experiences.
128x128onhwy61

Showing 1 response by kdrofwdcf9eb

This is just the setup I am thinking about doing - only using an iBook (laptop) with an ext firewire hard drive to store & play the music.

Someone referenced using digital I/O vs analog. How bad do you think the standard analog I/O on the laptop would be? It's just a standard haedphone jack, but, in my quick tests, it doesn't sound very noisy at all.

For digital I/O, what would I need? I know that I can drive the sound output to the USB port (e.g., for USB speakers), so maybe there is a USB-to-spdif converter (or something) so I could use an external DAC.

Thoughts?