2. digital
  3. 1389173059

Is there a Rosetta Stone for digital speak?

Trying to transition from CD transport and DAC to computer HD based system without making horrific mistteps. Running into a hail storm of tech speak and different formats which keeps me on the fence indefinitely waiting for the whole thing to reach some sort of stability.

Willing to invest a respectable amount for longer term viability of the components, but which direction?

Purchased and then returned without using the Mojo system as I started counting up how many separate pieces to make it all work. Ridiculous!!! And I'm not just picking on Mojo. Make fun of Bose as we all do, but a simple two box solution would be welcomed.

Does some manufacturer have this figured out? Thanks for understanding the rant.
celtic66

Showing 2 responses by audioengr

audioengr
3,282 posts
 
Digital is just like analog in that respect. The more separates you use, the better the result and of course the higher the price.

If you are after the holy grail, the first hurdle is to achieve a really low jitter digital source. One way to get there that is fairly simple is the Antipodesaudio.com server driving an Off-Ramp 5 with Turboclock and Dynamo power supply.

http://www.antipodesaudio.com/antipodes_music_servers.html

http://www.empiricalaudio.com/products/off-ramp-converter

Once you have this, then pick the DAC that you like the best. Picking DACs is a lot like picking amplifiers. Some people like dynamics and detail and others like smoothness and liquid midrange. It must mate with your system well.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio
audioengr
3,282 posts
 
ADM - I agree with WTF. iTunes is a rather poor playback software. The upgrade programs like Amarra make a significant difference and they have features like Cache mode that play from memory rather than disk that improve performance even more. I also use Amarra on a 2009 Mac Mini and have gotten a number of best of shows using it.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio
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