2. pc-audio
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Life is complicated, lets keep it simple.

My wife and I are venturing into "PC audio". We are neophytes for both PC and Audio. With regards to the "Audio" we have a good simple system consisting on Paradigm V100's and Plinuis amp (8200) and intregrated amp (8200) driving them. We have a simple harmon kardon cd player we use for the source. We have recently purchased a Mac pro and are about to create a itunes library with our current CD collection. Hear are my questions:
1. What is the simplest/best way to "carry" an album/music from our computer to the stereo without having to burn a CD. Would a ipod or some other type of portable hard drive interface with the stereo to create very good sounding "cd quality music"? Could I load this portable hard drive on the computer, walk it to the stereo and plug it in to have music.
2. What is the best format to record albums onto itunes. Loseless may be best but is too big. Is apple losless the holy grail? If quality is the issue do I bite the bullet and buy lots of HD for only lossless formats or will apple losless be good enough.
tas5fceb
sfar's avatar
sfar
1,758 posts
 
Rhbowker, on your comments about using multiple hard drives, one of the new features of the just-released iTunes 7 is the ability to manage music libraries across multiple hard discs. I haven't tried it and don't know how it works but it's worth looking into.

Marco, in the same release, iTunes 7, there is now a function for transferring your music from the iPod to another computer. Again, I haven't tried it and dont' know how well it works but it's obviously in response to the issue you raised.
spiritualized
138 posts
 
USB cable from your Mac to Wavelength Brick DAC, one set of interconnects to your amp. Sorted!
tas5e87f9
2 posts
 
I wanted to thank all for the quick and informative replies.
tas5e87f9
2 posts
 
I have reviewed some of the products discussed above and have refined my question a bit. Lets say I want to turn off my computer yet still want music. Is there a solution for simply taking a portable hard drive (it could be a I-pod like device which allow a interface for selecting the song to be played) and simply plugging it into my stereo. In short, the idea of wireless transmission seems to get away from the solid wired system I think would create the best sound. I also do not want to sit in front of my computer in my office to select songs which will play in my living room. What do you all propose. I looked into the sonus system but seems a bit expensive, almost like buying another computer dedicated to my stereo, Not exactly what I picture. The additional issue of using a ipod with a simple $19.95 RCA plug is that it most likely will not fully utilize the quality of my stereo and also does not play the lossless compression formats I may use. Sorry to be so much trouble but when I look to my computer friends, they seem quite pleased at listening to their Def Leopard from the ipod they hooked into the back of their boom box. I may not be quite as happy.
jax2
3,031 posts
 
There are several options for a computer 'remote' that utilizes bluetooth. The new MacBooks incorporate them, but I've read their interface is not that good. There are others, perhaps someone else might suggest one. I know there are a few Palm Pilots that you can get remote software for. I don't use a remote but the idea is appealing to me as well, so I'll be curious to hear some input on this.

Marco
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