Well...
It is true that PC is cheaper than Mac in general. However if you try to build a silent PC with solid state drive, it will actually cost you a lot (nice looking enclosure, solid state drive, lots of heat pipes etc). I have tried to play itune on Windows notebook through Apple Airport Express (wireless) > optical Toslink cable > PS Audio DLiii > Amp, but for some unknown reason, it didn't sound that good. I ripped my CDs to Flac and Wav using EAC so I am sure the ripped audio file quality is as good as the one on my CDs.
So I bought a Mac mini (Intel core duo) and upgraded the memory to 4GB. What a nice machine it is. I play same files directly out of external hard drive through USB to mini through firewire to Apogee duet to amp, and the sound is much better than before. Mac mini is very quiet and the interface is excellent. You can even have basic control of itune using the accompanying small remote controller. I know I can install XP to run music file on Foobar if I want although it won't work with Duet. So I have another option and it is definitely future proof.
My next trial will be downloading 24/96 flac files from HD Track and convert them to different format such as 24/96 Wav or AIFF to play on itune. Apogee Duet can handle 24/96 data through firewire so it must be very nice.
I hope Apple release a special version of Mac mini with decent size solid state drive (about 64GB or 128GB just for OS and applications) and of course, I2S. It will be a killer music server platform.
My 2 Cents...
It is true that PC is cheaper than Mac in general. However if you try to build a silent PC with solid state drive, it will actually cost you a lot (nice looking enclosure, solid state drive, lots of heat pipes etc). I have tried to play itune on Windows notebook through Apple Airport Express (wireless) > optical Toslink cable > PS Audio DLiii > Amp, but for some unknown reason, it didn't sound that good. I ripped my CDs to Flac and Wav using EAC so I am sure the ripped audio file quality is as good as the one on my CDs.
So I bought a Mac mini (Intel core duo) and upgraded the memory to 4GB. What a nice machine it is. I play same files directly out of external hard drive through USB to mini through firewire to Apogee duet to amp, and the sound is much better than before. Mac mini is very quiet and the interface is excellent. You can even have basic control of itune using the accompanying small remote controller. I know I can install XP to run music file on Foobar if I want although it won't work with Duet. So I have another option and it is definitely future proof.
My next trial will be downloading 24/96 flac files from HD Track and convert them to different format such as 24/96 Wav or AIFF to play on itune. Apogee Duet can handle 24/96 data through firewire so it must be very nice.
I hope Apple release a special version of Mac mini with decent size solid state drive (about 64GB or 128GB just for OS and applications) and of course, I2S. It will be a killer music server platform.
My 2 Cents...