I have same AE-Toslink-Benchmark DAC1.
Magfan - According to Stereophile measurements AE has respectable 250ps jitter. Analog outputs is another story with performance less than perfect.
Sfar - I had also interference problem before I found what channel my microwave is on (read microwave spects). I'd like to switch to 802.11n but my MacMini dosn't support it. From time to time (once every few days) I have short dropout but it doesn't bother me since it is short drop (fraction of a second)and not a click or pop.
Mjmch2003 - AFAIK AE uses ALAC format for transfer therefore I store data on the server in ALAC (one conversion less). PC is a different story since FLAC is more popular. Any type of storage is OK since HDs are cheap. My external 1TB Firewire drives were $99 each (one in usage and two backups).
Magfan - According to Stereophile measurements AE has respectable 250ps jitter. Analog outputs is another story with performance less than perfect.
Sfar - I had also interference problem before I found what channel my microwave is on (read microwave spects). I'd like to switch to 802.11n but my MacMini dosn't support it. From time to time (once every few days) I have short dropout but it doesn't bother me since it is short drop (fraction of a second)and not a click or pop.
Mjmch2003 - AFAIK AE uses ALAC format for transfer therefore I store data on the server in ALAC (one conversion less). PC is a different story since FLAC is more popular. Any type of storage is OK since HDs are cheap. My external 1TB Firewire drives were $99 each (one in usage and two backups).